Transportation Energy

When thinking about energy and transportation one must consider the entire cycle of discovery, production, costs, end use and effluent. The implications of the use of both renewable and non-renewable fuel sources must also be considered. Innovation must be integrated with consideration of environmental impact before and after energy production.

At the University of Kansas we call that Total Energy Innovation - and it begins with what is used to create energy and ends with what that energy leaves behind. In other words . KU is looking at transportation from feedstock to tailpipe.

Members of the KU Energy Council are engaged in active research in production of fuels from raw feedstock - including grains, cellulose, petroleum, and coal, as well as power storage mediums such as hydrogen and batteries. But their interest does not stop there. Energy Council members are also considering the environmental fate of by-products including air emissions, water quality impact, and human health effects. A primary goal of their research is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining a viable economy dependent on affordable transportation.

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• Biofuels:

KU Energy Council researchers in this group are actively pursuing innovations for creating the next-generation bio-refinery. This bio-refinery will will use biomass as feedstock for the sustainable manufacture of biofuels and an array of valuable building block and platform chemicals, such that profitability is maximized without adverse effect to the environment. Several companies, including major energy and technology development companies, through advisory board membership, regularly invest time and money aimed at the development of renewable fuels and production processes that are economically viable.

• Vehicle emissions:

KU Energy Council members are working on innovations aimed at emissions and environment. Their focus area is centered on a specific set of transportation-related technologies, problems, and health-related issues. One component of the groups work is research tied to the utilization of environmentally benign catalysts for the production of alternative fuels.

The primary objective is to produce more environmentally beneficial (high efficiency/lower air pollution emissions) fuels through the use of technology that is itself environmentally responsible.

Catalysts are being fabricated and tested for the production of high quality liquid transportation fuels from methane, the production of hydrogen suitable for use as a proton exchange membrane fuel source, and the production of bio-diesel fuel from waste oil and inexpensive renewable feed stocks.

• Performance:

Throughout the history of automobiles, fuel development has occurred along a synergistic path with the improvement of the internal combustion engine. As a result, current engine technology utilizes petroleum fuels that are created with specific traits to burn efficiently within the combustion chamber. With the influx of bio-fuels into the market, engine technology must be adapted to enhance the bio-fuel traits that increase the efficiency of these engines. For example, ethanol will allow engines to run at higher compression ratios providing more power and better fuel economy. In addition, not all bio-fuels are the same as different feedstocks, like algal oil and used cooking oil, can be used to create bio-diesel with dissimilar characteristics. As a result, engine control must adapt to the different feedstocks in order to maximize the potential of each bio-fuel leading to a further reduction in carbon emissions. At the University of Kansas, work sponsored through the Transportation Research Institute is underway to build a comprehensive engine test cell that will increase the potential of bio-fuels. The goal of the test cell is to adapt to the feedstock being utilized in order to improve the performance and fuel economy of the engine with the added target of minimizing the pollutant emissions.

• Other Transportation Innovations:

One example of research being conducted by KU Energy Council members seeks to extend a heat transfer reduction technology, developed at KU, to the transportation sector. This technology is aimed at commercial and industrial applications that use refrigerated trucks to transport perishable goods that require strict temperature control during shipping.

If fully integrated into industry, this technology could save significant amounts of fuel and costs from diesel-driven refrigeration units by reducing the amount of heat transfer across the walls of and into refrigerated van trailers during transportation.

The walls of the refrigerated van trailer consist of the typical, enclosure-walls, but with the inclusion of phase-change materials (PCMs) integrated in an innovative way to enhance their energy performance capabilities via the high latent heat of fusion of the PCMs. The successful completion of this project will establish a new technology that would represent another step in minimizing the impacts of the Country.s energy related problems.

Fuel cells are another example of an advanced technology under study by KU Energy Council members. Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells are expected to provide a significant alternative power source in the near future, because the energy conversion process involved is potentially more efficient than conventional thermal processes.

The use of fuel cells in both stationary and mobile sources will lead to better utilization of hydrocarbon fuel sources, and will lead to much lower emissions to the air.

KU's specific research interests are in the development of high power density/high conversion efficiency membrane and electrode assemblies, and the development of diagnostic tools for PEM fuel cells. Studies of methods to fabricate a catalytic membrane in which the metal catalyst would be adhered directly to the surface of the membrane are underway.