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August 9, 2023
Fairbanks Morse Defense, ORNL
collaborate on developing low-lifecycle carbon fuel (LLCF) technology
for marine engines
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and
Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD), a portfolio company of Arcline
Investment Management, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) to collaborate on the development and integration of alternative
fuel technologies aimed at reducing the marine engine’s reliance on
fossil fuels. FMD will incorporate the research and development
conducted at ORNL into its engine design technology.
Marine engines heavily rely on diesel fuel, which constitutes a
significant annual expense for the Department of Defense (DOD).
However, global decarbonization efforts are expected to limit the
availability of diesel fuel and drive up costs. In anticipation of
this shift, the DOD is exploring options to transition its marine
engine technology to low-lifecycle carbon fuels (LLCF) such as
methanol, ammonia, hydrogen, and biodiesel.
Oak Ridge is a leader in
decarbonization research, clean energy technology development, and
defense manufacturing. Collaborating with a trusted national security
partner like Fairbanks Morse Defense will enable us to translate our
scientific expertise into deployable technologies for the Department
of Defense.
—Moe Khaleel, Associate Laboratory Director for National Security
Sciences
Under the terms of the MOU, ORNL will leverage
its research and development expertise, while FMD will contribute its
power and propulsion design and manufacturing proficiency to promote
the use of LLCFs in marine engines.
FMD will define the performance and durability
requirements and design testing components, while ORNL will provide
research support in combustion strategies for LLCFs, high-temperature
materials, additive manufacturing, elastomer compatibility, and
corrosion.
Additional partnership intentions from the MOU
include:
-
Collaborating on program development
to identify and secure external research and development
opportunities.
-
Establishing a single-cylinder research engine
laboratory dedicated to exploring breakthroughs in areas such as
safe fuel handling, LLCF combustion strategy, and experimental
engine hardware configurations.
-
Supporting alternative fuel
combustion development strategy through modeling studies that employ
advanced analytics such as computational fluid dynamics simulations
using high-performance computing resources.
DoD issues solicitation for range
extender for future tactical electric vehicles
The Department of Defense (DoD) has issued a solicitation for
a Tactical Range Extender Enhancer for future electric vehicles.
The US military engages in operations far from
the US, making expansive—and expensive—logistics tails necessary in
order to operate effectively. The US Department of Defense expects
that in the future it will likely operate in distant and dispersed
locations and may face increased threats and obstacles to logistical
supply lines unencountered in the previous half-century.
As such, the DoD is focusing on reducing demand
on the supply system in order to maintain complete operational ability
to meet any mission. Currently, one of the major components and
consumers of the logistic footprint is liquid fuel necessary to power
equipment such as tactical vehicles.
Future fleets of tactical vehicles may largely
incorporate battery electric drivetrains. However, vehicles with only
a single all-electric, battery-driven powertrain create range and
recharging obstacles because of the inability to package the required
amount of energy storage on board an existing tactical vehicle.
With the solicitation, DoD is seeking a
commercial solution that would extend the range of its future fleet of
ground vehicles that use a single all-electric powertrain. This would
allow for a fleet that offers reduced fuel consumption and achieves
the desired range and mobility, along with increased on-board and
export generation.
The all-in-one range extender unit must use
internally stored or externally fed aviation turbine fuel and convert
to high-voltage DC power to charge the vehicle’s propulsion energy
storage system. The system should also provide the necessary
components to convert liquid hydrocarbon fuel into electrical energy
and deliver it to the government-supplied vehicle energy storage
system; and be able to integrate with a vehicle platform mounting
provisions, electrical systems, communication systems, and fuel
systems.
The system must be able to operate both
on-vehicle or in a dismounted configuration. This includes:
-
The ability to operate in a stationary
condition to act as a high-voltage DC fast-charging station for
ground vehicles under a continuous duty cycle; and
-
Unit compliance with Tactical
Microgrid Standards (TMS) protocol (Mil-Std-3071).
The unit must also include capability to offer
flash upgradeable software drops as capabilities improve/change; must
communicate via SAE J1939 CAN; and must include a display with
embedded software for dismounted operations.
The complete solution should be packageable into
a single unit for widespread distribution and ease of installation
into Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) future product lines.
The range extender unit must include all of the
required equipment for operation to include, but not limited to:
combustion engine, generator, controller, interface connections (fuel,
power, communications), on-board fuel, cooling system and starting.
Wärtsilä will supply methanol-fueled
auxiliary engines for the French shipping company CMA CGM. The
engines have been ordered for six 15,000 TEU container vessels which
are being built at the Dalian Shipbuilding yard in China. The order
was booked by Wärtsilä in Q2 2023.
![](images/images_08_09_2023/6a00d8341c4fbe53ef02b751ad55a2200c-500wi.png)
The six container vessels will be the first CMA
CGM vessels ordered to operate on methanol fuel. The choice of
methanol is stated to be central to the company’s current
decarbonization ambitions, as operating an engine on methanol produces
fewer pollutants than diesel and can be produced from sustainable,
renewable-based energy sources.
For each of the vessels, the full Wärtsilä scope
includes three six-cylinder and one seven-cylinder Wärtsilä 32M
engines fitted with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems.
The equipment is scheduled for delivery
commencing in late 2024, and the vessel is expected to be delivered in
autumn 2025.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
Nathan1@greenplayammonia.com
exactrix@exactrix.com
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