Sustainable energy research center
Caterpillar, inc.

Reconceiving the diesel engine for biofuels worldwide.

Caterpillar's Sustainable Energy Research Center will house engine test cells, material inspection,
calibration and material testing dry labs, and particulate matter ISO-6 (Class 1,000) clean rooms to validate the dynamic evolution of biodiesel fuel blends. The chemical constituents coming out of oily tropical plant waste streams in Asia, for instance, are ester heavy while a miscanthus-based feedstock from the
Great Plains or Europe produces a completely different set of stoichiometric riddles. The nanoparticle effects are both subtle and nonlinear. Today's researchers must therefore validate these new fuels both for performance/durability and emissions/after-treatment sensitivity. This non-traditional research facility will enable innovation, collaboration, and idea exchange throughout its spaces, intermingling test cells,
served by massive 100-ton bridge cranes, with offices, support spaces, public tours, meeting rooms, circulation spaces, and communal "nodes."

Services:

Mechanical, Electrical, Piping/Plumbing, Instrumentation and Controls, Cost Estimating

Size:

175,000 sf

Location:

Middlesbrough, England