February 8, 1999
Nine students are competing in the Ethanol Vehicle Challenge, in which they will convert a gasoline-powered truck to run on E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Ethanol is produced primarily from corn, grain sorghum or wheat, making the contest good news for Kansas farmers. Kansas ranks first in the nation in grain sorghum and wheat production and eighth in corn production.
The KU students - all mechanical engineering seniors - intend for Kansas to rank high in the contest as well. It culminates in May at the General Motors proving grounds in Milford, Mich., with a week of rigorous tests. KU is the only Kansas school among 14 teams chosen to participate in the contest.
The truck was donated by GM Truck Group. Identical trucks were delivered to the 14 participating schools in November and December, 1998. Each team also received a spare engine for development and evaluation.
"Our objective is to develop a unique, practical design that has high tow capacity, outstanding acceleration capabilities and is environmentally safe," said team leader Timothy James Martin, Lenexa.
Martin is in charge of modifying the truck's exhaust system to take advantage of ethanol's emissions characteristics. E85 has a higher octane rating than gasoline (110 compared to 89) so it burns cleaner. Using ethanol fuel releases fewer pollutants into the environment, thereby lowering ozone, carbon monoxide and benzene emissions.
The team also must overcome the fuel's drawbacks, particularly its cold start characteristics and corrosive nature. Ethanol has trouble igniting below 40 degrees, which the team will overcome by heating the fuel and the air in the intake manifold. Engine components in constant contact with the fuel must be replaced with stainless steel or high-grade plastic.
The Ethanol Vehicle Challenge is sponsored primarily by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors Company and Natural Resources Canada to encourage innovation in E85 vehicle technology, to collect data in order to define E85 vehicle technology and to provide students with hands-on experience in an actual engineering project.
The KU team is being sponsored in part by the Kansas Corporation Commission and Morse Chevrolet in Overland Park. The team hopes to gain other sponsors to help fund re-engineering the truck, which they estimate will cost $26,000.
Faculty sponsor of the KU EVC team is Robert Michael Sorem, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. A list of students on the KU Ethanol Vehicle Challenge team, aspects of the project they are assigned to, and their hometowns follows.