LOUISVILLE -- Cummins Turbo Technologies is showing off a suite of near-market and future solutions that it says can improve the fuel efficiency of any modern diesel engine by at least 6%, at the Mid-America Trucking Show this week.

The trend toward downsizing - which sees engine and vehicle manufacturers aiming to maintain or increase the power outputs from their products while making them smaller and lighter - represents a significant engineering challenge. Among the next-generation technologies that are being revealed to meet it are:

• A Waste Heat Turbine Expander prototype, which captures what would otherwise be lost energy in the form of heat, from a number of sources onboard the vehicle, and turns it into useful mechanical 34 hp (25 kW) power that is capable of reducing vehicle fuel consumption by 5 percent and delivering fuel savings of up to $5,500 per annum.

• A next-generation VGT(TM) Turbocharger based on a validated platform that can be tailored to meet the needs of individual customers easily, and that is 4.4 lb (2 kg) lighter than the model it replaces. It substantially lowers initial cost while featuring a high-efficiency compressor stage, delivering improved fuel economy.

• An inverse impeller that replaces conventional designs and, through the use of flow optimization software, has the capability to improve compressor stage efficiency by 1 percent on its own, delivering a $160 per-annum fuel savings for on-highway applications.

• A super map width enhancement collar that enhances map width by 15 percent and facilitates engine downsizing, improves driveability, widens the operating range, aids efficiency mapping and delivers fuel savings.

• Rolling element bearings - Cummins Turbo Technologies has developed its own high-durability, low-friction ball-bearing solution that improves both transient response and lowers fuel consumption, delivering a 1 percent improvement in overall turbocharger efficiency.

• Holset Rotary Turbine Control (RTC) - Patented flow- channelling technology that directs exhaust gas to selected ports, for limited exhaust control capability. RTC is integrated into the turbine housing within Cummins Turbo Technologies Modulated 2-stage (M2) and Serial 2-stage (S2) products.