Kinetic Energy Recovery Boosting via Hydraulic Assisted Turbochargers

Following 5 years of R&D by Professor Alasdair Cairns and his team, the project was focused on delivering a Hydraulic Assisted Turbo (HAT) automotive-ready solution, in-line with the industry established Automotive Technology Readiness Levels. This process aligns R&D project deliverables to industry accredited parameters for technology acceptance into manufacturing. It lays out the required level, or readiness the technology must achieve and the parameters it must deliver on prior to industry adoption, and therefore commercialisation. Should the solution deliver on all its targets, this process facilitates a straightforward and industry accepted route for integration into manufacturing, and therefore monetisation of the technology.

What is the opportunity & why does it exist?

  • The automotive manufacturing industry is being driven by global legislation to reduce the amount of CO2 their vehicles emit
  • Efforts to date have produced mixed results, but many manufacturers did not reach the 130g/km required pre-2015. And neither have they achieved the 2020–2024 target of 95g/kg average
  • Further target CO2 decreases of another 15% for cars & vans between 2025-2030, and another 37.5% for cars and vans from 2030
  • As seen in the recent news Volkswagen, Audi, Hyundai, Seat and many other manufacturers are unable to meet the emission requirements today without ‘CHEATING’
  • Engine right-sizing is a key trend in the automotive industry, as are electrically assisted turbocharger solutions
  • This will see the majority of cars and vans, fitted with new engine solutions in Europe and other key regions between 2022 and 2030
  • The European Union are banning all Internal Combustion Engines, (ICEs) except Hydrogen fuelled for Heavy Duty Vehicles, (HDVs). So far, the targets for new HDV vehicles have been set to reduce CO2 emissions by 15% by 2025, and 30% by 2030, compared to a 2019 baseline. The EC revised this to set more ambitious targets i.e. 45% reduction from 2030, 65% reduction from 2035 & 90% reduction from 2040
  • All HDV vehicles are covered by these new regulations
  • The EC has stated that only battery electric, fuel cell, and hydrogen internal combustion engine technologies could be used to meet these goals. As a result, efuels, synthetic fuels, ammonia, and natural gas (NG) will no longer be accepted to comply with this new standard.
  • In the rest of the world, any solution delivering greater efficiency, lower complexity and reduced cost for combustion engines will have a huge potential market.

What is the technology and how proven is it?

  • VN-KERB-TS uses existing technologies to recover wasted energy/pressure from the engine, and utilises this energy to spin-up the turbocharger ready for the next acceleration/load event, eliminating turbo-lag, increasing engine efficiency and performance, and reducing cost and complexity over an electrically assisted turbo-solution within the Heavy-Duty Vehicle (HDV) marketplace
  • The solution delivers this transformative performance using off-the-shelf components, whilst integrating with existing engine technologies with little adaptation
  • The solution has proven capability to deliver at least the same performance as a normal turbo and has been integrated with a suitable turbocharger without changing the original dimensions
  • It has been tested with a reduced engine component setup to deliver industry acceptable results, and via data analysis, a manufacturer could now adopt the technology into their engine specific development and test strategy.

This project has demonstrated the performance and commercial benefits of a KERB-TS turbocharger solution and given the lower turbocharger maximum speed requirements for heavy-duty vehicles; the HAT is favoured over the EAT in terms of potential applications.

Further stages completed within the initial project

  • Integration of the newly designed and built VN KERB TS turbocharger solution with a reduced engine component test-rig
  • Verification of the operating conditions and performance characteristics of the turbo to further prove capability, and suitability for multiple engine technologies and sizes

Stages still to be completed

  • Solution demonstration to potential industry commercialisation/manufacturing partners to secure development funding to take the technology to TRL6, and/or a potential sale.

How and when will the project make money?

  • With 4 Patents already granted, VN-KERB-Turbo solutions will deliver revenue by licence sales to Heavy Duty, Agricultural and Material handling vehicle Manufacturers
  • 3-5 years to deliver revenues
  • Achievement of TRL6 will deliver the first potential investor exit via a trade sale.

Applications?

Internal Combustion Engines will continue to be manufactured where electric motor/battery replacements are NOT practical, and where countries do NOT, or will NOT be able to implement suitable/applicable infrastructure, e.g. Indian sub-continent, S. America, Russia, China, etc.

HGVs/HDV’s

Agricultural vehicles

Construction vehicles

Materials handling vehicles

Why?

Efficiency/size required to take 40 tonnes of goods 1000 miles in 24hrs

Battery duration in high torque, long duration in remote settings

Charging requirements for applications take too long/frequent

Potential Global Markets

Heavy Trucks, Buses & Coaches:

A significant dip in production across 2020/21 worldwide has reduced the market, but this is being counteracted by potential stored demand and increased demand in construction and mining industries:

2020 – 291, 261 heavy buses

2020 – 4,361,421 heavy trucks

Source – International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers – https://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/2020-statistics/

Market Research carried out by VN-KERB-TS shows that 2.1 million commercial vehicles were produced in the EU in 2021, an increase of 1.0% compared to 2020. The chart shows the number of commercial vehicles (trucks, vans, and buses) produced in the EU, and each of the 27 member states, during the 2010-2021 period.