Modine Manufacturing Co., a designer and developer of heating and cooling solutions for a diversified group of markets including truck, construction, agriculture, industrial, and automotive, unveiled a new fuel cell product designed to reduce emissions and cut costs for over-the-road truck drivers.
This new advanced idle reduction system (idle-off) incorporates high efficiency, zero-emission fuel cells, and utilizes a non-greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), as the refrigerant, the company said. It can be used for both cooling and heating the sleeper cabin in a heavy-duty truck.
Modine said more than 500,000 heavy-duty diesel trucks are on the road in the United States. The Department of Energy estimates that more than one billion gallons of fuel are consumed each year while trucks idle to keep resting drivers warm or cool.
“This is going to get worse, as the new laws take effect,” said Dr. Tony De Vuono, Modine’s vice president and chief technology officer. “Twenty-two states have pending legislation that limits idling in some form. Our new technology offers a solution, helps to eliminate those emissions, and reduces energy consumption, while still providing a comfortable air-conditioned or heated sleeper cab for truck drivers.”
Modine designed the new CO2 air-conditioning and heating system internally. According to the company, CO2 is an environmentally friendly refrigerant with zero ozone depletion potential and zero net global warming potential as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Kyoto Protocol, which is an amendment assigning mandatory targets for nations around the world for the reduction of greenhouse gases. The properties of CO2 make it advantageous for both cooling and heating a vehicle, the company said. Using a CO2 heat pump to heat the cabin in cold weather is more energy efficient than using other conventional heating products.
Modine said it sourced the fuel cell power pack from General Hydrogen Corp. The fuel cell power pack uses hydrogen gas as the fuel with the only byproduct being water, the company said. It was specifically designed for a truck auxiliary power unit application to produce electrical energy continuously for more than 10 hours. The thermal management system was designed and built by Modine’s fuel cell products group.
For more information, visit www.modine.com.
