Innovation You Can Depend On

David Koeberlein- Principal Investigator

Cummins Inc.

Cummins SuperTruck Program

Technology and System Level Demonstration of Highly 

Efficient and Clean, Diesel Powered Class 8 Trucks

June 20, 2014

This presentation does not contain any proprietary, confidential, or otherwise restricted information

Project ID: ACE057
Innovation You Can Depend On

Overview

Budget: 

• Total: $77,662,230

• DoE share* $36,335,608 

• CMI share* $36,335,608

* actuals as of 12/31/2013 

Today

Period

Partners:

• Cummins – Program Lead & Engine 

• Modine

• Oak Ridge National Lab

• Purdue University

• Peterbilt – Vehicle Integrator

• Peterbilt Partners

Peterbilt partner details are included in 

Peterbilt’s 2014 AMR presentation ARRA-081

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Overview – Program Barriers

• Engine Downspeed (Reduced Engine Speed)

 Powertrain component response

– Closed cycle efficiency gains

• High Conversion Efficiency NOx Aftertreatment

 Fuel Efficient Thermal Management

 Vehicle and Engine System Weight Reduction

 Underhood Cooling with Waste Heat Recovery

• Powertrain Materials

 Increased Peak Cylinder Pressure with Cost Effective Materials 

for Block and Head

– Thermal Barrier Coatings for Reduced Heat Transfer

 Trailer Aerodynamic Devices that are Functional

• Parasitic power reductions

More vehicle specific details are included in Peterbilt’s 2013 AMR presentation ARRA-081

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Relevance - American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act (ARRA) & VT ARRA Goals

• ARRA Goal: Create and/or Retain Jobs

• ARRA Goal: Spur Economic Activity

• Greater than $72.6M total spend to date (ref: thru Dec 2013)

• Goals align with VT Multi-Year Program Plan 2011-2015

• Advanced Combustion Engine R&D (ACE R&D): 

• 50% HD engine thermal efficiency by 2015 (ref: VT MYPP 2.3.1)

• Vehicle and Systems Simulation and Testing (VSST): 

• Freight efficiency improvement of 50% by 2015 (ref: VT MYPP 1.1)

• Invest in Long Term Economic Growth

– Freight transport is essential for economic growth 

• Commercial viability assessment

Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Full Time Equivalent 75.5 85 60 46 17

States: Indiana, Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Illinois, California, Colorado, New York 

Projections

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Approach – Vehicle Energy Analysis

Analysis of 27 Drive Cycles for Class 8 Vehicles 

with a Variety of Seasons (Summer, Winter, etc.)

Analyze: Where is the energy going? Identify priority. 

Cummins Peterbilt

Bridgestone & 

Goodyear

Delphi & Eaton & Dana

Bergstrom Weight Reduction

20Jun2014 5
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WHR Engine 

System

Advanced Cab 

and Trailer 

Aerodynamics

Battery 

Weight Reduction APU

Technical Accomplishments -

Freight Efficiency Enabling Technologies

GPS Cruise 

Control

Advanced Single Tires

Advanced Formula 

Aftertreatment 

Efficient 

Cooling 

Package

Retractable 

Trailer Skirts

Reference: Objective 2

• Vehicle details are included in Peterbilt’s 2013 AMR presentation ARRA-081

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Technical Accomplishment –

24 hour Freight Efficiency Test Results

75% Fuel Efficiency Improvement

86% Freight Efficiency Improvement

43% CO2 Reduction

Reference: Objective 2

• Vehicle details are included in Peterbilt’s 2013 AMR presentation ARRA-081

SuperTruck @ DoE Headquarters – 19Feb2014

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Technical Accomplishment –

Freight Efficiency Status

Reference: Objective 2

• Vehicle details are included in Peterbilt’s 2013 AMR presentation ARRA-081

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Approach - Integration of Cummins 

Component Technologies

Air Handling 

& EGR

Fuel 

Systems

Combustion

Aftertreatment (AT)

