Alan M. Petrillo
Auxiliary power units (APUs)-small diesel engine and generator combinations that have been used for years on airliners, locomotives, and over-the-road trucks to handle electrical, heating, and air-conditioning while the vehicle is stationary-are making more frequent appearances in fire apparatus.
Manufacturers using APUs on fire vehicles say they are responding to requests from fire departments for ways to cut down on main engine idling time, saving fuel and reducing regeneration time.
Green Edge
Scott Oyen, vice president of sales for Rosenbauer, says his company introduced its Green Star idle reduction technology nearly three years ago, which can be incorporated into any vehicle Rosenbauer makes.
"The basis of the Green Star is in the electronics, where we take a diesel-driven generator and add the intelligence of electronics to turn the unit into a fuel saver," Oyen says. "Our diesel APU is designed to provide heating, air-conditioning, and 12- and 120-volt electrical while the vehicle's main chassis engine is shut off."
Donley Frederickson, Rosenbauer's national sales manager, points out, "Today's fire service is a constantly changing community organization where we've seen the role of fire departments take on more responsibilities for medical calls, rescues, and hazmat incidents, for example. Eighty percent of calls fire departments respond to result in fire apparatus needlessly idling for between 10 and 40 minutes per call."
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| (1) Rosenbauer offers an auxiliary power unit (APU) on its apparatus, controlled by its Green Star electronic technology and powered by a Kubota diesel engine. (Photo courtesy of Rosenbauer.) |
Frederickson notes that engine manufacturers say a big block diesel engine uses a minimum of one gallon of fuel per hour of idling. An eight-kW diesel generator APU, he says, uses approximately one quart of fuel per hour while operating under a full load. He adds that an idling main engine puts more unspent diesel soot that occurs while the engine operates at cooler temperatures into the vehicle's diesel particulate filter (DPF). "While the APU doesn't alter the chemical makeup of diesel emissions," he says, "it does reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) that are released overall."
Oyen notes that an APU can run off of many different fuels, but Rosenbauer chose diesel so its Green Star APU would run off the vehicle's chassis fuel tank. Besides the diesel-driven APU, Rosenbauer also makes two battery versions, called Smart Batteries-one sized to provide 12-volt power on a scene for warning and compartment lighting through lithium-ion batteries and another using Smart Technology lithium-polymer batteries that can power all lighting, including scene lighting, and some 120-volt usage on a vehicle.
"An APU can replace a vehicle's generator," Oyen says. "For instance, the Tacoma (WA) Fire Department doesn't put generators on its apparatus but rather uses Smart Batteries to run all their lighting needs," he says.
Green Star features fully integrated automatic engine controls, Oyen says, where an apparatus operator can have a hands-free system activation that automatically starts the APU and shuts down the main engine. If needed, he notes, the controls will restart the main chassis engine to prevent a low-voltage situation. Green Star can be operated in either automatic or manual modes.
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Posted: Apr 1, 2013
By Chad Brown
Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Braun Industries
The talk of the industry for the past year and a half has been the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1917, Standard for Automotive Ambulance, specifications. Additionally, talk has revolved around what impact those specifications will have on the industry as a whole, the impact on the manufacturers, and ultimately the impact on the individual departments and agencies. I will touch on all three impacts as I have seen and experienced during the past year and a half.
EMS Industry
Regarding the impact on the emergency medical service (EMS) industry as a whole, we need to take a step back and ask what is or was the driver behind these new industry specifications. I believe the intent of the NFPA 1917 committee members, then and now, is to create a safer ambulance for patients and crew members. Having had numerous discussions with past and current members of the committee regarding some of the changes to the KKK-1822-Revision F specifications (the current specification that ambulance manufacturers build to), all the conversation and decisions revolved around safety. In the end, I believe we are all striving to make a safer ambulance for all.
One distinct difference in the EMS community is that there is legislation at the state level on what defines an ambulance. What I mean by this is that the definition of an ambulance in Ohio vs. any other state can be completely different. There are state EMS directors and agencies that inspect the ambulances as they come into the respective states, and every state has some varying degree of differences, whereas on the fire side of the business, fire engines and aerials are not regulated at the state level. As manufacturers, we build to a set of generalized standards using the General Services Administration (GSA) specification KKK-1822-Rev. F as a starting point and go from there with each state's different regulations and definitions.
