While in Italy to learn about the Ferrari 599 hybrid concept, I got a look at Ferrari’s biggest engine, located in the company’s so-called “trigeneration” plant. This is not, as the name might suggest, a place where Ferrari has been building vehicles for three generations, but rather a new sustainable energy plant located in a nondescript building on the edge of the Maranello campus. The hearts of the plant, a joint venture between Ferrari and energy conglomerate EDF, are two 20-cylinder engines. Huge 20-cylinder engines, each taking up a whole room.

These red behemoths are fueled by natural gas and create electricity, and they also heat and cool the plant’s water supply. The power, hot water, and cold water are the inspiration for the trigeneration moniker. The engines’ exhaust (which normally would be wasted) is used to heat water, while water is cooled by a huge heat-driven chiller.

It’s seriously loud in the engine rooms, but it’s not hard to figure out why. Each 769-liter (!!!) engine is made by Rolls-Royce and has an output 11,500 hp, which our tour guide pointed out is equivalent to that of 37 599GTB V-12 engines. Output is 96 GWh of electricity, 30 GWh of thermal energy, and 15 GWh of cooling energy per year. Just under 79 percent of the energy put into the engines comes out as one of the three products.

The trigeneration plant is the latest piece of Ferrari’s Formula Uomo (or “Formula Mankind”) puzzle, which has been making improvements around Ferrari-land that claim to improve quality of life for the employees and reduce the company’s environmental impact. Other efforts include switching over to LED outdoor lighting in some areas, planting trees indoors and outdoors to keep ambient air quality up and offset CO2, extensive use of natural light in any new buildings, using powder primer and water-based paint, and lights that turn themselves on and off based on available sunlight. There’s also a photovoltaic installation on the roof of the Mechanical Workshop building that provides 240,000 kWh of power per year. Ferrari states it has taken its yearly CO2 output from 80,000 to 50,000 tons.

Related posts:Rolls-Royce Announces Ghost Specifications2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom – Car NewsRolls-Royce 200EX Concept – Auto Shows

Recent News:

• Cars, Trucks, Car Pictures, Learn to read, learning to read, childrens books, childrens nonfiction
• 1KOB9045 Crayola Mess Free Color Wonder Disney Pixar Cars 2 Markers and Coloring Pad
• Name That Shifter, No. 77: 1979 TVR 3000S
• One-Off Shelby GT500 Created for Charity Auction
• VW Beetle Convertible to Launch with ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s Editions at L.A. Show
• Mazda Sharing Next-Gen Miata Architecture with Alfa Romeo
• Wankel Rotary Engine: A History
• Porsche 928, 924, 944, and 968: The Front-engined Sports Car

Details :
Submited at Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 4:00 am on Uncategorized by admin
Comment RSS 2.0 - leave a comment - trackback