Saudi Aramco has opened up a R&D centre in Detroit as part of its drive to expand its global fuels programme.
Its fuels technology programme focuses on reducing the overall environmental impact, cost and complexity of both current and future fuel-engine systems.
“Fuels technology is a critical area of research for Saudi Aramco where we are leveraging on our leading position in integrated oil and gas production and refining to invest in innovative solutions that will significantly improve efficiency and lower emissions from the (production) well-head to the (car) wheel,” said Amin H. Nasser, President and CEO, Saudi Aramco.
“Opening a research centre in Detroit demonstrates our commitment to enabling meaningful impacts and the Motor City gives us an ideal platform to bring the talent of Aramco’s researchers together with great collaboration partners in the heart of the U.S. automotive industry.”
Specific areas of research being conducted at Aramco’s new Detroit centre include fuel combustion and emissions, technology integration and strategic transport studies.
The research centre is tasked with developing, demonstrating and showcasing low-carbon-footprint transportation technologies, in support of reducing CO2 emissions from transport sources.
“Aramco’s presence here contributes to our community’s tremendous growth and vibrant spirit in support of the automotive industry,” said City of Novi Mayor Bob Gatt. “Novi has become an attractive location for research, technology and service providers.”
The 50,000-square-foot Detroit research centre is equipped with four state-of-the-art engine dynamometer labs, and in mid-2016, a vehicle integration lab featuring a chassis dynamometer for evaluating engine performance and identifying solutions to all types of system integration challenges.
This includes ensuring that new technologies will meet vehicle performance and emissions specifications in a wide range of certification cycles under cold (20°F) and hot (120°F) conditions.
Supporting facilities include a prototype engine build lab, fabrication shop, vehicle soak room, engine start-cart lab, and associated vehicle integration facilities.
Substantial flexibility has been built into the lab’s capabilities surrounding fuel design, fuel procurement and specialty fuel distribution, including providing 12 independent fuel lines to the labs—which allows back-to-back advanced fuel testing and blending.
The facility’s research capacity encompasses very small engines such as a single-cylinder research engine to 1,000 horsepower heavy-duty on-road and stationary engines.
The research centres are closely aligned with the company’s award-winning research organisations: the Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Centre’s Advanced Research Centre and the Research & Development Centre located in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
