42 GREEN PAGES
Italian specialist serves global market with transmissions
Transfluid, which has developed and markets a range of low to medium power transmission equipment, has an eye on a greener future for aviation as well as other industry sectors. With the assistance of three specialists, namely makers of electric motors, batteries and frequency converters, the HM-560 was born. This is a simple solution for those looking for a greener operation and is designed to be coupled to any internal combustion engine (up to 140 kW or 188 hp), and provided it is equipped with an SAE housing and flywheel, to any kind of transmission having the same SAE standards. Its adoption ensures a hybrid transmission, which switches from ICE to electric: and when the vehicle’s engine is operating, the electric motor becomes a generator, charging the battery. To date, companies such as Aviogei, Rampini, ATA and SEA in Italy have employed the technology; further afield, Charlatte and Trowin in the US have utilised the concept in tractors and beltloaders respectively.
PowerCell receives award from Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan has presented PowerCell Sweden with the 2012 European Technology Innovation Award for its pioneering Powerpac fuel cell auxiliary power unit (APU) technology. The Powerpac APU system addresses one of the major challenges in the trucking industry: the low efficiency of an engine while idling. Trucks are often idled while stationary, in order to provide power to auxiliary systems, such as the air conditioning. Using a fuel cell to meet these needs instead allows for much greater fuel efficiency.
The technology is sufficiently mature for commercialisation. It also meets various environmental regulations and overcomes limitations related to existing APU systems, such as noise pollution and reliability. Thus, the all-round solution provided by PowerCell meets every aspect of an ideal APU system. PowerCell’s fuel cell technology is in the range of 1-6 kW, and uses both hydrogen and reformate gas produced in a fuel reformer. The technology is best utilised in range extender applications and APU systems that may be used to minimise idling in trucks and other heavy vehicles. The efficiency from diesel to electric while idling of the main engine is approximately 6-7%. In contrast, PowerPac is capable of generating electricity at a high power density and
GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL FEBRUARY 2013
at 25-30% efficiency. With the use of PowerPac APUs in diesel trucks, total fuel consumption of the truck can be reduced by 5-6%.
Though PowerCell focuses primarily on eliminating truck idling and efficient generation of sustainable onboard electric power with minimal emissions, the technology could also be modified to serve as an energy supply for various industrial and domestic applications. Frost & Sullivan presents this annual award to a company that has demonstrated excellence in terms of the uniqueness of its technology and its potential impact on new products and applications, on functionality and on customer value. The company is also commended for the relevance of this innovation to industry requirements. PowerCell Sweden is a spin-off of the
AB Volvo Group and the products, based on proprietary fuel cell and fuel reformer technology, are a result of almost 20 years’ research and development.
Things have gone quiet at Airbus
Airbus has had good cause to celebrate: shortly before Christmas it was presented with a top annual award by the UK’s national noise reduction charity, the Noise Abatement Society. The award recognises the Airbus A380 superjumbo for its innovations in quiet technology and reduced noise around airport communities. Airbus says that there will be ten daily A380 flights to Heathrow by the end of the year, a station which has the strictest noise regulations of any airport worldwide and which are, in fact, the benchmark on which noise measurement for aircraft is based. The aircraft manufacturer claims that the A380 will be the quietest long-haul aircraft for the foreseeable future, generating only half the noise on departure and up to four times less noise on landing compared with some other large long-haul aircraft, while carrying 40% more passengers.
Japanese continue to forge ahead with batteries
We’ve written a lot about battery power over the last 12 months and in particular, the advantages of lithium-ion as components in a battery’s composition. Whilst reality for the great majority of handlers lies in a lead-acid application, with only a tiny number investigating alternatives, elsewhere things have moved on. Lithium-ion, like it or loathe it, could become outmoded sooner than you think. That, at least, is the view of Toyota, which continues to lead the way in the hybrid vehicle market. It has recently put more effort into finding a long-term
successor to the lithium-ion battery. To that end, it has developed a new anode material that can be used in a magnesium- ion battery. According to its findings, this combination could offer a superior operating voltage and capacity compared to that of the current lithium-ion battery. To boost performance, Toyota’s
researchers coupled rechargeable magnesium-ion batteries with a M06S8 cathode in a conventional battery electrolyte. Work here revolves around the hunt for a high performance battery system that can meet the necessary energy use required by today’s vehicles. Toyota believes that battery systems, such as rechargeable magnesium, aluminium and calcium-ion batteries, will attract more interest as time passes. In particular, it seems, magnesium is a very interesting prospect because it has the potential to deliver a higher volumetric energy density than lithium. The researchers state that since magnesium is divalent (allowing it to form two bonds with other ions or molecules), it could displace double the charge per ion: and as an element, it could be much more abundant than lithium, as well as being more stable into the bargain. As always, there is a cloud attached to the silver lining: anode and electrolyte compatibility need further investigation. However, this combination could potentially offer good electrochemical performance whilst being both safer and cheaper than a lithium-ion option. Could the days of lead-acid be numbered?
Naturally speaking
According to a recent report from Pike Research, which is a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, sales of natural gas trucks and buses will expand steadily over the remainder of the decade. More than 930,000 of these vehicles will be sold worldwide from 2012 to 2019, the study concludes.
“Natural gas vehicles emit substantially lower levels of GHGs, particulate matter and nitrogen oxide than either gasoline or diesel-powered trucks and buses,” says Senior Research Analyst Dave Hurst. “What’s more, compared to diesel engines, natural gas provides a financial benefit. In most cases, the higher incremental cost of a natural gas vehicle is typically recovered, due to lower fuel costs, within two to seven years.”
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