CNG Compressor Set up in Indy

I had a trip this week to the Carrier/Bryant furnace factory in Indianapolis, Indiana.  The factory did not allow pictures (so all of our loss as all big factories are cool in general to walk through).

In route we took a short road trip to check out a very successful OEM re-fitter for compressed natural gas vehicles. We stopped by Green Alternative Systems (or G.A.S. as for the shortened logo name on their cards) to check out a conversion factory up lcose.  The other special reason for the visit was their inventory VPG MK-1 CNG vans (or cross overs, or whatever you'd call them).  Juaning Higgins pictured in the test drive below.

VPG has the MK-1 made by AM General at a former Hummer plant in Indiana. VPG is a start up auto manufacturer making a niche vehicle for transporting those in wheel chairs.  We saw these all over Chicago as cabs while we were there to. According to the Cabby driving one we talked to the City of Chicago has an ADA compliant requirement for taxi fleets in the city.  Also the lower cost of CNG as well as an incentive that CNG taxis go to the front of the line at O'Hare Airport make these popular among the drivers who can get them.  In fact the cabby we talked to said that if we were doing something with CNG he wanted to invest (which goes more to the point that there is a boom coming on this subject as speculators are already circling).

The MK-1 is designed specifically with special needs transportation.  Wide on the inside we couldn't help but notice it would make a really sweet service van.  No doubt these vehicles will possibly have a huge cross over potential especially with this factory CNG opportunity.  The sticker price on these high demand limited run vehicles is around $50,000.  From what we can figure that price tag is probably competitive in the ADA transportation business. No doubt retrofits after the factory are probably extremely expensive and a short run vehicle like this cannot be inexpensive.

LUBRICANT NERD ALERTWhen we drove the vehicle I had one thing I noticed.  The RPM on the dash lived above 3000.  So my experience of training as a driver I was instructed to keep the shifting below 3000 preferably at 2000. It just struck me that given the lean natural gas fuel the engine needs to run at a higher rate to get the same power. Something I will be looking at going forward as I get more familiar with CNG will be checking out oil samples out of these CNG engines.  No doubt there is more wear not less though the CNG sales men like to tell us we can extend oil drains due to the reduced emissions going into the oil I am not convinced.  No doubt higher RPMs is more heat, more wear, and therefore probably a special lubrication specification if you want to see them exceed 200,000 miles in their life.

What's cooler than a new car company start up?  The compressor they use to fill them and the Ford vehicles up with.  That was probably the highlight of the trip for me. Luckily they let me take pictures of the unit they rely on. Originally G.A.S. had a BRC Fuelmaker but this unit couldn't keep up with production. Hence they had a new rig assembled and installed.  

( NOTE: I am a layperson. A nerd layperson.  But still a layperson).

Below is what looks like to me to be the compressor and a flywheel no doubt attached to an electric motor below in the cabinet. I was not able to get a good look at the motor driving the compressor.

This is the path that natural gas at 10psi (according to our tour guide) moves its way into the compressor (in Oregon I have always been advised that the service side of a compressor would be under 5psi). Notice the water drain at the bottom left.  Pretty simple parts but no doubt thinking about cleaning up the gas off of the pipeline is an important part of these compressor lives.  No doubt moisture being a constant wear issue.

If the cabinet was not a dead give away about this being a fabricated one-off system the gauges will remove all doubt.  Notice the plastic carve out labels. I haven't seen this on a new installation in years. The whole system seems to be completely analog too. The gauges being the first give away on that.

Here is a picture of the fueling station.  I have seen in Oregon where they run ten or twenty feet of high pressure (3800 psi) stainless steel lines from the compressor to the fueling dispenser.   It never made sense to me. In Indy they obviously like simple and compact better.  There are two wands on the fueling location for two different sizes of refueling port that goes on the vehicle.  This was news to me as I had never heard that before.  A real important tid bit if you build your compressor set up and then find you've got a VHS vs Betamax design problem when you go to fuel.

Inside the compressor compartment there are three filter canisters.  Now of course these also might be pressure canisters for the three stages of refueling.  But I am not an engineer.  The guy on site couldn't answer what they were specifically.

A cool trip and very interesting to see what other markets are doing in the field. This trip to Indiana and Illinois just made me want to find my way to Pennsylvania where I hear the real gold rush for CNG is at.  From what I hear anecdotally they literally have people with expired wells on their property from a century ago and they are tapping these resources with a compressor and pumping natural gas for free out of the ground. I'd be real curious to take a tour of old petroleum country and see it for myself for sure.

