"SuperTruck" Achieves 54% Fuel Efficiency Enhancement

A truck called the "SuperTruck" has achieved fuel efficiency 54% greater than that of average long-haul trucks. The SuperTruck achieved 9.9 MPG under real-world driving conditions, while typical long-haul trucks achieve 5.5 MPG to 6.5 MPG. Doesn't sound like much, but this improvement is actually huge.

The SuperTruck was created out of a partnership with Cummins and Peterbilt Motors. It was estimated that this fuel economy improvement would save drivers $25,000 annually based on today's average diesel prices, if they drive 120,000 miles per year. These vehicles also exhibited an even higher freight efficiency improvement of 61% compared to a baseline truck driving the same route. Both fuel efficiency increases exceeded the U.S Department of Energy's goal of 50%.

The efficiency improvements were achieved using a more efficient engine, a waste heat recovery system, electronics that choose the most efficient routes for drivers, low-rolling-resistance tires, weight reductions, and a more aerodynamic chassis. Sometimes people marginalize the inefficiency of large trucks such as trailers used to transport garbage, food, and other items in large quantities. But everytime gas costs go up, so does the cost of shipping products. These fuel economy improvements can keep shipping costs in check.

Source: Autoblog

The post "SuperTruck" Achieves 54% Fuel Efficiency Enhancement appeared first on Gas 2.

http://gas2.org/2013/03/26/supertruck-achieves-54-fuel-efficiency-enha

Fred's TDI Club

URL: 

Fred's TDI Club

Description: 

A community website focused on the VW TDI, one of the very few Diesel vehicles available to Americans. The TDI is attractive to biodiesel advocates because, it is one of the few Diesel vehicles available in America.

On Location: Jatropha Biodiesel in India

On Location: Jatropha Biodiesel in India is a very interesting introduction to biodiesel in transportation. The presentation is centered on the problems of transportation in India, and relies on video clips of Indian traffic.

Of especial interest is the Jatropha plant which is a prodigious oil producing plant. One of the states of India has embarked on a plan to introduce massive plantings of Jatropha so they can harvest the seeds and create a home grown biodiesel industry.

Philippines President Pushes Jatropha Planting for Biodiesel

CARB CNG and Diesel Transit Bus Emissions Research

URL: 

CARB CNG and Diesel Transit Bus Emissions Research

Description: 

The Air Resources Board (ARB) has led a multi-agency research effort to collect emissions data from late-model heavy-duty transit buses in five different configurations. The objectives of the study were 1) to assess driving cycle effects, 2) to evaluate toxicity between new and "clean" heavy duty engine technologies in use in California, and 3) to investigate total PM and ultrafine particle emissions.

Chassis dynamometer testing was conducted at ARB's Heavy-duty Emissions Testing Laboratory (HDETL) in Los Angeles. The impetus behind this work was to compare the emissions from transit buses powered by similar engines and fueled by ARCO (a BP company) Low Sulfur Emission Control Diesel (ECD-1) and compressed natural gas (CNG). Follow-on work focused on the assessment of aftertreatment control for CNG applications. Five vehicle configurations were investigated: 1) a CNG bus equipped with a 2000 DDC Series 50G engine certified for operation without an oxidation catalyst, 2) the same CNG bus retrofitted with an OEM oxidation catalyst, 3) a diesel bus equipped with a 1998 DDC Series 50 engine and a catalyzed muffler, 4) the same diesel vehicle retrofitted with a Johnson Matthey Continuously Regenerating Technology (CRT) diesel particulate filter (DPF) in place of the muffler, and 5) a CNG bus equipped with a 2001 Cummins Westport C Gas Plus engine and OEM-equipped oxidation catalyst.

The duty cycles were: 1) idle operation, 2) a 55 mph steady-state (SS) cruise condition, 3) the Central Business District (CBD) cycle, 4) the Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule (UDDS), and 5) the New York City Bus Cycle (NYBC). Collection of PM over multiple cycles was performed to ensure sufficient sample mass for subsequent chemical analyses. Information on regulated (NOx, HC's, PM, and CO) and non-regulated (CO2, NO2, gas-phase toxic HC's, carbonyl compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, elements, and elemental and organic carbon) emissions was collected. Size-resolved PM mass and number emission measurements were conducted and extracts from diesel and CNG total PM samples were tested in the Ames mutagenicity bioassay analysis to determine mutagen emission factors.