Allison Torque Converters

Local invention could jumpstart wind energy industry

Consider the grinding gears of a diesel truck going up a long hill. In order to get up that hill, truck drivers must disengage the transmission gears, shift, make sure the truck is back in gear and hope they haven't lost momentum. A transmission that doesn't have to disengage would save them time and fuel. And that equals money.

VMT Technologies LLC, has invented a transmission that will do just that. According to inventor Gary Lee, he is "happy to open the curtain and show the world what we have."

"Our high torque engaged CVT [continuously variable transmission] will improve transmission gearbox efficiency," Lee said. "It is green and reduces the country's dependence on oil."

Now apply that idea to the wind power industry and you have something that is not only money saving, but moneymaking. At least that is what VMT Technologies is hoping for.

The Provo-based company recently unveiled the working prototype for its Universal Transmission for the wind power industry.

According to Mike Agrelius, VMT's sales director, one of the largest problems facing the wind-power industry is the high cost of capital and maintenance with low energy output that is often two to three times more expensive than nuclear or even coal alternatives.

VMT has been told if they could improve wind turbine efficiency by just two percent, Agrelius said the wind power industry would be beating down their doors. "Our engineers project improvements of five to 10 percent," he said.

One of the problems with windmills is the high cost of maintenance. Wind gusts are a major problem. The various spikes in wind speed put wear and tear on the moving parts of the windmills generators. Those generators are expensive to replace. The CVT technology keeps the windmill's generators going at the same speed, significantly reducing the wind damage.

"In wind energy, constant speed turbines have been harder on their gearboxes than today's variable speed units, howevera lot of the efficiency gains of variable speed turbines are eaten up in the power converters," Agrelius said. "VMT speculates what they have will be a variable speed transmission that will not need power converters in their gearboxes.

Allison 6sp: torque converter clunk - Duramax Diesels Forum

'04 C2500HD D/A LS EC SB, Chrome Nerf bars, Prodigy, Weatherflector, Breezer, A.R.E. Z w/accordion boot, Bedrug, H2's, Bilsteins, Predator, VR Straps, Bowtie Flag, Mag-Hytec's, SPA Boost/EGT, Katless 4", BigMouth Grille, SD Manifold(s), Allison built by MikeL , Airlift Superduty bags, Banks Bighead, Fugly '06 Mirrors, Van Aaken 230, Garvin Wilderness Rack, EFILive , Cognito Idler/pitman braces, Super Hitch, SD turbo intake I did some more research about the driveline bump and what everyone else is describing is exactly what I encounter. I won't worry too much about it from now on. Yes I saw that there is some lubing that can be done to spline shafts and monkeying with driveline parts but now I know its an inherent problem I will pay less attention to it. Thanks for the help.

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