Cummins says the brand new dyno facility positions the corporate on the forefront of ultra-low and nil emissions powertrain applied sciences because the business shifts its focus to lowering greenhouse fuel emissions and bettering effectivity — however the steps they take to maintain staffers secure from hydrogen ought to give H lovers pause.
An growth of its European Technical Operations features, Cummins introduced the official opening of its new, gas agnostic Powertrain Check Facility on the firm’s Darlington, UK campus final week.
The brand new dyno facility permits larger, more durable torque hits than the corporate’s older, “rolling highway” kind check rigs, which Cummins says is necessary as it really works to develop a wider vary of automobiles with electrical motors powered by batteries or hydrogen. And, as I alluded to above, Cummins took quite a few security measures to make sure the ability was secure for hydrogen — which is smart (you need to be secure, in spite of everything). Nonetheless, contemplating all of the hype about battery fires, you’d suppose the hydrogen can be much less of a priority.
See how this reads to you:
Close to hydrogen, the check space contains a sequence of security checks. These embrace sensors positioned across the car and the inside of the ability to watch for gas leaks. The inside partitions are designed to guard check engineers within the occasion of an explosion, whereas exterior partitions have specially-designed plates to assist alleviate blast stress.
Moreover, the HVAC system is able to renewing all air within the chamber greater than as soon as per minute, which helps to forestall construct up of harmful fuel pockets.
julian buckley, energy progress worldwide
Yikes!
Cummins put greater than $16.5 million into its new check facility, which might accommodate automobiles starting from LD and MD pickups, to large, 44-ton OTR semi vehicles and the UK’s well-known double decker transit buses. Whereas many of those solely use one pushed axle, each entrance and rear axles may be hooked as much as dynamometers. With all wheels related, the onboard programs can higher simulate circumstances on actual roads, once more serving to to ship extra correct knowledge because it calibrates its powertrains.
“(The brand new facility) is a key a part of our Vacation spot Zero technique to scale back the greenhouse fuel and air high quality impacts of our merchandise,” explains Jonathon White, Vice President, Engine Enterprise Engineering at Cummins. “(We’re) serving to our prospects of their vitality transition, no matter (powertrain) resolution they select.”
Electrek’s Take
Regardless of breaking floor on a brand new, $2 billion battery manufacturing unit in Mississippi just a few weeks in the past, Cummins appears dedicated to not committing to a battery electrical future. However, if something goes to persuade Cummins’ administration that it’s not possible for hydrogen to successfully compete with battery electrical (one thing VW Group’s MAN Vehicles division has already determine, by the best way), it’d simply be a sketchy hydrogen incident.
Right here’s hoping it doesn’t come to that. And, to any readers working on the new Darlington check facility: keep secure, gang!
SOURCE | IMAGES: Cummins, Energy Progress.
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