8 Diesel Power Innovations for Safe, Clean Trucking

Sometimes you have to toot your own horn to draw attention to your achievements. Why? Because there is so much other noise, and when the cause is worthy you want to draw attention to it, to be heard over the noise of the herd.

This seems to be one of the roles of the Diesel Technology Forum (DTF). They don't toot their own horn, but instead make known the achievements of others who are working to advance clean diesel technology. These achievements seldom get the attention they deserve, hence the DTF keeps beating the drum.

On August 27 they published a story about seven examples of innovation involving diesel engine technology. Diesel advances are being demonstrated that will serve our nation for decades into the future. The article is titled Trucking Into the Future with 7 Innovations in Diesel Power but it actually lists eight areas where improvements are taking place. We'll elaborate on these below.

Whereas electrification and hydrogen are currently being ballyhooed as the future of transport power, improvements in diesel have been taking place and will remain with us going forward. These improvements are both in the engine itself and the fuels of the future.

For years the Department of Energy has been partnering with the trucking industry to move the industry forward. The partnership produced a SuperTruck Program with teams of engineers from engine and truck manufacturers to improve emissions and energy efficiency, the same drivers that were initiated a half century ago. Today the program is in a new phase called SuperTruck II.

The three targets for SuperTruck II are:
--Greater than 100 percent improvement in freight efficiency (relative to a 2009 baseline.)
--Demonstrate a 55 percent or better engine BTE at 65 mph.
--Development of cost-effective efficiency technologies.

Here's one example of what the Cummins SuperTruck II team achieved. Brake thermal efficiency is used to assess how well an engine converts heat from a fuel into mechanical energy. Cummins realized a never before gain of 55 percent brake themal efficiency in a heavy duty diesel engine. SuperTruck II improved CO2 emissions by 50 percent and doubled efficiency.

Here are seven examples of innovation highlighted in the DTF article.

1. Combustion Efficiency: To be achieved by means of new metal components, cylinder and piston designs, bearings, rings, valves, camshafts and more including specialized coatings. (See yesterday's story that mentions Nanoslide cylinder walls.)

2. Engine Management: By controlling combustion events, engines can be optimized in accordance with driving and weather conditions. Some of the innovations here include dynamic skip fire and cylinder deactivation. Recent announcements tout modest reduction of CO2 emissions here.

3. Future Engine Configuration: Most engines today are inline V configurations. Achates Power is testing an opposed piston (OP) engine that some are calling a game changer. OP engines improve efficiency will simultaneously reducing NOx. California likes what is happening with the OP engine that it is helping fund this research which aims to reduce NOx by 90 percent.

4. Electrifying Engine Components: This is another means by which greater efficiencies are achieved. This move may lead to great hybridization in some truck segments.

5. Optimized and Integrated Powertrain: Improvements in the way engines and transmissions work together can also deliver greater fuel savings and reduce emissions.

6. Emission Control System Optimization: Selective Catalytic Reduction systems (SCR) and particulate filters continue to become more efficient.

7. Fuel Revolution: Experiments with biobased fuels have been taking place for decades. Biobased diesel fuels deliver proven reductions in emissions compared to Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel.

8. Synthetic E-fuels: Because a majority of internal combustion vehicles will be around for years to come (even decades), efforts are being made to improve their performance by means of fuels. E-fuels are created using clean electricity and purportedly have the potential to produce climate-neutral outcomes for the majority of vehicles. 

The bottom line: Diesel engines are "poised to continue to deliver the goods and the benefits in the decades ahead."

Read the complete story here:
https://dieselforum.org/policyinsider/trucking-into-the-future-with-7-innovations-in-diesel-power

Photo Credit:  Photo by Robson Hatsukami Morgan on Unsplash  

Will Cummins Ditch Diesel for Hydrogen?

Industry watchers who follow current trends with regard to alternative power sources recognize that a sea change has been taking place with regards to the move away from carbon-based energy. The question right now is not If but When. 

There are still a lot of unanswered questions as regards How, but there's plenty of thought being given to the possibilities of tomorrow, and a lot of money being invested in this rising tide of interest in alternative technologies.

At the beginning of the week Cummins hosted a virtual live-streamed Hydrogen Day event. Having recently purchased Hydrogenics, a fuel cell developer, Cummins wanted to show the world that there is real power in hydrogen fuel cell powertrains. A Fox Business story by Gary Gastelu featured highlights from Monday's event. 

The article, titled Cummins Is Starting to Ditch Diesel for Hydrogen, states that Cummins has a high degree of confidence that if they build it, people will come. 

CEO Tom Linebarger told Fox Business that he's personally been thinking about hydrogen power since 1999 when he first began working on fuel cell technologies. 

One of the big hurdles is creating the infrastructure to become "electric." It will be possible, Cummins executives indicated, for OverThe-Road fleets to be all electric one day, but only if the power grid gets upgraded. To do so we need a 50% increase above today's levels in electricity output. In other words, government will have to invest in producing more power to power an electric-powered future on our highways.

During one of the presentations it was noted that people driving Teslas today are powered by electricity that comes from coal. Most people do not think about that. 

Cummins' goal is carbon neutrality by 2050, which seems a long ways off. Then again, I suspect that for those of us here to see it, it might come faster than we think.

Another hurdle will be the production of lighter weight batteries. If you are hauling heavy loads, you don't want to also be loaded down with a ton of batteries. 

I remember about 5 years ago at SEMA when I saw a new battery concept which was one-fifth the weight and half the size of our current car batteries. People smarter than you or I have been working on these problems for a long time. This is what keeps them awake at night, and it's a good thing.

You can read the full story here:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/cummins-to-start-ditiching-diesel-for-hydrogen 

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