BMW Group sees LNG viable long-term alternative to diesel for heavy-duty transport
22 February 2018
The BMW Group sees LNG as a “sensible, sustainable alternative to conventional diesel”, said Dr. Thomas Irrenhauser, who supervised a two-week pilot test which the BMW Group initiated and implemented together with the truck manufacturer Iveco and the forwarding company Duvenbeck.
As part of the test, an LNG-powered truck daily brought engines from the BMW Steyr, Austria location to the BMW Group plant in Regensburg, Germany. Valuable data was obtained in order to assess the marketability of the technology.
Using LNG for heavy-duty transport can offer a range advantage compared to other alternative fuels, BMW said. The Iveco Stralis 400 NP could complete the 530-kilometer (329-mile) daily round trip between Steyr and Regensburg safely with a single tank. With a battery-electric drive, this could require several charging events, depending upon the size of the pack (and hence the cost of the truck). When using CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) compressed natural gas, it would generally be necessary to install a tank that is three times larger to achieve the same operating range as LPG LNG.
LNG NOx emissions are up to 60% lower, and noise levels during operation are up to 50% lower, compared to diesel, with essentially no particulates.
the course of the environmental debate, LNG trucks are increasingly in demand.
—Mario Männlein, IVECO
Europe already has 2,000 LNG vehicles on the road, despite the fact that the network of LNG filling stations still has gaps.
So far nobody seems to be tapping the energy stream available from vaporizing LNG: compress the liquid to high pressure, heat it with the engine exhaust, and expand the resulting high-pressure gas to generate work.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 22 February 2018 at 02:00 PM