Zetec

22 Feb Zetec

Posted at 17:03h in Competitive tender MIUR, Others projects, Projects by seedmediaagency

Zero Emission Public Transport TEChnologies

The design proposal includes the development of a new product designed to eliminate the production of pollutants during the autonomous trolleybus operation. The innovative product that will be developed consists of power units that can be installed to replace alternative internal combustion engine powered electric generators which are currently used by trolleybuses when the electric grid is missing.

These new products have high business potential: consider, for example, that only 180 trolleybuses in the cities of Naples and Rome have to work off-wire for more than 4 hours a day. The cost of converting the trolleybus to power unit will be cheaper than purchasing a new zero emission vehicles.

The proposed power unit configuration will be able to guarantee 6-hour off-wire working using a hybrid system based on the integration of a fuel cell stack with new generation batteries. The project involves the development of the new hybrid power unit, the development of the activities required to integrate the power unit with the onboard systems, the development of the necessary infrastructure for the experimental product characterization, and finally the development of production stations and hydrogen supply. In order to accomplish these tasks, a partnership with diversified competencies has been established. The research activities will focus on the design and performance evaluation of the power unit, the design of the equipment required to integrate it with the existing onboard systems, the design of the solar powered refueling station.

All the new product development process is geared to demonstrating its potential and convenience in terms of energy saving and environmental impact reduction, smartly integrating commercially available components.