You might think that truck-makers have already done a good job of squeezing every possible kilometre out of a litre of diesel. But a small Dutch company is demonstrating that there are still relatively low-tech ways of reducing fuel consumption.
Two brothers, Gandert and Hjalmar Van Raemdonck, have just collected their third major award for just such an invention at the ACES Academic Enterprise Awards in Stockholm.
The young researchers picked up the ACES Fast Start award earlier this month for their rapid progress in commercialising their research at TU Delft in the Netherlands. The company they created, Ephicas, is developing aerodynamic skirts for lorry trailers.
The idea of putting "sideskirts" on vehicles is not new. The SideWings, as Ephicas dubs them, differ in that their new aerodynamic design substantially reduces the air currents alongside and under the trailer. This then reduces the air resistance as the trucks travel the highways.
The aerodynamic design means that the skirt generates "lift" that actually helps to propel the vehicle. As an added bonus, the SideWings reduce spray, bringing safety benefits. The company estimates that the skirt cuts air resistance by 14 to 18 per cent, which delivers a 7 to 9 per cent reduction in fuel consumption.
Founded in July 2008, Ephicas already has a preliminary agreement with TNT Express, the logistics company, to equip 500 trailers with SideWings, and is also negotiating with trailer manufacturers to integrate its skirts into their designs.
Ephicas has performed road tests in collaboration with TNT Express and Squarell Technology, which, among other things, is involved in "vehicle data processing". The first test reduced fuel consumption by 5 per cent when the truck had a tail wind and 15 per cent with a head wind. In the second test, the TNT Express trailer drove the same route for four weeks in a row: two weeks without wings then two weeks with. Fuel consumption fell by 6.4 per cent in the second half of the trial. A third road test assessed the impact of the wings at a cruising speed of 85km/h. This delivered a reduction of 7 per cent in average fuel use. These gains in fuel efficiency are enough to recover the cost of fitting the skirts within a couple of years or so.
SideWings aren't suitable for everything that takes to the road. Don't expect to see them driving out of car showrooms. And short-distance truckers would not realise the same savings on fuel bills. The company estimates that the sideskirts can be fitted to about half the trucks currently in use in the Netherlands.
The really interesting angle on this story is that relatively simple technology can deliver respectable improvements in fuel efficiency. No need for new type of engine or fancy, and possibly temperamental, electronic systems. Just add a relatively simple skirt to your trucks.
This example of what you can get by taking ideas from aerospace and applying them to road vehicles makes you wonder if there are more simple ideas out there that could help to whittle away at transport's emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Further information:
http://www.ephicas.eu
http://bulletin.sciencebusiness.net/ebulletins/showissue.php3?page=/548/art/12261
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