SulNOx bus trial cuts particle emissions by 91 per cent 09 September 2014

A public demonstration of SulNOxEco Fuels new fuel emulsion technology on a 1959 Routemaster bus resulted in particulate matter emissions being reduced by 91% while NOx was cut by 60%, compared with the standard diesel engine.

Declaring the trial an "historic moment in the world's fight against pollution", Stephen Bamford, director of SulNOx Fuel Fusions, agreed that fuel emulsions are not new, but explains that the old problem of 'stratification' has now been overcome.

He told an audience at the London Bus Museum that SulNOxEco's new mixing process "smashes" the fuel together under high pressure to alter the mixture "at a nano, or quantum level".

An additive is then injected into the mix, he said, which helps to stabilise the emulsion, which can then be burnt "just like regular fuel in any engine that burns hydrocarbon-based fuel".

The test in Weybridge involved the bus's engine initially running on regular diesel, while a series of measurements were taken of PM, NOx and engine temperature.

The fuel supply was then switched to white diesel fuel emulsion, which mixed under laboratory conditions at the SulNOx testing centre, and the tests repeated.

To validate these test results the company has commissioned Ricardo, a global engineering, environmental and strategic consultancy, and is in talks with Cambridge University, to carry out an extensive independent testing programme into the new emulsions and their potential benefits.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
SulNOx Fuel Fusions PLC

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