BlueCool: An Eco-Friendly Way to Cool Big Trucks

Anyone who’s ever been at a truck stop even for a few minutes knows how polluting these monster vehicles are, even when the drivers are sleeping.  To keep their air conditioning running so their cabs stay cool, drivers keep their engines running at all times. That makes for an awful lot of exhaust fumes. So, a company called Webasto Products began working on a solution, which has been described as ‘high-tech ice’.

From CNN:

Webasto calls the system BlueCool. The heart of the system is a 300-pound black box that’s mounted on the truck’s frame rail. As the trucker drives, the system sends refrigerant through a matrix of graphite and a water/glycol mixture inside the box, creating blocks of ice.

When the truck is stopped, the driver turns on an air handler that circulates coolant around the ice and blows cold air from the unit into the bunk area of the cab. The fan and circulation pump use only 3.5 to 10 amps from the truck’s battery — which means there’s no danger of draining the battery, Webasto says.

“When it’s running it doesn’t have any emissions or use any fuel,” said Thomas. He said BlueCool can maintain a comfortable bunk temperature for up to ten hours.

The EPA has estimated that idling trucks consume nearly a gallon of fuel per hour, while emitting nitrogen oxides and particulates, which contribute to smog.  This problem incited Webasto to launch a campaign to raise awareness of the issue, called Make a Leap.  As part of the campaign, a trucker took a BlueCool-equipped truck on a summer-long publicity tour of truck stops across the nation.  Truckers are excited about the prospect of using less diesel, and the system would pay for itself within a year.

Link [CNN]

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