Racine, Wis. – Modine Manufacturing Co. is developing a series of compact heat exchangers designed to capture waste heat from the exhaust stream of a diesel engine and convert this heat into useful power to improve engine efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions.
As part of this development effort, Modine has been involved in a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored program called SuperTruck and has provided these heat exchangers to a Cummins-Peterbilt concept vehicle for comprehensive road testing.
During this road testing, the vehicle achieved 10.7mpg, a 75% increase in fuel economy in head-to-head testing over a 24-hour time period compared with a 2009 baseline truck. These results translated to a 43% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and an 86% gain in freight efficiency.
The Department of Energy (DOE) initiated the multi-year SuperTruck program in 2010 with the goal of designing a heavy-duty Class 8 truck that achieves a 50 percent improvement in overall freight efficiency.
The Cummins-Peterbilt collaboration was set up to develop and demonstrate a highly efficient and clean diesel engine, an advanced Rankine-based waste heat recovery system, an aerodynamic Peterbilt tractor-trailer combination, and an auxiliary power unit (APU) to reduce engine idling. Cummins and Peterbilt selected Modine to provide the heat exchangers for the waste heat recovery system.
The Rankine-based waste heat recovery system operates similarly to a conventional stationary power plant. A power fluid is boiled using the heat from the diesel engine exhaust and is sent to a turbine, which converts this heat into mechanical energy.
Lawrence Gabbey, Modine Research Engineering Section Manager and Program Manager for the SuperTruck program comments, “Our research engineers utilized Modine’s technology building blocks to develop highly compact heat exchangers to meet the thermal management and space requirements of this new challenge. Leveraging the success of this demonstration program, Modine continues to develop this waste heat recovery technology in preparation for future commercial opportunities around the globe in the commercial vehicle and automotive markets.”
Source: Modine Manufacturing