Reducing Petroleum Consumption of Trucks

1. Reducing Petroleum Consumption of Trucks

2. Outline of Presentation • Background: oil and transportation • Stats showing trends in the trucking industry • Sampling of methods for both improving fuel efficiency and reducing consumption of petroleum in heavy duty trucks

3. Methods of Reducing Petroleum Consumption by Trucks • Conventional methods • Technologies • Hybrid technologies • Alternative fuels

4. Issues Limiting Fuel Efficiency Improvements for HD Trucks • No Fuel Efficiency standards for heavy duty trucks • Government regulation is more focused on lowering emissions • Relatively low price of diesel fuel • Low fuel tax on Diesel fuel: 24.4 ¢ • Cheaper to produce than gasoline

6. Oil and Transportation Today • Highway transportation alone uses over 1/2 of the nation’s oil demand • Transportation consumes about 2/3 of the nation’s oil demand • US transportation sector is 97% dependent on petroleum fuels • Transportation uses all domestic oil production plus 40% of imports • Number of vehicles on our roads and miles driven continue to steadily increase

7. History of Motor Vehicle Fuel Use

8. Projected Fuel Use of Motor Vehicles

9. Why We Need More Energy Efficient Heavy Vehicles • Essentially all of the increase in highway transportation fuel use since 1973 has been due to trucks • 1996: highway energy use by trucks exceeded that of automobiles for the first time in US history • Our nation's economic health depends on HD vehicles, which transport the bulk of our country's goods

10. Gross Domestic Product and Trucks • The Nation’s economy is linked to efficient heavy vehicle transportation

12. H-D Trucks: Population v. Consumption

13. Fuel Use by Truck Class • Fuel use of Class 8 trucks, at 18 billion gallons per year, far exceeds that of commercial trucks in any other weight class

14. Fuel Use by Truck Class and Trip Length • Class 8 Long haul trucks use about 13 billion gallons of fuel/yr • Class 8 short haul trucks less than 1/2 that amount at 5 billion gallons of fuel/yr

15. Reasons Diesel is the Preferred Fuel for HD Trucks • Diesel fuel has a higher energy density than gasoline • 1 gallon of diesel fuel contains approximately 147,000 BTU of energy • 1 gallon of gasoline contains appproximately125,000 BTU of energy • Diesel fuel evaporates much more slowly than gasoline • its boiling point is actually higher than the boiling point of water • Diesel requires less refining than gasoline

16. Diesel Engines are More Powerful • Higher compression ratio with Diesel engines • The higher the compression ratio, the more power is generated by the engine • Gasoline engine compresses at a ratio of 8:1 to 12:1 • Diesel engine compresses at a ratio of 14:1 to as high as 25:1

17. Diesel Engines Need to Be Hot • Diesel engine has no spark plug to produce heat • Direct Injection Process: • It intakes air and compresses it, and then it injects the fuel directly into the combustion chamber • The heat of the compressed air is what actually lights the fuel in a diesel engine • When a diesel engine is cold, the compression process may not raise the air to a high enough temperature to ignite the fuel • Big reason for idling

18. Conventional Methods

19. Policy for Conventional measures • With a 25% shortage of imported oil, prices are sure to rise and fleet operators as well as independent drivers will look to basic methods of improving efficiency first, because they represent the cheapest and quickest alternatives

20. Proper Vehicle Maintenance • Although diesel engines don’t require tune-ups, it is important to replace fuel filters at the proper intervals • Keeping all axles both drive and steer, properly aligned to minimize rolling resistance

21. Proper Vehicle Maintenance • Monitoring fuel quality at the pump • dirty fuel causes the fuel injectors to clog or disrupt the spray pattern negatively affecting fuel efficiency • Repairing any body damage • For example, that front corner of the dinged-up bumper hanging down hurts the vehicle's aerodynamics, and thus, fuel economy suffers

22. Switch to Synthetic Lubricants • Replacing popular conventional engine and driveline lubricants with synthetic lubricants in Class 8 diesel-fueled vehicles has been shown to increase fuel mileage up to 8.2% • Saves $, because less frequent fluid changes are required

23. Proper Inflation of Tires • Over/under inflating tires increase fuel consumption • For every 3 lbs. Below proper pressure, fuel efficiency decreases by 1%

24. Reducing Speed of Trucks • Trucks burn an additional 0.1 gallons of fuel for each mile-an-hour increase in speed over 55 mph • Slower shifting through the gears • Slower Starts from stop • Cost benefit analysis: • is the time you save worth the cost of the extra fuel?

