VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- REGI U.S., Inc. (OTCBB:RGUS)(BCN:RGJ) / Reg Technologies Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RRE)(OTCBB:REGRF) wish to announce that Anuvu Incorporated has scheduled production and delivery of a fuel cell-powered Neighborhood Electric Vehicle with On-Board Power generator to Reg Technologies Inc. for evaluation and testing. A recent market demand for highly-efficient NEVs has been seen as gasoline prices have risen dramatically and these small lightweight vehicles generate zero-pollution and have low operating costs. The addition of a fuel cell system makes these vehicles far more reliable and robust in operation, allowing the vehicles to be used continuously at multi-building facilities, golf courses/country clubs, retirement and self-sustaining communities, and other locales that have need for short-range passenger and/or light utility level mobility. The fuel cell/battery hybrid power system offers a rapid deployment solution that can be competitive economically and robust technically.
The design for the fuel cell power system for golf carts/NEVs would be a universal range extending power package that would be added to existing vehicle designs. The fuel cell would provide 2.5 kW of net power to the NEV, providing substantial range extension and enhanced performance over the entire duty cycle. This on-board fuel cell recharging system could triple the operating time of an existing NEV battery pack, making a two-hour pack last 6 hours. Providing a range increase from 25-50 miles per charge to more than 100-150 miles per charge. The fuel cell would be hydrogen fueled from a compressed tank which can be refueled in minutes instead of the lengthy 8-10 hour charge required by conventional battery NEVs. The fuel cell would run continuously while the vehicle is in operation, keeping the state of charge of the battery pack as high as possible during operation. This constant on-board recharging will provide extra power to the user and greatly extend battery life and reduce battery recharge cycle time
In addition to increasing range and driving performance of the vehicle the fuel cell system will also mobile power generation with on-board AC outlets that tools, appliances or electronics can be plugged into for up to 24 hours of continuous operation. This makes NEV fleets a perfect tool to aid in the on-the-ground coordination and response efforts of first-responders to emergencies whether they be power outages, natural disasters or security concerns.
Reg Technologies Inc. owns the exclusive distribution rights for Canada and REGI U.S., Inc. has the option for the rights for Europe.
ABOUT ANUVU INCORPORATED:
Anuvu designs, manufactures, sells and licenses patented hydrogen fuel cell stacks and competitive energy systems worldwide to OEMs, governments, private R&D laboratories and academic institutions. Our standard PEM fuel cell stacks range from 1.5 kilowatt (kW) to 6kW. We have been successfully delivering fuel cells to various markets for over five years, with the goal of becoming the leading volume supplier of fuel cell systems in the 1kW to 100kW range. After ten years of R&D, Anuvu is focusing on the broad commercialization of its fuel cells by targeting existing stationary and specialized mobile markets, such as indoor forklift, marine, data and network backup power, remote communications facilities, critical fail-over systems and small urban vehicles.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Electrical-based particulate reduction system from Miratech - emissions technology
Miratech Corp. has announced the availability of its new Rypos Trap Active Diesel Particulate Filter System, which is designed to use patented RYPOS technology to regenerate trapped particulate matter from diesel engine exhaust.
The system is designed to perform well with land- and marine-based generator sets, water pumps and other direct-drive diesel engine driven applications. It is designed for easy, low cost installation in existing exhaust systems and includes flanged ends and high temperature gasket materials to prevent exhaust gas leakage.
Miratech, which is headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., pointed out that most soot filters are made of extruded ceramic material that tends to be brittle and often develops cracks due to thermal chock and pressure pulsation within the exhaust steam. It said the Rypos Trap was developed with a sintered metal fiber filter that is much less susceptible to cracking due to the fact that the metal conducts heat and is more ductile than its extruded ceramic counterparts.
"The Rypos Trap's technically advanced design incorporates a sintered metal fiber filter which over the life of the product is more durable. This is especially helpful when operators are working in transient conditions," said Jim McDonald, Miratech's manager of business development
The modular, easily replaceable metal fiber filter element is the key to the new system's performance, according to the company, but other design features help assure its long life and dependability.
In addition to the media, the system's filter support structure and reactor housing each have been designed to accommodate the engine exhaust gas flow, pulsations, pressure and thermal conditions experienced during normal engine operating conditions without damage. As a result, the company said the Rypos Trap can function under all commonly experienced engine operating conditions without distortion, vibration or damage to the filter system.
The filter itself is designed to operate within allowable engine back pressure requirements. When the back pressure reaches a preset level, an electrical current is applied across the filter elements to heat and oxidize the accumulated soot and soluble organic fraction.
The company points out that the use of electrical current to burn off soot is one of the Rypos Trap's truly distinctive features.
Whereas many systems depend upon a high exhaust temperature or catalyst that is subject to poisoning to burn off the soot, the Rypos Trap's electrical regeneration system allows it to function regardless of exhaust temperature or engine load factor. Since the Rypos Trap does not rely on exhaust temperature as a means of regeneration, it requires no catalytic coating to work and it works from the moment the engine starts.
A key benefit to the Rypos Trap, according to the company, is that, unlike catalytic systems that can be poisoned by sulfur, especially at the low temperatures encountered during start-up, its operation is completely independent of the level of sulfur in the fuel being used. With the Rypos Trap it is not necessary to use low sulfur fuel to meet emissions requirements. As low sulfur fuel is generally more expensive than other available options, this can save considerable expense.
Operation with the Rypos Trap results in an especially low exhaust pressure drop, according to Miratech, which results in minimal impact on a diesel engine's power output and fuel consumption. The company said that with the Rypos Trap in place, the typical exhaust pressure drop is less than 20 in. [H.sub.2]0 (28 mm Hg). That value complies with engine manufacturer back-pressure requirements and will not affect engine warranties.
The system is designed to perform well with land- and marine-based generator sets, water pumps and other direct-drive diesel engine driven applications. It is designed for easy, low cost installation in existing exhaust systems and includes flanged ends and high temperature gasket materials to prevent exhaust gas leakage.
Miratech, which is headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., pointed out that most soot filters are made of extruded ceramic material that tends to be brittle and often develops cracks due to thermal chock and pressure pulsation within the exhaust steam. It said the Rypos Trap was developed with a sintered metal fiber filter that is much less susceptible to cracking due to the fact that the metal conducts heat and is more ductile than its extruded ceramic counterparts.
"The Rypos Trap's technically advanced design incorporates a sintered metal fiber filter which over the life of the product is more durable. This is especially helpful when operators are working in transient conditions," said Jim McDonald, Miratech's manager of business development
The modular, easily replaceable metal fiber filter element is the key to the new system's performance, according to the company, but other design features help assure its long life and dependability.
In addition to the media, the system's filter support structure and reactor housing each have been designed to accommodate the engine exhaust gas flow, pulsations, pressure and thermal conditions experienced during normal engine operating conditions without damage. As a result, the company said the Rypos Trap can function under all commonly experienced engine operating conditions without distortion, vibration or damage to the filter system.
The filter itself is designed to operate within allowable engine back pressure requirements. When the back pressure reaches a preset level, an electrical current is applied across the filter elements to heat and oxidize the accumulated soot and soluble organic fraction.
The company points out that the use of electrical current to burn off soot is one of the Rypos Trap's truly distinctive features.
Whereas many systems depend upon a high exhaust temperature or catalyst that is subject to poisoning to burn off the soot, the Rypos Trap's electrical regeneration system allows it to function regardless of exhaust temperature or engine load factor. Since the Rypos Trap does not rely on exhaust temperature as a means of regeneration, it requires no catalytic coating to work and it works from the moment the engine starts.
A key benefit to the Rypos Trap, according to the company, is that, unlike catalytic systems that can be poisoned by sulfur, especially at the low temperatures encountered during start-up, its operation is completely independent of the level of sulfur in the fuel being used. With the Rypos Trap it is not necessary to use low sulfur fuel to meet emissions requirements. As low sulfur fuel is generally more expensive than other available options, this can save considerable expense.
Operation with the Rypos Trap results in an especially low exhaust pressure drop, according to Miratech, which results in minimal impact on a diesel engine's power output and fuel consumption. The company said that with the Rypos Trap in place, the typical exhaust pressure drop is less than 20 in. [H.sub.2]0 (28 mm Hg). That value complies with engine manufacturer back-pressure requirements and will not affect engine warranties.
Rental power at the races - Cat Rental Power generator sets used during Gateway International Raceway renovation in Madison, IL
Officials at Gateway International Raceway, Madison, Ill., were faced with the dilemma of how to provide lighting for their weekly drag racing programs at a facility that was undergoing major renovations - and with the power transformers were eight weeks from delivery. While late summer daylight allowed for racing into the evening hours, problems began to occur when the track's three-day-a-week racing programs began to run into the shortened daylight of the fall.
Enter Fabick Power Systems, the Fenton, Mo.-based Caterpillar distributor to supply two Cat Rental Power generator sets until normal power was restored to the race track. To handle the track's generated power needs, Fabick supplied two units, a Caterpillar XQ225 (rated 225 kW prime) and an Olympian CT60 (rated 48 kW prime), both trailer-mounted and with sound-attenuated enclosures.
"Until we got those generators, we were hurting," said Bob Dicus, Gateway's operations manager. "We used them every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday during the month of October
The model XQ225 rental power unit is powered by a six-cylinder, turbocharged and aftercooled Caterpillar 3306 diesel engine rated 316 hp, featuring a Woodward electronic 1724 governor. The Olympian CT60 generator set is powered by a four-cylinder turbocharged Caterpillar 3054 diesel rated 80 hp and governed by a Barber-Colman electronic governor.
Other gen-set accessories on the XQ225 unit include a Master Controls 5 amp battery charger, Merlin Gerin circuit breakers and a Watlow 3000 W jacket water heater. On the Olympian CT60, accessories include a Donaldson air cleaner, Kim Hotstart 1800 W water heater and a Stanadyne fuel injection pump.