Specifically regarding NFPA 1917, there are many new items within that standard with which we must comply. Some of the more prevalent items include tire pressure monitoring, seat belt monitoring, cabinet testing (10-G pull test in all four directions of the cabinet), outside oxygen storage only compartment, cabinet weight capacity labeling, approach angle, brake over angle, and departure angle of 10 degrees.
Identifying Payload
However, I think the biggest change is that the department or agency will have to identify the overall payload needed for the vehicle. With the KKK-1822-Rev. F specifications, the manufacturer would tell the department or agency the overall remaining payload and have guidelines based on the chassis the department selected. With NFPA 1917, the department or agency will work with the sales representative to define the specific equipment it is putting into the vehicle. There are predetermined weights for equipment and personnel that will help you determine your remaining payload listed in NFPA 1917.
For a manufacturer that calculates front axle remaining payload, rear axle remaining payload, and overall remaining payload today, this is a rather big change in responsibility from the manufacturer communicating the remaining payload to end users. The department or agency is now responsible for communicating the desired payload to the manufacturer. I highly recommend that your committee fully investigate the weights of the equipment you choose to put into the ambulance and work with your sales representative to properly pick the right chassis with the appropriate gross vehicle weight rating for your department or agency.
Primary Care Position
Another significant change you will see or hear about from your sale representative will be a question your sales representative will ask: "What is your primary care position?" From an end
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Posted: Apr 1, 2013
Bill Adams
The majority of metallic fire apparatus bodies feature welded construction; however, a handful of manufacturers bolt their bodies together. Some use bolted construction exclusively, while others offer it as an alternative to the welding process. Some use a combination of both. This article does not endorse, prefer, or recommend any method of construction, body material, or manufacturer, nor will it compare one to another. The intent is to inform the reader of the procedure and process of bolting apparatus bodies together and why some manufacturers market that method. Whether one is better than the other is a matter left to manufacturers' marketing people and individual purchasers.
Manufacturers offering bolted construction were contacted for input. Some replied and are quoted herein. Some did not reply. Several expressed hesitation in participating for fear of getting into a "heated debate" over why one is better than the other. One manufacturer said it would be hard to objectively opine on one method of construction without it resulting in a "tit for tat" comparison with other methods. I will try not to. Another inferred it would become "proprietary." My interpretation of proprietary is something that is exclusive, copyrighted, trademarked, or brand named. Bolting and welding are methods of construction available to all manufacturers.
History
In 1912, the E.G. Budd Company in Philadelphia spot welded the first automobile body. Around 1914, the Heil Company began acetylene and electric welding of bodies, claiming to have built the first "electrically welded compartment tank" for motor trucks. The first all-welded automotive body was fabricated in 1923. A historical record cannot be found for the evolution of fire apparatus bodies, although Mack Fire Apparatus's 1925 catalog notes, "The bodies used on all but the Hook-and-Ladder and Squad Car types of apparatus are constructed of only five sheets of gauge steel plate, 3⁄16 inches thick, electric welded to form the sides and front ...."
Lieutenant (Ret.) Mahlon Irish, of the Ithaca (NY) Fire Department and an antique American LaFrance (ALF) aficionado, owns more than a dozen antique rigs. He states ALF's 1920s-era bodies were riveted together with accoutrements such as fenders and steps bolted to the body. In the 1930s and 1940s, ALF's sheet metal was bolted to a welded framework. In the mid 1930s, Ward LaFrance riveted formed sheet metal around wood planks into a "sandwiched" type body. A 1932 Buffalo engine, in Mendon, New York, has a wooden hose body skinned with formed steel attached with wood screws and metal fenders riveted together. A 1938 Mack Type 75 pumper, in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, has sheet metal doors and a sheet metal cab screwed to a wood framework. The late 1940s ALF 700 Series introduced all-welded bodies. The late 1950s 800 Series featured bolted-on compartment modules. Most builders during that era used untreated steel compartments. They didn't last long, and the bolted-on compartment modules were easy to replace. In 1971, ALF's Century body featured all- welded bodies and compartments. The Century 2000 body went back to bolting compartments to a welded body. No date can be found for the introduction of all-bolted construction.
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(1-2) Bolted construction typically requires the process of computer numerical control (CNC) high-precision manufacturing to achieve high levels of accuracy and exactness. This bicycle, laser cut from a sheet of 14 gauge 304 stainless steel, is used by one manuf
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