Updates On 5 Cool Projects at Cummins

Cummins employees are always working on interesting, creative and impactful projects in a variety of areas. Here’s a quick update on five that have been in the news:

1. Corporate Responsibility

Padarwadi

This Corporate Responsibility initiative in India brought power in 2011 to a small, rural village about 150 kilometers from the city of Pune. Some five years later, the project is still going strong.

Cummins engineers developed a special generator that runs on oil from the seed of a tree native to the area. The generator enabled the 50 or so residents of Padarwadi to husk the rice they grew themselves rather than carry it 2 kilometers up a narrow, hilly path to the nearest town for milling. The generator was carried to the village along that same narrow path.

A storm destroyed the shelter protecting the generator shortly after it was installed, but residents built a new, stronger shelter in its place. They were also trained to operate the generator themselves to make the initiative sustainable. To see a video on the project, click here.

2. Environmental Stewardship

The Juliflora Project

A Cummins project in Africa hopes to transform lives by turning an invasive weed into a fuel for power.

Prospopis juliflora was introduced in Kenya in the 1970s as the nation was facing severe drought and the resulting death of livestock, a main source of livelihood for many residents. Juliflora was planted to reduce erosion and stop the land from turning into desert.

The shrub-like plant grew very quickly. Besides blocking native plants from water and sunlight, its thorns and pods injured and even killed some livestock. Some thirty years after it was introduced, the plant was declared an invasive species in Kenya.

Cummins Power Generation’s Energy Solutions Business has been working with the Kenyan government since 2013 to use juliflora to fuel an energy efficient power plant in Boringo County in Western Kenya. Testing continues as they look for a way to produce electricity and develop hundreds of jobs for harvesting, cleaning and storing juliflora.

3. Innovation

Ethos

Built in partnership with the California Energy Commission, the ETHOS 2.8L Demonstration Vehicle engine and powertrain reduced carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions by as much as 80 percent during testing in 2014 compared to a baseline, gasoline-powered, medium-duty truck.

CO2 is the primary greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted through human activities, accounting for the vast majority of GHG emissions in the United States. The ETHOS 2.8L engine is designed to use E-85, a clean-burning blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, at diesel-like cylinder pressures to take full advantage of the favorable combustion attributes of the biofuel. The vehicle was especially effective at reducing CO2 using forms of ethanol made from non-edible plant sources.

Now that the testing is complete, product developers are looking for ways to commercialize the many lessons learned from the concept vehicle. Stay tuned!

4. Product Development

The UP Express

Visitors to this summer’s Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada traveled in comfort and style in part thanks to the Cummins QSK19 underfloor diesel engine. The engine powered a new commuter rail line from the city’s Pearson International Airport to Union Station downtown.

While the train’s Ontario-inspired shades of green, custom seats and handy power outlets got most of the attention, the engine delivered a smooth ride and extremely low emissions – a key facet of the project.

The QSK19-R was the first railcar engine produced in North America certified to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s stringent Tier 4 Final emissions standards, the toughest in the world. The UP Express is expected to remove the equivalent of more than a million vehicles annually in and around Canada’s largest city.

Learn more about how Cummins is helping passenger rail pick up speed in North America.

5. Customer Service

Delivering In Madagascar

The power is still flowing to residents of Toamasina, Madagascar, who late in 2014 were facing a potential black out during Christmas.

The country’s limited power grid couldn’t adequately support the city of 200,000 on the east coast of the island nation. Fearing a possible blackout, the community needed a quick solution.

The country’s power utility contacted Cummins for help. The Nov. 25 order for six large generators was turned around in less than half the time such a large order would typically take.  Employees in Johannesburg, South Africa; Kent, U.K. and Dubai, United Arab Emirates sprang into action to modify the generators for the extremely humid conditions in Toamasina.

Traveling by air from Dubai to Madagascar in a special transport plane, the modified generators upon landing then made the eight-hour trip to Toamasina. They were installed and started producing power on Dec. 24 – Christmas Eve.