The XQ225 gen-set was used to power a Musco lighting system used to illuminate the racing surface, while the CT60 was used to operate the track's timing system. The timing system required a very low spike or surge rate and, according to Dicus, the Olympian CT60 operated the timing system with no glitches.
Caterpillar's XQ line of rental packages include an EMPC II (electronic modular control panel) that is shock mounted in a separate enclosure compartment for easy viewing and servicing. The distribution panel allows even an inexperienced rental customer to safely identify output voltages and output terminals feature safety interlocks. Also, an array of receptacles are available with individual circuit breakers.
Both gen-sets offer a variety of automatic engine shutdowns, a.c. metering packages and engine gauges. Optional features for both units include the battery chargers and jacket water heaters and road ready trailers.
Enter Fabick Power Systems, the Fenton, Mo.-based Caterpillar distributor to supply two Cat Rental Power generator sets until normal power was restored to the race track. To handle the track's generated power needs, Fabick supplied two units, a Caterpillar XQ225 (rated 225 kW prime) and an Olympian CT60 (rated 48 kW prime), both trailer-mounted and with sound-attenuated enclosures.
"Until we got those generators, we were hurting," said Bob Dicus, Gateway's operations manager. "We used them every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday during the month of October
The model XQ225 rental power unit is powered by a six-cylinder, turbocharged and aftercooled Caterpillar 3306 diesel engine rated 316 hp, featuring a Woodward electronic 1724 governor. The Olympian CT60 generator set is powered by a four-cylinder turbocharged Caterpillar 3054 diesel rated 80 hp and governed by a Barber-Colman electronic governor.
Other gen-set accessories on the XQ225 unit include a Master Controls 5 amp battery charger, Merlin Gerin circuit breakers and a Watlow 3000 W jacket water heater. On the Olympian CT60, accessories include a Donaldson air cleaner, Kim Hotstart 1800 W water heater and a Stanadyne fuel injection pump.
The XQ225 gen-set was used to power a Musco lighting system used to illuminate the racing surface, while the CT60 was used to operate the track's timing system. The timing system required a very low spike or surge rate and, according to Dicus, the Olympian CT60 operated the timing system with no glitches.
Caterpillar's XQ line of rental packages include an EMPC II (electronic modular control panel) that is shock mounted in a separate enclosure compartment for easy viewing and servicing. The distribution panel allows even an inexperienced rental customer to safely identify output voltages and output terminals feature safety interlocks. Also, an array of receptacles are available with individual circuit breakers.
Both gen-sets offer a variety of automatic engine shutdowns, a.c. metering packages and engine gauges. Optional features for both units include the battery chargers and jacket water heaters and road ready trailers.
Finding a niche: a contract crushing company finds profits in the recycling market
When Ted Heitsche was approached by a former asphalt-plant manager at S.E. Johnson in 1998 to start up his own asphalt and concrete recycling business in the northwest Ohio area, he knew little about the industry.
"I heard there were opportunities to make money in recycling, but never considered making it a living," says Heitsche, owner of Ted's Trucking in Collins, Ohio, just south of Toledo. At the time, Heitsche used his company trucks to haul crushed asphalt to S.E. Johnson's construction sites in the area.
"I did some research and found that asphalt and concrete recycling materials were generating healthy profits for recyclers. I also discovered there was a need for recycling aggregate in this part of the state," Heitsche says.
Heitsche ultimately took the plunge in the asphalt- and concrete-recycling business after spotting a gap in the market for a company able to crush C&D debris. With the profits from his trucking company, he created his second business, Heitsche Boyz Crushing (HBC), in an effort to operate the only mobile recycling plant in the region. To date, Heitsche is the only mobile contract crusher in northwest Ohio to step up to the challenge.
"I heard there were opportunities to make money in recycling, but never considered making it a living," says Heitsche, owner of Ted's Trucking in Collins, Ohio, just south of Toledo. At the time, Heitsche used his company trucks to haul crushed asphalt to S.E. Johnson's construction sites in the area.
"I did some research and found that asphalt and concrete recycling materials were generating healthy profits for recyclers. I also discovered there was a need for recycling aggregate in this part of the state," Heitsche says.
Heitsche ultimately took the plunge in the asphalt- and concrete-recycling business after spotting a gap in the market for a company able to crush C&D debris. With the profits from his trucking company, he created his second business, Heitsche Boyz Crushing (HBC), in an effort to operate the only mobile recycling plant in the region. To date, Heitsche is the only mobile contract crusher in northwest Ohio to step up to the challenge.
Sound Remedies For Medical Facilities
Controlling noise emitted by modern HEALTH CARE TECHNOLOGIES as well as protecting patient privacy while speaking is essential for hospitals and clinics
How close to the emergency generators can the new microsurgery suite be?
In today's medical facilities, the only constant is change. It is important to be on the lookout for conflicting needs when siting a new MRI suite or cooling tower. Avoiding the transfer of airborne sound or structure-borne vibration between various adjacencies requires thoughtful planning.
Areas where images are magnified for diagnosis or treatment are potentially susceptible to vibration. The most common areas of concern include microsurgery and lab microscopes. Quantitative criteria for acceptable levels of floor vibration are often provided by system manufacturers or acoustical consultants. This allows for an engineering assessment of what measures are needed to meet the criteria.
On renovation projects, field measurements can be made of existing levels of floor vibration and, if needed, sources of building vibration can be identified through frequency analysis or ON/OFF tests. A major university hospital recently commissioned such tests during planning and expansion to accommodate lab microscopes with 40OX magnification. To prevent image blurring, steps were taken to stiffen the building structure and isolate vibration of rotating equipment in a new mechanical penthouse. Ophthalmologic surgery suites and even standard operating rooms all require vibration-free environments to varying degrees.
The proliferation of MRI machines has also caused acoustical problems. The concern here is more "outbound" - that is, sound and vibration generated by the MRI process intruding into nearby waiting and treatment rooms, adjacent horizontally or vertically. With the use of progressively larger magnets, airborne noise and structure-borne sound levels are increasing, requiring better planning and more aggressive measures for control.
Noise and vibration problems can be anticipated. If mitigation measures are planned during the design phase, costly and extraordinary construction techniques can be avoided. Good planning can make it possible to avoid the kinds of steps that are necessary to make building occupants satisfied if, for example, the chiller room is located next to a meeting room. With available expertise, the costs and benefits of various options can be explored while the project is still on paper.
COMMUNITY NOISE CONCERNS
Many jurisdictions now have regulations covering the sound that may be emitted from building service equipment. The most common noise sources for medical facilities are cooling towers, air-cooled HVAC equipment (usually rooftop units) and emergency generators. While generators may be exempt from community noise regulations during emergencies, there is customarily no exemption for the noise produced during weekly generator tests. So it is wise to test during the day and to meet the daytime noise limit requirements. Nighttime regulatory limits are usually lower. For example, in New Jersey, levels emitted to residential properties are limited to 65 dB(A) during the day and 5OdB(A) at night.
Where lowest first cost is an overriding concern, the trend is to use aircooled, packaged or custom rooftop air handlers to serve building additions or new facilities. The sound radiated to the community is highest during the summer when cooling demand is highest, and noise is produced by the compressors and condenser fans. Unfortunately, it is difficult to mitigate the noise from such equipment, both during the design stage and after the fact, except by introducing shielding with acoustical barriers. The difficulty of mitigation is all the more reason to ensure good planning occurs.
At one hospital, a new rooftop aircooled chiller was contributing to noise levels far above allowable nighttime limits. Because the roof could not support the wind load and weight of the needed noise control barrier, the only solution was to use this rooftop unit in the daytime hours and to provide supplemental cooling with additional equipment, selected and located to meet nighttime cooling needs while meeting sound-emission requirements.
Although water-cooled systems relying on cooling towers require greater up-front investment, there are many more options available during equipment selection for controlling sound emissions to the extent required. Options include:
* Equipment style: Centrifugal fan cooling towers and propeller fan towers have different acoustical characteristics and directivity - the way sound emissions differ from position to position around a noise source.
* Fan speed: Because towers are custom-designed for thermal demand, oversizing the tower and slowing the fans can often meet acoustical and thermal needs simultaneously.
How close to the emergency generators can the new microsurgery suite be?
In today's medical facilities, the only constant is change. It is important to be on the lookout for conflicting needs when siting a new MRI suite or cooling tower. Avoiding the transfer of airborne sound or structure-borne vibration between various adjacencies requires thoughtful planning.
Areas where images are magnified for diagnosis or treatment are potentially susceptible to vibration. The most common areas of concern include microsurgery and lab microscopes. Quantitative criteria for acceptable levels of floor vibration are often provided by system manufacturers or acoustical consultants. This allows for an engineering assessment of what measures are needed to meet the criteria.
On renovation projects, field measurements can be made of existing levels of floor vibration and, if needed, sources of building vibration can be identified through frequency analysis or ON/OFF tests. A major university hospital recently commissioned such tests during planning and expansion to accommodate lab microscopes with 40OX magnification. To prevent image blurring, steps were taken to stiffen the building structure and isolate vibration of rotating equipment in a new mechanical penthouse. Ophthalmologic surgery suites and even standard operating rooms all require vibration-free environments to varying degrees.
The proliferation of MRI machines has also caused acoustical problems. The concern here is more "outbound" - that is, sound and vibration generated by the MRI process intruding into nearby waiting and treatment rooms, adjacent horizontally or vertically. With the use of progressively larger magnets, airborne noise and structure-borne sound levels are increasing, requiring better planning and more aggressive measures for control.
Noise and vibration problems can be anticipated. If mitigation measures are planned during the design phase, costly and extraordinary construction techniques can be avoided. Good planning can make it possible to avoid the kinds of steps that are necessary to make building occupants satisfied if, for example, the chiller room is located next to a meeting room. With available expertise, the costs and benefits of various options can be explored while the project is still on paper.
