Dearman consortium gets £1.9m TSB engine development award 23 April 2014

A consortium led by the Dearman Engine Company has been awarded £1.9 million in the latest round of IDP10 (low-carbon vehicle) funding from the Technology Strategy Board to support the development of its heat-recovery system for urban commercial vehicles.

Toby Peters, founder and CEO of the Dearman Engine Company, claims that his innovative technology offers fuel savings of up to 25%, and lifecycle CO2 savings of up to 40%.

He says the project will deliver a production-feasible waste-heat recovery system for urban commercial vehicles, with the potential for payback in less than three years.

Dearman's innovation is a highly-efficient liquid nitrogen or air (LiN) engine that harvests low-grade heat sources and, in this configuration, is most effective on urban duty cycles working with the internal combustion engine (ICE) as a hybrid powertrain.

Peters explains that the technology uses readily-available materials with low embedded carbon, and operates with commercially-available liquid nitrogen, produced using off-peak electricity, with great potential for storing so called 'wrong-time renewables'.

Dearman is working with MIRA, Air Products, Productiv, The Manufacturing Technology Centre, CENEX and TRL on this £3.25 million project, and aims to deliver an on-vehicle demonstration of the hybrid system over the next two years.

"All vehicle manufacturers are under pressure to develop cleaner, cheaper vehicles, but producing alternative technologies can be an expensive, and not always efficient, process," states Peters.

"This grant ... is a welcome validation of the important role this technology can play in creating more efficient medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. We look forward to working with our consortium partners on this ground-breaking programme."

"Liquid air technologies have the potential to significantly reduce well-to-wheel emissions," adds Chris Reeves, commercial manager of future transport technologies at MIRA.

"This exciting project builds on a programme of activity already underway jointly with Dearman and it will validate the use of liquid nitrogen hydride powertrains in urban applications."

And Chris Walsh, head of technical support and consultancy at Cenex, comments: "We are very pleased to be working with the Dearman Engine Company on this innovative solution to reduce the cost and carbon from urban heavy duty vehicles."

Author
Brian Tinham

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