Electronic Controls

Waste Heat Recovery

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ηthermal =ηclosed

*ηopen*η mechanical +WHR



































 =

D

Energy

GIMEP

fuel

ηclosed

Approach – 55% Thermal Efficiency

1. Exhaust

2. Coolant/Lube

3. Air





 



 + =



 



 = GIMEP

GIMEP PMEP

GIMEP

NIMEP

ηopen





 





+ =



 



 = BMEP FMEP

BMEP

NIMEP

BMEP

η mechanical

Reference: Objective 3

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Approach –

55% Engine Technology Scoping - Fuels

Diesel 

PreMix

Dual Fuel 

AFCI

Conventional 

Premix Fuel Quantity**

Diesel

Quantity of Alternative Fuel*

0% 100%

Dual Fuel 

HCCI

Conventional 

Dual Fuel

Diesel

PCCI

Diesel LTC

0%

100% Single

Alternate

Fuel

HCCI

Compression 

Ignition

1. Analytical >> Experimental

2. Design Space is Broad

3. Fuel Study

• Lower Heat Transfer

• Control Burn Duration

• Increase Effective Expansion 

Approach #1

Approach #2

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Technical Progress - Improvements 

(Based on Engine, AT & WHR Testing)

Engine Brake Thermal Efficiency (%)

Program Baseline 

– 42%

Objective 1

50% BTE

*WHR - Cummins Organic Rankine Cycle Waste Heat Recovery

Status 2013 Merit Review: 

Engine + High Efficiency AT + WHR

(Engine, AT & WHR System Testing)

42% 43% 44% 45% 46% 47% 48% 49% 50% 51% 52% 53% 54% 55%

Achievement to date 51%

Objective 3

55% BTE

Dual Fuel Engine only (10bar) WHR Load 

increase

Diesel Engine only WHR Inj, Piston & Parasitic 

Revisions

2014 

55% BTE Efforts 

20Jun2014 12
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Technical Progress

Optimized Piston Bowl – Genetic Algorithm

• 131 bowl generations computed

– Compression ratio increase

 Optimized profile outperformed

P1

13

Objectives

 Minimize GISFC

 Constrain NOx, PM, Peak Cylinder Pressure & Pressure Rise Rate

BTE impact: + 0.5% BTE

20Jun2014
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Technical Progress

Optimized Injector – Single Cylinder Engine

TDC

Increased efficiency

• Seeking to minimize 

combustion duration

• Seeking to control 

combustion phasing for 

optimum efficiency

1.3pt Close Cycle Efficiency Gain

Impact of injection rate shape 

at constant intake conditions

• Injection rate shape revised 

with injector specification 

– Controls combustion heat 

release rate 

20Jun2014 14
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Technical Progress –

Piston Thermal Solutions

15

Piston A: 

Max Temp = 345 C

Piston B: 

Max Temp = 386 C

Base Piston: 

Max Temp = 254 C

0.6 pt heat loss reduction

0.3 pt GITE improvement

0.3 pt heat loss reduction

0.1 pt GITE improvement

BTE impact: + 0.8% BTE

20Jun2014
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Technical Progress – 

Improved WHR Turbine Expander & Parasitic Reductions

• Friction and Parasitic reduction

– Piston/ring pack/liner changes

– Piston cooling flow reduction

– Main & rod bearing 

• Improved turbine efficiency

• System heat exchanger 

architecture arrangement

– Pre-heat of low pressure loop

~50 % Reduction

+1.8hp

BTE impact: + 0.7% BTE

BTE impact: + 0.6% BTE

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Demonstrated SuperTruck

Technical Progress

Conventional Diesel Path to 55% BTE

20Jun2014 17
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Technical Progress - Alternate Fuel Compression Ignition 

(AFCI) – Analysis to Experiment Status

• Experiments align to analysis 

– Analysis showed peak efficiency between 14 to 16bar 

– Temperature sensitivities observed

• Control system compensation algorithms helpful to manage cyl-cyl variation

• ORNL probe test for residual gas & Tivc

• WHR estimates revised to experimental heat availability

Untested Load Range 55% Goal

20Jun2014 18
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Technical Progress 