COMMUNITY NOISE CONCERNS
Many jurisdictions now have regulations covering the sound that may be emitted from building service equipment. The most common noise sources for medical facilities are cooling towers, air-cooled HVAC equipment (usually rooftop units) and emergency generators. While generators may be exempt from community noise regulations during emergencies, there is customarily no exemption for the noise produced during weekly generator tests. So it is wise to test during the day and to meet the daytime noise limit requirements. Nighttime regulatory limits are usually lower. For example, in New Jersey, levels emitted to residential properties are limited to 65 dB(A) during the day and 5OdB(A) at night.
Where lowest first cost is an overriding concern, the trend is to use aircooled, packaged or custom rooftop air handlers to serve building additions or new facilities. The sound radiated to the community is highest during the summer when cooling demand is highest, and noise is produced by the compressors and condenser fans. Unfortunately, it is difficult to mitigate the noise from such equipment, both during the design stage and after the fact, except by introducing shielding with acoustical barriers. The difficulty of mitigation is all the more reason to ensure good planning occurs.
At one hospital, a new rooftop aircooled chiller was contributing to noise levels far above allowable nighttime limits. Because the roof could not support the wind load and weight of the needed noise control barrier, the only solution was to use this rooftop unit in the daytime hours and to provide supplemental cooling with additional equipment, selected and located to meet nighttime cooling needs while meeting sound-emission requirements.
Although water-cooled systems relying on cooling towers require greater up-front investment, there are many more options available during equipment selection for controlling sound emissions to the extent required. Options include:
* Equipment style: Centrifugal fan cooling towers and propeller fan towers have different acoustical characteristics and directivity - the way sound emissions differ from position to position around a noise source.
* Fan speed: Because towers are custom-designed for thermal demand, oversizing the tower and slowing the fans can often meet acoustical and thermal needs simultaneously.
At a standstill: GM explores stationary power applications for automotive fuel cell development
The road to the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles has taken an interesting turn.
On Tuesday, February 10, 2004, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and Texas Governor Rick Perry threw the switch on the first of some 400 to 500 General Motor's PEM automotive fuel cell power modules that will serve as stationary power plants, making electricity for Dow Chemical's Freeport, Texas, manufacturing facility.
This initial stack, mounted inside of a 40-ft. trailer and monitored remotely from GM's Honeoye Falls, N.Y., fuel cell research and development center, will serve as the test module, making sure that the units will run properly on the hydrogen produced by Dow. If all goes as planned, this 75 kW unit will be replaced this summer with another trailer housing the first industrial scale unit, made up of 14 modules capable of generating 1 MW of electricity. The final goal is to have 400 to 500 power modules generating 35 MW of electricity--enough to power 25,000 homes, yet still only two percent of the total electricity used by the Dow facility.
The trailer is parked in the facilities power station that currently uses cogeneration to produce all of the steam and electricity for Dow's largest facility
You might ask yourself what would bring the world's largest auto manufacturer and the world's largest chemical producer together to advance fuel cell technology. The answer to that question is a commercially viable agreement that was made in hydrogen heaven.
Hydrogen is a byproduct of several of Dow's manufacturing operations and up until now, the 'fuel' in fuel cell was piped to the power station and used to heat boilers for making steam, sold off to companies like Air Products for resale to industry or vented into the atmosphere. Now some of that hydrogen will be used to run the GM fuel cells.
"We started talking to Dow in late 2002," says Timothy E. Vail, director fuel cell commercialization, GM fuel cell activity, "and it's kind of an interesting mix. Dow needed to get more value from its hydrogen strength and we needed a place to put our technology."
Vail says that GM weighed the pros and cons and found that Dow was a good fit.
"From our standpoint the Dow transaction is a positive economic transaction for us ... pure profit," Vail says. "If you take the cost of the unit and the money we're getting from Dow, (the profit) is marginal. But if you think of all the cost we avoid, building vehicles, running on test stands, scrapping equipment, it's a hugely profitable deal for us. It's the same for Dow. If you take its electricity and gas costs, plus the emissions benefits, what they're doing with this byproduct fuel becomes an economic transaction for them as well."
While the first unit is a test unit, Vail says that once the industrial-strength hardware is installed this summer, it's really past the test stage.
"This agreement is a true commercial arrangement," Vail says. "We're moving forward to install megawatts of power and you don't do that on a test basis, you're doing that for economic reasons."
Vail says that the Dow venture well help to advance GM's fuel cell program in a couple of areas. Dow has been dealing with hydrogen for decades and has shared that expertise with GM, which Vail says, has advanced the fuel cell program immeasurably.
And for a fraction of the cost of building 400 to 500 fuel cell-powered vehicles, GM can run the same number of units in a real-world environment which, in turn, will build the supply base and develop expertise in manufacturing and production engineering, ultimately bringing costs down to the commercialization goal of $50 a kilowatt by 2010.
"It's just incredibly expensive to build and maintain a fuel cell automobile," Vail says. "If you want it for PR purposes, that's great, but if you really want to deliver in 2010, you cannot be relying on vehicles for your early volume, you'll go broke. You'll spend all of your money on your vehicles and not your R&D program."
Dow has its own reasons for finding alternative energy sources. Dow uses natural gas to manufacture all of the electricity needed to produce heat and power for the Texas facility and is tied to a highly, controlled natural gas market. Tommy Block, vice president of Dow's operations in Texas says that the site's natural gas bill in 2003 was $1 million dollars a day higher than the 2001 bill.
"We have to find ways to cut a million dollars in cost every day just to stay even with where we were in 2001," says Block.
Since hydrogen is a byproduct of Dow's manufacturing operations, that furl is virtually flee and that makes had cells look real good from an economical standpoint.
On Tuesday, February 10, 2004, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and Texas Governor Rick Perry threw the switch on the first of some 400 to 500 General Motor's PEM automotive fuel cell power modules that will serve as stationary power plants, making electricity for Dow Chemical's Freeport, Texas, manufacturing facility.
This initial stack, mounted inside of a 40-ft. trailer and monitored remotely from GM's Honeoye Falls, N.Y., fuel cell research and development center, will serve as the test module, making sure that the units will run properly on the hydrogen produced by Dow. If all goes as planned, this 75 kW unit will be replaced this summer with another trailer housing the first industrial scale unit, made up of 14 modules capable of generating 1 MW of electricity. The final goal is to have 400 to 500 power modules generating 35 MW of electricity--enough to power 25,000 homes, yet still only two percent of the total electricity used by the Dow facility.
The trailer is parked in the facilities power station that currently uses cogeneration to produce all of the steam and electricity for Dow's largest facility
You might ask yourself what would bring the world's largest auto manufacturer and the world's largest chemical producer together to advance fuel cell technology. The answer to that question is a commercially viable agreement that was made in hydrogen heaven.
Hydrogen is a byproduct of several of Dow's manufacturing operations and up until now, the 'fuel' in fuel cell was piped to the power station and used to heat boilers for making steam, sold off to companies like Air Products for resale to industry or vented into the atmosphere. Now some of that hydrogen will be used to run the GM fuel cells.
"We started talking to Dow in late 2002," says Timothy E. Vail, director fuel cell commercialization, GM fuel cell activity, "and it's kind of an interesting mix. Dow needed to get more value from its hydrogen strength and we needed a place to put our technology."
Vail says that GM weighed the pros and cons and found that Dow was a good fit.
"From our standpoint the Dow transaction is a positive economic transaction for us ... pure profit," Vail says. "If you take the cost of the unit and the money we're getting from Dow, (the profit) is marginal. But if you think of all the cost we avoid, building vehicles, running on test stands, scrapping equipment, it's a hugely profitable deal for us. It's the same for Dow. If you take its electricity and gas costs, plus the emissions benefits, what they're doing with this byproduct fuel becomes an economic transaction for them as well."
While the first unit is a test unit, Vail says that once the industrial-strength hardware is installed this summer, it's really past the test stage.
"This agreement is a true commercial arrangement," Vail says. "We're moving forward to install megawatts of power and you don't do that on a test basis, you're doing that for economic reasons."
Vail says that the Dow venture well help to advance GM's fuel cell program in a couple of areas. Dow has been dealing with hydrogen for decades and has shared that expertise with GM, which Vail says, has advanced the fuel cell program immeasurably.
And for a fraction of the cost of building 400 to 500 fuel cell-powered vehicles, GM can run the same number of units in a real-world environment which, in turn, will build the supply base and develop expertise in manufacturing and production engineering, ultimately bringing costs down to the commercialization goal of $50 a kilowatt by 2010.
"It's just incredibly expensive to build and maintain a fuel cell automobile," Vail says. "If you want it for PR purposes, that's great, but if you really want to deliver in 2010, you cannot be relying on vehicles for your early volume, you'll go broke. You'll spend all of your money on your vehicles and not your R&D program."
Dow has its own reasons for finding alternative energy sources. Dow uses natural gas to manufacture all of the electricity needed to produce heat and power for the Texas facility and is tied to a highly, controlled natural gas market. Tommy Block, vice president of Dow's operations in Texas says that the site's natural gas bill in 2003 was $1 million dollars a day higher than the 2001 bill.
"We have to find ways to cut a million dollars in cost every day just to stay even with where we were in 2001," says Block.
Since hydrogen is a byproduct of Dow's manufacturing operations, that furl is virtually flee and that makes had cells look real good from an economical standpoint.
When it comes to energy, sometimes it's best to go it alone
Rising energy prices as well as heightened environmental and power reliability concerns have an increased number of facility executives using on-site power equipment to satisfy their facilities' energy appetite.
It's getting easier to see why.
On-site power systems give facility executives nearly unlimited capability to manage their energy supplies as they see fit. Systems can be used to produce electricity to meet a facility's baseload demand, to shave peak demand and to meet electrical needs when a utility feed fails.
Having those capabilities opens a world of possibilities to facility executives who are trying to reduce how much they pay for energy. Many facilities have systems configured to come online when the amount of utility-supplied energy a building uses is getting close to breaking a previously set demand level, typically during equipment start-up times.
