THE LOCKWOOD REPORT

BRING ON THOSE BUMPY ROADS

April 25, 2012 Vol. 8, No. 9

An interesting presentation was scheduled for today at the 2012 SAE World Congress in Detroit by Jen Tran, new technology project engineer at Jacobs Vehicle Systems. We all know Jacobs for its engine retarding and valve actuation products. The Jake brake and all that.

Tran's technical paper, SAE 2012-01-0814, is entitled 'Recovering Energy from Shock Absorber Motion on Heavy Duty Commercial Vehicles.' As titles go, it hides nothing, and pretty much tells you what comes next. I've often thought technical paper writers could use the services of a good headline writer. A little drama, maybe some irony, even a touch of humour. OK, maybe not.

Anyway, Jacobs says it's busy researching new technologies that mesh with it calls its core competencies and adjacent core markets. As well it should. And this is an example of that effort.

The GenShock system that Tran showed off earlier today offers the potential for active variable damping control for semi-active ride control, improved driver comfort, and rollover mitigation, but it goes one step further in a why-didn't-I-think-of-that sort of way. The system also recovers energy in electrical form that would normally be dissipated as heat in conventional shock absorbers or suspension dampers. But of course! It's a natural.

Heavy-duty vehicles, being... well, heavy, offer some very good opportunities for energy recovery, says Jacobs. If harnessed, it can effectively unload a truck’s alternator and thereby avoid burning fuel to power the vehicle’s electrical systems.

Jacobs, in co-operation with partner Levant Power, is looking to commercialize this new type of vehicle system for heavy-duty vehicles of all types, specifically for on-highway trucks. Several prototype systems are currently in operation, and the technology is seen as being available in the near term.

This is very cool, very interesting, but I do hope it doesn't mean governments will relax their road maintenance efforts. I mean, the bumpier the road, the more energy there is to be collected by the GenShock system. A perverse government could conceivably define failure to maintain roads as a green initiative. Am I being too cynical?

VOLVO'S RELEASE OF ITS XE16 powertrain package warms my bitter heart, because it acknowledges the heavier weights hauled north of the border and in many individual states. A 143,000-lb B-train is a pretty common vehicle up here, and the chance to run such a rig with 2050 lb ft of torque available at 1000 rpm, cruising at just over 1125 rpm, is pretty cool.

Volvo Trucks chose to introduce this at Truck World 2012, our very own show held last weekend in Toronto. And a smashing success it was, with a great spirit in the air and smiles all around. Ed Saxman, Volvo's drivetrain product manager, was on hand and we had a good long chat about XE16 and other things.
 

Ed made a point of saying that drivers won't notice any performance fall-off even when running the mountains at full weight. The tweaks made to torque and power curves see to that.

The heavier-weight package is based on a new D16 engine rating of 500 hp and 2050 lb ft of torque, with Volvo's I-Shift automated mechanical transmission sporting an 0.78 overdrive top gear, specific tire sizes, and proprietary software that facilitates communication among powertrain components. The XE16 provides the full 2050 lb ft of torque while running as low as 1000 rpm to improve low-rpm driveability. It uses a heavy-duty air suspension and 18-in. rear axles with a 3.21 ratio instead of the 3.73 rear axle more often spec'd on such rigs.

The whole idea is that it reduces cruising rpm from 1425 to 1225 at 100 kmh, yielding about a 3% fuel-efficiency improvement.

There's another XE16 package aimed at 80,000-lb gross weights with gearing for a 70-mph or 110-kmh cruise.

PREDICTABLY, NATURAL GAS WAS BIG NEWS at the Truck World show, and there was a Cummins Westport engine to be seen almost everywhere you turned. Along with a smile on the face of everybody associated with that engine-making partnership. Those folks are riding high.

For what it's worth, I still agree with Daimler trucks chief Andreas Renschler, who says the natural gas option is for a "niche' application. I think he's right, but that niche is looking pretty big. Scuttlebutt around the show told me, for example, that just about municipality under the sun is ordering or thinking about ordering a gas-burner. If the infrastructure is there or if it could be with little fuss, that's a natural sort of niche.

Over-the-road operations? Not so much. At least not yet.

There was news just this week out of Illinois that demonstrates a perfect CNG application along those municipal lines, though this is about a private contractor. Waste Management has dedicated the state's largest commercial compressed natural gas fueling facility in Stickney, Ill. It has 55 'slow fuel' stations for the company's growing CNG fleet, now numbering 30 or so trucks in the Chicago area, and it will have more than 80 in the area by year end.

Those trucks are used on City of Chicago recycling collection routes that serve about 90,000 households, as well as Chicago-area commercial routes and municipal collection routes in western suburbs. The Stickney facility is actually Waste Management's second CNG site in the area, one having opened last May to serve Chicago's northern suburbs.
 
The company's sustainability goals are to reduce its overall fleet emissions by 15% and increase its fuel efficiency by 15% by the year 2020.

The Stickney facility includes a public, unmanned, easy-access 'Clean N' Green' retail station equipped with four 'fast fuel' pumps that can be used by anyone operating a CNG vehicle.

The Waste Management trucks are fueled using a slow-fill procedure to improve efficiency, and they carry 58 diesel equivalent gallons of CNG. The trucks carry between 5 and 8 tons of material -- the same payload as traditional collection vehicles -- and can run 10 to 12 hours, completing a typical day's waste or recycling collection route.

