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Cleaning up our roads
Page 46
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CM tests Clean Air Power's natural gas/diesel retrofit system on a Euro-5 Volvo FM13 and discovers both companies have agreed to develop an integrated dual-fuel. driveline.
Words / Images: Kevin Swallow
For a time, natural gas was all the rage; truck manufacturers including ERF, Foden, Dennis and Scania all offered gas-trucks. Clean Air Power, through Caterpillar, was also right in the mix with its Genesis Dual-Fuel technology.
When Foden stopped making trucks, Euro-3 Daf CF and Mercedes Benz Axor were successfully modified by Clean Air Power. Now the company has tied up with Volvo Trucks to bring natural gas to Euro-5 engine technology.
The agreement with Volvo works on two fronts. Firstly, the Genesis Dual-Fuel system is retrospectively fitted to an existing truck, working outside the truck's electronic engine management system.
Natural gas, compressed or liquefied, partially replaces diesel in the four-stroke cycle. Clean Air Power claims an average use of 50%, with 80% maximum instantaneous use available. Natural gas is cheaper than diesel so running costs are reduced.
The second front provides the bigger picture for Europe. Clean Air Power signed a Letter of Intent with Volvo Trucks earlier in January, which allows it to work with the manufacturer at the engine development stage and integrate dual-fuel technology from within.
Clean Air Power has already produced interfaced engines with Caterpillar. These included four engine variants, putting more than 1,600 units on the road in buses, refuse vehicles and trucks in North and South America, and Australia. The Cat 12-litre truck engine was designed for trucks in the US and Australia, and a Cat 15-litre 500hp engine specifically for the Australian road train market.
Gaining access to Volvo's electronic engine management system will provide greater levels of gas substitution than Clean Air Power's existing Genesis system, with corresponding improved emissions and fuel cost reductions, says Clean Air Power. •