Reducing emissions with better fuel technology

In summary

The UK is taking important steps to develop clean technologies to help reduce local and global carbon emissions.  Diesel engines are responsible for almost 13 per cent  of all human-made CO2 emissions yearly.

Academics in the International Institute for Cavitation Research, City St George’s, University of London are playing a key role in developing new high pressure fuel systems to reduce pollution and increase engine thermodynamic efficiency.

It is estimated that the CO2 emission savings from the industry sale of products co-designed with the tools developed at City St George’s equate to emissions produced per year by a city of 200,000 people.

What did we explore and how?

Funded by the Marie Curie ITN and Global Fellowships, the researchers worked in partnership with industry giants BP, Caterpillar and Lubrizol and collaborated with Sandia and Argonne national laboratories, US, using their experimental facilities.

The team developed a series of computational methods and codes for multi-phase flow dynamics, conducting specialised experiments to validate them.  This led to the development of novel design tools for producing durable fuel injection equipment.

Benefits and influence of this research

The new methods developed at City St George’s help predict and avoid the catastrophic cavitation erosion of equipment, resulting in considerable economic benefits and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The research has also improved understanding of the role additives play in increasing the flow efficiency of fuel injectors and hydraulic devices.