25. Technologies

26. Idling Away Fuel • Accordingto the Department of Energy’s largest research center, Argonne National Laboratory the average truck sits idling for up to 1,800 hours each year, which is an equivalent of 75 straight days

27. Idling Away Fuel • Trucks typically consume 0.8 gallons of fuel/hr during idling • American trucking association estimates that idling for only one hour/day for a year results in the equivalent of 64,000 miles of engine wear and wastes over 500 gallons of fuel

28. Idling Away Fuel • Dept. Of Energy estimates that, as an industry, trucking wastes 900 million gallons of diesel fuel each year, just from idling

29. Legislation on Idling • Federal government currently has no policy limiting vehicle idling • Only about a dozen states that have explicit laws against excessive idling • State wide: CT, HI, MA, MD, NH, NJ, NV, NY, VA • However, most states have nuisance laws that prohibit excessive idling

30. Industry – Idling = $avings • Many fleets already have rules in place to limit driver idling time • Some fleets have installed equipment that automatically turns off the engine when a vehicle has been idling for a certain amount of time • UPS has placed an outright ban on idling

31. Federal Government • U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologiesconsistent with its mission to reduce petroleum consumption, and dependence on foreign oil, has begun a program to inform truck operators about the significant advantages of reduced idling

32. Why Do Truckers Idle? • To keep the cab/sleeper heated or cooled • To keep the fuel warm in the winter • To keep the engine warm to avoid cold starting it in the winter • Because all the other drivers do it

33. Truck Stop Electrification

34. Alternative Devices

35. Cost of Alternatives and Fuel Consumption

36. APU to Reduce Idling • Willis Truck APU • Uses industry-proven Kubota 3-cylinder engine to run the APU • Uses less than a quart/hour of diesel fuel with a full load, as compared to 1.0 to 1.2 gallons/hour when idling the main engine

37. Features • Eliminates engine idling, thereby reducing fuel usage as well as emissions • Functions as an integrated alternator, heat exchanger and air conditioning compressor • Maintains a comfortable living atmosphere by providing heating, air conditioning, and electricity to the cab and sleeper

38. Features • Allows for the elimination of electric starter and three to four batteries when used in conjunction with air start operation

39. Features • Provides a dependable source of power to support the running and maintaining of all electrical systems • Including all the running lights for both tractor and trailer, and modern communications and location systems, while truck is parked • Monitors and maintains engine temperature • Monitors battery voltage and recharges when necessary

40. Products to Reduce Idling • Superior noise attenuation keeps noise levels down • around truck stops • along highways, and • at rest stops • Reduces the possibility of violating the idling and nuisance laws

41. The SuperDrive Transmission

42. The SuperDrive Transmission • How it works: • Technology uses a hydraulic transmission system to uncouple engine rpm from wheel speed and then allows the electronic control module to seek the lowest rpm at which sufficient torque is available to maintain the desired speed • Operates at 70 miles per hour at near engine idle rpm

43. Energy $avings • Heavy-duty trucks consume about 18 billion gallons of total fuel annually and SuperDrive is expected to improve fuel economy by 20% to 25% • Assuming a 20% improvement in fuel economy and an average gas cost of $1.50 per gallon, the potential savings could be $7500 per truck annually

44. Hybrid Technologies

45. Regenerative Drive System • Hybrid powertrains appear to be promising for Class 8 urban use trucks where stop-and-go driving is prevalent, or in hilly or mountainous areas

46. How it works • The RDS captures energy generated by a vehicle’s braking process, then releases the energy back into the driveline as power is needed • Key design features include an innovative inline drive shaft, energy storage devices that utilize special composite materials, ultra-light-weight metals, and advanced hydraulic and electronic engineering

47. Potential Fuel Savings • Permo-Drive Technologies’ hybrid hydraulic drive system can reduce fuel consumption for trucks and buses by up to • 40 percent in local stop and go urban driving conditions • 15 percent in hilly or mountainous areas

49. Alternative Fuels • Fuels that use existing diesel engine technology or slightly modified • Fuels types • Natural gas based fuel • Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) • Biodiesel

50. Liquefied Natural Gas