To make this collaboration a reality, representatives of the three organisations met at the UPNA campus in Pamplona. On behalf of the University, in addition to the Rector, Ram\u00f3n Gonzalo, and the Vice Rector, Francisco Javier Arregui, the professors from the Department of Engineering, Pedro Di\u00e9guez, Pedro Villanueva and Jos\u00e9 Carlos Urroz, were present.<\/p>\n
Ignacio Ainz\u00faa, Esther Sada and Atenea Romero attended on behalf of Tafalla Iron Foundry. Finally, the DEUTZ company was represented by Paul Grzeschik and Georg T\u00f6pfer (DEUTZ Germany) and Manuel Rodr\u00edguez (DEUTZ plant in Badajoz).<\/p>\n
The project that unites the UPNA and Tafalla Iron Foundry and in which DEUTZ will now collaborate is framed in a scenario in which the new anti-pollution regulations in Europe are forcing engine manufacturers, especially diesel or gasoil engines, to look for new technologies. In this context, hydrogen is considered a protagonist for the decarbonisation of transport and, in general, of industry.<\/p>\n
Tafalla Iron Foundry, with decades of experience in the casting of diesel engine blocks, wants to study the behaviour of these engines by burning hydrogen-diesel fuel mixtures. For its part, the Hydrogen Group’s almost twenty years of experience in the application of hydrogen as a fuel in petrol combustion engines is changing direction and is focusing on diesel engines in this project.<\/p>\n
The meeting was followed by a visit to the UPNA’s Hydrogen Laboratory and Engine Laboratory, where the German engineers were able to see the state of research in this field at the University. They also drove through the campus in the Volkswagen Polo “Carlos”, a vehicle modified by the University’s Hydrogen Group to operate using hydrogen as fuel.<\/p>\n