AFCI Efficiency and Emission Capability

• Demonstrated AFCI engine 

efficiency of 49.4% BTE

• NOx emission low

• HC emission reasonable for 

DOC formulations

20Jun2014 19
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Technical Progress

AFCI Combustion Phasing Control

CONTROLLER OFF CONTROLLER ON

• Combustion phase control system developed

– Cylinder-to-Cylinder & Cycle-to-Cycle controller

– Enables independent control 

• Maximized overall multi-cylinder engine capability

• Robustness to cylinder-to-cylinder and cycle-to-cycle variations

20Jun2014 20
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• Purdue University

– Completed diesel PCCI study

– Explore range expansion

– Diesel engine VVA

– Commissioned intake & exhaust 

 VVA test bed

– VVA functional analysis

Collaborations– ORNL & Purdue Participation

• ORNL

–Sensing methods for model 

development and validation of: 

• Tivc determination

– EGR fraction

– Residual fraction

Modeling & Simulation 

Presented: ACE077 - Partridge

20Jun2014 21
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Reviewer Comments and Responses

Many complimentary comments: 

• Project had accomplished objectives on time to date

• Observed a large project team, incorporating laboratories, industry and universities. 

Recommendations: 

• Cautioned that the 55% goal approach relied upon HCCI and dual fuel, where these two technologies 

have not been experimentally proved to be BTE improvement friendly technologies. The reviewer 

warned that while dual fuel showed some promising feature, high pumping loss and stability control for 

transient operation was too tough to overcome. Both technologies suffered high HC emissions. The 

contractor should demonstrate the technical feasibility with preliminarily convincing data at the current 

level. 

– Comments: We are taking both a conventional diesel and a dual fuel approach. Our analysis path 

last year had identified a viable path with dual fuel. Over the course of last year, our efforts toward 

advancing conventional diesel has shown a viable conventional diesel path. 

• Cautioned that reliance on dual fuel was risky for a 55% goal, partially due to high HC and CO 

emissions for cold start. 

– Comments: Dual fuel would start on diesel. Emission and speciation sampling during our dual fuel 

testing has shown HC emission that are reasonable for effective and efficient conversion with a 

conventional diesel oxidation catalyst (see 2014 slide 20). 

• The reviewer commented that Slide 20 only showed two key partners for technical progress (i.e., 

ORNL and Purdue University), while Slide 7 showed a large number of partners. The information was 

kind of misleading in terms of collaboration and coordination.

– Comments: As the prime PI, I try to give a program perspective of the overall related partnerships, 

i.e. 2013 Slide 7, however, the details of this presentation focused more detail on those 

collaborations and partnerships pertinent to our engine related activities, i.e. 2013 slide 20.

20Jun2014 22
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Milestones and Technical 

Accomplishments

• March 2013 to March 2014 – Technical Accomplishments

√ Demonstrated 86% freight efficiency improvement (Objective 2b – 24hr)

√ 75% fuel economy increase

√ Demonstrated 76% freight efficiency improvement (Objective 2a – Drive)

√ 66% fuel economy increase

√ Demonstrated Li-Ion Battery & SOFC capability

√ Completed wind tunnel and vehicle testing of Waste Heat Recovery

√ Validated an advanced transmission efficiency model

√ Path-to-Target analysis for a 55% thermal efficient engine

√ Demonstrated AFCI ‘engine only’ efficiency of 49.4% BTE @ 10bar (Objective 3)

• March 2014 to September 2014 – Future Work

– 55% BTE path to target roll-up analysis (Objective 3)

• Targeted verification testing

20Jun2014 23
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Summary

• Program remains on schedule

– Meeting the ARRA and DoE VT MYPP goals

• Demonstrated a 50+% BTE engine system (Objective 1)

• Demonstrated a 70+% vehicle freight efficiency gains (Objective 2a & 2b)

– Analytical roadmaps updated with experimental component data

– Built and tested sub-systems

• Cummins Waste Heat Recovery vehicle testing (Objective 2a)

