Energy Transportation

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Innovations in Transportation
By Bill Kuhl
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Innovations in Transportation
In this presentation I will address the following
questions
What are the major types of transportation? What
are the major types of fuel, what are the
alternatives? How much fuel are we using? What
are the negatives? What are some innovated ideas
to improve energy efficiency in transportation?
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Importance of Transportation
Transportation is such an important component to
our modern lifestyle relating to manufacturing,
food supply, and leisure.
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Types of Fuels
Gasoline - Ethanol (alternative fuel) Diesel
- Biodiesel (alternative fuel) Jet
Fuel Electricity Hydrogen Natural Gas
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About Oil
Crude oil was formed over millions of years from
the remains of plants and animals covered by
layers of sand and silt. The process was helped
along by the heat and pressure in the layers.
Crude oil is pumped from the ground and then sent
to a refinery where it is separated into
gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, etc.
Fuel created from oil is Not Renewable, when
it is used up it is gone.
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How Much Fuel are We Using?
The Oil Used in United States Each Day is Around
20 Million Barrels If the barrels were lined up
edge to edge, this could extend from Minnesota to
Florida.
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Oil Consumption in the World is Around 1000
Barrels a Second
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For Every 1000 People Number of Car Owners
World Average is 111
US 760 Car Owners
China 10 Car Owners
One reason oil consumption will go up.
India 12 Car Owners
Emerging countries such as China and India with
large populations but low percentage of car
ownership will add significantly to oil demand as
they purchase automobiles at an increasing rate.
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Negative Aspects of Fuels - Pollution
The exhaust from a gasoline engine contains
nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide
and carbon dioxide. If run in a contained area
the exhaust is lethal.
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Pollution from Diesel
Diesel exhaust contains some of the same
pollutants as gasoline but adds particulate
matter and other pollutants.
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Pollution in the Refining Process
Oil refineries give off a variety of pollutants
and use a huge amount of water. Many petroleum
refineries use hydrofluoric acid in their
processing, which poses a great public safety
risk both because of its extreme toxicity and its
propensity to form a toxic aerosol cloud when
released.
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Drilling for oil offshore presents additional
risks for pollution.
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Negative - Scarcity
Often oil must be transported long distances
because not enough is found where it is needed.
This requires more fuel for the transportation,
adding to pollution and cost.
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Major Types of Transportation Considered
Automobile
Truck
Plane
Rail
Ship
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Automobiles
Automobiles are the most common method of
transportation for moving people from place to
place. Most commonly powered by an internal
combustion engine using gasoline for fuel. In
European countries diesel engine automobiles are
popular.
Smaller cars are normally more fuel efficient.
Automobiles have used gasoline engines for over a
hundred years. Gasoline is increasingly
expensive and it is polluting. Modern cars that
are well tuned are much less polluting than the
cars of just 20 years ago. Gas mileage improved
some after oil crisis of 1970s but has not
improved significantly since.
Large luxury cars from years ago could get less
than 10 mpg.
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Ethanol
The major alternative fuel to power gasoline
engines has been ethanol. Ethanol is commonly
created from corn or sugar cane in warmer
climates. There has been much controversy if the
net energy is much greater than the energy
required to create ethanol and many people do not
like the idea of using what could be food for
fuel. Ethanol is less polluting than gasoline but
requires modification to the engine to run 100
ethanol. More commonly it is mixed 85 to 15
gasoline to create E85 or most gasoline contains
10 ethanol.
E85 fuel is often sold for less, reason most
often given is because of subsidies
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Electric Powered Automobiles
Powering automobiles with electricity is not a
new technology, some of the first automobiles
were electric but the gasoline engine quickly won
out as the preferred power source. Recently
there has been new technology and increased
concerns for the environment that have made
powering a vehicle by electricity a more popular
option. Advances in electric motors,
electronics, and batteries are making a
multi-use vehicle more practical. The electric
hybrid vehicle has been a very popular option to
pure electric powered vehicles.
Nissan Leaf has been advertised as the first
affordable 100 electric car available for
mass-market.
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ZAP all-electric truck. ZAP stands for Zero Air
Pollution Company headquarters is in Santa Rosa
California
Although no direct pollution from electrical
vehicles, if electricity for charging vehicle is
produced by fossil fuels, there will be pollution
at the power plant.
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Neighborhood electric vehicles have lower speed
limit than other cars which restricts their use
to short in-town driving and no highway driving.
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In the past, electric vehicles have been more for
experimenters. Using lead acid batteries resulted
in limited range and heavy weight.
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Electric Hybrid Automobile
Hybrid vehicles combine fuel powered engines and
electric motors powered by batteries to increase
fuel efficiency. Batteries are recharged by
generator powered by the engine or from energy
recovered from braking.
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Toyota Prius has been the most popular hybrid
car, worldwide cumulative sales reached over 2
million cars in September 2010.
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Plug-in Electric Hybrid Automobile
This Toyota Prius was converted to be a plug-in
hybrid vehicle. Electricity for charging this car
can come from garbage incinerator.
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Compressed Natural Gas
Photos courtesy of www.hondamotorwerks.com
2007 Honda Civic GX that runs on compressed
natural gas.
Internal combustion engines can be made to run on
compressed natural gas. Natural gas is more
plentiful in the US and gives off about 25 less
emissions than gasoline.
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Hydrogen
Fuel Cell Hybrid car developed by Toyota.
Source http//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/FileTOY
OTA_FCHV_01.jpg
Wikimedia Commons author (GNU Free Documentation
License) (Public Domain)
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About Hydrogen