As any facility executive who has been in that position knows, setting a new demand level incurs utility charges that can stay on a bill for months. But while controlling demand charges is important, the systems also give facility executives flexibility to define energy management strategies and control supply costs. Even in cases where setting a new demand level is not a concern, producing power on site at peak-use times can be financially advantageous.
Facilities that are on a real-time energy rate, for instance, can pay up to four times as much for energy during peak-demand times as they pay during off-peak hours. Rare is the instance where the cost of producing power on site would surpass the cost of buying power from the grid during those times.
What's more, buildings with power systems in place can more easily take advantage of favorable interruptible and curtailable electricity rates. If the utility ever makes the call for those facilities to cut demand, an on-site generator can make up the difference.
In deregulated markets, generators can be used to flatten a building's load profile. From an electricity supplier's perspective, that's an important aspect of its ability to offer an attractive rate.
In regulated markets, an on-site system might result in better rates not only through peak-shaving applications, but also because it helps the utility avoid building new generation plants, the cost of which is passed on to ratepayers. For every megawatt of power produced through on-site power systems, the utility has to build one less megawatt into its generation capabilities.
"It makes a lot of sense from the utility perspective," says the maker of an on-site power system. "It's a lot less expensive to encourage a customer to construct an on-site power system that can feed into the utility grid, or separate from it when needed, than to have to build an entire generating station or add onto an existing power plant."
Blackouts such as the one that hit the Northeast and Midwest in August, as well as continued talk about the nation's aging electrical infrastructure, only help to convince facility executives that on-site power systems make sense. Depending on the amount of output, an on-site system can be used to replace utility power for an entire facility or to power critical systems during outages.
What facility executives need to remember, however, is that if they want to parallel their on-site power systems with the utility, they'll have to negotiate and meet a utility's interconnection standards. The utility wants absolute assurances that the output from a facility's systems will not harm the existing electrical grid and associated equipment.
Sometimes, that's not an easy task, especially if the utility has enough generation capacity to serve its territory in every circumstance. Utility representatives will often use the interconnection standards as a way to block on-site power projects and preserve its rate base.
"If a utility is charging a high peak-demand rate, it may not want to give up that revenue because a customer wants to produce its own power at a cost savings," says the maker of an on-site power system. " A business might think generating their own electricity is a good idea, but then they find out the costs of the interconnection are going to kill the economics on the project, not to mention the cost of fuel itself that comes into play on longer runtime scenarios."
A viable alternative is to consider the use of a standby power system in conjunction with an interruptible rate rider of curtailable rate. With these options, the cost of sophisticated relay protection is usually not an issue because the generators are transferred to and from the utility grid within less than a second. Typically all that's needed is reverse power protection, which can be put in place cost effectively.
It's getting easier to see why.
On-site power systems give facility executives nearly unlimited capability to manage their energy supplies as they see fit. Systems can be used to produce electricity to meet a facility's baseload demand, to shave peak demand and to meet electrical needs when a utility feed fails.
Having those capabilities opens a world of possibilities to facility executives who are trying to reduce how much they pay for energy. Many facilities have systems configured to come online when the amount of utility-supplied energy a building uses is getting close to breaking a previously set demand level, typically during equipment start-up times.
As any facility executive who has been in that position knows, setting a new demand level incurs utility charges that can stay on a bill for months. But while controlling demand charges is important, the systems also give facility executives flexibility to define energy management strategies and control supply costs. Even in cases where setting a new demand level is not a concern, producing power on site at peak-use times can be financially advantageous.
Facilities that are on a real-time energy rate, for instance, can pay up to four times as much for energy during peak-demand times as they pay during off-peak hours. Rare is the instance where the cost of producing power on site would surpass the cost of buying power from the grid during those times.
What's more, buildings with power systems in place can more easily take advantage of favorable interruptible and curtailable electricity rates. If the utility ever makes the call for those facilities to cut demand, an on-site generator can make up the difference.
In deregulated markets, generators can be used to flatten a building's load profile. From an electricity supplier's perspective, that's an important aspect of its ability to offer an attractive rate.
In regulated markets, an on-site system might result in better rates not only through peak-shaving applications, but also because it helps the utility avoid building new generation plants, the cost of which is passed on to ratepayers. For every megawatt of power produced through on-site power systems, the utility has to build one less megawatt into its generation capabilities.
"It makes a lot of sense from the utility perspective," says the maker of an on-site power system. "It's a lot less expensive to encourage a customer to construct an on-site power system that can feed into the utility grid, or separate from it when needed, than to have to build an entire generating station or add onto an existing power plant."
Blackouts such as the one that hit the Northeast and Midwest in August, as well as continued talk about the nation's aging electrical infrastructure, only help to convince facility executives that on-site power systems make sense. Depending on the amount of output, an on-site system can be used to replace utility power for an entire facility or to power critical systems during outages.
What facility executives need to remember, however, is that if they want to parallel their on-site power systems with the utility, they'll have to negotiate and meet a utility's interconnection standards. The utility wants absolute assurances that the output from a facility's systems will not harm the existing electrical grid and associated equipment.
Sometimes, that's not an easy task, especially if the utility has enough generation capacity to serve its territory in every circumstance. Utility representatives will often use the interconnection standards as a way to block on-site power projects and preserve its rate base.
"If a utility is charging a high peak-demand rate, it may not want to give up that revenue because a customer wants to produce its own power at a cost savings," says the maker of an on-site power system. " A business might think generating their own electricity is a good idea, but then they find out the costs of the interconnection are going to kill the economics on the project, not to mention the cost of fuel itself that comes into play on longer runtime scenarios."
A viable alternative is to consider the use of a standby power system in conjunction with an interruptible rate rider of curtailable rate. With these options, the cost of sophisticated relay protection is usually not an issue because the generators are transferred to and from the utility grid within less than a second. Typically all that's needed is reverse power protection, which can be put in place cost effectively.
A stirling solution for combined heat and power
Already ridding an extensive line of distributed generation products under its energy|now brand, DTE Energy Technologies (DTE Tech) has expanded the renewable side of its lineup with the introduction of the ENX 55 energy system. The 55 kW cogeneration package is powered by a Stifling engine fueled by natural gas, propane, flare gas, methane, wood gas, biogas or, in its heat-fired version, heat produced from industrial processes.
"The way it (the ENX 55) is being employed today is in both CHP (combined heat and power) and power only packages," said Mark Fallek, vice president and chief marketing officer for the Farmington, Mich., company. "The applications that we think make sense are employing it in places where there is free gas--things like landfills or digesters at wastewater treatment plants or agricultural operations that produce methane, which can then be burned to produce power.
"In the agriculture arena, more and more digesters are being used to breakdown manure, making methane and carbon dioxide. We can take that gas and burn it in a Stirling engine for power as well as use the waste heat to keep The digesters warm. Digesters for these biogas applications need to be kept at 100[degrees]F to keep the anaerobic bacteria alive using the hot water. So it's a good marriage."
In heat applications, the ENX 55 module works off any high-temperature process that will operate "as long as it's clean" Fallek explained. "It's important to note that the Stirling engine requires a very high temperature between 1472[degrees] and 1832[degrees]F," he added.
Using a Stirling engine from STM Power, Ann Arbor Mich., the ENX 55 provides enough rotational power to produce 55 kW of electricity and a heat output of 310,000 btu/hr. According to DTE Tech, the external combustion engine employs a swashplate that takes the linear motion of the pistons and converts it into rotary motion to drive a generator. "You've got rotary" motion driving the generator to produce power, and waste heat from the unit is employed for making hot water," said Fallek. "It's all external to the cylinders and it's a continuous process of providing heat, which can be used for various means such as heating, hot water or whatever you need it for."
Heat is removed from the engine's combustion process using a water cooling system. Water is directed through an internal cooling loop at a temperature of 140[degrees] F and then runs through a heat exchanger. The heat from the engine jacket water is used to heat water for building loads or processes. If the heat recovery is not required, a radiator is available to cool the engine. Electrical efficiency of the ENX 55 unit is 31% with 82% efficiency in the total CHP system, the company said.
Working with STM Power since 1999, DTE Tech develops and sells the external combustion modules worldwide, excluding Asia, under the energy|now brand. The company has 16 locations throughout North America and distributors covering Switzerland, Austria and Germany, Northern Italy; Turkey and South Korea. "Today our business is solely working in the distributed generation business which includes CHP and standby generator sets of" all sizes," said Fallek. "We offer a broad range of technologies that run from Stifling engines to internal combustion engines to a turbine product that we're developing to fuel cells."
"The way it (the ENX 55) is being employed today is in both CHP (combined heat and power) and power only packages," said Mark Fallek, vice president and chief marketing officer for the Farmington, Mich., company. "The applications that we think make sense are employing it in places where there is free gas--things like landfills or digesters at wastewater treatment plants or agricultural operations that produce methane, which can then be burned to produce power.
"In the agriculture arena, more and more digesters are being used to breakdown manure, making methane and carbon dioxide. We can take that gas and burn it in a Stirling engine for power as well as use the waste heat to keep The digesters warm. Digesters for these biogas applications need to be kept at 100[degrees]F to keep the anaerobic bacteria alive using the hot water. So it's a good marriage."
In heat applications, the ENX 55 module works off any high-temperature process that will operate "as long as it's clean" Fallek explained. "It's important to note that the Stirling engine requires a very high temperature between 1472[degrees] and 1832[degrees]F," he added.
Using a Stirling engine from STM Power, Ann Arbor Mich., the ENX 55 provides enough rotational power to produce 55 kW of electricity and a heat output of 310,000 btu/hr. According to DTE Tech, the external combustion engine employs a swashplate that takes the linear motion of the pistons and converts it into rotary motion to drive a generator. "You've got rotary" motion driving the generator to produce power, and waste heat from the unit is employed for making hot water," said Fallek. "It's all external to the cylinders and it's a continuous process of providing heat, which can be used for various means such as heating, hot water or whatever you need it for."