• Advanced transmission dynamometer and vehicle test (Objective 2a)

• Solid Oxide Fuel Cell APU in lab and vehicle tests (Objective 2b)

• Li-Ion battery APU (Objective 2b)

• Tractor-Trailer aerodynamic aids (Objective 2a)

• Developed framework and analysis for 55% thermal efficiency

– Completed analytical roadmaps for both diesel and dual fuel approaches

– Completing targeted engine tests to validate roadmaps

• Developed working relationship with excellent vehicle and engine 

system delivery partners

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Technical Back-Up Slides

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Participants – Who’s doing what 

Roles and Responsibilities

Participant Responsibility

Cummins Inc.

• Prime contractor

• Team coordination

• Engine system

• Vehicle system analysis

Peterbilt Motors Co.

• Vehicle Build Coordination

• Vehicle Integration

• Tractor-Trailer Aero

• Freight efficiency testing

Cummins Turbo 

Technology

Turbomachinery & WHR 

power turbine

Cummins Fuel 

Systems Fuel system

Cummins Emissions 

Solutions Aftertreatment

Eaton Advanced transmission

Delphi Solid Oxide Fuel Cell idle 

management technology

Bendix

Reduced weight brake 

system and drive axle 

control

Participant Responsibility

Bridgestone & 

Goodyear

Low rolling resistance

tires

Modine WHR heat exchanger & 

vehicle cooling module 

U.S. Xpress

• End User Review

• Driver Feedback

• Commercial Viability

Oak Ridge National 

Laboratories

Fast response engine & 

AT diagnostic sensors

Purdue University

• Low temp combustion

• Control models 

• VVA integration

VanDyne SuperTurbo Turbocompounding/

Supercharging

Utility Trailer Lightweight Trailer 

Technology

Dana Lightweight Drivetrain

Technology

Bergstrom HVAC

Logena Network interface

20Jun2014 26
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Technical Accomplishments –

 50+% Thermal Efficiency Gains 

Gross indicated gains

 Comp. ratio increase

 Piston bowl shape

 Injector specification

 Calibration optimization

Gas flow improvements

 Lower dP EGR loop

 Turbocharger efficiency

Parasitic reductions

 Shaft seal

 VF Lube pump & viscosity

 Geartrain

 Cylinder kit friction

 Cooling & fuel pump power

WHR system

 EGR, Exhaust, Recuperator

 Coolant & Lube 

CP2

Reference: Objective 1

20Jun2014 27
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Cummins Waste Heat Recovery

• Organic Rankine Cycle

• Recovery of:

– EGR

– Exhaust heat

• Mechanical coupling of 

WHR power to engine

• Low global warming 

potential (GWP) working 

fluid refrigerant

• Fuel Economy improvement 

goal of ~6%

• 1st vehicle installation Sep2011

Boiler

Comp

Turb

Exh.Manifold

Exhaust

Air In

Intake Manifold

Ram Airflow ISX Engine

Power Out

FP

EGR

Valve

CAC

WHR

Condenser Cooler

Engine

Radiator

Mechanical Fan

Aftertreatment

Exh. Boiler

Recuperator

Turbine Superheater Speed Reduction

Gear Train

Exhaust

Control

Valve

20Jun2014 28
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Vehicle Freight Efficiency of Aerodynamic 

Drag Reduction

Configurations

Demo 2 - 24% Target

Demo 1 - 14% Target

Baseline Demo 1 – 18.1%

* Cd's Shown Are Adjusted to SAE J1252 Baseline Using 

% Average Deltas From 0 and 6 Degree CFD Runs

Demo 2 - 24.6% 

Freight Efficiency Improvement

20Jun2014 29
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Vehicle Weight Reduction 

– Freight Efficiency Improvement

Weight Reduction (lb

)

-3000

-2000

-1000

0

1000

2000

3000

WHR/2010

Emissions

Aero

Devices

Idle

Systems

Onboard

Fuel

Truck

Savings

Trailer

Savings

Net Weight

Difference

1305 lb Bonus Freight

20Jun2014 30