The three-cylinder, six-piston engine has decent performance, unexpectedly low emissions and was designed to burn petrol, diesel, gas and hydrogen. In addition, he will soon set out on the road.
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While the supply of diesel engines is declining considerably in conventional passenger cars and is being replaced by electrified drives, in commercial vehicles, especially those intended for long-distance transport, the situation is quite different.
Some manufacturers are already talking about their gradual conversion to electric drive, whether battery or hydrogen, but so far we are talking more about visions and long-distance running. However, long-distance transport operators will need an alternative to current propulsion units soon.
An interesting solution is offered by Achates Power, whose new engine was recently pointed out by the Commercial Carrier Journal. The technology, parameters and capabilities of the engine are a little breathtaking.
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The new Achates Power engine is two-stroke, has three cylinders with six counter-rotating pistons, its maximum power should be in doubt around 400 hp, the highest torque should reach up to 2,373 Nm (but with the potential for further growth) and at the same time strict California emission standards for 2027.
Achates Power is backed by James Lemke (an innovator in internal combustion engines, holder of 114 US patents) and James Walton, the son of the founder of the Walmart chain. In addition, the oil company Saudi Aramco, one of the largest in the world, contributed financially to the development of the engine, which has been going on since 2018.
From the outset, Achates Power has focused on developing reciprocating internal combustion engines that have seen significant potential for reducing emissions – in an economical way using only a two-stroke engine instead of a four-stroke engine. The inspiration was to be old aircraft engines.
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The new engine was first tested on Aramco’s engine brake in Detroit and at Achates’ own facility in San Diego. Then the engine was installed in a Peterbilt 579 tractor, with which it undergoes testing in real conditions, so it is not just a vision without real foundations.
At the same time, the engine manufacturer is so sure of its qualities that he wants to fit one of Walmart’s tractors with it. Under the hood of the colossus cruising the US will be a 10.6-liter engine, which has only three cylinders and six counter-rotating pistons.
In addition, CALSTART, which conducts emission tests for the US state of California, confirmed that the new engine was able to achieve emissions of 0.02 grams of NOx per horse in one hour of operation. Achates then quotes executive vice president of CASTART, according to whom the novelty should be the cleanest combustion engine in the world with the lowest emissions.
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However, Fabien Redon, Achates Power’s chief technical officer, suggested that the engine could be even cleaner. Its design allows for the possibility of burning gasoline, diesel, gas and hydrogen. “You can imagine an engine that burns hydrogen with almost no need to adjust the exhaust and with almost zero exhaust emissions.”
The advantage in the combustion of hydrogen, instead of its use in fuel cells supplying batteries and electric motors, should, according to Redon, be in relatively low demands on the quality of hydrogen. For combustion, lower quality and especially cheaper hydrogen would be enough than what is needed for refueling in hydrogen electric cars.
But as Toyota has recently pointed out, which is testing a three-cylinder hydrogen-powered GR Yaris cylinder at the Corolle, hydrogen-burning engines still produce small amounts of NOx and minimal CO2. However, their elimination would probably not be so difficult with current technologies.
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