Episode 20: Creating a Cleaner Diesel Engine

Technology Today

Southwest Research Institute

Technology

4.8 • 19 Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2020

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Vehicles our communities depend on, like big rigs, garbage trucks and buses, are equipped with heavy-duty engines that contribute to smog. Ultimately, that pollution leads to poor air quality and public health issues. SwRI engineers have developed a solution. Their near-zero emissions heavy-duty diesel engine drastically cuts down on harmful nitrogen oxides, while decreasing other pollutants. After years of research, SwRI engineer Chris Sharp and his team are ready to introduce a game-changing technology in heavy-duty transportation that could benefit human health. Listen now as we learn about a cleaner way to hit the road.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Less emissions cleaner air.
0:02.7	This goal inspired an advanced engine technology for big rigs and other heavy-duty transportation.
0:09.2	Coming up, how SWRI engineers achieved an incredible feat, a near-zero-emissions diesel engine.
0:17.1	That's next on this episode of Technology Today.
0:32.3	We live with technology, science, engineering, and the results of innovative research every day.
0:34.2	Now let's understand it better.
0:39.3	You're listening to the Technology Today podcast, presented by Southwest Research Institute. Hello and welcome to Technology Today. I'm Lisa Benia. Many of us continue to work from home, so we are recording this episode on the phone.
0:48.3	SWRI engineer Chris Sharp is our guest today. He is leading a project considered a game changer in
0:56.4	transportation, specifically for heavy-duty vehicles like 18-wheeler's. After years of research,
1:03.3	his team developed an environmentally friendly diesel engine. Thank you for joining us today,
1:09.0	Chris. Thank you for having me, Lisa.
1:17.2	So, Chris, you and your team have come up with a potential solution for those emissions from the 18-wheelers on our roads. Tell us about this technology you developed. What is it and how does
1:22.4	it work? So the technology that we've developed is really an advanced, you know, cutting-edge after-treatment
1:29.8	system that can be integrated with a modern heavy-duty engine so that the total package
1:35.9	has really near zero and most of the time zero emissions of harmful criteria pollutants and can do that in an efficient manner as well so that
1:48.3	we can also try to realize improved fuel consumption at the same time. Have you been met with
1:55.2	some, I guess, questions about how is this possible? How are you able to achieve near zero emissions in a diesel engine?
2:02.6	You know, in part what we're doing is we're taking there, because there's quite a bit of technology
2:06.6	that's already on modern diesel engines, especially since about the 2010 timeframe.
2:12.6	But we're really taking that technology to the next level.
2:20.8	You know, already since 20, you know, starting in 2010,
2:25.0	emission levels that used to be out there were reduced by 90%. So that's already a big step.
	...

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