• Hydrogen is the simplest and most abundant
  element in the universe.
• Hydrogen is an energy carrier and must be
  separated from other substances.
• Hydrogen can be separated from water, biomass,
  or natural gas.
• Hydrogen can be burned in an internal combustion
  engine but it is more commonly converted to
  electricity in a fuel cell. The fuel cell is
  efficient and there is no pollution but it takes
  energy to create the hydrogen or there is some
  pollution if it is created from fossil fuel such
  as natural gas.

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Model Fuel Cell Car Kit solar cell produces
electricity for electrolysis to split water into
hydrogen and oxygen which combine in fuel
creating electricity again which powers electric
motor.
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Trucks
Large trucks deliver nearly 70 of all goods in
the United States, typical fuel mileage is around
5 mpg so even small increases in efficiency
reduces consumption a significant amount. Diesel
fuel used in large trucks is more expensive than
gasoline.
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About Diesel Engines
Diesel engines ignite the fuel without the spark
plugs used in gasoline engines by compressing the
air in cylinders further which causes it to heat
up before injecting fuel mixture. Diesel engines
are built heavier to withstand the greater forces
but typically are more fuel-efficient. In terms
of thermal efficiency diesel engine are normally
at least 30 efficient and can be as high as 50
efficient compared to 25 efficiency in gasoline
engines. Applications for diesel engines are
normally larger trucks, farm machinery, trains,
ships, and some automobiles.
Small diesel engine that can run on waste
vegetable oil.
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Biodiesel Alternative to Diesel

• Most commonly made from soybeans.
• Can be made from recycled cooking oil.
• Highest energy content of any alternative fuel.
• Can run in diesel engine with few modifications.
• Less polluting than petroleum diesel.
• Disadvantages
• Tends to clean dirt out of engine which can lead
  to clogs in system.
• More expensive than petroleum diesel.

