Tenneco drives ahead with e-fuels

From its engine testing centre in Germany, automotive specialist Tenneco is one of several automotive suppliers, universities and vehicle and fuel manufacturers taking part in a research project that analyses the commercial use of climate-neutral synthetic fuels – also known as e-fuels – in commercial trucks, passenger vehicles and marine vessels.

Supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the NAMOSYN project aims to develop manufacturing processes that use renewable energy sources to produce e-fuels efficiently and cheaply.

A team at Tenneco’s site in Burscheid near Cologne, is using 19 fully automated and monitored high-performance test cells to research how piston ring designs and synthetic fuels can be used for low emission concepts.

“By using synthetic fuels in internal combustion engines, we have been able to demonstrate a reduction of 50 percent or more in all nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and particle emissions,” says Bartosch Gadomski, senior test engineer and project manager for NAMOSYN at Tenneco.

“In order to actively support the timely market introduction of synthetic fuels as far as possible, we also test mixtures or blends of conventional fuels and e-fuels under real conditions on our engine test benches.”

According to Tenneco synthetical climate-neutral e-fuels can already be used in existing gasoline and diesel engines, requiring only “minor modifications”.

“Additionally, the e-fuels can be made available to consumers by using mostly the existing, well-developed fuel distribution and filling station infrastructure with only minor adjustments, making the technology even more appealing as a near-term, fast-to-market solution,” says Tenneco.