Heat is removed from the engine's combustion process using a water cooling system. Water is directed through an internal cooling loop at a temperature of 140[degrees] F and then runs through a heat exchanger. The heat from the engine jacket water is used to heat water for building loads or processes. If the heat recovery is not required, a radiator is available to cool the engine. Electrical efficiency of the ENX 55 unit is 31% with 82% efficiency in the total CHP system, the company said.
Working with STM Power since 1999, DTE Tech develops and sells the external combustion modules worldwide, excluding Asia, under the energy|now brand. The company has 16 locations throughout North America and distributors covering Switzerland, Austria and Germany, Northern Italy; Turkey and South Korea. "Today our business is solely working in the distributed generation business which includes CHP and standby generator sets of" all sizes," said Fallek. "We offer a broad range of technologies that run from Stifling engines to internal combustion engines to a turbine product that we're developing to fuel cells."
Micro-cogen systems from marathon engine
It's fair to say that most generator set manufacturers don't make their own engines. The ones that do tend to be among the global giants. And then there's Marathon Engine Systems.
Marathon, based in East Troy, Wis., produces a line of application dedicated combined heat and power (CHP) gen-sets. The units range from 1 to 5 kW in natural gas or propane powered configurations with specific models tailored to cathodic protection, luxury homes, net metering, telecommunications, remote locations and true uninterruptible power.
At the heart of each system is Marathon's 272 cc, single-cylinder, four-cycle, liquid cooled 5K engine rated 7.5 hp at 1200 to 3600 rpm. The engine features a 4000-hour service interval and a 40,000-hour life which Gary Papas, vice president of engineering for Marathon, said equates into 1.6 million miles on an automobile engine. "This engine was designed to be durable so it can be placed in remote locations, running constantly," Papas noted. "In one remote prime power application it's connected to a gas well so it also has an unlimited fuel supply."
The cast iron engine was originally designed by the Gas Research Institute as a means to generate income during low usage months by powering residential heat pumps. Marathon purchased the rights to the engine in 1998. Today, it uses a top-mounted exhaust gas heat recuperator with three-way custom catalyst design to recover heat from the engine, generator and exhaust which Marathon said provides cogeneration with more than 90% efficiency. The 5K engine drives a high-efficiency, all-copper alternator with outside fitted coils designed by Marathon. The stator housing is coupled to the crankcase with the rotor mounted to the engine flywheel.
Marathon offers a modernized CHP version with its stainless steel enclosed PowerLast XLC package, as a prime power system for luxury homes. The PowerLast XLC produces 5 kW of grid independent power and 27,000 to 40,000 btu of heat for swimming pools, water heaters or hydronic heating in new homes. "It takes away the functions of the furnace, water heater and standby generator;' said Papas. "It will be common in the future to have this offered as an option by every new home builder."
While the majority of Marthon's lineup is used in some form of heating, its Minotaur 2500 gen-set is a 2.5 kW single phase system designed for cathodic protection of pipelines. The units are typically placed at 40-mile intervals, sending electrical current in both directions to inhibit the corrosion process or power railway switching and communications. The unit has a bullet-proof enclosure and in most instances processes the recovered heat through a radiator.
Also featured in the company's line up is the non-enclosed standup Power Rack, a 1 to 2.5 kW unit targeted toward the telecommunication sector and for prime uninterruptible power, a UPS unit. The UPS system provides 1 to 5 kW of pure sine-wave power at 120 Vac or 240 Vac. Marathon said the gen-set is designed with more than 400 amps of battery assistance, winch can supply two days of power if the engine is shut down. The UPS system targets internet hosts, banking, medical companies or other industries where unexpected outages cause costly or catastrophic interruptions, explained Papas.
The four enclosed units feature a sound-attenuating enclosure with sound levels rated 56 to 64 dB(A), depending on model. The units are thermostat operated or remote accessed via phone or computer interface. Engine temperature, engine speed and power output are monitored on the unit's control panel in digital or gauge formats.
Marathon, based in East Troy, Wis., produces a line of application dedicated combined heat and power (CHP) gen-sets. The units range from 1 to 5 kW in natural gas or propane powered configurations with specific models tailored to cathodic protection, luxury homes, net metering, telecommunications, remote locations and true uninterruptible power.
At the heart of each system is Marathon's 272 cc, single-cylinder, four-cycle, liquid cooled 5K engine rated 7.5 hp at 1200 to 3600 rpm. The engine features a 4000-hour service interval and a 40,000-hour life which Gary Papas, vice president of engineering for Marathon, said equates into 1.6 million miles on an automobile engine. "This engine was designed to be durable so it can be placed in remote locations, running constantly," Papas noted. "In one remote prime power application it's connected to a gas well so it also has an unlimited fuel supply."
The cast iron engine was originally designed by the Gas Research Institute as a means to generate income during low usage months by powering residential heat pumps. Marathon purchased the rights to the engine in 1998. Today, it uses a top-mounted exhaust gas heat recuperator with three-way custom catalyst design to recover heat from the engine, generator and exhaust which Marathon said provides cogeneration with more than 90% efficiency. The 5K engine drives a high-efficiency, all-copper alternator with outside fitted coils designed by Marathon. The stator housing is coupled to the crankcase with the rotor mounted to the engine flywheel.
Marathon offers a modernized CHP version with its stainless steel enclosed PowerLast XLC package, as a prime power system for luxury homes. The PowerLast XLC produces 5 kW of grid independent power and 27,000 to 40,000 btu of heat for swimming pools, water heaters or hydronic heating in new homes. "It takes away the functions of the furnace, water heater and standby generator;' said Papas. "It will be common in the future to have this offered as an option by every new home builder."
While the majority of Marthon's lineup is used in some form of heating, its Minotaur 2500 gen-set is a 2.5 kW single phase system designed for cathodic protection of pipelines. The units are typically placed at 40-mile intervals, sending electrical current in both directions to inhibit the corrosion process or power railway switching and communications. The unit has a bullet-proof enclosure and in most instances processes the recovered heat through a radiator.
Also featured in the company's line up is the non-enclosed standup Power Rack, a 1 to 2.5 kW unit targeted toward the telecommunication sector and for prime uninterruptible power, a UPS unit. The UPS system provides 1 to 5 kW of pure sine-wave power at 120 Vac or 240 Vac. Marathon said the gen-set is designed with more than 400 amps of battery assistance, winch can supply two days of power if the engine is shut down. The UPS system targets internet hosts, banking, medical companies or other industries where unexpected outages cause costly or catastrophic interruptions, explained Papas.
The four enclosed units feature a sound-attenuating enclosure with sound levels rated 56 to 64 dB(A), depending on model. The units are thermostat operated or remote accessed via phone or computer interface. Engine temperature, engine speed and power output are monitored on the unit's control panel in digital or gauge formats.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Tuned up: the flow of catalytic converters is running steady as platinum group metals prices gain momentum
It's steady as she goes" in the catalytic converter market. The scrap market for PGMs (platinum group metals) is intimately tied to the catalytic converter market. While mined output of basic materials and speculators play roles, it is the catalytic converter market that drives the recycling sector.
"We're pretty steady," says Niel Shalit, CEO of Catalytic Converter Corp., Jamaica, N.Y. His firm deals mainly with recycling yards that produce 2,000 or more units per month.
Ashok Kumar, director of A-1 Specialized Services & Supplies Inc., the Pennsylvania-based multi-national recycler that specializes in lot consolidation and dry processing of salvage converters, says 2004 will end with global recycled production of platinum at 730,000 ounces, palladium at 450,000 ounces and rhodium at 120,000 ounces.
By year 2010, Kumar predicts these numbers will more than double, largely because of the sharply increased retirement of converter equipped cars in Western European countries.
TAKING INVENTORY. Jeff Couture, president of Prospera Metals Inc., Petrolia, Ontario, Canada, says he sees a lot of converters in the marketplace. Things really picked up in March and April Prospera deals in Ontario, Quebec, Ohio and Michigan--areas that had a dreary winter.
"Most scrap yards were pretty lazy getting converters off the yard in January and February," Couture says. "In March and April we were much busier."
Couture says he thinks recyclers were even slower about moving material this winter than in previous ones. But as spring moved toward summer, things began hopping. "Business is strong," he says.
Roughly 10 percent of the world supply of PGMs comes from recycled catalytic converters, a figure that has grown steadily in the past quarter-century.
The impact of this increase in supply from recycling will vary. Since August 2001, the price for platinum has moved steadily up from $450 to $937, setting a 24year high. The principal factor has been increasing platinum demand in Europe for diesel cars, which will make up 50 percent of the vehicles produced in Europe, Kumar says. Platinum is presently the only suitable metal for converters used with diesel cars. In 2000, automakers demanded around 1.9 million ounces of platinum.
In 2004, demand is expected to be 3 million ounces. Kumar says platinum will play a dominant role in the coming years. "The 2007 heavy-duty diesel emission standards in North America and the required reduction of sulfur content from the current levels by year 2006 program will introduce a new perilous outlook for platinum," says Kumar.
Palladium could experience an opposite run. Palladium saw an early April 2003 price of $148--a long way from a metal that was moving close to $1,100 a couple of years ago. ByMayof2004, it had added $100 back to its price, but the first half of 2004 saw it struggling to break out of its bottom-feeding trough.
ACTIVE MINING. Oversupply has hurt palladium prices. The oversupply was because of a run-up in nickel prices. Miners, especially in Russia, saw nickel prices make a nice upward move and logically dug more nickel ... thus extracting more palladium.
Palladium has been tracking at 30 percent of the price for platinum, selling around $300, and most observers say it should not experience a price shock.
"Producers understand and accept that palladium is not going to be at the $1,000 level again," says Kumar. "Perhaps it will remain as a couple-hundred dollar commodity."
Worldwide mine production of palladium already exceeds the current total demand rate of about 4.5 million ounces. Total palladium supply in year 2006 will probably be around 7 million ounces, and the recycling industry itself will provide ample palladium starting in 2009, it is forecast. Palladium is strongly oversupplied, and usage of palladium will remain strong in the coming years,
Rhodium is banging around the $800 mark, having settled back from a record $7,000 all ounce in the early 1990s.
