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When floodwaters rose around Charity Hospital in New Orleans, power lines were down and drainage pumps languished.

The hospital basement was flooded, water was 4 feet deep in the street, and doctors used canoes to bring in supplies.

Following Hurricane Katrina, conditions in the city's largest hospital deteriorated rapidly.

More than 1,100 miles away, Oshkosh Truck Corp. wanted to help with hurricane relief and further test a hybrid, diesel-electric truck it was developing for military and civilian applications. The ProPulse hybrid truck's generator can provide power for a small airport, a field hospital or a military command post.

Company officials also thought it had enough power to pump the water out of Charity Hospital.

"We didn't brag about it, or even advertise the fact that we were doing this," Robert Bohn, company chairman, president and CEO said last week.

The hybrid went into service at the hospital for several days, in addition to providing power at other New Orleans locations. It performed well, Bohn said.

Oshkosh Truck currently is conducting field tests of a handful of other diesel-electric hybrids. Unlike other hybrids, it doesn't use battery packs to store electricity. The Oshkosh vehicles use capacitors that absorb large amounts of power and turn it into electricity quickly and efficiently.

One of the trucks has been used to power Wittman Regional Airport, in Winnebago County. It was a brief, carefully controlled test to measure the truck's capabilities.

Besides acting as mobile power stations, diesel-electric hybrids could be used for other purposes. Waste Management Inc., one of the nation's largest refuse haulers, is testing the Oshkosh hybrid for use on garbage routes with a lot of stop-and-go driving.

Large fuel savings

As the truck slows for a stop, energy that's otherwise wasted is captured and converted into usable power. The conversion could result in fuel savings of 20% or more. That's important because standard garbage trucks get only about 3 miles per gallon, said Lynn Brown, a Waste Management spokeswoman in Houston.

Currently, there are more than 179,000 waste collection trucks on U.S. roads, according to INFORM, an environmental group that follows such data. While the trucks perform a vital public service, their diesel engines also spew large amounts of harmful gases, particulates and more than three dozen toxic contaminants.

# posted by Medical Information : 4:48 AM