NSF Award
9460488
Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) proposes to develop a clean-starting, high turndown advanced technology catalytic combustor as the combustor for small gas turbine engines for use in hybrid range-extended electric automotive vehicles. The low NOx (e.g., l-2ppm) offered by an efficient lean burn catalytic combustor together with the ability of clean starting (minimizing hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide omissions) would make a range-extended (and hence commercially attractive) electric vehicle with low enough emissions to satisfy air quality needs. In this Phase I, PCI will seek to experimentally establish the viability of its concepts for clean cold starting in an advanced catalytic combustor. The emissions goal is to achieve better than California ULEV standards, and to explore the potential for achieving emissions, especially of NOx, in the same range as electric utilities with state-of-the-art aftertreatment. Such an engine could legitimately be considered a `Zero Emission Vehicle` engine.
