In our new laboratory we will be able to test different combinations of petrol and diesel as well as alternative fuels such as ethanol, tallow, various oil and tallow esters, DMF (2,5 dimethyl furan) and synthetic diesel, and gain a full picture of what is happening in an engine. This will help us to do more research into making engines cleaner and more efficient. We will also be able to research the most efficient modes of emissions aftertreatment aided by hydrogen from on-board fuel reforming.

—Professor Miroslaw Wyszynski, lead investigator from the University of Birmingham’s School of Mechanical Engineering

The facility, based at the University of Birmingham’s School of Mechanical Engineering, includes a highly transient cold climate engine and powertrain test facility and a clean combustion and alternative fuels research laboratory.

The new cold climate test chamber comprises a 260 kW AC dynamometer (with possible extension to 370 kW) so that large passenger vehicle engines and medium sized off-road car engines can be tested in controllable conditions similar to those on the road. With capability to freeze an engine, fuel and lubricant to temperatures of minus 20 degrees (Celsius), this facility will enable understanding and evaluation of the effects of adverse climatic conditions on engine start-up and resulting emissions in very cold conditions.

Optical diagnostic equipment and ultra-high speed cameras that take photos up to a million frames a second will enable the scientists to advance optimization of flow and combustion processes in an engine and improve system designs. One of the main applications optical diagnostic research is to improve the efficiency of combustion engines in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The laboratory houses advanced instrumentation for emissions diagnostics so that the physical and chemical properties of particulates and exhaust gases can be measured and fuels and lubricants characterized.

The new equipment will also allow the team to continue its work into on-board fuel reforming.

The Future Power Systems Group at the University of Birmingham already work closely with car and engine manufacturers including Jaguar Land Rover, Ford, Shell Global Solutions, Green Fuel and Johnson Matthey.

The facilities and equipment for this research have been funded by the Science City Research Alliance (SCRA) Energy Efficiency Project. The Energy Efficiency Project is part of a larger investment by Advantage West Midlands and ERDF in the research infrastructure of the West Midlands region, which unites the University of Birmingham and the University of Warwick in a strategic partnership—SCRA—formed under the Birmingham Science City initiative.