In early May, spot prices for platinum hovered around $800 per ounce, palladium in the $250 range. Platinum was at $625 per ounce in early April 2003 and facing a spot price in the $680-$707 per ounce range--a 23-year high. Less than 15 months later, it was up another $200 per ounce. So much for records. And to think, back in 2002, the average platinum price was $540.03.
"I wish I could gauge the market," Shalit says. "For me, platinum is going up too fast." Like most firms, Catalytic Converter Corp. buys and sells on a daily basis. A steady price is better than one with leaps and bounds--either up or down.
Couture says that the higher prices for converters have drawn peddlers into the market--people offering a relative handful of converters. He says some buyers took advantage of the newcomers' naivete.
As the platinum market moved higher, some people were offering $57-$59 for GM (General Motors) style converters. "That is more than a GM converter is worth refined," Couture says. He says that some buyers were making up their loss on grade, accepting a handful at the high price but buying other converters as "regulars" and not premium items.
"We're pretty steady," says Niel Shalit, CEO of Catalytic Converter Corp., Jamaica, N.Y. His firm deals mainly with recycling yards that produce 2,000 or more units per month.
Ashok Kumar, director of A-1 Specialized Services & Supplies Inc., the Pennsylvania-based multi-national recycler that specializes in lot consolidation and dry processing of salvage converters, says 2004 will end with global recycled production of platinum at 730,000 ounces, palladium at 450,000 ounces and rhodium at 120,000 ounces.
By year 2010, Kumar predicts these numbers will more than double, largely because of the sharply increased retirement of converter equipped cars in Western European countries.
TAKING INVENTORY. Jeff Couture, president of Prospera Metals Inc., Petrolia, Ontario, Canada, says he sees a lot of converters in the marketplace. Things really picked up in March and April Prospera deals in Ontario, Quebec, Ohio and Michigan--areas that had a dreary winter.
"Most scrap yards were pretty lazy getting converters off the yard in January and February," Couture says. "In March and April we were much busier."
Couture says he thinks recyclers were even slower about moving material this winter than in previous ones. But as spring moved toward summer, things began hopping. "Business is strong," he says.
Roughly 10 percent of the world supply of PGMs comes from recycled catalytic converters, a figure that has grown steadily in the past quarter-century.
The impact of this increase in supply from recycling will vary. Since August 2001, the price for platinum has moved steadily up from $450 to $937, setting a 24year high. The principal factor has been increasing platinum demand in Europe for diesel cars, which will make up 50 percent of the vehicles produced in Europe, Kumar says. Platinum is presently the only suitable metal for converters used with diesel cars. In 2000, automakers demanded around 1.9 million ounces of platinum.
In 2004, demand is expected to be 3 million ounces. Kumar says platinum will play a dominant role in the coming years. "The 2007 heavy-duty diesel emission standards in North America and the required reduction of sulfur content from the current levels by year 2006 program will introduce a new perilous outlook for platinum," says Kumar.
Palladium could experience an opposite run. Palladium saw an early April 2003 price of $148--a long way from a metal that was moving close to $1,100 a couple of years ago. ByMayof2004, it had added $100 back to its price, but the first half of 2004 saw it struggling to break out of its bottom-feeding trough.
ACTIVE MINING. Oversupply has hurt palladium prices. The oversupply was because of a run-up in nickel prices. Miners, especially in Russia, saw nickel prices make a nice upward move and logically dug more nickel ... thus extracting more palladium.
Palladium has been tracking at 30 percent of the price for platinum, selling around $300, and most observers say it should not experience a price shock.
"Producers understand and accept that palladium is not going to be at the $1,000 level again," says Kumar. "Perhaps it will remain as a couple-hundred dollar commodity."
Worldwide mine production of palladium already exceeds the current total demand rate of about 4.5 million ounces. Total palladium supply in year 2006 will probably be around 7 million ounces, and the recycling industry itself will provide ample palladium starting in 2009, it is forecast. Palladium is strongly oversupplied, and usage of palladium will remain strong in the coming years,
Rhodium is banging around the $800 mark, having settled back from a record $7,000 all ounce in the early 1990s.
In early May, spot prices for platinum hovered around $800 per ounce, palladium in the $250 range. Platinum was at $625 per ounce in early April 2003 and facing a spot price in the $680-$707 per ounce range--a 23-year high. Less than 15 months later, it was up another $200 per ounce. So much for records. And to think, back in 2002, the average platinum price was $540.03.
"I wish I could gauge the market," Shalit says. "For me, platinum is going up too fast." Like most firms, Catalytic Converter Corp. buys and sells on a daily basis. A steady price is better than one with leaps and bounds--either up or down.
Couture says that the higher prices for converters have drawn peddlers into the market--people offering a relative handful of converters. He says some buyers took advantage of the newcomers' naivete.
As the platinum market moved higher, some people were offering $57-$59 for GM (General Motors) style converters. "That is more than a GM converter is worth refined," Couture says. He says that some buyers were making up their loss on grade, accepting a handful at the high price but buying other converters as "regulars" and not premium items.
MQ Power's new welder/generator - Brief Article
MQ Power Corp. has launched a new welder/generator for use by welding supply houses and the rental markets. Operating as a 225 amp welder and a 6 kW 120/240 volt a.c. generator, the Scorcher 225, manufactured for MQ, Carson, Calif., by Denyo Ltd., is the first model to include constant voltage operation and expands the company's line of welders joining 300 and 400 amp models.
Power for the new welder/generator is a water-cooled, two-cylinder Kubota Z482 diesel rated 12.5 hp at 3600 rpm. The engine comes equipped with an automatic idle control, hour-meter, warning light, fuel gauge, pre-heat lamp and self-priming fuel system. A gasoline version of the Scorcher 225 is due later this month.
One of the primary features of the new set is its lower noise level; 68.7 db(A), according to MQ. The set also features 100 percent duty cycle at 200 amps and a brushless generator design for lower maintenance costs. The automatic idler helps reduce fuel consumption, while the self-priming fuel system aids in restarting the unit.
The package is able to operate simultaneously as a welder and generator and has controls for both CV and CC welding. MQ said the set features outstanding arc characteristics, ideal for welding pipe and structural steel. The system is available with an optional over-the-road trailer.
Power for the new welder/generator is a water-cooled, two-cylinder Kubota Z482 diesel rated 12.5 hp at 3600 rpm. The engine comes equipped with an automatic idle control, hour-meter, warning light, fuel gauge, pre-heat lamp and self-priming fuel system. A gasoline version of the Scorcher 225 is due later this month.
One of the primary features of the new set is its lower noise level; 68.7 db(A), according to MQ. The set also features 100 percent duty cycle at 200 amps and a brushless generator design for lower maintenance costs. The automatic idler helps reduce fuel consumption, while the self-priming fuel system aids in restarting the unit.
The package is able to operate simultaneously as a welder and generator and has controls for both CV and CC welding. MQ said the set features outstanding arc characteristics, ideal for welding pipe and structural steel. The system is available with an optional over-the-road trailer.
FWMurphy, Miratech in control systems joint venture
Two well-known companies, FWMurphy and Miratech Corp., recently joined forces to form Compliance Controls LLC. FWMurphy, established in 1939, is an ISO 9001 registered manufacturer of equipment management and control solutions for off-highway and construction equipment, gas compressors, standby generator controls, irrigation and water pumping. Privately held Miratech Corp. and its subsidiary, Miratech SCR Corp., are leaders in the development and engineering of emission control and engine performance technology for industrial engines. Compliance Controls and both parent companies are based in Tulsa, Okla., and have sales offices located across North America.
"The new organization is dedicated to sales, support and continuing development of its state-of-the-art, user-friendly Windows-based air-to-fuel ratio control systems," said Kevin O'Sullivan, president of Compliance Controls. "We saw a need in the industrial engine marketplace tar more advanced, cost-effective, flexible, easy-to-install and easy-to-use engine control systems. Development of our rich-burn (MEC-R) and lean-burn (MEC-L) air-fuel control systems was a team effort to meet that need.
"Backed by our parent companies' distribution networks, Compliance Controls will focus exclusively on delivering and supporting air-fuel ratio control solutions tailored to our customers' specific requirements," he said.
Both control systems are designed for use on carbureted, spark-ignited natural gas and LPG engines. MEC-R is a rich-burn engine control system for use on engines equipped with three-way catalysts to reduce regulated pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.
"The controller minimizes fuel consumption while maximizing catalyst performance for precise, continuous compliance. It also cuts engine maintenance and includes a fail-safe diagnostic and troubleshooting system for operators and management," said Bill Clary, vice president of sales and marketing for Miratech.
MEC-L is a lean-burn engine control system that can control fuel with a variety of valves in full-authority arrangements. "It reduces lean-burn engine maintenance costs, enhances performance and improves fuel economy," said Clary. "MEC-R and MEC-L air-fuel ratio control systems are the result of experience gained over the past decade and offer customers a dramatic upgrade in capabilities and user-friendliness at a competitive price," he added.
Jack Maley, vice president of operations for FWMurphy, pointed out that the MEC systems are closer in design to automotive-type air-fuel controllers than earlier engine control systems. "Using a reliable, high-performance air-fuel controller in conjunction with a three-way catalyst is the most effective method of cleaning rich-burn spark-ignition engine exhaust gases available today," he said.
The three-way catalytic converter that simultaneously oxidizes excess levels of exhaust carbon monoxide (CO) and nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) and reduces nitric oxides (N[O.sub.x]) becomes ineffective if the rich-burn engine air fuel ratio differs by more than 1% from the stoichiometric value. The MEC-R system maximizes the efficiency of a three-way catalyst by maintaining a constant air-fuel ratio and continuous emissions compliance over yawing engine loads, speeds, fuel quality, ambient temperatures and barometric pressures. It fits virtually any gas-fueled, carbureted, rich-burn industrial engine with any catalytic converter.
