Originally Posted by craysus
Hi all,
I am looking to enhance a fleet of Class 8 trucks. Predominantly these are 550-600HP cummins engined beasts, that do long distance line haulage towing single or B-Double reefers (Refrigerated box trailers)
I am looking to install fuel flow meters to obtain higher levels of accuracy in testing, however currently we have logs for trucks mileage. I will be testing each improvement with a weeks actual driving, with the same rig on the same route with the same driver..Currently we can measure our fuel burn to 2 decimal places, but with the fuel flow meter this will increase to 5 decimal places.
So far...
I am looking at
1. Supplementary gaseous injection (3 vendors all guaranteeing, with money back of a minimum of 15% fuel gain using their products)
--We have trialed propane (LPG) previously but too many negative effects occured *EGT increases, HP and torque increases, and resulted in a crank shaft failure and drivetrain issues from too much hp..*
--Vendor 1 is using HHO - have provided logs and references to other heavy fleet owners, guarantee with 100% money back a 15% gain, but historically have seen 25%+ with no tuning..With tuning gains up to 45% have been achieved.
-- Vendor 2 is using HHO and WI as a combined unit- I have received a guarantee of a free trial unit to put onto our truck, also guaranteeing 15%+ improvements or return the unit with no charge. This vendor I am not convinced is worthy to even test however, with some fairly vague sales pitches, and poor understandings of physics abounding on their web site..Their basic principles (Including "cracking" the water first (AFAIK simple ionising of the water to reduce the coherent bond..)) appear possible, but they come across as dodgy used car salespeople
-- Vendor 3 is using Stored Hydrogen - have logs across their own fleet of buses and other vehicles showing 20% plus improvements. Have also a newer technology for generating Hydrogen on demand from the exhaust gases using a catalyst. and plazma reformers. They are performing full dyno and onraod testing on their OWN fleet, and sharing full results, prior to us testing..they are also combining tuning, and water injection (As sub set results...so very interesting to see the stackability of the technology)..potentially someone actually doing Hydrogen injection to a diesel CORRECTLY and FULLY...
2. Tuning - I am looking at combining tuning with any gaseous attempt..it is pointless I believe adding a supplementary fuel (Or combustion enhancer) , without then reducing the baseline fuel being put into the engine..This tuning will take place on a dyno to ENSURE we do NOT gain any HP / Torque..Being in heavy trucking, with high hp trucks across the fleet, it is a negative effect to increase HP!. Obviously any maps that are created need to have the ability to default back to stock maps incase of supplementary failure. This will be recorded using fuel flow meters under static ramp loads.
3. Water fumigation / diesel emulsion - Looks very promising , and will be treated similar to the Gaseous supplementary above in point 1. It seems most of the aftermarket have very low quality kits available however, so we may need to create this inhouse to get some reliability in the product using quality stainless fittings etc.
4. Aerodynamics - obviously a critical component. Looking at aerotabs (Vortex generators), eco-flaps (Mudflaps), moon wheels, side farings (Fibreglass add ons to enclose sides of trailers, and also cover fuel tanks etc on the truck), Cheek Bones (For front side edges of trailers / cab over trucks),
--Also considering upgrading some of the older hoods on our fleet to reflect the newer more streamlined hoods and lights on later model trucks..still to find someone who has some "upgrade aero" hoods for sale..
-- Streamlining exhausts - removal of stacks infront /sides of cabs..to either behind the cab, or better exiting behind the wheels down low..
--removal of external air filters, relocating to under hood (Using ducting / airscoops to help funnel air to enhance ram-air effect to the 16 litre diesels..)
--Aero Mirrors to be installed / tested to see if much benefit..
--Possibly under trays to be installed..although this may not be possible.
--NB all trucks already have standard top of cab/sleeper farings etc installed.
5. Parasitic losses - removal of hydraulic engine fans, replacment with electric, power steering conversion to electric, airconditioning has already been transferred to the Aux power unit (Small genset instead of big engine),
6. Frictional losses - synthetic lubes in diffs / gearboxes already in use..marginal improvements. Considering using Super single tyres, but they may be too risky on our long haul routes
Open for any suggestions / thoughts...Please keep any negativity to HHO to a minimum, I am going to test 3 different types of Hydrogen to prove this / disprove this on our fleet at minimal cost/risk to ourselves..If it does work however, the unicorn corral will be upset lol
NB: I am a IT and project management specialist , I do NOT claim to be a mechanical engineer / chemist / biologist / rocket scientist / etc...I am pragmatic, and will chase fuel gains for the company.
Our trucks average around 1.95km/l currently, and I would like to push this to a minimum of 2.4km/l If I can obtain more than that I am very happy (My goal is 50% improvement..or around 3km/l......however all benefits must have a short ROI of less than 6 months to be considered worthwhile.
I am trying to keep costs under $30k per truck / trailer combination if at all possible..although ROI is the key..if it cuts enough fuel burn, we will spend to implement it.
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