The transportation sector is a major contributor to Hong Kong’s greenhouse gasoline emissions, accounting for 19% of whole emissions. Supporting the event of inexperienced transportation will assist cut back air pollutant emissions. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is dedicated to selling analysis in inexperienced applied sciences to help Hong Kong’s objective of decreasing the City’s whole carbon emissions from 2005 ranges by half earlier than 2035 and reaching to carbon neutrality earlier than 2050.
A analysis group led by Prof. Eric Cheng, Professor within the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at PolyU, obtained help from the “Innovation and Technology Support Program (Mid-stream, theme-based)” funded by the Innovation and Technology Fund of the Innovation and Technology Commission of the HKSAR Government in June for the analysis mission “Smart Refrigeration Truck Development Program – Power, Solar and Intelligence Method for Logistics and Storage”. The mission is geared toward selling the transformation of freezer vehicles from conventional gas pushed freezer techniques to sensible electrical pushed ones and strengthening the broader adoption of photo voltaic power.
After one yr, the PolyU workforce efficiently developed a novel freezer truck that helps a solar-powered freezer system and exhibits the car linked to energy storage and sharing expertise. The mission has obtained sturdy help from authorities, academia and business, together with from Sunlight Eco-tech Limited, Advanced Sunlight Pty Limited from Australia, and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department.
Currently, there are roughly 5,000 freezer vehicles in Hong Kong, and this quantity is predicted to double within the subsequent few years. These automobiles are all powered by gasoline engines, which produce massive quantities of exhaust gasoline and noise when working or idling. In reality, the expertise utilized in typical freezer vehicles is kind of outdated, with the freezer system counting on the car’s inner combustion engine for energy. Even when the automotive is stopped, with the intention to proceed the operation of the freezer system the engine doesn’t flip off. In addition, the temperature of the freezer system is normally maintained at about -20 levels Celsius, which limits the varieties of meals that may be refrigerated. If every car consumes one to a few liters of diesel per hour, it produces 2.7 to eight.1 kilograms of carbon dioxide, leading to annual emissions of roughly 16 tons. To offset these carbon emissions, about 760 bushes would have to be planted.
The clever solar-powered freezer truck developed by PolyU supplies versatile power enter choices. Key highlights are as follows:
Extensible photo voltaic photovoltaic (PV) panels: Installed on the roof, these PV panels might be added to extend the truck’s energy output, enhancing power effectivity. The truck is supplied with an power storage system that captures and shops the power generated, offering further power for the car’s freezer system.
Onboard lithium-ion battery: In addition to photo voltaic power storage, the truck additionally has an onboard lithium-ion battery that may be linked to a typical electrical car charging facility for recharging. When the photo voltaic power storage is full, and the battery is totally charged, they will function the freezer system for as much as 4 hours. Users even have the choice to develop the quantity and capability of the batteries to extend the operation time if obligatory.
Powerful and versatile freezer system: The onboard refrigeration system can preserve temperatures beneath -45 levels Celsius. In addition, it will possibly proceed to function even after the electrical engine is turned off, successfully remodeling the car right into a cell freezer unit. This will assist clear up the scarcity of freezer warehouses in Hong Kong.
In addition, the freezer truck can join with different automobiles of the identical kind for charging and power sharing. With the car’s clever power administration system, customers cannot solely monitor and management the utmost output energy of PV panels to enhance the effectivity of varied power sources, but additionally optimize efficiency within the freezer, and lengthen the lifetime of the onboard battery.
Prof. Eric Cheng mentioned, “The HKSAR authorities has applied a number of insurance policies lately to advertise the popularization of electrical automobiles, together with setting a goal to cease new gas registrations -propelled personal car by 2035. However, for freight automobiles, the adoption charge of latest power automobiles is comparatively sluggish. We want for this analysis mission to be the primary function in encouraging the transport sector to extra readily undertake inexperienced applied sciences and additional contribute to decreasing emissions and reaching carbon neutrality.
The PolyU sensible solar-powered freezer truck is prepared for commercialization, with the expectation that related automobiles will probably be launched within the close to future.
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