Under the trend of energy revolution and low-carbon development, the internal combustion engine industry is facing unprecedented transformation challenges. As a pioneer in global power technology, how does Cummins respond and what is its plan?
"Natural gas internal combustion engines can achieve a 15% carbon reduction target, and with the optimization of hybrid technology and thermal efficiency, there is still a lot of room for growth in medium and heavy trucks in the future. At the same time, hydrogen fuel is already booming in the global market as a solution for the zero-carbon path of internal combustion engines. ”
On March 28, at the 2024 China Commercial Vehicle Forum, Wang Pan, Chief Engineer of Cummins (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Cummins") Advanced Technology in China, gave a keynote speech on "Introduction to Low-carbon and Zero-carbon Powerchain Technology Trends for Commercial Vehicles".
Please see the report on Fangde.com.
"Three steps" to achieve a zero-carbon future
The equivalent of a 3-year global truck outage?
"By 2030, Cummins will achieve a 50% carbon reduction target, and by 2050, it plans to achieve carbon neutrality. This is Cummins' blueprint for "zero carbon".
Since its "zero carbon" strategy was proposed in 2021, Cummins has planned a multi-fuel engine platform. This will not only help the commercial vehicle industry reduce carbon emissions, but also strive to create a TCO-optimized power solution for customers.
Wang Pan said that Cummins' zero-carbon strategy hopes to be divided into "three steps".
In the first step, from 2021 to 2030, Cummins will continue to reduce nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions from internal combustion engines through continuous technology exploration, promote energy conservation and emission reduction in commercial vehicles, especially in the medium and heavy truck industry, and at the same time, realize the layout of multi-fuel power platforms around traditional internal combustion engines, as well as the layout of fuel cells and pure electric powertrains, and achieve a carbon reduction target of 50% by 2030.
In the second step, Cummins will focus on a number of new energy solutions, and at the same time accelerate the investment in new energy infrastructure such as renewable power grids, and promote the development and maturity of low-carbon and zero-carbon technologies.
The third step is to achieve the maturity and large-scale application of zero-carbon technologies by 2050, which can reduce an additional 1.4 billion tons of carbon emissions, which is equivalent to stopping all trucks on the earth for three years.
Wang Pan said, "At present, Cummins has formed a carbon reduction pathway that combines advanced internal combustion engines and a variety of carbon emission solutions. In terms of hydrogen fuel, it has been deployed to the upstream hydrogen production field, realizing the layout of the whole industrial chain from use to production. ”
According to Fangde.com, Cummins PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis Technology) water electrolysis hydrogen production project has been applied in many places across the country. Its Sinopec Zhongyuan Oilfield Renewable Power Water Electrolysis Hydrogen Production Demonstration Project in Puyang, Henan Province, with an annual production capacity of nearly 400 tons, is currently the largest PEM water electrolysis hydrogen production project in China.
Multi-technology routes in parallel
Focus on maximizing the interests of customers
"Cummins is committed to optimizing the TCO of our customers, and this is also true on the path to low-carbon to zero-carbon development. To this end, Cummins conducts an annual analysis of the total cost of the customer's life cycle to determine the size of different technical resources to be invested at different stages. At the forum, Wang Pan emphasized.
Wang Pan said that taking medium and heavy trucks as an example, the main cost for customers is fuel. In short, drivers choose whatever fuel is cheaper. If the price difference between natural gas and diesel has been maintained at the level of 2 yuan, then in the future, the proportion of gasification in the field of domestic medium and heavy trucks will rise rapidly. At the same time, natural gas is also a low-carbon fuel, which can achieve a carbon reduction ratio of about 15%.
According to public information, in the North American market, Cummins is working with PACCAR and FedEx Freight, Knight-Swift and other transportation companies to demonstrate the huge potential of 15N natural gas engines to help reduce emissions in long-distance transportation. PACCAR will equip its Kenworth and Peterbilt brand trucks with Cummins 15N natural gas engines. As a Cummins multi-fuel engine platform product, the 15N natural gas engine can help fleets significantly reduce their carbon footprint while meeting the fleet's transportation power performance needs.
Secondly, Wang Pan also shared some thoughts of Cummins on the hydrogen fuel technology route.
"Hydrogen is three times as energetic as diesel. With the development of technology, hydrogen internal combustion engines have great market prospects. With the further maturity of hydrogen production and hydrogen combustion technology, the power combination of hydrogen internal combustion engine + low-cost fuel will undoubtedly create greater value for customers and be more conducive to the green and high-quality development of the industry," Wang Pan judged.
Explore technology leadership
Integrated power chain layout
In 2022, Cummins announced the acquisition of Meritor. This is not only an important milestone for Cummins on its journey towards zero-carbon solutions, but also a further expansion of Cummins' component portfolio and cementing Cummins' future positioning as a powertrain technology solutions provider.
Wang Pan said, "At present, Cummins has realized the layout of the integrated power chain of the whole vehicle, and has mastered the integrated power chain control technology including engine, gearbox, aftertreatment, and axle. Based on its leading technical strength, Cummins fuel products also have very strong fuel saving and emission reduction capabilities. ”
According to reports, in terms of fuel products, Cummins has achieved 10% fuel saving in power chain technology through the use of direct rear axle and ultra-low rear axle speed ratio technology, and the gearbox can effectively save fuel by 10%-20% through energy recovery technology, hybrid technology, waste energy cycle application technology, etc., and the integrated power chain control technology can save fuel by 5%.
Wang Pan further said, "In the future, Cummins will continue to explore and develop ultra-high-efficiency diesel engines to further improve the thermal efficiency of internal combustion engines to 55%-57%. For example, the combustion efficiency is optimized through fuel injection and other technologies, the intake and exhaust efficiency is improved through intake and exhaust and cam optimization, and the friction loss is reduced through cooling and lubrication technology. Cummins still has 10% technical reserves in the long run to improve diesel engine fuel consumption. ”
In terms of hydrogen internal combustion engines, according to reports, Cummins has developed two high-thermal efficiency hydrogen internal combustion engines, B6.7H and 15H. Based on Cummins' global resources and local research and development, this type of engine has the characteristics of customized design and integrated optimization, independent research and development of core components, modular design, and can realize the universality of multi-fuel platform, safety and reliability.
Wang Pan said frankly, "Cummins hydrogen internal combustion engine technology is advanced, excellent performance, and thermal efficiency is as high as 44%. The 15L model achieves 410 kW of power and a maximum torque of 2,600 Nm. ”
"In the short term, Cummins will focus on the development of natural gas and diesel engines, continue to reduce costs and increase efficiency for customers, and at the same time empower the industry to develop energy conservation and emission reduction. In the long run, Cummins will work with industry partners to continuously optimize the vehicle powertrain and achieve the lowest TCO for customers. In essence, Cummins will continue to focus on technology leadership and move forward bravely. Wang Pan finally emphasized.