May 30 2008
Webasto Product North America, a global leader in heating and cooling solutions for the light and heavy-duty transportation industries, has received California's Air Resources Board (CARB) approval for its BlueCool Truck Bunk Cooler. Out of all CARB approved devices, BlueCool Truck (BCT) is the only engine-off technology that has no emissions when in use.
Utilizing breakthrough technology that marries high-tech materials with physics, BlueCool Truck provides true engine-off bunk cooling and dehumidification. It does so with one of the industry's highest overall efficiencies.
"At first glance, people sometimes think BlueCool Truck is a new kind of auxiliary power unit (APU)," said John Thomas, Vice President of Marketing, Webasto Product North America (WPNA). "But BlueCool Truck isn't an APU at all. It's a technologically advanced energy storage system which harnesses the kinetic energy of the truck's drivetrain while traveling down the road and stores it as potential energy in the BCT storage core. When needed this potential energy is released again as kinetic energy on demand to cool the bunk area.
"This elegant but simple transfer of energy affords BlueCool Truck great advantages," said Thomas. "The BCT system requires no additional batteries, for instance, and when in discharge mode uses absolutely no fuel and produces no emissions."
In overall terms (factoring in the minimal fuel used to charge the system while driving), Webasto's BlueCool Truck system uses over 80% less fuel than an APU and 90% less fuel than an idling truck. Via fuel cost savings, operators and truck owners can pay back their investment in BlueCool Truck in around half the time it would take with an APU, especially when you consider the additional maintenance costs that are necessary to keep an APU running.
"That's more dollars in truck owners' pockets faster," said Thomas. "BlueCool Truck is a better, cleaner, more cost effective, more efficient solution to the difficult and complex idling restrictions all truck owners and operators are facing."
Truck operators already using the BlueCool Truck system agree. "BlueCool Truck worked for me and definitely saved my fleet money. I saw a half mile per gallon improvement in fuel economy," said Jim Germak, General Manager, Jagtrux, Inc. "That saving adds up quickly." In this example, a half mile per gallon for the Jagtrux fleet equates to more than 1,000 gallons of fuel saved annually. Others who used to idle more have seen even greater savings.
Based on current demand, Webasto is projecting to sell 5,000 BCT units in 2008.
Webasto's Engine-Off Heating and Cooling Products
BlueCool Truck joins several other Webasto products that received CARB approval in 2007, including the Air Top 2000 S and Air Top 2000 ST compartment air heaters and Thermo Top Z/C (TSL 17) engine coolant pre-heater. All Webasto products surpassed the requirements of CARB by a wide margin. New California standards for air quality took effect on January 1, 2008 limiting idling of truck engines and thereby precluding use of the truck's regular heating and cooling system for providing temperature and humidity control in the truck cab and bunk areas.
"With the CARB approval of BlueCool Truck, Webasto now offers a unique suite of engine-off heating and cooling products that provide driver and occupant comfort all 12 months of the year," said Thomas. "BlueCool Truck and our Fuel Operated Heaters are truly the 'green-green' solution -- green environmentally and green financially. They're a winning combination for idle reduction that are much less expensive to purchase and operate than APUs."
BlueCool Truck's High-Tech Operating System
BlueCool Truck's source of cooling is a high-tech cold storage unit that is charged (frozen) while the truck is running. During times of driver rest, the system utilizes only small amounts of electricity from the existing vehicle batteries (no additional batteries are needed) to circulate super-chilled coolant between the cold storage unit and a heat exchanger installed in the truck sleeper cabin. Pushed by four small, exceptionally quiet air distribution fans, the cold air will keep the bunk area cool for up to 10 hours in most ambient conditions. Once charged, the system uses no diesel fuel and therefore produces no emissions during the cooling operation because it runs independently of the OEM air conditioning system.
The principle behind how BlueCool Truck works is not a new discovery, it is a natural phenomenon called latent heat. It has been known for centuries that ice has poor thermal conductivity and extracting cold storage efficiently and effectively is extremely difficult. This problem has been overcome now by embedding the water/ice in a high-tech graphite matrix, with a resulting thermal conductivity that is 100 times better than a pure water/ice exchange. The design provides a highly efficient, compact and dynamic thermal energy storage system that produces an assured cooling output at a constant temperature.
The New Law
In the Golden State there has been an aggressive and long-standing effort to reduce unnecessary harmful greenhouse gases. Since January 1, by law no truck has been allowed to idle more than five minutes (in non-traffic situations). CARB ruled that BlueCool Truck met the criteria that allows the use of alternative technologies other than auxiliary power systems using internal combustion engines or fuel-fired heaters to reduce idling from heavy-duty diesel-fueled vehicles. BlueCool Truck can be installed and operated on all heavy-duty diesel-fueled vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) over 14,000 pounds and all diesel-fueled commercial motor vehicles with a GVWR over 10,000 pounds. California's regulations are important because many other states generally enact the rules developed by CARB into their own state laws.