According to company founder and president Anthony Anthon, AD&G uses special “heat shields” for the engine intake air system, exhaust manifold, compressor and turbocharger to reduce heat build up and thus make the air in the combustion chamber cooler and denser when it mixes with diesel fuel.
“Making the air cooler and denser improves the combustion process so the fuel burns more completely,” Anthon told Fleet Owner.
ADG CEO Morris Lewitter added that achieving a more perfect fuel burn in the engine by cooling down the intake air also helps increase engine power as well.
Based on truck tests so far, Lewitter told Fleet Owner that using ADG’s Upgrade System could improve fuel economy an average 15%, though the rate of fuel savings depends on the fleet application. Tests on garbage trucks in stop and go operations, for example, showed only a 4% improvement in fuel economy, while line haul trucks for a major grocery fleet reported a 16.24% improvement in fuel economy.
Fuel economy improvements are also possible on new low-emission engines, according to tests ADG conducted using a Detroit Diesel Series 60 EGR engine, Lewitter added.
Though the amount of emission reductions via his technology haven’t been quantified as of yet, Anthon noted that his technology has been approved by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for use on trucks in that state.
“Basically, with this technology, we just took a fresh look at an old problem facing vehicle engines – how to reduce heat,” said Anthon. “Heat shields may seem an obvious solution, but sometimes the obvious escapes everyone.”