Energy Innovation Development, LLC (EnergyID) — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.130000000000001

Description

While you complete your review of this proposal America's farmers will spend nearly $3million in fuel to maintain their families' farming operations and ag producers throughout thecountry will be contemplating whether they can afford to continue preparing and planting theirfarms in part because of the fuel costs required to operate the equipment - tractors applicatorscombines pickup trucks tractor-trailer rigs all-terrain vehicles generators and pumps.Fuelconsumption uniformly falls within the top expenses incurred by America's farm familiesexacting considerable negative influence on their net income. The 147 farmers polled for thissubmission agreed unanimously they would be very interested in purchasing any technology thatreduced their fuel bill and improved their bottom line even if the savings amounted to only 5%.Energy Innovation Development LLC (EID) requests funding to complete a feasibility studyof an intake air cooling technology known as Maxxx with the overarching goal of confirmingwhether it may offer producers what EID anticipates to be the results - a minimal fuel savings of10-15% while simultaneously reducing equipments' toxic emissions and improving performance(hp and torque).EID conducted preliminary early-stage road tests with an alpha prototype andobtained positive results of fuel efficiency improvements as high as 32%.EID believes theseearly results indicate that with appropriate engineering optimum materials scientific testingrefined designs and appropriate insulation Maxxx offers substantial promise for commercialapplication across all ag vehicles and equipment that have onboard A/C systems.EID's innovative intake cooling technology reduces ambient temperature of intake air of aninternal combustion engine (ICE) in off-road diesel vehicles utilizing the vehicles' on-board A/Csystem. The innovation's distinguishing feature is a regenerating multi-stage heat exchanger thatpromotes both efficient cooling and lowered temperatures of engine intake air. The concept seeksto increase the amount of air introduced into the cylinders of an ICE by cooling the intake air toan optimum input temperature.Increasing the amount of air available for combustion leads to anexpansion of the power developed by the engine and a reduction in the amount of the toxicemissions produced by engine processes.The project goals are to demonstrate the feasibility of the cooling concept specifically for off- road agricultural vehicles and further substantiate technological claims based on rigorousanalysis and detailed measurement in two environments: (1) dynamometer-based test bench and(2) on-farm/in-the-field testing.