Author: rusty

In an April 2013 press release, MAN Truck & Bus UK indicated that it has selected Luxfer-Dynetek to provide Type 3 carbon composite alternative fuel cylinders for its EcoCity natural gas bus range.

Based in Munich, Germany, MAN Truck and Bus is the biggest company of the MAN Group and a top-ranking international supplier of commercial vehicles and transport solutions. The MAN Group is one of Europe's leading commercial vehicle, engine and mechanical engineering companies, generating annual revenue of around 15.8 billion euros and employing a workforce of approximately 54,300 worldwide. Here is the text of the MAN news release:

Driver, passenger and public safety are cited as key reasons why MAN Truck & Bus UK has confirmed its commitment to Luxfer-Dynetek for the provision of fuel tanks on its EcoCity gas bus range. In addition, says MAN, it believes the Luxfer-Dynetek solution provides greater operationally efficiencies compared to others available on the market. Making the announcement, Ian McLean, Head of Bus & Coach operations in the UK, said, “We were very aware of the fact that there are cheaper, much cheaper tanks on the market, but didn’t feel we could use that as a reason to move away from our strict safety and standards policies. Yes, we could have made the buses significantly lower priced, but the UK market expects nothing less than safety, reliability and performance from MAN products and has every right to do so. And that means a lot to us.”

Because of the operating practices of the UK bus market, gas buses going into service are largely expected to meet the refuelling fill-time of their diesel powered equivalents, which in gas terms means what is referred to as ‘fast fill’. The Luxfer-Dynetek Type 3 product, which has an aluminium liner with aerospace grade carbon fibre wrapping material, is used exclusively on the MAN EcoCity range.

This, says the company, provides a very safe and robust solution with fast-fill operations. In addition, the product’s strong thermal properties offer a further key benefit for the operator: the gas cools very efficiently in the MAN choice of tank during fast-fill operations, through heat-transfer to the outside surface as well heat absorption in the aluminium wall, so a high temperature build-up in the gas that can occur in Type 4 tanks [with plastic liners] is avoided, thus reducing fill-time of the MAN EcoCity tanks and providing greater useable gas capacity.

“We had some real concerns about using anything other than the Luxfer-Dynetek products in light of the UK fast-fill requirements,” said McLean. “We are quite sure this is the best tank on the market and were not prepared to sacrifice that peace of mind just for the sake of a cheaper bus. MAN EcoCity operators, such as Anglian Bus, have now proved in real service conditions that a regular saving over Euro3 buses, and the UK fleet has many of those coming up for replacement, could be as much as £10,000 per year, per bus. Even against current Euro 5 models only just starting out on their operating life, the savings are expected to be more than enough to justify the investment, so why cut corners on such a fundamental safety and performance item as the fuel tank?”

Dr Chris Rasche, Managing Director for Alternative Fuel solutions for Luxfer-Dynetek Europe added, “Luxfer-Dynetek has worked with the MAN Group through-out Europe over many years and were more than happy to be part of the EcoCity project in the UK. We share the same safety and performance ideals as the manufacturer and work closely with their teams in the UK and Germany.”

Warburtons, a large British baking company, has introduced six dual fuel Mercedes-Benz Axor tractor-trailer units into its UK distribution fleet. Equipped with Luxfer carbon composite alternative fuel cylinders, the trucks have engines converted to run on both compressed natural gas (CNG) and diesel by the Hardstaff Group at their facility in Nottingham, England.

The cylinders were manufactured by our Luxfer Riverside facility in the USA.

The new trucks are now traveling across the country, distributing bread among Warburtons’ 14 bakeries and 13 satellite sites. Operating on a double shift seven days per week, each vehicle will average 100,000 miles (164,934 kilometers) per year.

Warburtons has been a committed user of natural gas-powered trucks for a decade. Twenty out of its fleet of 100 trucks already run on CNG supplied from the company’s own storage and filling facilities.

