DOE Officials Visit Argonne's Transportation Facilities

Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman and Office of Science Director Ray Orbach visited Argonne’s Advanced Powertrain Research Facility May 6, 2005, after participating in a ceremony at the Laboratory’s Center for Nanoscale Materials, which is currently under construction.

The centerpiece of Argonne’s transportation research activities, the Advanced Powertrain Research Facility is the nation’s premier hybrid vehicle test laboratory, where the latest equipment and state-of the-art transportation technology come together for development.

During the visit, Bodman rode in a Ford Hybrid Escape while mechanical engineer Michael Duoba ran the truck on Argonne’s four-wheel-drive dynamometer. Throughout the drive, details of the vehicle's hybrid operation could be observed in real time on a monitor as engine emissions and fuel economy data were collected.

Bodman and Orbach each were presented with an Advanced Test Vehicle Driver’s License by Transportation Technology R&D Center Director Larry Johnson.

While in the APRF test cell, the guests witnessed the following equipment at work:

• The nation’s first hydrogen-capable four-wheel-drive dynamometer capable of testing hydrogen, diesel, gasoline, and electric vehicles up to 14,000 pounds;
• An extensive data acquisition system designed exclusively for testing fuel cell, hydrogen, hybrid electric, and electric vehicles; and
• One of the world’s most precise emissions testing systems for gasoline, alternate fuels, and diesel-powered vehicles, with the capability to measure exhaust emissions from "super-ultra-low" emissions vehicles (SULEV).

Engineer Steve Ciatti exhibited some of Argonne’s recent advances in understanding diesel combustion. Using unique tools, including a visioscope, thermophoretic sampling, and transmission electron microscopy, Argonne scientists explore engine combustion to improve efficiency and reduce emissions. Ciatti demonstrated Argonne’s ability to perform real-time imaging of a 1.9-liter Mercedes diesel engine. Researchers can see soot formation as it composes and decomposes during combustion. Argonne researchers pioneered the use of X-ray beams to penetrate diesel engine fuel injector sprays to improve combustion. The Transportation Technology R&D Center is working to develop cleaner and more efficient diesels to cut down on fuel imports and to further clean exhaust from these engines. Diesels are popular for automobiles in other countries and power construction equipment, semi-trucks and trains.

Chemist Deborah Myers explained Argonne’s role in developing new materials for fuel cells to Bodman and Orbach. Argonne researchers, including Myers, are working on many aspects of fuel cells to reduce cost and improve performance, which will speed the development of fuel cells for stationary and transportation applications. Argonne is working on low-cost catalysts to replace the expensive platinum currently used in polymer electrolyte fuel cells being developed for automotive propulsion power. Argonne is developing polymer electrolyte membranes to operate at higher temperatures and under low-humidity conditions to reduce system cost, size, and complexity. Argonne is also developing a new design and fabrication process for solid oxide fuel cells that address the main issues facing the use of these fuel cells (cost and durability), especially for portable applications. This novel design, dubbed “TuffCell,” supports the cell on a rugged, inexpensive metal rather than a brittle, expensive ceramic and incorporates sealing of the fuel chamber into the single-cell fabrication process. The TuffCell design lowers the stack cost, improves the mechanical strength, thermal cyclability, and seal durability.

Funding of Argonne's transportation research and development comes primarily from two programs in the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: the FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program and the Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program.

Johnson described Argonne’s transportation research program as the most varied in the national laboratory system, adding that “being in the Midwest, we are ideally located to work closely with the auto manufacturers, truck engine manufacturers, and the supplier industry.”

Evelyn Brown

May 12, 2005