A showcase for future truck technology - street smarts

Diesel Progress North American Edition, Dec, 2003 by Jim Winsor

Big trucks were showcased for the first time at Michelin's annual Challenge Bibendum held this autumn in the San Francisco Bay area. Commercial vehicles were invited to be part of the "sustainable mobility" challenge to promote and demonstrate "green" technologies, many of them in early developmental stages. There were 108 vehicles of all sizes and shapes demonstrated in this year's Challenge Bibendum to show feasible alternative fuels as well as ways to conserve traditional fossil fuels, gasoline and diesel.

Heavy-duty technologies were demonstrated in vehicles from Freightliner, Isuzu, Volvo and a Peterbilt entered by Cummins Westport. Eaton showed off its hybrid diesel-electric drive under development for FedEx Express and a hydraulic regenerative braking technology which stores hydraulic fluid under pressure during braking, then applies it as energy for acceleration.

It was Freightliner's second appearance at the Challenge Bibendum. In 2001 the company showed off a Century model with fuel cell auxiliary power, a zero-emissions alternative to engine idling. For '03, the company showed its Safety-Environment-Technology truck with second-generation fuel cell. This Century Class model with large sleeper was equipped with home-like appliances and accessories drivers like to have when they're on the road, often for weeks at a time.

In addition to the usual air conditioning, there's a TV, CD player, coffee pot, microwave, reading lamps, electric blanket--an electrical load often referred to as a "hotel load." The Freightliner featured a 5 kW Ballard fuel cell that handled all electrical needs when the truck was parked. This eliminates traditional (and expensive) engine idling, the usual way to provide heating/cooling and to keep batteries charged.

The fuel cell occupied space on the frame rail just behind the left side fuel tank and was hidden behind the side skirts. The auxiliary power unit includes a methanol reformer, which releases hydrogen from the alcohol to be used in the fuel cell to generate electrical output at 42 V. This is stored for use at 12 V or inverted up to 110 V for the sleeper's homey appliances. The ultimate goal is to reform diesel fuel but that development may take five years or more.

Volvo's Technology Truck, which included a bath/shower in its sleeper, was set up to power its "hotel loads" from a shore power hookup--another zero-emissions option. A second model VN in a day cab configuration showed one of the first publicly exhibited installations of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) exhaust aftertreatment, one of the technologies under development to reach the 2007/2010 emissions levels for diesels. The tractor was one of 23 operated by Talon Logistics as part of the SCR development program. The system has a catalyst oxidation chamber and 14 gal. urea tank tucked behind the right side step and feeding into a single-stack muffler.

The Cummins Westport demonstration truck was a Peterbilt operated by SF Recycling and Disposal in daily service as a trash transfer hauler. This joint venture development uses liquid natural gas as its fuel but unlike other LNG heavy-duty applications, the Cummins Westport is a diesel cycle where a mixture of 5 percent diesel fuel and 95 percent gas is injected into the cylinder. There is no spark ignition. In this truck, the engine is a modified ISX Cummins rated 400 hp and 1450 lb.ft.

Another alternative fuel heavy-duty truck was a Century Class Freightliner operated on compressed natural gas (CNG) by Harris Ranch Feeding Co. As part of that demonstration program, the company hopes to highlight biogas. In Europe where development work is further along, the target is to substitute naturally occurring methane gas from landfills, agriculture and animal wastes for 8 percent of the total energy. For Harris Ranch, much if its potential fuel supply is right there in the form of animal manure, which currently is an expensive disposal problem!

In the Class 7 weight class (26,001 lb. to 33,000 lb.), Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) entered one of its Business Class Freightliner FL70 line trucks powered by a John Deere 8.1 L natural gas-fueled engine, the same powerplant used in many school bus alternative fuel programs. As with others in the challenge, the vehicle was judged for acceleration, emissions, energy efficiency, noise and range without refueling.

The Challenge Bibendum is indeed an outstanding annual venue to demonstrate technologies which reduce the worldwide use of oil, to protect the environment and to guarantee the security of energy supplies. This year's heavy-duty entries brought publicity and commercial visibility to medium- and heavy-duty trucks for the first time.

JIM WINSOR is EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF HEAVY DUTY TRUCKING AND DIRECTOR OF MARKETING FOR NEWPORT COMMUNICATIONS.