Center for Transportation Research
Argonne National Laboratory is developing technologies that will help make advanced vehicles a reality. The laboratory-wide effort include research in batteries, fuel cells, hybrid vehicles, material and manufacturing, modeling and computing, sensors, and technology assessments and systems analyses. To learn more about the Agronne’s transportation research visit the Transportation Technology R&D Center web site. (www.transportation.anl.gov)
Research conducted in the Energy Systems Division in support of Argonne's Transportation Research Program includes:
Argonne 's experimental investigations of engines span a wide range of applications, including automobiles, trucks, and locomotives. New world-class research facilities have been built for both light- and heavy-duty engine research. Our accomplishments have been recognized with an R&D 100 award (1999) for simultaneous reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate emissions from diesel engines. (Engine and Emissions.html)
Argonne researchers are developing and testing various hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and their components to identify the technologies, configurations, and engine control strategies that provide the best combination of high fuel economy and low emissions.
Because of the number of possible advanced powertrain configurations, developing HEVs and fuel cell vehicles requires accurate, flexible simulation tools. As a result, Argonne has developed the Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit © (PSAT under the direction of Ford, General Motors, and DaimlerChrysler. This forward-looking model simulates vehicle fuel economy, emissions, and performance in a realistic manner — taking into account transient behavior and control system characteristics. PSAT can simulate an unrivaled number of predefined configurations (conventional, electric, fuel cell, series hybrid, parallel hybrid, and power split hybrid). (Vehicle Systems.html)
Researchers evaluate the oil-saving potential of various transportation technologies, taking into account costs to individual consumers and to society. They address social costs by assessing how technologies meet present air quality and potential future emissions and air quality requirements. Research results are documented in Argonne National Laboratory reports, conference presentations and papers, and peer-reviewed journal articles. Goals include the following:
- Providing world-class analyses of advanced vehicle technology options
- Evaluating the market potential for electric drive vehicles (hybrids and pure electrics) relative to those of comparable conventional vehicles
- Focusing on the markets and technologies for heavy vehicles to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions and fatalities
- Contributing to development or refinement of regulatory structures that will enable the smooth introduction of advanced and alternatively fueled vehicles into the market
- Assessing potential transitions to a more sustainable transportation system (i.e., a system that uses far fewer energy resources (emphasizing renewables) and emits far fewer greenhouse gases)
- Providing credible assessments of the status and direction of change in today's transportation systems, and
- Developing computer models to support the preceding goals. (Transportation Technology Assessments.html )
Argonne researchers have conducted life-cycle analyses of advanced vehicle technologies and new transportation fuels for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other organizations. The analyses have been carried out on the basis of fuel cycles (or well-to-wheels cycles), vehicle cycles, and/or total energy cycles (including both fuel and vehicle cycles) to provide holistic comparisons among vehicle technologies and fuels. In particular, researchers have analyzed energy and emission effects of battery-powered electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, alternative-fuel vehicles, and fuel-cell vehicles powered with hydrogen produced from different sources. (Systems Assessments.html)
The Tribology and Thermal Management section conducts research on advanced tribological systems (e.g., surface engineered materials, lubricants, fuels, and fuel/lubricant additives) for use in aggressive environments and is leading the development of thermal nanofluids for transportation and industrial applications.
A major portion of this activity focuses on the development and evaluation of high-performance coatings that can be applied to a wide range of materials. Also being investigated is how fuel and lubricant additives interact with surfaces under boundary-layer-lubrication regimes. The coatings are primarily intended to protect engine-component surfaces that undergo sliding and rolling contact in advanced transportation systems, including those powered by diesel and gasoline engines, as well as by advanced energy conversion systems being developed under the sponsorship of DOE’s Office of Vehicle Technologies, Office of Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and Infrastructure Technologies; and U.S. industry.
The Section’s activities include the development of advanced surface modification and material processing technologies, and evaluation of tribological properties. In the area of coatings that reduce friction, the Section has ongoing projects with DOE on development of near-frictionless carbon (NFC) coatings, superhard nanocomposite coatings that show potential for applications where formulated lubricants are employed, and electroless wet-chemical coatings used to fabricate small diesel injector orifices. Advanced thermochemical treatments are also under development to produce thick hard, wear-resistant surfaces on engineered components. Related projects include development of processes to join advanced materials using superplastic deformation.
In the field of tribological evaluations, the Section has projects on laser glazing techniques to reduce parasitic friction losses between wheels and rails (railroad transportation), and laser engineered treatment of surfaces (microdimples) to improve friction behavior of surfaces during hydrodynamic lubrication regimes. Also being evaluated are parasitic energy losses in heavy-duty diesel engines to determine the impact of low friction surfaces and low-viscosity lubricants on fuel economy, durability of advanced materials (NFC, low-friction polymers, etc.) for air compressor applications in fuel cell systems, and erosion properties of materials exposed to nanofluids. Further, the Section has major projects to characterize coating properties and tribological mechanisms, including characterization of boundary layer lubrication mechanisms, and the structural, thermal, and electrical properties of advanced coatings (e.g., NFC). The Section is also working with DOE to evaluate the friction and wear properties of advanced materials and coatings for use in dynamically loaded compressor components such as seals and bearings.
Argonne researchers are examining new ways to improve thermal conductivity in truck engines through the use of nanofluids. In previous research, they demonstrated that the thermal conductivity of ethylene glycol increased by up to about 20% when a small volume (4%) of cupric oxide nanoparticles (having an average diameter of 35 nm) was dispersed in it. A similar gain was seen in a study involving aluminum oxide nanoparticles dispersed in water.
Researchers are focusing on nanoparticles as small as 10 nm in diameter (on average). Several processes to produce nanofluids are being explored. One technique involves changing copper vapor into nanoparticles by allowing the vapor to come into direct contact with a flowing liquid. Another technique involves introduction of solid materials which are chemically reduced into a base fluid. Research has also been initiated to evaluate the potential of advanced nanocomposite carbon for thermoelectric applications. (See also Transportation Materials Research)
The Division has a long track record in the development of technologies to facilitate recycling of industrial materials and automotive materials, in particular. (Automotive Materials Recycle.pdf )
A new 5-year multi-million dollar collaborative research program with the Vehicle Recycling Partnership and the American Plastics Council to develop technology for the recycling of automotive materials was initiated 2003. The objective of this collaboration is to maximize the cost-effective recovery and recycling of automotive materials. ( learn more about the US ELV CRADA )
|
