Powertrain components supplier Tenneco is testing hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines (ICE) at newly established test facilities in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Burscheid, Germany.
The Illinois-based company said its goal is to help original equipment (OE) engine and vehicle manufacturers accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions created by future combustion-engine generations by decarbonizing the ICE.
“We support a pragmatic approach of complementary technologies that provide solutions for different transportation sectors,” said Stefan Rittmann, vice president of engineering with Tenneco’s powertrain business group. “We contend it’s not combustion-engine technology causing greenhouse gas emissions in the product-use phase; it is the fuel used in the ICE that defines the vehicle emissions. Therefore, green hydrogen, which is produced from renewable energies and carbon-free by nature, offers great potential for cleaner transportation, especially in sectors difficult to electrify, such as heavy-duty commercial vehicles, on- and off-highway applications, and the industrial and marine sectors.”
As a leading supplier of engine components, including pistons, piston rings, bearings, seals and gaskets, valves, valve seats and guides, and ignition devices, Tenneco leverages its ICE expertise in various hydrogen and alternative-fuel project partnerships with manufacturers. Tenneco’s new test cells support manufacturers in their H2 ICE concepts, testing prototype engines and components for durability, wear, emissions, fuel-efficiency, and performance.
“Using our knowledge about the influence of hydrogen on the combustion process and on the powertrain control unit (PCU), we are able to address hydrogen-specific challenges like pre-ignition and H2-slip into the crankcase, as well as the influence on tribology and materials,” said Dr. Steffen Hoppe, director of technology for rings and liners in Tenneco’s powertrain group. “The R&D from our H2 test benches, along with support from our simulation tools like PRiME3D, can accelerate the development process and help our customers go to market with highly efficient H2 combustion engines faster.”
Tenneco’s new H2 ICE test facilities provide a broad bandwidth of high-accuracy engine measurement capabilities, including:
- Light and heavy-duty engine testing up to 700kW
- Eddy current and AC dyno
- ECU connectivity, calibration and tuning:
- dynamic engine operation; driving cycles / engine in the loop
- H2 supply up to 50bar and 90kg/h
- H2 concentration measurement (exhaust and blow-by path)
- Combustion Analysis
- Emissions testing for HC, CO, CO2, NOX, FSN
- Gaseous emissions
- Particulate number (PN) count / PN size distribution; Particulate Matter (PM)
- Radioactive tracer for oil emissions
- In-line oil consumption and oil emission analysis
- Automated fuel map testing
- Ignition parameter evaluation
- Thermal shock testing
- Precise overall real-time engine monitoring