Author: Hiflux

Hiflux, in collaboration with Dolphin N2 & Brighton University, & supported by BMT, are winners of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 2.

HydroMAR-E is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 2 (CMDC2) which was launched in May 2022, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

As part of the CMDC2, the Department allocated over £14m to 31 projects supported by 121 organisations from across the UK to deliver feasibility studies and collaborative R&D projects in clean maritime solutions.

The CMDC2 is part of the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emission’s (UK SHORE) flagship multi-year CMDC programme.

In March 2022, the Department announced the biggest government investment ever in our UK commercial maritime sector, allocating £206m to UK SHORE, a new division within the Department for Transport focused on decarbonising the maritime sector.

UK SHORE is delivering a suite of interventions throughout 2022-2025 aimed at accelerating the design, manufacture and operation of UK-made clean maritime technologies and unlocking an industry-led transition to Net Zero.

HydroMAR-E will develop a mono-fuel Hydrogen version of the Recuperated Split Cycle Engine (RSCE).

This highly innovative thermal engine can be used in a range of heavy duty applications for land and sea. It offers very high efficiency (competitive with a PEM fuel cell), very low emissions (SULEV with aftertreatment), and ease of transition (existing ICE manufacture and installation requirements; moderate capital cost increase).

Uniquely, and unlike a standard ICE, the RSCE has demonstrated ability to use Diesel, Methane and Hydrogen in the same core engine (and has potential for the same with Ammonia or Methanol) with the same high efficiency and low emissions, enabling a rapid transition as future fuels become more widely available.

HydroMAR-E will use a laboratory single cylinder engine, which has already demonstrated starting and running, to develop this spark-guided system to TRL4, then a multi-cylinder prototype to demonstrate TRL5 in readiness for future application demonstration in marine (and other) environments. Hiflux will develop an improved recuperator system and associated engine integration. Other support work will review marinization, installation, vessel systems and regulatory aspects.

The project brings together Hiflux with the lead technology developer Dolphin N2 (Part of the Iveco Group, a global supplier of marine engines in the 100-600kW range), Brighton University (the UK APC’s Thermal Propulsion Efficiency spoke) and leading marine architects BMT.

Hiflux has increased the capabilities of its in-house analysis tools to include:

• Transient Temperature
• Transient Pressure
• Multiphase Fluids
• Real Gas Properties
• Catalytic reactions

This allows Hiflux to quickly assess applications with complex conditions or requirements.

FPT Industrial, brand of CNH Industrial dedicated to the design, production and sale of powertrains for on and off-road vehicles, marine and power generation applications, has purchased Ricardo plc spin-out Dolphin N2 and its revolutionary recuperated split-cycle engine.
The engine is extremely efficient, making it more comparable to a fuel cell than to a traditional engine. It also produces near-zero emissions of harmful nitrogen oxide (NOx) – a world first.
To enable the sale, the technology was developed and proven in an Innovate UK-funded consortium project called StepCO2, with Dolphin N2, Ricardo plc, Brighton University, Sheffield University and Hiflux Ltd as partners.
The new technology will be suitable for heavy duty vehicles including long-haul trucks, stationary power, off-highway equipment and self-powered multi-mode railway traction, applications that are, at present, unsuitable for battery-electric propulsion. Unlike with cars, a long-haul truck would need to use a sizeable proportion of its cargo space to house the number of batteries needed to propel the truck if it were electrified.
The Recuperated Split Cycle process combines the recovery of otherwise wasted exhaust heat with a complete re-design of the engine’s core four-stroke principle, splitting the cold and hot parts of the cycle. UK-based company Hiflux Ltd have developed a unique compact high temperature heat exchanger – one of the enabling components of this engine.
The invention is seen as one of the most significant advances in engine design in years. Simon Brewster, CEO of Dolphin N2, said: “FPT Industrial is the ideal partner to take this revolutionary technology to market. We knew the technology had world-leading efficiency, but through our work on the StepCO2 programme, we have also been able to demonstrate incredibly low levels of NOx emissions.
Tanzi Besant, Managing Director of Hiflux said: “Hiflux is pleased to be involved in this exciting engine development – the commercial importance of which has clearly been demonstrated by the acquisition of Dolphin N2 by FPT Industrial. Hiflux has a unique heat exchanger technology which is well suited for the demanding operating conditions such an engine presents along with highly automated manufacturing methods necessary for volume applications.”
https://dolphin-n2.com/
https://www.brighton.ac.uk/news/2020/fpt-industrial-buys-brightons-super-clean-engine-technology
https://www.fptindustrial.com/global/Documents/PRESS_release/2019/FPT_Dolphin_English.pdf

Hiflux is delighted to have been selected for this programme which will help us introduce our technology into the automotive sector.

www.apcuk.co.uk/news/from-batteries-to-fuel-cells-1-1m-is-invested-in-15-uk-technology-developers-to-take-their-technology-to-the-next-level/

The StepCO2 project aims to develop the Ricardo CryoPower technology, a recuperated, split-cycle engine that potentially offers a 30% reduction in fuel use and direct greenhouse gases, and zero-impact exhaust emissions. The technology uses liquid nitrogen (LiN) as an in-cylinder cooling medium or “secondary fuel”, but this LiN is already made using wrong-time renewables, and its low cost means that there is a 20% net fuel saving. The technology targets heavy duty, long-haul trucks, distributed power gen-sets, marine and locomotive sectors.

Details of the grant and partners can be found at https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=103262

Hiflux recently completed a 14 month Innovate UK funded programme to investigate how new laser technology could be used to make our manufacturing methods suitable for high volume production. Hiflux collaborated with Imperial College and ECM Developments on this highly successful project which attracted £324,378 of grant funding.

Hiflux intends to continue this work to develop the technology required for high volume automation.

The details of the competition can be viewed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/567982/Materials_and_Manufacturing_up_to_12_Month_Projects_-_Competition_Result….pdf (Page 3)

Hiflux hardware will be showcased as part of the Advanced Propulsion Centre display of innovative UK technology.  Cenex LCV will take place on the 14th and 15th of September and is the UK’s premier exhibition of low carbon vehicle technology.

On Thursday the 11th of February, Hiflux Limited will present to an audience of investors, buyers, industry specialists and support agencies at the Royal Institution of Great Britain.  Details are available at http://www.cleantechinnovate.com/

Hiflux is a partner in a EUR 5.77 million EU funded Horizon 2020 project to develop a full scale technology demonstrator of a hybrid solid oxide fuel cell / mictroturbine power plant using biogas as the main fuel. The 4 year project commenced 1 June 2015.

Hiflux Limited is pleased to announce that Brian Count has been appointed to the Board of Directors as Chairman. Brian has a wealth of experience in the energy industry as a former Chief Executive of RWE Trading and Innogy, as a former member of the UK Industrial Development Advisory Board and as a former Non-Executive Director of Eskom, South Africa’s state owned electricity utility. Brian is also Chairman and founding investor in Jacoma Limited and Non-Executive Chairman of InfraCo Africa.

Founder and former Chairman John Coplin remains a Director.