Case Studies		Team Inzane Laverda
CCM Motorcycles		Jenkins Motorsport Developments
Barwell Motorsport		Ratt Racing
Oaktec

Company

Jenkins Motorsport Developments

Additional Participants

Fleetsolve Ltd - Fleetsolve Ltd, with over 10 years experience of working with biofuels, is the UK’s leading bio-fuel specialists providing unique sustainable fuel solutions to many business sectors.

Mabanaft UK Ltd - Mabanaft UK Ltd has been trading and supplying fuel into the UK market for 40 years and with eight terminals in the UK offers wide supply coverage.

Click here to see the Jenkins Truksport page

Summary

Jenkins Motorsport Developments, a family-run truck racing team based in Staffordshire, took the decision to be at the forefront of energy efficiency in British truck racing and to demonstrate what can be achieved with a bio-diesel fuelled race truck.

After converting the truck engine to run on the sustainable fuel, the team saw very visible and positive results; the Jenkins truck was the only truck on the track not followed by clouds of black smoke – a regular sight in truck racing – and it demonstrated on-track success with podium finishes and a race win. Clear and visible proof that the use of bio-diesel fuel in truck racing is not only environmentally responsible, but can achieve increased performance, leading to a real competitive advantage.

Key Facts

• Through continuous technical development, the team increased the blend of bio-diesel from 20% at the start of the season to 50% by the end of the 2007 racing year.
• A combination of engine modifications and fuel system upgrades, a particulate trap that self-cleans with the engine and bio-diesel ensured no visible smoke from the truck.
• The team achieved an historic motorsport win for bio-diesel in the UK at Thruxton on 21st July 2007
• The five and a half-tonne truck sped to a third place finish in the BRTA UK Sprint Cup time trial at Santa Pod Raceway on bio-diesel, setting an elapsed time of 14.286 seconds over a quarter of a mile and reaching a top speed of 99.52 mph.

The Challenge

The objective of the project was to prove that converting to the use of bio-diesel in truck racing was achievable, would reduce emissions and also positively demonstrate that long-held beliefs and concerns regarding loss of power were unfounded. The successful demonstration on the track would encourage further take-up of bio-diesel throughout the sport and provide a positive stimulus to the wider use in the freight and logistics industry

The Solution

Supported by technical partner, Fleetsolve and bio-fuel supplier, Mabanaft – both EEMS Campaign Partners - Jenkins Motorsport Developments started work at the start of 2007 to convert its 1050 bhp turbocharged inter-cooled M11 Cummins engine to run on increasing blends of bio-diesel.

The truck’s power and emission outputs were benchmarked prior to the introduction of the biodiesel and were tested throughout the season to monitor the impact of the alternative fuel In addition, all components were tested for compatibility using Fleetsolve’s database of component durability test results.

Tuning the engine to run on bio-diesel required modifications to the fuelling system as initially, the introduction of bio-diesel reduced power outputs by 15%. A ‘hot fuel process’ was employed to counter this (as used on train and ship engines) and returned an increase in power of 3% over that of fossil diesel.

One of the biggest challenges to the project was reducing the amounts of visible smoke from the truck and this was achieved by combining the improved burn characteristics of bio-diesel and an exhaust particulate trap. This not only reduced the visible emissions but also reduced the actual emissions by some 32% over that of standard diesel. Importantly the modifications also provided an improvement in fuel consumption of 1.7%

Lessons Learnt

Jenkins Motorsport Developments was keen to achieve the use of 100% bio-diesel in the racing truck, but was aware that when used in a 100% form in an unmodified engine, it can slightly increase the output of ‘NOx’ as a result of increased combustion temperatures.

Thus, the truck was modified to combat this small increase in NOx output without any significant loss in power and, as the team moved towards using 100% bio-diesel, the benefits from the reduced soot and particulate content allowed Jenkins to trial the truck without a smoke trap fitted to the exhaust - a first in the field of truck racing.

Benefits

In addition to sustainability and CO2 reduction, converting to bio-diesel as an alternative to mineral diesel has been of great benefit to Jenkins Motorsport bringing the team, in association with EEMS, notoriety on and off the track and achieving widespread exposure in the UK and European motorsport media.

Working with Fleetsolve and Mabanaft, the team now has a wealth of knowledge in the conversion of racing trucks to biodiesel and has used its experiences to educate and assist fellow competitors keen to do the same.

As a direct result of the success achieved by the project, the BTRA has now allowed the use of bio-diesel for all competitors in all of its Championships going forward.

Converting the truck led to success in the 2007 BTRA Championship with 10 podium finishes and one outright race win, giving the team an overall third place finish in the Championship standings.

The Future

For the 2008 Championship, the success achieved with the use of bio-diesel has given Jenkins Motorsport Developments the confidence to invest in a new MAN truck to run in both the BTRA and European Truck Championships which will be run developed to run on 100% bio-diesel and, in conjunction with Fleetsolve, have developed an intelligent electronic fuel system to further reduce emissions and improve fuel economy.

Further information

Dave Jenkins
Jenkins Motorsport Ltd

Keith O’Connor
Fleetsolve Ltd

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Robin Lloyd
Mabanaft Ltd

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