OEM Made Glycerine Based Coolant Announced

Back in about 2002 I was told by someone the real industrial hope for glycerine was as a coolant.


That with a little creative chemistry glycerine can be formed into Ethelyn Glycol the main ingredient in antifreeze-coolant used in many cars. Upon hearing this I asked a friend of mine who is a turbologist (a lubrication engineer who deals in automotive motor oils and chemicals) what he thought. He told me back in the 30's and earlier glycerine was used as a coolant additive so it was plausible.


And so I wait to see this big savior for nonfood grade industrial off-take to arise. Finally I see a report of a product.


Cummins Filtration (the filter division of Cummins Engine) has rolled out a glycerine based coolant. Cool stuff to say the least (yes pun intended). I saw the original story at the Biobased News.

Biodiesel and Warranty

After quite a bit of work Nikola Davidson and the Northwest Biofuels Association pulled off policy for biodiesel with the new car dealers here in Oregon. Good job on Nikola's part. Any progress is good.


Please find attached a joint letter from the Oregon Auto Dealers and the Northwest Biofuels Association regarding biodiesel warranty protocol for auto dealers. This letter was created in close collaboration with Oregon biodiesel distributors and the hope is to replicate this in other states (tailoring it to reflect the needs of those members).

The next step will be distributing this letter to all the Oregon auto dealers. The letter is also available to download from NWBA's website: http://www.nwbiofuels.org/biofuel-resources-biodiesel-engine-warranties

This has taken longer than expected but I think having the auto dealer association's buy-off is worth the wait. Thanks for your input and support - Nikola

Nikola H. L. Davidson
DirectorNorthwest Biofuels Association
206.389.8660
www.nwbiofuels.org

GM Supports the Expansion of E85 Pumps

GM has recently become a champion for ethanol in the US. Not just a positive PR when its useful type supporter of biofuels but a full on advocate. Most recently I just saw a news report from Bloomberg where GM and the National Governor's Association will work together to get an expansion of available E85 pumps throughout 15 US states.

This is more than just talk from GM its actual market development. They aren't just developing E85 flex fuel vehicles they are also making lower cost and domestically made ethanol a real option for consumers attracted to their vehicles.

Major Automakers Back Away from Fuel Cell's

Check it out.... GM and Toyota dismiss Fuel Cell's as viable.

Yep, that's what I thought. Go hybrid powertrains, electric technology, and of course my favorite - Clean Diesel. The far off mystical new fuel is exactly what it is billed as. Far off and mystical.

NOTE: Yes I am totally biased against fuel cells as a viable on-road power train. I personally see fuel cells as a bad idea for on-road vehicles. They just don't make logical sense to me when the real technology required for fuel cells to work is a superior electric power train. I do think fuel cells hold a great deal of promise for commercial and industrial facility use.

Chrysler Promotes Diesel with the NBB

First I've ever seen. An Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) working hand and hand to promote every day use of small diesels for personal use. There was also an actual hint that Chrysler wouldn't just approve B20 but brag about it.

Saw it in the NAFTC eNews letter. According to the article Chrysler in a sign of support for biodiesel extended a discount to National Biodiesel Board (NBB) members on the Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel and the Dodge Ram with the Cummins Turbo Diesel.

We'll know if Chrysler is serious if we see small sedan diesels start penetrating the US market. By the way just to mention it. In these cases usually the only reason a OEM doesn't embrace biodiesel wholeheartedly is the issue of consistent specification of biodiesel products.

In Europe the specifications (their equivalent of ASTM) is much higher developed and the feedstocks are more consistent. In the US we have a much more distributed producer base of biodiesel with a significantly more complex flow of feedstocks that are ultimately refined into biodiesel. As ASTM and "Quality Assurance" standards become more robust and accepted across the US these issues will drop away.

There is also concern from the OEM's that biodiesel's "oxidative stability" could create problems with low tolerance high pressure fuel systems. Oxidative stability being a fancy word for biodiesel biodegrades and breaks down easier than petroleum. This not being a real issue unless you store the vehicle for prolonged amounts of time.

Biodiesel as a fuel has millions of miles and thousands of vehicles operating for years as a track record over the last decade in the US (let alone a longer one in Europe approved up to B100). Its about time that the auto manufacturers embraced the opportunity of actually giving customers the choices they have always wanted. A domestic, renewable and low carbon fuel option. Especially considering that most customers have just been doing it regardless.