Turning up the heat on gas drivelines

摘要

Lean-burn gas engines could have a major role to play when it comes to cutting C02 emissions from long-haul trucks. So says Andy Noble (pictured), head of commercial vehicle, off-highway, defence and industrial market sector at Ricardo Global Automotive.He points to a major collaborative project, which wound up earlier this year and which demonstrates that such engines can offer a more-than-10% CO_2 reduction when compared with their counterparts of five years ago. They can comply with Euro VI+, he adds, while offering a potential range of up to 800km.The project he refers to was funded by the European Union to the tune of €20m. The motor industry itself contributed €7m to an initiative that involved truck manufacturers, Tier 1 component suppliers, research and development consultancies and universities, and took three years to complete.A key role in this project - and an aspect of it that Ricardo was closely involved with - was played by a 2013-vintage Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT) Cursor 13 six-cylinderin-line 12.88-litre natural gas engine with 454bhp on tap. It has a 135mm bore and a 150mm stroke and acted as a baseline. The Cursor engine is, of course, installed in IVECO trucks. IVECO is heavily promoting the use of gas trucks on trunking work, with increasing success in both mainland Europe and the UK.