Clean Power Signs MoU With Trucking Company for Steam Hybrid System
21 December 2008
Canada-based Clean Power Technologies Inc. (CPT), developer of a waste-heat powered steam hybrid system (CESAR, Clean Energy Storage and Recovery, earlier post), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Farm Fresh Marketing Inc., a North American freight trucking company based in Idaho. This is CPT’s third agreement in the North American food haulage sector.
Both parties have agreed to work together with the ultimate objective of making the Farm Fresh truck fleet more energy-efficient by installing Clean Power’s CESAR system, which takes otherwise wasted heat from the exhaust of a conventional combustion engine and modifies it through a heat recovery system to generate steam power for both motive and auxiliary power.
Under the terms of the MOU, Farm Fresh will provide Clean Power a Road Load Data Collection Vehicle for the purpose of detailed research on its existing refrigerated trailer fleet.
Research using the vehicle is an important step towards understanding the operational and environmental performance parameters of the cooling units currently used in Farm Fresh’s fleet of 53 trucks, all with refrigeration units on them. From this data Clean Power will refine the design and packaging of its exhaust heat capture, accumulator and steam engine to ensure that, together, they meet or exceed the specifications of the existing diesel engine system.
The overall global truck market is growing at 8% each year and there are already more than 7 million refrigerated trailers in North America alone. These trucks and their refrigerated trailers (reefers), are now subject to US anti-idling legislation, introduced in 2006 that prevents drivers from idling their engines for more than five consecutive minutes except in cases of maintenance or repair.
As such, CPT notes, there is an immediate demand for hybrid technologies to power auxiliary systems in the truck cab (such as air conditioning, heating, lighting and entertainment) as well as refrigerated trailers. The CESAR system requires no separate fuel source, no high-maintenance components, such as batteries or capacitors, and no major scientific or infrastructural step-changes (such as hydrogen for fuel cells).
The solution proposed for Farm Fresh is a dual system unit which will operate when the truck is running with the refrigeration trailer attached, and also when the trailer is in stand-alone mode—keeping goods cool at a supplier depot or distribution center, for example.
I love it. Their claims may be a bit hard to believe but, hey, lets try it.
More geek friendly than a Prius.
CPT says "Power can be produced solely by the secondary vapor engine even after the primary combustion engine has shut down."
At least for a while?
They don't mention any grants or such - I wager there are some.
They claim “up to” 40% efficiency - umm well, with the main Diesel idling, this may be nearly almost realistic. Maybe allow more idling time if you have one of these – save the taxpayers; reduce the number of anti-idling cops.
But really, ya just gotta love a bottoming cycle on a truck.
Posted by: ToppaTom | 21 December 2008 at 08:18 AM
"The overall global truck market is growing at 8% each year and there are already more than 7 million refrigerated trailers in North America alone."
Hmmm... doesn't sound like a recession. Or depression. Maybe those newscastros got it backwards. It's an expansion! Now, if I can just remember that investment opportunity... bio - diesel.
Posted by: Reel$$ | 21 December 2008 at 10:43 AM
Reel$$
Heavy trucks sales were down (-31.9% in 2007 and down again (-11.3%) so far in 2008.
People with crystal balls think that it will increase by +23% in 2009.
Realistic people think that it may drop a bit more in 2009 and 2010.
Posted by: HarveyD | 21 December 2008 at 01:19 PM