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 decreasing greenhouse gasoline emissions and bettering effectivity — however the steps they take to maintain staffers secure from hydrogen ought to give H lovers pause.
An enlargement 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 allows increased, more durable torque hits than the corporate’s older, “rolling highway” sort check rigs, which Cummins says is essential 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 numerous security measures to make sure the ability was secure for hydrogen — which is sensible (you wish to be secure, in any case). Nonetheless, contemplating all of the hype about battery fires, you’d assume the hydrogen could be much less of a priority.
See how this reads to you:
As regards to hydrogen, the check space includes a collection of security checks. These embody 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 strain.
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 gasoline 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 huge, 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 will be hooked as much as dynamometers. With all wheels related, the onboard methods can higher simulate situations 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 gasoline and air high quality impacts of our merchandise,” explains Jonathon White, Vice President, Engine Enterprise Engineering at Cummins. “(We’re) serving to our clients of their power transition, no matter (powertrain) resolution they select.”
Electrek’s Take
Regardless of breaking floor on a brand new, $2 billion battery manufacturing facility 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 unattainable 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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