Skip to main content

Low construction engine emissions project

The University of Hertfordshire is collaborating in a £9 million project aimed at reducing carbon emissions from off-highway machinery. The University of Hertfordshire’s School of Engineering and Technology is part of a specialist engineering consortium working on the project. Benefiting from more than £4 million in funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK Limited (APC), the project includes companies such as Caterpillar subsidiary Turner Powertrain Systems and Torotrak, a developer and supplier o
October 18, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The University of Hertfordshire is collaborating in a £9 million project aimed at reducing carbon emissions from off-highway machinery. The University of Hertfordshire’s School of Engineering and Technology is part of a specialist engineering consortium working on the project.

Benefiting from more than £4 million in funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK Limited (APC), the project includes companies such as 178 Caterpillar subsidiary Turner Powertrain Systems and Torotrak, a developer and supplier of emissions reduction and fuel efficiency technology.

The aim of the project is to develop a new drivetrain system that will reduce carbon emissions and have better energy storage. This new drivetrain will be used for a range of off-highway equipment.

The three and half year project is expected to begin in December and will focus on developing and commercialising a leading edge hydrostatic, continuously variable transmission with a flywheel-based energy storage system. This is expected to deliver improved performance along with reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. It should also allow manufacturers of off-highway equipment to downsize engines across a wide range of construction machines.

Flywheel-based energy storage technology is ideally suited to off-highway and construction equipment applications because it offers a robust, low-cost way to allow engine downsizing while improving machine productivity.

Staff from the School of Engineering and Technology will provide advanced simulation, modeling and design expertise in the area of computational fluid dynamics, rotadynamics and finite element analysis. The research will also benefit from the University’s High Performance Computing cluster.

Dr Rodney Day, Associate Dean (Research and Commercial) in the School of Engineering and Technology said: ‘This is a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with two leading companies to develop this novel technology for the off-highway market.’

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Hitachi helps to build a better Stockholm
    November 19, 2024
    The ZE135 electric excavator has been put to the test on a high-profile development in the Stockholm Green Innovation District. This new growth area for technology and sustainability is being developed with the goal of renewing and building urban spaces with climate-smart solutions.
  • Bitumen technology: counting carbon emissions from road works
    March 13, 2024
    This month we look at accurate carbon counting, a biobinder that does not come at a premium and efforts to increase recycled content - Kristina Smith reports
  • Multiple asphalt plants supply major highway construction
    July 12, 2012
    One company has produced eight asphalt plants for a major project, and others are introducing new models as Patrick Smith reports Algeria's US$11.2 billion East-West Highway development, the world's largest current highway construction project, forms part of the larger Trans-Maghreb Motorway project, and is scheduled for completion in 2010. It will run for 1,216km, ensuring the link between Annaba in the north-east and Tlemcen in the north-west, passing directly through 24 provinces and linking Algeria to T
  • Caterpillar offers improved backhoe loader range
    April 10, 2015
    Caterpillar aims to capture new customers with its latest generation of backhoe loaders. Versatile, durable, productive, reliable and highly mobile, these machines can be used with a wide array of attachments and tools to handle an even wider range of tasks on construction sites. The new F2-Series machines, 427F2, 428F2, 432F2, 434F2, and 444F2, take over from the proven F-Series. These revamped models feature an all-new cab as well as the latest low emission, low noise engine technology. These more effi