West Virginia University engineering students will seek to reclaim bragging rights as designers of the”greenest”sport utility vehicle during FutureTruck 2002 June 11-21 at the Ford Proving Grounds in Yucca, Ariz.
And they hope to do it with a big exclamation point.
At a time of fluctuating gas prices, WVU and 14 other schools from the United States and Canada will compete for the honor of calling their re-engineered Ford Explorer the most energy-efficient, environmentally friendly SUV .
WVU which has renamed its vehicle Exclaim!won the competition two years ago and placed sixth last year behind the University of California-Davis, University of Wisconsin at Madison, University of Maryland, Georgia Institute of Technology and Cornell University.
“I wont say well finish first, but I think well place in the top five this year,”said mechanical and aerospace engineering Professor Nigel Clark, the teams faculty adviser.”Weve got some pretty advanced emissions control systems, such as a filter that captures the diesel smoke and acts as a catalyst to burn it off.”
The competition is sponsored by Ford and the U.S. Department of Energy. Participating student teams modify the powertrain on a Ford SUV to increase fuel economy. They may employ various advanced automotive technologies, including hydrogen fuel cells, hybrid powertrains combining electric motors and internal combustion engines, emerging computer technology, advanced electronics and alternative fuels.
WVU students replaced their vehicles gas-operated engine with a 2.5-liter prototype Detroit Diesel engine, added a 100-horsepower electric motor powered by a 300-volt battery pack and installed a manual transmission, Dr. Clark said. The vehicle also runs on a blend of soybean diesel and petroleum diesel, meaning it uses less fossil fuel.
“During braking we put electrical energy into the battery instead of wasting it, and when accelerating we reuse that electrical energy,”he said.”We should end up with something like a 50 percent fuel economy improvement.”
Judges will evaluate vehicles for greenhouse gas impact, fuel economy, exhaust emissions, acceleration, off-road performance, consumer acceptability and safety.
The competition gives students exposure to everyday engineering practices, Clark said.
“Its a unique teamwork experience, and they get exposure to real-world design experience,”he said.
Members of WVU s FutureTruck team are team leader Axel Radermacher of Harpers Ferry; Colton Dixon of Arthurdale; John Gibble of Lititz, Pa.; Tal Gottesman and Ezekiel Turak, both of Morgantown; Aaron Judy of Kingwood; Russell King of Lavale, Md.; Heather Lynch of Fairmont; and James Miller of Naoma. Gottesman is a computer science and electrical engineering student; the others are mechanical and aerospace engineering majors.
Other schools participating are California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo; Cornell University; Georgia Institute of Technology; Michigan Technological University; Ohio State University; Pennsylvania State University; Texas Tech University; University of Alberta; University of California-Davis; University of Idaho; University of Maryland; University of Tennessee at Knoxville; University of Wisconsin at Madison; and Virginia Tech.
Information about FutureTruck is available on the Web at https://www.futuretruck.org/default.html . For more information about WVU s FutureTruck team, go to http://www2.cemr.wvu.edu/~hev/ .