The MEC-R control scheme includes pre-catalyst closed loop, exhaust oxygen ([O.sub.2]) feedback control, post-catalyst exhaust [O.sub.2] feedback; cascade control for fast, real-time adaptation to changing catalyst performance; variable set-point for pre-catalyst and post catalyst exhaust [O.sub.2] control for fast, real-time response to varying engine loads; catalyst temperature monitoring to protect emissions control catalysts from engine and fueling malfunctions; and two-dimensional open loop valve positioning, based on engine speed and load. It drives up to two fuel-metering valves for V engine configurations and can maintain compliance even with critical oxygen sensor malfunction.
Compliance Controls indicated that a crew of two could install and program the MEC-R system on an engine in two days for a new field installation with hard conduit, or less than a day with one technician for a retrofit project.
In addition to fuel control valve(s) and a microprocessor controller in a NEMA 12 enclosure, the system includes [O.sub.2] sensors downstream of the catalyst and in each exhaust bank upstream of the catalyst, air manifold pressure and temperature RTU's, pre- and post-catalyst temperature probes and a dedicated magnetic pickup for sensing engine rpm from the flywheel. The system includes all connectors and a selection of cables that can be cut to length at the terminal end where they connect to a terminal block inside the controller enclosure. A 9 to 30 Vdc power supply is required. The company and many of its distributors provide installation, set-up and operator training.
"The new organization is dedicated to sales, support and continuing development of its state-of-the-art, user-friendly Windows-based air-to-fuel ratio control systems," said Kevin O'Sullivan, president of Compliance Controls. "We saw a need in the industrial engine marketplace tar more advanced, cost-effective, flexible, easy-to-install and easy-to-use engine control systems. Development of our rich-burn (MEC-R) and lean-burn (MEC-L) air-fuel control systems was a team effort to meet that need.
"Backed by our parent companies' distribution networks, Compliance Controls will focus exclusively on delivering and supporting air-fuel ratio control solutions tailored to our customers' specific requirements," he said.
Both control systems are designed for use on carbureted, spark-ignited natural gas and LPG engines. MEC-R is a rich-burn engine control system for use on engines equipped with three-way catalysts to reduce regulated pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.
"The controller minimizes fuel consumption while maximizing catalyst performance for precise, continuous compliance. It also cuts engine maintenance and includes a fail-safe diagnostic and troubleshooting system for operators and management," said Bill Clary, vice president of sales and marketing for Miratech.
MEC-L is a lean-burn engine control system that can control fuel with a variety of valves in full-authority arrangements. "It reduces lean-burn engine maintenance costs, enhances performance and improves fuel economy," said Clary. "MEC-R and MEC-L air-fuel ratio control systems are the result of experience gained over the past decade and offer customers a dramatic upgrade in capabilities and user-friendliness at a competitive price," he added.
Jack Maley, vice president of operations for FWMurphy, pointed out that the MEC systems are closer in design to automotive-type air-fuel controllers than earlier engine control systems. "Using a reliable, high-performance air-fuel controller in conjunction with a three-way catalyst is the most effective method of cleaning rich-burn spark-ignition engine exhaust gases available today," he said.
The three-way catalytic converter that simultaneously oxidizes excess levels of exhaust carbon monoxide (CO) and nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) and reduces nitric oxides (N[O.sub.x]) becomes ineffective if the rich-burn engine air fuel ratio differs by more than 1% from the stoichiometric value. The MEC-R system maximizes the efficiency of a three-way catalyst by maintaining a constant air-fuel ratio and continuous emissions compliance over yawing engine loads, speeds, fuel quality, ambient temperatures and barometric pressures. It fits virtually any gas-fueled, carbureted, rich-burn industrial engine with any catalytic converter.
The MEC-R control scheme includes pre-catalyst closed loop, exhaust oxygen ([O.sub.2]) feedback control, post-catalyst exhaust [O.sub.2] feedback; cascade control for fast, real-time adaptation to changing catalyst performance; variable set-point for pre-catalyst and post catalyst exhaust [O.sub.2] control for fast, real-time response to varying engine loads; catalyst temperature monitoring to protect emissions control catalysts from engine and fueling malfunctions; and two-dimensional open loop valve positioning, based on engine speed and load. It drives up to two fuel-metering valves for V engine configurations and can maintain compliance even with critical oxygen sensor malfunction.
Compliance Controls indicated that a crew of two could install and program the MEC-R system on an engine in two days for a new field installation with hard conduit, or less than a day with one technician for a retrofit project.
In addition to fuel control valve(s) and a microprocessor controller in a NEMA 12 enclosure, the system includes [O.sub.2] sensors downstream of the catalyst and in each exhaust bank upstream of the catalyst, air manifold pressure and temperature RTU's, pre- and post-catalyst temperature probes and a dedicated magnetic pickup for sensing engine rpm from the flywheel. The system includes all connectors and a selection of cables that can be cut to length at the terminal end where they connect to a terminal block inside the controller enclosure. A 9 to 30 Vdc power supply is required. The company and many of its distributors provide installation, set-up and operator training.
Freightliner chassis for new diesel RV line - recreational vehicle
Damon Corp., an Elkhart, Ind.-based manufacturer of recreational vehicles, has introduced a new line of Class A diesel-powered pusher motorhomes. The Ultrasport product line, consisting of the models 3590, 3611 and 3670, are constructed on Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. chassis which feature a wheelbase of 228 in. and a gvwr of 26,350 lb. on the 1998 models.
All three models of the Ultrasport series are powered by 7.2 L, turbocharged Caterpillar 3126 diesel engines rated 275 hp at 2200 rpm with 800 lb.ft. of torque at 1300 rpm. The engine package includes Farr air filters and Nelson exhaust systems, Delco Remy America 160 amp alternators and 28MT 12 V starters and two maintenance-free batteries rated 950 CCA at 0 degrees F. Other accessories include Fleetguard fuel filter/water separators, Phillips Temro 1000 watt, engine block heaters and Engineered Products air filter restriction indicators.
The engine cooling system incorporates a belt driven fan pulling air through a three -row, 13 FPI, 910 sq.in., rear-mounted, cross-flow radiator from Valeo, which also supplies the cross-flow charge-air cooler.The engine is mated to an Allison MD3060, six-speed automatic transmission with reverse gear and a lockup torque converter. A push-button shift control system with integral ECU is used to control gear selection. The Caterpillar Soft Cruise electronic cruise control with high idle setting is also included.
The front axle is a Rockwell FC-921 I-beam wide track unit with a rated capacity of 10,500 lb. and a 81.9 in. track. The rear axle is a Rockwell RS-15-120 unit rated 15,500 lb. with a 69.3 in. track. The axles are suspended by a Neway air suspension system front and rear, with Bilstein dampers and a 1.50 in. diameter heavy-duty stabilizer bar mounted on the front suspension.
The power steering system is a TRW TAS 65 unit with integral hydraulic power gear, powered by a Vickers gear-driven pump. Steering ratio is 20.4:1 with a maximum steering cramp angle of 50.
The service brakes, full air Rockwell units, feature automatic slack adjusters. The front units are 15 x 4 in. while the rear drum units feature an S-cam and measure 15 x 6 in. The push-pull lever controlled automatic park brake is a spring-applied air release unit which activates the rear brake. A 13.2 cfm air compressor unit is included which employs a Midland Pure Air Plus heated air dryer.
Driver controls are complimented by a Freightliner-supplied instrumentation cluster. The cluster, packaged for Freightliner by ATI, uses Teleflex gauge components and includes: speedometer with odometer; tachometer; engine oil pressure; water temperature; voltmeter; fuel gauge and dual air pressure gauges.
The Ultrasport line frames use a straight rail construction with a maximum frame section of 9.0 in. x 2.75 in. x 0.25 in., which yields a maximum resistance at the bending moment of 291,000 lb.in. Mounted within the frame is a 90 gal. fuel tank, designed to give each vehicle a long travel range.
Auxiliary features include a 50 amp, 12 V power service, 45 amp, 12 V power converter and an Onan 6.5 LP generator set with an auto changeover feature.
All three models include a full kitchen, bathroom/shower facilities and underfloor storage areas accessible from the outside via lockable doors. The model 3670 also includes the Super Slide-Out Section, a free-standing couch and dinette, as well as an optional washer/dryer unit.
For more information on the Ultrasport motorhomes, contact: Damon Corp., P.O. Box 1 107, Elkhart, IN 46515. Telephone: (800) 860-5658.
All three models of the Ultrasport series are powered by 7.2 L, turbocharged Caterpillar 3126 diesel engines rated 275 hp at 2200 rpm with 800 lb.ft. of torque at 1300 rpm. The engine package includes Farr air filters and Nelson exhaust systems, Delco Remy America 160 amp alternators and 28MT 12 V starters and two maintenance-free batteries rated 950 CCA at 0 degrees F. Other accessories include Fleetguard fuel filter/water separators, Phillips Temro 1000 watt, engine block heaters and Engineered Products air filter restriction indicators.
The engine cooling system incorporates a belt driven fan pulling air through a three -row, 13 FPI, 910 sq.in., rear-mounted, cross-flow radiator from Valeo, which also supplies the cross-flow charge-air cooler.The engine is mated to an Allison MD3060, six-speed automatic transmission with reverse gear and a lockup torque converter. A push-button shift control system with integral ECU is used to control gear selection. The Caterpillar Soft Cruise electronic cruise control with high idle setting is also included.
The front axle is a Rockwell FC-921 I-beam wide track unit with a rated capacity of 10,500 lb. and a 81.9 in. track. The rear axle is a Rockwell RS-15-120 unit rated 15,500 lb. with a 69.3 in. track. The axles are suspended by a Neway air suspension system front and rear, with Bilstein dampers and a 1.50 in. diameter heavy-duty stabilizer bar mounted on the front suspension.
The power steering system is a TRW TAS 65 unit with integral hydraulic power gear, powered by a Vickers gear-driven pump. Steering ratio is 20.4:1 with a maximum steering cramp angle of 50.
