for their vehicles. We are like a
consulting company for them. Our
business model is such that we don’t
make money while consulting, we
mainly make money on the licence
royalty when the engine goes into
production.
Q: Does that mean you have 12
different royalties coming in now?
A: These projects are in different
phases; they are all engaged with
us for getting this technology for
production. We have projects for
engines from 50 HP to 4000 MW for
cars, light trucks, range extenders
in hybrids, medium to heavy duty
trucks, US class 8 trucks (10-15
litre engines) and for ships. We also
have customers who are designing
engines for UAV (Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle) and
aeroplanes with
us.
Q: Have these
customers
deployed
these engines
in their
vehicles for
tests?
A: Not yet.
We have also
developed
the Alpha-1
engine for the
Defence sector
but it has not
yet gone for
vehicle trials.
However, our
ship engine
will be put into
production first.
Q: For marine
application
how is it going to help in terms of
tonnes of fuel per km?
A: Even for big ship engines fuel
economy matters a lot so we use
opposed-piston engines that are
cost effective. In power generation
there is an additional advantage with
two-stroke engines that can start very
fast. They are also used as back-up
engines in big power plants because
they can supply power faster than the
four-stroke.
Q: What kind of benefits can these
marine applications give?
A: Our customers are looking for an
upgraded version of their engines that
can meet the next emission levels.
Also, our opposed-piston is capable
of handling multiple fuels. We havestarted a project in 2016 for 2.7 litre
gasoline compression ignition engine
with ARPAE (Advanced Research
Projects Agency Energy) which is
a US research organisation funded
by the US government. They give
lots of funding in different segments.
Achates Power has got the highest
award in the history of ARPAE; their
interest is to get the best technology
available in the market.
Q: How many customers do you
have in India?
A: We have a few in Asia including
India.
Q: What is the feedback from your
customers in India? The country
is now in transformation - what
Europe did in 11 years India is
trying to do in three and a half
years, going from Euro-4 to Euro-6.
On those lines, is Achates Power
helping customers to reach that
level?
A: Yes, we have published a paper
recently in India on our engines
meeting the Euro-6 emission norms.
When Indian OEMs upgrade their
engines from Euro-4 to Euro-6 the
big problem is the rising cost and the
reduction in fuel economy because of
higher back pressure, EGR (exhaust
gas recirculation) etc. The value we
create in our engine is that the brake-
specific fuel consumption (BSFC) is
going to be so high that with after-
treatment you will get 20 percent
more in fuel economy. Without
after-treatment opposed-piston can
support Euro-6 but there will be
a trade-off. Instead of a full DOC-
DPF-SCR (diesel oxidation catalyst,
diesel particulate filter, selective
catalytic reduction) if there is an
after-treatment that is cheaper, thenA47 EngineJunkers Jumo Engine