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Emission control
October 1, 2009 By: James E. Guyette LPGasThose big-rig diesels belching thick black smoke may be on the route to extinction, driven by regulations aimed at putting the brakes on pollutants spewing from the stacks.
Meeting the looming new standards is a costly proposition for both motor makers and the nation’s trucking fleets – yet ongoing engineering innovations are positioning propane as an allowable alternative for converting the traditional workhorse diesel engine into cleaner-burning compliance.
Much of this activity is being steered by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which is mandating that all of the state’s new and existing diesel engines eventually meet 2010-model emissions standards.
The requirements cover cargo handling equipment for seaports, stationary and mobile farm implements, construction vehicles and trucks and buses – including those traveling into California from across state lines. The deadlines are staggered through 2015 based on fleet size and the various applications.
Owners of equipment that fails to meet the grade will be left with three choices: Park it, buy a brand new engine or retrofit the existing motor. Other states are likely to follow California’s lead and enact similar rules.
The propane industry is charging ahead to provide a solution for diesel motor pools facing these dilemmas. A number of competing conversion kits that add portions of propane to the diesel fuel are being developed using sophisticated software to balance the mix for peak performance, providing load-pulling horsepower, efficient operation and enhanced miles per gallon.
As the engineering moves forward, it can bring increased opportunities for marketers eager to gain traction by propelling propane into mainstream motor fuel acceptance.
Proponents of these add-on kits note that propane diesels powering bobtails present a powerful marketing message for extolling the benefits of LPG. They also report that diesel engine OEMs – original equipment manufacturers – are expressing interest in adapting the units for down-the-road factory installations ranging from runabouts to railroad locomotives.
And oddly enough, the concept behind these devices falls into the old-is-new category.
“The technology has been around since the diesel engine,” says Jeffrey R. Bach, president of Fire Em Up Inc., manufacturer of the Diesel Magnum propane substitution system, referring to Dr. Rudolf Diesel’s tinkering process dating back to the early 1890s as he perfected the compression ignition method that bears his name.
“As you can imagine, the first diesel engines weren’t very efficient,” Bach points out.
Before settling on fractionally distilled crude oil as the fuel of choice, Diesel utilized coal dust and explored the earliest form of biodiesel via peanut oil augmented by erdgas. The makeup of this “earthgas” included propane and methane.
“He would inject it into the air stream to improve the engine performance,” Bach said.
Pedal to the metal
Shifting forward to today, electronic controls are now able to precisely dispense the correct mixtures in a process termed substitution, displacement or fumigation. Producers of the systems plan to seek official verification of the units’ attributes from both CARB and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure glitch-free national rollouts.
“We’re ready to go with the product,” says Bach. “We’re looking to certify it before we hit with a big marketing campaign. As soon as we have certification we’re going to bust this market open,” he predicts, anticipating that a Diesel Magnum tractor-trailer/motorcoach line will make its official American debut by May of 2010.
Depending on the specific vehicle, the cost of the big-rig diesel kit, Bach says installation labor and accompanying onboard propane tanks will be $4,000 to $6,000.
The over-the-road truck engines are able to reach displacement rates ranging from 15 percent to 25 percent, with a 50 percent substitution capability currently in the research and development stage.
The technology also is scalable, says Bach, which means it can be applied to any sized diesel, such as those used for agricultural equipment, electrical generators and even locomotives.
“Our system is universal. There’s a huge, endless market out there. Propane is coming to the forefront. That would be a tremendous industry to go after,” he says.
Rural and urban marketing opportunities include all manner of municipal and contracting fleets along with school buses and the like – anything that utilizes diesel engines. Installing and maintaining onsite propane fueling stations is an economically viable option to pursue, according to Bach.
“For a local dealer, you send a bobtail out there to fill it up,” he says. “It’s going to require millions of gallons of propane, and they’ll have to get it from somewhere.”
Spot-on performance
There are some 12 million diesel engines in the United States, including a million on-road and off-road diesel motors in California alone, according to Michael Avery, CEO and president of California Clean Air Technologies. The company’s conversion system is successfully running a 289-horsepower Tier 1 Caterpillar 3406 off-road engine, which functions much like the newer C-15 model. A better-than 50 percent displacement rate is in the offing.
