Impressive news from the new Prototype CNG category late yesterday afternoon: team Microjoule-La Joliverie pulled off a 2,521km/litre equivalent first attempt (imagine driving from Rotterdam to Palermo on one litre). New category, new benchmark.
The first UrbanConcept challenge started this morning. First on track was Louis Delage School from France with their gasoline car, pulling off 476km/litre equivalent to lead their category and set a new record. French Team IUT GMP Valenciennes from France have set a record of 1,323km/l in the Prototype diesel category.
DTU Roadrunners soon rode triumphantly to the top of the UrbanConcept ethanol category with 557km/l equivalent. After fire damaged their car two days ago, and with 200 hours of combined teamwork under their belts, the result was just 42km/l short of their 2014 winning best.
In Prototype gasoline, team TED from France swept into the lead, above Remmi-Team, with 2,308km/l.
The car’s internal combustion engine uses a high-pressure injection system to deliver a fine spray of gasoline and air into the combustion chamber about 25 times per second. The size of the spray nozzles and the duration of each jet (just 7 milliseconds) are critical to the engine’s performance.
The same principle applies when using compressed natural gas, except natural gas moves much more freely than liquid gasoline. The challenge for CNG teams this year is to hit just the right balance between the size of the spray nozzles and the timing of the jets. It also means fine-tuning their electrical systems. Gas purity also has a big impact on performance.
Shell Press Release.
Please follow the link for details:
http://www.shell.com/global/environment-society/ecomarathon/events/europe/2015-highlights/innovation-is-all.html