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When a large truck is travelling at 55 mph,
roughly half of the trucks horsepower is needed
to overcome aerodynamic drag.
Without the fairing over the cab there is more
wind resistance from the air hitting the front of
the trailer.
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Fairing over this truck cab reduces the drag
hitting the front of the trailer.
There is still a significant gap between the cab
and the trailer, air tabs on the cab might
improve the flow further.
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Underneath the trailer and the rear of the
trailer are significant areas of drag also.
Sideskirts on the bottom of the trailer and air
tabs on the rear of the trailer may reduce some
of the drag.
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Rolling Resistance
Rolling resistance in trucks is a major portion
of the drag the truck must overcome until the
speed reaches almost 50 mph, then the drag of
pushing through air is greater. The rubber tire
deformation is a major factor in trucks and not
in trains with steel wheels. Physics students
learn about rolling resistance when building
mousetrap powered cars.
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Hydraulic Hybrid
For trucks that start and stop often such a
delivery or garbage trucks, hydraulic hybrid
technology can save significant fuel by
compressing a gas pushed by hydraulic fluid
pumped during braking .
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This hydraulic hybrid car was designed and
constructed by Eden Prairie High School students
and entered in a super mileage competition,
average mileage was 150 m.p.g.
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Jets and Airplanes
The newest jet engines are twice as efficient as
jet engines built in the 1960s. Fuel costs have
risen faster and are a major expense for an
airline.
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 On average, a passenger jet burns about 910 lbs.
of fuel, or 136 gallons, during its takeoff and
climb.  It will burn a similar amount during its
descent and landing. As much as 50 of carbon
emissions from planes come from the combination
of the takeoff and landing.
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Different fuel blends are needed to operate jet
aircraft in colder weather.
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Small planes use internal combustion engines
using a high-octane gasoline called av-gas.
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Biofuel or Synthetic Fuel for Jet Aircraft
Creating fuel for jet engines is a challenge
because of the cold temperatures encountered at
high altitudes and safety concerns. Experimental
jet fuels have been tested however.

• Experimental Jet Fuels
• Blending 20 babassu nuts, coconut and 80
  conventional jet fuel.
• Blending synthetic fuel derived from algae with
  existing jet fuel
• Blending natural gas derived synthetic fuel with
  existing jet fuel.

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Ships
There are 70,000 ships engaged in international
trade carrying 90 of the worlds goods.
Modern cargo ships can carry up to 11,000 metal
shipping containers. Over 1600 gallons of heavy
oil fuel are burned in an enormous engine that
develops over 100,000 horsepower that is 50
percent efficient.
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Modern Ships are Much Faster Than Ships of the
Past
Replica of one of the three ships Christopher
Columbus used to cross the Atlantic Ocean which
took over 2 months. Modern cargo ships can cross
the Atlantic in as little as 7 days.
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Barges Move Freight on Rivers
Barges are said to be more efficient than rail
for moving large amounts of freight on rivers,
some people will dispute this.
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Air travel has mostly replaced ships for
passenger travel except for cruise ships.
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How Do You Make a Ship More Efficient

• Reduce the drag on the hull of the ship
  including anything that protrudes from the hull.

• Improve the efficiency of the propulsion of the
  ship which includes the engines and propellers.

• Harness the wind to move the ship.

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Electric Pod Drive That Swivels
Electric motor in pod that swivels to turn ship
does not have the drag of rudder behind the
propeller and can be controlled more efficiently.
For some situations can improve efficiency up
to 15.
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Modern Use of Wind Power
A large kite launched from a ship cancut fuel
consumption up to 35 in some situations. More
information to be found on company website
http//www.skysails.info/
(c) SkySails GmbH Co. KG
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Trains
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Progress in Rail Transportation
There has been much progress in improving the
efficiency of an always efficient means of
travel, trains. From the days of coal powered
steam trains to the modern diesel electric
trains, the basic design is the same. The small
area in front and the low rolling resistance of
steel wheels on steel rail is very efficient in
moving a large load.
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Steel wheels running on steel rail have very low
rolling resistance compared to rubber tires on
pavement.
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Fuel efficiency of railroads has increased 72
percent from 1980. Before 1980 one gallon of fuel
moved a ton of freight an average of 235 miles
but by 2001 this had increased to 406 miles.
Further savings have been realized since 2001.
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General Electric Hybrid Locomotive picture
courtesy of General Electric There are now
electric hybrid locomotives too which can provide
up to 15 saving on fuel and emissions. The
energy produced by braking a 207 ton locomotive
in one year is enough to power 160 households for
a year. A full charge of the batteries can power
the train for up to 100 miles.
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Special Thanks to Michael Walsh and Ken Andrade
for Nissan Leaf Images
Check Out the ScienceGuy Website
http//www.scienceguy.org