Volvo Trucks begins sales of heavy-duty dual-fuel FM MethaneDiesel
31 May 2011
|
|
| Engine installation D13C-gas. Click to enlarge. |
Volvo Trucks is expanding its alternative fuel program with the launch of the new dual-fuel Volvo FM MethaneDiesel. This makes Volvo the first truck manufacturer in Europe to offer gas-powered regional distribution trucks that can also meet long-haul application requirements.
In 2010, Volvo Powertrain signed a 5-year supply agreement with Clean Air Power Ltd., a developer of dual-fuel technology. (Earlier post.) The new Volvo FM MethaneDiesel is offered with a 13-liter engine producing 460 hp (343 kW) and 2,300 N·m (1,696 lb-ft) of torque. The fuel consists of up to 75% liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the rest diesel, but this proportion may vary depending on how the vehicle is used.
|
|
| By-pass throttle and gas injector. Click to enlarge. |
Compared with conventional gas-powered engines where the fuel is ignited by spark plugs, the methane-diesel alternative offers 30 to 40% higher efficiency, with a concomitant decrease in fuel consumption of 25%. If the truck runs on biogas, emissions of carbon dioxide can be cut by up to 70% compared with a conventional diesel engine.
The Volvo FM MethaneDiesel is based on a regular diesel engine equipped with gas injectors, a cryogenic LNG tank, and a specially configured catalytic converter. The use of LNG gives the methane-diesel truck a greater operating range compared with traditional gas trucks that use spark-plug technology. The tank holds enough gas for a range of up to 500 kilometers (311 miles) in normal driving for a truck with a gross combination weight of 40 tonnes.
Volvo Trucks’ field tests (earlier post) show that methane-diesel technology offers the same high operating reliability as a regular diesel engine. Driveability is roughly the same as for a conventional diesel-powered truck. If the gas runs out, the system switches automatically to diesel power. The driver is notified via a control lamp in the instrument panel.
Series production of the Volvo FM MethaneDiesel begins in August; the model can be ordered today, although only in limited numbers. First off the mark are the Netherlands, Britain and Sweden, where the infrastructure for liquefied methane gas is best established. Plans are currently under way for building about 100 methane-diesel trucks in 2011.
By using liquefied methane gas in an efficient diesel engine, we are making it possible to use gas-powered trucks in heavier and more long-distance transport applications. We are the first truck manufacturer in Europe to do so.
If development proceeds as we hope, we expect to be selling about 400 methane-diesel trucks a year in the next couple of years. By then sales will hopefully have expanded to six or eight markets in Europe. Future sales are naturally highly dependent on expansion of liquefied gas refuelling stations for heavy commercial vehicles in Europe.
—Claes Nilsson, President of Volvo Trucks’ Europe Division
LNG is useful for long trips but CNG ideals for depot based back to base trips, Can get 500km range on CNG in 4 x 2 tractor which is enough.
Also, biomethane injected into the gas grid at the Anaerobic Digester plant and taken out at the distribution depot as CNG is perfect.
Posted by: baldwincng | 31 May 2011 at 01:03 PM
"..and 2,300 N·m (1,696 lb-ft) of torque. " serious power.
Posted by: kelly | 31 May 2011 at 03:59 PM
That is serious power but it IS 13L.
Posted by: SJC | 02 June 2011 at 10:17 AM
Be interesting to see a dual fuel hybrid heavy duty vehicle. You can cut the engine size and weight it half, but you would need room for batteries and LNG tanks.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/04/volvo-puts-two.html
Also this sort of system would be perfect for providing remote electricity at natural gas prices rather than diesel prices.
Posted by: 3PeaceSweet | 02 June 2011 at 01:11 PM
3PeaceSweet,
Bosch has been developing a portfolio of diesel-flex solutions (diesel cycle with compression ignition with energy partially supplied by alternate source) in Brazil (http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/06/bosch-launches.html).
They are presented both with CNG (CNG-diesel bus prototype launches in Rio, http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/05/man-20110512.html) and with ethanol (Iveco Trakker bi-fuel ethanol-diesel truck for Brazil, http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/05/iveco-trakker-bi-fuel-ethanol-diesel-truck-for-brazil.html).
This kind of solution provide ability to substitute oil, with lower emissions, maintaining most of the qualities and efficiency of diesel engines.
While costing a bit more (dual tanks, additional port injectors, flex-electronics,...), buses and trucks retain the ability to operate solely on diesel where infrastructure is not available (CNG) or when fuel prices/availability are not favorable (Ethanol), and thus retain resale value.
While there is always a bit of greenwashing, this seems to be on the right track. We already have solutions for Otto cycle fuel substitution with sugar cane ethanol, but diesel supplies some 52% of current LDV+HDV terrestrial demand with no displacement. CNG is available in the big cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and ethanol is available (and cheap) in the mills...
I´d love to see this coupled with hydraulic or electric hybridization and even higher efficiencies.
Posted by: CelsoS | 03 June 2011 at 02:54 PM