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year at the Intermat Expo in Paris – a massive international
exhibition targeting the global construction and infrastructure
industries.
One of the keynote speakers – Dr Kelly Senecal – is an
American engineer and the co-founder of Convergent Science
(developers of Converge software). he company specialises
in CFD (computational luid dynamics) simulations and, in
particular, in ‘virtually’ recreating what happens inside a
combustion chamber – when high compression ignites the
diesel-air mixture as the piston reaches the top of its stroke.
he automotive industry is one of his major clients and he
works closely with engineers on problems related to combustion
modelling and other luid low phenomena. hanks to insights
gleaned from this research, Senecal preaches a diferent
message about the future of diesel engines.
It goes something like this: “diesel engines are continuously
improving and evolving – and have been for many years. hey
are nowhere near their optimum. With more research, they will
run cleaner, with greater eiciency and improved performance.
his is a time of opportunity for engine manufacturers.”
He reminded delegates that while European emissions
standards for construction machinery have become
progressively more stringent – beginning with the Stage I
regulations in the late 1990s – the new Stage V regulations(efective next year) will introduce even tighter restrictions on
carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions.
hese will drive signiicant improvements in the overall
eiciency and performance of the diesel engine – and every
sector using the engines, including the marine industry – will
beneit.
Senecal stresses he is neither anti-alternative fuels nor
anti-electric. Indeed, he welcomes the technologies and readily
concedes that electric and hybrid vehicles will be fundamental
to future transportation. But he is adamant that the diesel
engine will also be there.
A diesel engine, he says, provides a unique combination of
torque, reliability and convenience that’s unmatched by other
technologies, and while electric and hybrid technologies are
advancing steadily, they also have inherent problems which will
have to be addressed.
hese include concerns about the viable range of electric
vehicles, the time needed to recharge batteries, the relatively
underdeveloped infrastructure of recharging stations – and the
need to ind a way to decommission and recycle batteries safely
and eiciently. Crucially, supplies of the vital ingredients that go
into battery technologies – lithium and cobalt – are also limited.
Furthermore, battery production is not emission-free, nor
is generating electricity for recharging batteries. he majorityDiesel
engines are
continuously
improving
and evolving- and have
been for many
years. They
are nowhere
near their
optimum...
LEFT Kelly Senecal- reports about the
death of the diesel
are a little premature.