Design & Engineering
Clean Power Technologies' strength lies in our design and engineering capabilities. As development activities have intensified we have made, and continue to make, significant financial and operational investments in our development headquarters in Newhaven, UK.
Facilities
The Newhaven HQ houses a state-of-the-art laboratory Test Cell equipped with dynamometers, temperature and flow measuring sensors and control devices. A truck Caterpillar engine was installed along with a heat extraction accumulator designed by steam plant specialists Doosan Babcock.
The facility allows tests to be run on a range of bespoke trucks imported for Clean Power from the US, under controlled conditions through a Dynamometer. The key benefit is that we can accurately measure all the trucks' exhaust output characteristics, crucial in validating the CESAR system.
We have recently made a major investment of around $170,000 in a Rolling Road Dynamometer manufactured by Dynomite of New Hampshire, USA. This substantial piece of equipment accommodates a maximum weight double-drive axle truck on its truck wheel driven rollers. By applying electrical inertia to the rollers, our engineers can simulate all the road conditions that a truck may encounter in its day-to-day operation such as hilly terrain, urban stop-start and interstate highway running. Using the data collected in mid 2008 during a three-week exercise with Safeway operations in Canada it will be possible to simulate missions and develop and refine particular applications to deliver maximum fuel benefits and minimum emissions.
The equipment will allow the speedy characterisation of any vehicle exhaust temperature, flow and constituency together with fuel usage under fully controlled laboratory conditions.
The Rolling Road will provide the 'hub' of the development and validation programme for the CESAR system ensuring optimum functionality for vehicle application. The issue of durability will be addressed by other recent investments made in Multi Axis Shaker Test Rigs which will be programmed to home in on harmful resonant frequencies for the system identified by data collection from the operation of the truck over specific proving ground surfaces.
Ten-Year Life Target
Our aim is for our technology to have the durability and strength to last at least ten years under intense and varying road conditions for any given vehicle. By running the Shaker Rigs in environmental enclosures, capable of operating between -40 and +50 degrees Celsius, and using 24 hour running, we can simulate ten years of intensive use in a period of only a few months. We can therefore ensure that all our systems are optimised to be able to meet the ten-year life target under all conditions.
The Test Facility has expanded significantly as development activities have intensified and now covers some 7,500 sq. feet. Dedicated 'test' areas have been established for the Dynamometer Test Cell alongside the Rolling Road and for the electro/hydraulic Multi Axis Shaker and Component Fatigue Rigs together with the associated Four Poster Vertical Input Vibration Rig. A dedicated 'machining' area for the Prototype Machine and Assembly Shop, including a state-of-the-art Numerical Control Machining Centre, has also been established.
Investment in People
We currently have a strong team of talented and highly qualified design and engineering specialists in our Newhaven site. Our engineers together have over 100 years of experience in the automotive and truck industry with particular expertise in materials sourcing, process design and cost control, which is invaluable as Clean Power moves into the important phase of commercialisation. We have also recently installed a purpose built, fully equipped Computer Aided Design Centre adjacent to the Test and Machining areas to ensure that our team of specialist CAD designers have all the tools they require at their fingertips.