TransForum Vol. 9, No. 2

Air Force Fellows Help Work Toward Smarter Diesel Engines

Major Clint Abell (center), Steve McConnell, Lt. Col. Jeff Gillen, Thomas Wallner and Steve Ciatti (in back, left to right) have been working together on a project to create a smarter diesel engine.

One of the three core values of the U.S. Air Force is “excellence in all we do.” So it should be no surprise that two Air Force officers recently teamed up with Argonne researchers to study ways to improve the efficiency of military vehicles.

Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Gillen and Major Clint Abell were the fourth set of Air Force Fellows to spend time at Argonne, but the first to be stationed in Argonne’s Center for Transportation Research (CTR).

“Our primary mission is to understand the capabilities of Argonne National Laboratory and link them up with Air Force research needs,” Gillen said.

Each year, the Air Force selects a handful of officers to serve in its National Technical Laboratory Fellowship program which places them at national laboratories across the country for one-year fellowships. Gillen and Abell began their fellowships in July 2008.

The officers were involved in a variety of work at the laboratory, but they also were required to select and participate in the day-to-day operations of one specific research project.

“Since energy is such a national concern right now and the Air Force is the largest energy user in the U.S., we thought it would be a good idea to work on an energy-related project,” Gillen said.

For their research work, Gillen and Abell chose to work with Steve McConnell and other Argonne engineers to improve the efficiency of diesel engines. The project used ion sensors to help the engine calibrate itself to burn available fuels as efficiently as possible.

The work is similar to Argonne’s omnivorous engine project, which also uses ionization sensing to optimize combustion. However, McConnell pointed out that working with the diesel engine is a little more complex than the spark-ignited engine being used in the omnivorous project.

McConnell was surprised by how much the officers were able to contribute in such a short amount of time.

“I was expecting more of a learning curve,” McConnell said. “Without these guys here, I don’t think we’d have gotten as far along as we did.”

The Argonne project is particularly relevant for the Air Force because of its single-fuel concept. This means that it’s not only the aircrafts that run on jet fuel; it’s the ground support vehicles as well.

The single-fuel concept helps simplify logistics and fuel operations, but it also means that support vehicles, like Humvees, do not run at maximum efficiency.

“The Air Force is interested in Argonne’s innovative technological advancements that support our global position as a leaner, more efficient, high-performance, world-class fighting force,” said Abell. “Having a smarter diesel engine would support that goal.

The Argonne project involved looking at four different types of jet fuels provided by the Air Force. McConnell said their research has also drawn outside interest from Army TACOM (U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command) and Sasol, a South African company involved in mining, energy, chemicals and synfuels.

Though their fellowship ended this summer, the officers believe their time at Argonne will have a lasting impact.

“We were here to assist with the research, but also to foster a long-term relationship with Argonne,” Gillen said. “We plan to stay in contact, facilitate working together and hopefully contribute to smarter, better technologies for the Air Force.”

After Argonne, Abell headed to the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming to be a flight commander, while Gillen is now stationed at the Pentagon where he works directly with the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Installations, Environment and Logistics.

Harold Myron, director of educational programs at Argonne, said the fellowship has been a great success, not just for the participants, but for the country.

“Mutual respect and understanding of capabilities has been apparent from the beginning,” Myron said. “Now we understand each other better.”

October 2009