Expertise

CMT Clean Mobility & Thermofluids is a dynamic and internationally well-known research institute of the Universitat Politècnica de València, that collaborates closely with the international automotive and aeronautical industry.

Its main research activities are centred on the theoretical-experimental study of all the thermo-fluid dynamic processes applied to clean propulsion powerplants. Main concerns are dictated by environmental and sustainability issues, such as the reduction of specific fuel consumption and pollutants, the need to improve powerplants efficiency and reliability. Work is carried out to explore following aspects:

• Injection-combustion processes and pollutant formation with new fuels, ammonia and hydrogen

• Noise analysis and control for xEVs and UAV’s acoustic issues

• Hydrogen combustion and fuel cells

• Thermal management with specific applications to xEVs

• Powerplant hybridization; control strategies and optimization

• Air management, turbocharging and aftertreatment

• Tribology, predictive and integral maintenance systems for transport fleets.

Over the years, CMT has designed and set-up many experimental facilities to respond to industry demands: 20 fully equipped engine test cells for single cylinder and real engines, 3 climatic chambers, including one with capabilities to simulate below zero temperatures (-30° C) and altitude conditions (up to 3000 m, 700 mbar) with enough space for a car, 3 turbo-group test benches for the full characterisation of turbochargers, including in pulsating flow conditions, a versatile hot flow-high mass flow rig (up to 1000° C, 1 Kg/s and 5 bar) for diverse studies, and an anechoic chamber (size 7.5 x 6.5 x 6 m, cut-off frequency 100 Hz).

In addition, CMT has recently invested in state-of-the-art experimental and computational installations to address current and future challenges: a high pressure - high temperature test rig (up to 150 bar and 1100 K) for injection-combustion studies of renewable fuels (ammonia, hydrogen, DME, e-fuels); a fuel cell test bench (200 kW, with capabilities for hardware-in-the-loop developments); specific facilities for batteries characterization: 2 thermal chambers (1.1 m3 with temperature range -70o to 180o C, and 12 m3), battery testers, a multi-zone temperature chamber (8 independent chambers), equipment for thermal runaway studies; an electric motors test bench (200 Nm, 10 krpm); a 2WD vehicle test bench (200kW maximum power, 250km/h) for advanced powertrain technology research; CMT’s patented MEDAS compact altitude simulator enabling measurements at high altitudes (up to 8000 m) with simulated temperatures from -20 oC to 50oC and humidity from 1 to 70 hH20/kgDryAir; a cluster with 1536 Xeon Gold 3GHz cores, 7.5TB RAM and Infiniband network.

Participation in EU Projects and International Activities

GIGAGREEN: Next wave of electrode and cell component processing techniques for 3b Li-ion cells.

PULSELION: Novel manufacturing process development for Gen 4b solid-state batteries.

NEXTCELL: New 3b LIB cell generation for both high capacity and high voltage applications.

ALL-IN Zero: Multi-fuel system to generate electrical and mechanical power with zero emissions.

REBELION: Development of cutting-edge technologies to promote a circular model for LIBs for electric mobility.

EXTENDED: Development of next generation multi-functional, modular and scalable solid state batteries system

MEASURED: Enhancement of performance and lifespan of high-temperature membrane electrode assemblies for heavy duty vehicles