Warburtons Group Transport Manager Mark Sutcliffe said: “We’re committed to [natural] gas for environmental reasons. It’s a clean fuel that helps us to reduce our emissions and so meet our own carbon management and corporate social responsibility targets. But the trucks also had to make financial sense for our business, and a dependable warranty is a key part of that equation.” Warburtons’ corporate responsibility plan, revealed in 2010, includes a variety of ambitious environmental targets and changes to its supply chain, including a 20 percent cut in CO2 emissions by 2020.

Hardstaff’s conversion of the Axor’s straight-six, 400-horsepower engine automatically feeds CNG into the cylinders on demand at a constantly variable ratio. The Warburtons vehicles are achieving an average 60 per cent ‘substitution rate’—the volume of diesel replaced by CNG. This translates into a sizeable reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and particulates. There is no noticeable difference in power delivery or in the driving experience and, should a vehicle run out of CNG before its tanks can be topped up, it will run equally well on pure diesel.

Hardstaff Dual Fuel conversions—which include use of Luxfer cylinders—are available on selected Mercedes-Benz Axor and Actros models.

This story includes information from press releases by Mercedes-Benz and NGV Global News.

A fleet of 11 ecologically innovative dual fuel buses that run on both biomethane and diesel entered service in Lincolnshire, England, in late May. The Hardstaff Group converted the Optare Solo buses, using roof-mounted Luxfer carbon composite cylinders to contain biomethane made from recycled household and animal waste.

Biomethane/diesel buses provide up to a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions, as well as improved fuel economy.

All the buses had been in service for six or seven years, with each clocking 300,000 miles (482,800 kilometers) or more before being completely refurbished and converted to run on both fuels.

The direct £260,000 ($427,750) conversion cost was funded by the Lincolnshire County Council and the East Midlands Development Agency with operator Stagecoach East Midlands providing the buses from its Lincoln fleet. A further £100,000 ($164,520) in joint funding has been invested in fueling infrastructure.

Under its Eco Drive programme and an exclusive agreement with Hardstaff, bus manufacturer Optare currently offers Dual Fuel conversions for four-cylinder Mercedes-Benz and six-cylinder Cummins diesel engines that comply with Euro 3 (or later) emissions requirements. In addition to retrofitting older buses, Optare also offers new Dual Fuel buses.

Preparation of the 11 vehicles began at Optare’s low-carbon conversion centre in Blackburn, where the Cummins engines were taken out and shipped to Hardstaff for conversion.

Meanwhile, Optare modified the roof structure of each bus, installing a purpose-built cradle for Luxfer carbon composite cylinders to contain the biomethane, as well as a fibreglass cover to protect the cylinders.

The converted engines were then reinstalled, and the vehicles were sent to Hardstaff for final connections and system checks. The conversion work also required re-certification of the buses for street use, which was carried out at the Optare plant in Leeds.

Optare Chief Operating Officer Glenn Saint commented: “This is a very good application of the green technology that we can offer under our Eco Drive programme. It solves a number of issues at a stroke. CO2 emissions and fuel costs are reduced, and material that would otherwise be buried in the ground—at considerable cost—can be used to produce the biomethane, with the resultant waste providing a useful fertiliser for agricultural use.

“The fact that we are able to offer it as a retrofit on two widely used engines and that such conversions qualify for the higher rate of BSOG [Bus Service Operators Grant] makes this an attractive and viable option for any operator seeking to ‘green’ their fleet quickly without having to buy new vehicles—although we are happy to fit the Dual Fuel system during new vehicle build, too.”

At ceremonies in Lincolnshire to launch the buses, Stagecoach Group Chief Executive Brian Souter said: “Waste is a big issue for every family and household up and down the country. This is an innovative way of taking something that’s a big problem for society and turning it into a fuel of the future. It means we can offer greener travel to our customers and cut our own carbon footprint.”

Councillor William Webb of the Lincolnshire County Council said: “Using biomethane—which is virtually carbon neutral—as an alternative transport fuel should help produce significant environmental benefits for us all.”