MITSUBISHI FUSO'S NEW PARTS PROGRAM aims to provide dealers -- and thus truck owners -- with a source of quality replacement and service parts at a competitive price point. The new Diamond Value parts program applies to parts that are intended for use after expiration of the Fuso warranty.

Every product has been vetted by Mitsubishi Fuso, the company says, and each one offers quality and performance. Total product lifetimes may be slightly shorter than those for genuine Fuso parts, but durability, performance and efficiency are said to be nearly a match to the genuine thing.

The Diamond Value Parts Program will cover more than 25 maintenance and repair parts, including air, fuel and oil filters, belts, hoses, brake pads, and more.

CARRIER IS GETTING REEFERS READY for EPA 2013 compliance. The company says its next-generation transport refrigeration units will use a familiar diesel with enhanced controls and more efficient components to meet 2013 exhaust emissions limits.

The units will meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Tier 4 emissions standards starting in January, as well as California Air Resources Board (CARB) emissions requirements.

They use a "smarter" engine, Carrier says, with efficiency gains that allow it to reduce engine power significantly, thus enabling better fuel economy.

Changes will be applied to Carrier's current X2, Genesis and Vector reefer units. The TRUs will continue using the Kubota-made 2.2-litre diesel, but it will be derated by 18-20% because the reefer system's efficiency will require less power.

This means emissions will be cut by up to 20% and fuel use will be reduced by 5-20%, but cooling performance will be stronger, the company claims.

Design modifications to compressors and generators make them more efficient and reliable, says Carrier, and reduce the weight of Vector units by about 8%. X2 series units will require 24% less refrigerant, reducing another potential source of greenhouse gases.

Derating the engine below 25 hp helps compliance with Tier 4. Current products that meet Tier 4 Interim limits will be phased out.
 

More sensors and more powerful electronic controls, amounting to a full implementation of the previously announced APX system, will help the engine burn cleaner and the refrigeration functions operate more precisely.

The APX control system will have new power-management algorithms and intelligent refrigeration system control. Improvements to the condenser, heat exchanger and fan will result in better efficiency and sound reduction, Carrier promises.

Maintenance routines will be similar to current methods.

Units featuring the next generation technology will be available in limited quantities by the end of the year, and fully available in 2013.

OK, THE SHOW REMINDERS... The 59th Electric Utility Fleet Managers Conference will be held June 3-6, 2012 at the Williamsburg Lodge and Conference Center in Williamsburg, Virginia. Bob Lutz, the driving force behind many vehicle advancements in a nearly 50-year career in the automotive industry, will be the guest speaker at the big dinner on Wednesday June 6. Register at www.eufmc.com or call 1-800-261-9530.

Then, on June 21 and 22, it's Green Fleet Expo VII, hosted by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Niagara Region in partnership with the City of Toronto, Fleet Services Division, Electric Mobility Canada and Fleet Challenge Ontario. Day 1 presentations are being webcast live. As the name suggests, you'll learn about the latest developments in low-emission and zero-emission vehicles and equipment being used by Canada's leading green fleets. There's a small trade show and a ride-and-drive. It's at the Four Points by Sheraton in the Niagara region, specifically at 3530 Schmon Parkway in Thorold, Ont.  The  2-day registration fee is $150, 1-day fee is $75, and you can register for the webcast of Day 1 for $35. See www.toronto.ca/fleet/expo.htm

Moving all the way ahead to September 10-12, you may want to attend the fifth International Environmentally Friendly Vehicles Conference in Baltimore, MD. Hosted in the U.S. for the first time, this one is about shaping the market for clean and fuel efficient vehicles. Sponsored by EPA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Environment Canada, conference supporters include General Motors, Nissan, Auto Alliance, Global Automakers, Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association, Society of Automotive Engineers, the International Council on Clean Transportation and others. Sponsorship opportunities and exhibit space are available. Abstracts for papers and presentations will be accepted until April 30. Visit www.efv2012.com

And if you want to justify a trip to Europe, note that this is a Hannover year. The 64th IAA Commercial Vehicles show will be held from September 20 to 27, 2012 in Hannover, Germany. See www.iaa.de/en/

THIS NEWSLETTER IS PUBLISHED every two weeks. It's a heads-up notice about what's going on with trucking technology. I also write here about interesting products that may not have had the 'air play' they deserved within the last few months.

I should remind you that I don’t endorse any of the products I write about in this e-newsletter, nor do I have the resources to test them. What you’re getting is reasonably well educated opinion based on more than three decades in trucking.

If you have comments of whatever sort about the Lockwood Report, or maybe you've tried a gizmo I should know about, please contact me at rolf@newcom.ca

 

BIG-BORE EFFICIENCY

(April 25, 2012) -- Volvo Trucks extends ‘XE’ fuel-efficiency package to 16-litre engine, heavy weights

TIRE-PRESSURE MONITORING

(April 25, 2012) -- WABCO says its system helps save up to 2% on fuel, increases tire life

CAB COOLER

(April 25, 2012) -- New "ecological" cab cooler for high-roofed trucks from Viesa

TRUCK-MOUNTED PUMP

(April 25, 2012) -- Mouvex CC20 Eccentric Disc pump for waste oil, chemical and petrochemical transfer

CAB SUSPENSION

(April 25, 2012) -- Firestone introduces "revolutionary" Airide Integrative Air-Damping System