Sam will be contributing to the programme with a dedicated presentation on Libertine FPE's intelliGEN system, a developer platform for opposed free piston range extender engines.
Q: Please can you briefly explain your role and involvement with powertrain technologies.
Sam Cockerill (SC): I am the CEO of Libertine FPE Limited, a UK startup making battery-like “Smart Engine” power generator products for distributed power and transport applications. Libertine makes a linear electrical machine and control technology platform that will allow engine manufacturers to dispense with the crankshaft, connecting rods and entire bottom end in future internal combustion engines.
In its place, Libertine’s linear electric machines will allow electronic piston motion control to deliver real-time variable compression ratio, providing optimum combustion conditions in every cycle – whether during cold-starts, peak power or peak efficiency operating modes, even if the fuel blend in the tank changes with every fill.
The impact of the transition to electronic piston motion will be as significant as the past transitions to electronic fuelling and ignition.
Q: What are the most exciting developments in your field at the moment, either within your organisation or in the industry in general?
SC: The massive scale-up of renewables in the UK, and the rapid reduction in the cost of hydrogen from electrolysis together provide the ingredients for e-fuels to enter the mainstream. Synthetic fuels such as methanol, DME and ammonia can all be produced using seasonal and regional excess renewable power to manufacture hydrogen, the precursor molecule to each of these energy dense alternative fuels.
In parallel, advances in combustion technologies spanning simulation, combustion chamber and fuelling innovations, advanced engine controllers, after-treatment technologies, and test cell instrumentation and tools, provide the perfect environment for the co-optimisation of new engines for each of these new efuels.
Q: What is the most important factor that powertrain engineers should be focusing on and why?
SC: Modularity is key. Many OEMs are now investing in modular EV architectures that lend themselves to a sort of mix & match approach to powertrain specification, in the same way that laptop buyers have got used to being able to specify how much hard drive, memory, screen size and battery life they need.
A standardisation of series hybrid powertrain module interfaces and architecture will be key to mass market electrification, just as the IBM-PC architecture enabled a revolution in personal computing.
Libertine’s technology will allow engine manufacturers to make a wide range of power generator modules, using common hardware and software-configurable control and calibration according to the end market driver requirements, fuels and emission regulations.
Q: Where do you see the future of these assets in the next 5 – 10 years?/p>
SC: Internal combustion engines using renewable and low carbon fuels will be the key to mass market electrification and decarbonisation of transport.
By the end of the decade I’d like to see most new vehicles having a significant battery-only range, with onboard power generation available as an option for those buyers that need it, and compatible with at least one low carbon or renewable fuel option such as hydrogen, bioethanol or methanol.
Many of the new vehicles sold in 2030 will still be on the roads in 2050 so it’s essential that these vehicles are all compatible with a net zero future. A portfolio of powertrain technologies will be required to make this happen.
Q: Why do you feel it is important for all engineers and professionals involved in these technologies to join the seminar?
SC: Rapid advances in electrified powertrain, combustion and fuel technologies are changing the art of the possible. It’s therefore crucial for engineers and professionals to maintain a broad awareness of adjacent powertrain technology trends and breakthroughs.
High Performance Powertrains 2020 takes place online on 25 November 2020.
Taking place every two years, this seminar provides engineering with the a perfect opportunity to find out how market leaders are tackling common challenges and to understand what the future of high performance powertrains looks like. Sam from Libertine will be joined by his peers at Audi Motorsport, MAHLE Powertrain, Advanced Engine Research, Cosworth, Williams Advanced Engineering and Ricardo Motorsport, with an opening keynote with Pat Symonds, Chief Technical Officer, Formula One.
For more information, full programme and to book your place to get involved, please visit www.imeche.org/hpp2020.