Deakin inventor's gadget helps cut fuel consumption

A JAN Juc inventor who has designed a system to cut fuel consumption in cars has developed the technology so that it delivers even greater efficiency.

The OVER7 system, designed by Frank Will, transfers heat from the exhaust gases to the oil, thinning the lubricant to further reduce friction between engine parts.

Mr Will won the $10,000 Backyard Innovation category prize for OVER7 in The Australian Innovation Challenge awards in 2012. The challenge, now in its fourth year, is run by The Australian in association with Shell, with the support of the federal Department of Industry.

Since winning the prize, Mr Will has added components to the technology to reduce heat losses to cold engines. They include a novel insulation system and a 'heat storage tank', resembling a thermos flask, which holds hot oil.

He has filed patent applications on various permutations of OVER7 in several countries. 'I used my prize money to finance that in part,' he said.

He is under contract to a big European carmaker to test the earlier version of the system in one of its models.

Mr Will said that only 20 per cent of the fuel consumed by cars was used to propel them. The rest was wasted as heat. If OVER7 was installed in 10 per cent of new and second-hand cars around the world, 9.9 billion litres of fuel would be saved each year and about 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions avoided, he said.

He has been working on the system in his garage in Jan Juc for years, financing the project with his own money and a grant from Commercialisation Australia, a federal government body that helps innovators get their ideas to market.

Last year, he completed a PhD at Deakin University to pin down the theoretical physics of the system. He is now looking for investors.

He said he was still benefiting from the 2012 Challenge award. 'It adds a lot of credibility when you visit car companies,' he said.

The awards, which have a total of $65,000 in prize money, have five professional categories, ranging from environment, agriculture and food to ICT, along with the Backyard Innovation section, which is open to the public, and the Young Innovators prize for students.

Entries close on July 14.