Rotec to road test its FreedomAir engine technology in North America
3 February 2003
A road test the FreedomAir low emission engine technology developed by Rotec Design Ltd. of Brisbane, Australia has been launched in Windsor, Ontario. Rotec technology will be evaluated in a three year pilot study on urban buses operated by Transit Windsor. The study will be monitored by researchers from the University of Windsor.
FreedomAir is an air scavenging system featuring a mechanical air piston pump driven from the crankshaft, coupled to a four stroke diesel engine. The FreedomAir pump eliminates the need for the engine to perform the intake and exhaust strokes. These functions are performed by the FreedomAir pump, allowing the engine to perform one additional power production cycle. In other words, once fitted with the system, the four-stroke engine performs like a two-stroke engine with one power production stroke per every crankshaft revolution.
According to Rotec, the FreedomAir technology can simultaneously provide reductions of NOx and PM emissions by 60% and 70% respectively. FreedomAir can also provide torque output increases over 75%.
The Transit Windsor trial is the first North American demonstration of the technology. Rotec also announced plans to pursue verification of the FreedomAir system for use in the US EPA Voluntary Diesel Retrofit Program.
Source: Rotec Design