Smarter aerodynamics make big rigs more fuel efficient
February 26, 2010, 3:25pm PST | Length: 00:02:20
The scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are testing new drag reduction devices that could one day make large trucks more aerodynamic. The new truck designs will provide trucks more fuel efficiency, possibly saving the trucking industry as much as 10 billion dollars in fuel costs.
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Transcript
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>> Sumi Das: These big rigs hauling goods down the highway are essential to the nation's health and prosperity. However, the fuel they consume and the exhaust they expunge is a challenge to the economy and the environment. But the scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and truck maker, Navistar, may have come up with a way to improve fuel efficiency in large trailer trucks through smarter aerodynamics.
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Solare: Almost fifteen years ago we started to invest in the aerodynamics of heavy vehicles to help industry. And, to this day, we do a lot of computations to understand the flow structures and then, given that knowledge and understanding, we design devices.
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Das: Dr. Ken B. Solare assumed spelling is a senior scientist with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He says, "the lab is working on drag reduction devices to improve how trucks move through the air." Solare says, "The impediment is in the design of the trailer box, not in the tractor." But now they have a fix.
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Solare: The trailer is the challenge. It's just a box, and, basically, we cannot alter the volume and what we need to do is somehow trick assumed spelling the flow to think a box is not a box. And that's what we do. By putting devices on it, we somehow trick the flow.
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Das: And to test the flow, the lab is partnering with the Air Force and NASA Ames Research Center. Using the world's largest wind tunnel, scientists can learn more about how the semi trucks will perform with the new hardware.
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Solare: We are very lucky that we can get into this type of a facility to test the performance of these devices in full scale.
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Das: The new truck design could soon save the nation more than ten billion dollars annually in fuel costs by increasing efficiency in trucks by 12%. Smarter aerodynamics moving new technologies into semi-trucks. For ZDNet, I'm Sumi Das.
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==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
