Solomon Commercials has teamed up with Manchester university to gauge the benefits of aerodynamic performance on refrigerated vehicles.
The manufacturer said it wanted to explore new sustainable outcomes for refrigerated temperature controlled HGVs and its customers were increasingly alert to the need to focus on aerodynamic designs.
Alistair Revell, professor of computational engineering at the university’s department of mech and aero engineering, said there had been relatively little focus on reefer aerodynamics: “It is highly likely that significant gains in aerodynamic efficiency can still be made for these vehicles, which would translate to sizeable reductions in fuel consumption,” he said.
Solomon Commercials said the addition of a fridge unit introduced an additional complication for aerodynamics and very little information existed regarding the impact of its integration on a regular HGV.
The university’s researchers have used computational fluid dynamics to study the development of turbulent flow around the cab-mounted fridge unit to understand drag.
By improving aerodynamic performance by 25% and assuming gains of 10% in fuel consumption, Solomon said this would lead to savings of £3,000 per truck per year.
“Our continued goal is to deliver innovative transport systems that our customers know will help reduce their environmental impact while transporting temperature sensitive commodities across multiple sectors safely and efficiently,” added Mark Hanson, Solomon’s technical director.
* You can visit Solomon Commercials at this year’s Road Transport Expo (RTX), which takes place from 24-26 June at NAEC Stoneleigh. Register today for your free ticket.
