Idle reduction system keeps ambulances rolling in New York City
Published by John Williams,
Editorial Assistant
Energy Global,
Stealth Power is working with the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) to reduce fuel consumption in their ambulances, cut operational costs and lower carbon emissions.
The largest and busiest fire department in the US, FDNY responds to almost 2 million emergencies every year, serving more than 8.5 million people within a 302 mile2 area. The department keeps more than 400 ambulances in the streets on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – and each vehicle can spend up to 15 hours each day with engines idling.
Working closely with FDNY, Stealth Power built a customised automatic idle reduction system (SPAIRS) that reduces vehicle idling and lowers fuel and maintenance costs, while keeping mission-critical medical and communications equipment running. In conjunction with Microsoft's Azure, Windows 10 internet of things (IoT) core and power BI solutions, it also improves fleet performance and vehicle management.
"For every 45 minutes of idle time eliminated, [FDNY] is going to save the engine about 30 miles of drive time and 1.5 gallons of fuel. And there's less noise and pollution" stated Shannon Sentell, the company's COO.
By eliminating 10 hours of idling time on a single ambulance, FDNY can prevent 330 lb of carbon dioxide emissions and save 15 gallons of fuel/day. With more than 300 SPAIRS-equipped vehicles in operation thus far, FDNY has the potential to reduce fuel consumption in its top-performing vehicles by up to 34%, which could save the department an estimated US$3 million in fuel costs annually and reduce y/y CO2 emissions by more than 20 million lb.
By connecting the vehicles to Microsoft's Azure platform for IoT capabilities, the company is also helping FDNY improve fleet management. Data collected by an onboard module is sent wirelessly to the cloud, where it is constantly analysed to provide real time alerts and predictive analytics about vehicle usage, engine performance and fuel consumption.
"By connecting our idle reduction system to Azure and Power BI, we can give our customers real-time insights into operational performance and ROI," says Devin Scott, Stealth Power's CEO. "They see the monetary results of lower fuel consumption, reduced maintenance and decreased engine hours, all of which extend the warranty life of the vehicle as well as the lifespan of the ambulance itself. And an ambulance is an expensive asset for any city."
Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/other-renewables/15072019/idle-reduction-system-keeps-ambulances-rolling-in-nyc/
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