“What we see is spot-on – it doesn’t miss a whack,” Avery asserts.
CARB verification of the process, which has received a $280,000 grant from the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), is expected to be issued sometime between March and June of 2010, with an anticipated lead time of six weeks to manufacture the kits. They will initially be geared toward off-road uses, of which there are 200,000 to 300,000 non-agricultural diesels currently on the job at California mining and construction sites.
CARB verification for on-road applications is expected to follow. Although the regulatory requirements may differ, the retrofit for the off-road is the same as the retrofit for the on-road, Avery explains.
“By the fall of 2010 this technology should be available for on-the-road use. We’re going to attract new customers to the propane industry,” he says.
California is likely to be a robust marketplace because of CARB’s onerous stand on existing diesels.
“Every piece of equipment in California is going to have to meet the standards or be sold out-of-state or scrapped,” Avery advises. “Under the rules you can have a 30-year-old scraper in perfect working order, but you can’t operate it nor can you sell it to anyone in California.”
Although California is the only jurisdiction currently regulating in-use engines, other states looking at adopting similar diesel restrictions reportedly include New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Utah.
Ride to the finish line
Nationwide, there are about 33,000 diesel-powered bobtails hauling propane to customers.
“Even though they have a big ol’ barrel of propane back there, their saddle tanks are filled with diesel,” Avery observes.
As emissions regulations hit the books, “most propane guys out there who have all-diesel fleets are going to have considerable expense” bringing their bobtails and transports into compliance, notes PERC Chairman Bill Platz, whose California-based Delta Liquid Energy heavily markets propane as a motor fuel.
“We’re always looking for expanded applications,” reports Brian Feehan, PERC’s managing director of engine fuel programs. Propane is an especially attractive alternative as the United States pursues energy security since 90 percent of the American supply is produced at domestic facilities.
“But that whole [motor fuel] marketplace has its challenges,” Feehan points out. To be successful, a particular technology has to be widely applicable, adequate manufacturing elements have to be in place and a service and maintenance network has to be readily available when a system hits the road.
“We need to make sure we take a comprehensive approach to the market,” says Feehan.
In search of independent third-party verification of competing technologies, PERC has selected several competing diesel conversion kits for a laboratory testing program. Preliminary results expected around December of this year.
“We’re trying to get a true scientific basis,” says Tucker Perkins, chairman of the PERC Engine Fuel Advisory Committee. “We know we have improvements, we just want to see how good they are. We see increases in horsepower, we see increases in fuel economy, but we’re not sure about pollution abatement.”
The advanced research in progress should present a clearer view of the prospects.
“We’re generally picky about picking one horse to ride to the finish line. If we don’t see superiority in one system, we’ll probably go out and see if one vendor wants to work with us” to refine the technology,” Perkins says.
“Our ultimate goal is to have a heavy duty [big-rig diesel-sized] truck engine that burns propane. We’re in discussions with multiple truck [OEM] companies who are willing to work with us on a heavy-duty truck engine.”
‘Right here, right now’
Ferrellgas is among the marketers conducting its own review of conversion kits affixed to existing diesel units. Although it is too early to release results, the company reports that it is thus-far pleased with the performance of the Roush Liquid Propane Injected Ford F-250 converted gasoline pickup truck that has been added to its alternative fuel fleet.
“Our goal at Ferrellgas is to promote the use of propane as a certified green fuel, as an excellent way for vehicle and machine fleets to curb emissions, and as a great way for fleet owners to lower vehicle expenses while receiving significant tax incentives,” says Steve Wambold, CEO and president.
How about a bobtail application?
“It’s something in our plan in the next 12 months as we see it is critical to have the propane delivery vehicles powered by the fuel they are selling,” says Todd Mouw, director of sales and marketing for Roush.
“As we talk to fleets and end-users, we need to practice what we preach. If we don’t do it as an industry, why would we expect major fleets to use the fuel?
“In defense of the industry, there has been a lack of good product the last several years. But Roush is changing that. Our product works, is supported by warranty and can be serviced by Ford’s vast network of dealers.”