The service brakes, full air Rockwell units, feature automatic slack adjusters. The front units are 15 x 4 in. while the rear drum units feature an S-cam and measure 15 x 6 in. The push-pull lever controlled automatic park brake is a spring-applied air release unit which activates the rear brake. A 13.2 cfm air compressor unit is included which employs a Midland Pure Air Plus heated air dryer.
Driver controls are complimented by a Freightliner-supplied instrumentation cluster. The cluster, packaged for Freightliner by ATI, uses Teleflex gauge components and includes: speedometer with odometer; tachometer; engine oil pressure; water temperature; voltmeter; fuel gauge and dual air pressure gauges.
The Ultrasport line frames use a straight rail construction with a maximum frame section of 9.0 in. x 2.75 in. x 0.25 in., which yields a maximum resistance at the bending moment of 291,000 lb.in. Mounted within the frame is a 90 gal. fuel tank, designed to give each vehicle a long travel range.
Auxiliary features include a 50 amp, 12 V power service, 45 amp, 12 V power converter and an Onan 6.5 LP generator set with an auto changeover feature.
All three models include a full kitchen, bathroom/shower facilities and underfloor storage areas accessible from the outside via lockable doors. The model 3670 also includes the Super Slide-Out Section, a free-standing couch and dinette, as well as an optional washer/dryer unit.
For more information on the Ultrasport motorhomes, contact: Damon Corp., P.O. Box 1 107, Elkhart, IN 46515. Telephone: (800) 860-5658.
On-site nitrogen generator unit designed to cut drilling costs - Charge-Air Compression Systems' new product - Product Announcement
Charge-Air Compression Systems, the Calgary, Alberta, Canada, manufacturer of stationary and skid-mounted rotary screw compressors, nitrogen generation units and booster compressors for a variety of industrial applications, has developed a new nitrogen-generating system for use in oil drilling applications. The system is based on existing nitrogen-generating technology and is designed to reduce operating costs in drilling operations using the underbalance drilling method.
Underbalance drilling is used in combination with horizontal and multidirectional drilling. It involves the injection of low-density drilling fluid mixed with nitrogen into the underground field, immediately inducing oil flow to the surface. This method differs from the traditional overbalance drilling method, in which densified fluids are pumped into the downhole until the pressure gradually exceeds that of the formation, thus coaxing the oil to the surface.
"With underbalance drilling, you are in effect creating a free-flow well because you are in production while you are drilling," said Chuck Curtis, general manager of Charge-Air Compression Systems.Benefits of underbalance drilling include increased production from marginal wells and reduced contamination of the hydrocarbon field from drilling tailings and cuttings. Because nitrogen is inert, it does not cause downhole fires and is easily separated from the hydrocarbons.
Six years ago, only about a dozen western Canadian wells were drilled using this method, according to Charge-Air Systems. Last year, it was employed on 500 of the approximately 2000 horizontal or multidirectional wells drilled, the company said.
The primary drawback to this drilling method is the need for nitrogen to be present at the well site. Some sites are in remote locations, requiring nitrogen to be transported to the well site. "On top of the transport costs, you also have the problem that liquid nitrogen vents from delivery trucks at the rate of 5 to 15 percent per day," said Curtis. "At some sites, you will have lost a big part of what you paid to have delivered before it gets there."
To combat this problem, Charge-Air Compression Systems developed its portable nitrogen-generating and compression system, which allows the nitrogen to be produced at the well site. "This isn't new and in fact it has probably been around for about 20 years," said Curtis. "Food plants, gas plants and oil refineries all generate nitrogen at their sites. The trick for us was to improve on existing technology and get to the market with a compact, fully mobile package encompassing on-site generation and delivery to the well head."
Charge-Air solved a big part of the equation by sourcing a portable nitrogen generating unit from Praxair. The nitrogen generator takes air from the primary air compressor package, uses it to create gaseous nitrogen, which is then delivered to the well by an engine-powered booster compressor.
The primary compressor package weighs 20,000 lb., is skid-mounted and fits into a container. The skid is 19 ft. long x 7.6 ft. wide x 7.6 ft. high and can be enclosed for use in cold weather applications.
The air compressor is driven by an eight-cylinder, turbocharged and aftercooled Caterpillar 3408E diesel engine rated 625 hp at 2000 rpm. Use of the electronically controlled 3480E engine offers the added benefits of data acquisition, increased fuel efficiency, and reduced emissions, the company said. The engine package, supplied by Finning Power Systems, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, includes a Donaldson air filter, Silex muffler and L&M Mesabi radiator. A Rockford Powertrain fan clutch, which actuates the belt-driven fan, is also included in the cooling system.
The engine drives an oil-flooded rotary screw air compressor through a Falk trunnion-mounted flexible shaft coupling. Rated flow is 1750 cfm at 200 psi discharge pressure. The compressor has a control system that provides zero to 100 percent stepless modulation. Compressor lubricating oil is circulated via air pressure from the compressor itself, thus eliminating the need for a separate oil pump.
Once the air leaves the compressor it is filtered and cooled by a Thermal Transfer aftercooler/radiator. Air is drawn over this cooler by a hydraulic cooling fan drive system powered by a Sauer-Sundstrand pump, which is driven off a h
Underbalance drilling is used in combination with horizontal and multidirectional drilling. It involves the injection of low-density drilling fluid mixed with nitrogen into the underground field, immediately inducing oil flow to the surface. This method differs from the traditional overbalance drilling method, in which densified fluids are pumped into the downhole until the pressure gradually exceeds that of the formation, thus coaxing the oil to the surface.
"With underbalance drilling, you are in effect creating a free-flow well because you are in production while you are drilling," said Chuck Curtis, general manager of Charge-Air Compression Systems.Benefits of underbalance drilling include increased production from marginal wells and reduced contamination of the hydrocarbon field from drilling tailings and cuttings. Because nitrogen is inert, it does not cause downhole fires and is easily separated from the hydrocarbons.
Six years ago, only about a dozen western Canadian wells were drilled using this method, according to Charge-Air Systems. Last year, it was employed on 500 of the approximately 2000 horizontal or multidirectional wells drilled, the company said.
The primary drawback to this drilling method is the need for nitrogen to be present at the well site. Some sites are in remote locations, requiring nitrogen to be transported to the well site. "On top of the transport costs, you also have the problem that liquid nitrogen vents from delivery trucks at the rate of 5 to 15 percent per day," said Curtis. "At some sites, you will have lost a big part of what you paid to have delivered before it gets there."
To combat this problem, Charge-Air Compression Systems developed its portable nitrogen-generating and compression system, which allows the nitrogen to be produced at the well site. "This isn't new and in fact it has probably been around for about 20 years," said Curtis. "Food plants, gas plants and oil refineries all generate nitrogen at their sites. The trick for us was to improve on existing technology and get to the market with a compact, fully mobile package encompassing on-site generation and delivery to the well head."
Charge-Air solved a big part of the equation by sourcing a portable nitrogen generating unit from Praxair. The nitrogen generator takes air from the primary air compressor package, uses it to create gaseous nitrogen, which is then delivered to the well by an engine-powered booster compressor.
The primary compressor package weighs 20,000 lb., is skid-mounted and fits into a container. The skid is 19 ft. long x 7.6 ft. wide x 7.6 ft. high and can be enclosed for use in cold weather applications.
The air compressor is driven by an eight-cylinder, turbocharged and aftercooled Caterpillar 3408E diesel engine rated 625 hp at 2000 rpm. Use of the electronically controlled 3480E engine offers the added benefits of data acquisition, increased fuel efficiency, and reduced emissions, the company said. The engine package, supplied by Finning Power Systems, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, includes a Donaldson air filter, Silex muffler and L&M Mesabi radiator. A Rockford Powertrain fan clutch, which actuates the belt-driven fan, is also included in the cooling system.
The engine drives an oil-flooded rotary screw air compressor through a Falk trunnion-mounted flexible shaft coupling. Rated flow is 1750 cfm at 200 psi discharge pressure. The compressor has a control system that provides zero to 100 percent stepless modulation. Compressor lubricating oil is circulated via air pressure from the compressor itself, thus eliminating the need for a separate oil pump.
Once the air leaves the compressor it is filtered and cooled by a Thermal Transfer aftercooler/radiator. Air is drawn over this cooler by a hydraulic cooling fan drive system powered by a Sauer-Sundstrand pump, which is driven off a h
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Responding to Armageddon: the National Guard Bureau weapons of mass destruction civil support teams
On 9 September 2003, the government issued a warning that terrorists could employ chemical or biological weapons to attack civilian targets within the continental United States. At the time, we had already experienced examples of domestic weapons of mass destruction (WMD), such as the Oklahoma City bombing, the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, and the anthrax-contaminated mail. (1) Fortunately, the Department of Defense (DOD) established within the National Guard (NG) a unique unit organized and trained to provide domestic consequence management support for WMD incidents within the United States, its territories and possessions, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. (2) These 32 WMD civil support teams (CSTs) operate under the command and control of the state governors (and their equivalents in Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia) through their respective adjutants general. The National Guard Bureau (NGB) works closely with the U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) to ensure the standardization of the periodic CST external evaluations and has developed a Response Management Plan that places specific CSTs on a higher alert status for possible deployment to states that do not have a CST or that require backup from one or more additional CSTs. Understanding the skills of the WMD-CSTs, their organization and equipment, and how such teams are providing assistance throughout the country enhances our capability to respond quickly, effectively, and appropriately if disaster should threaten locally.
Background
Background
A stirling solution for combined heat and power
Already ridding an extensive line of distributed generation products under its energy|now brand, DTE Energy Technologies (DTE Tech) has expanded the renewable side of its lineup with the introduction of the ENX 55 energy system. The 55 kW cogeneration package is powered by a Stifling engine fueled by natural gas, propane, flare gas, methane, wood gas, biogas or, in its heat-fired version, heat produced from industrial processes.
"The way it (the ENX 55) is being employed today is in both CHP (combined heat and power) and power only packages," said Mark Fallek, vice president and chief marketing officer for the Farmington, Mich., company. "The applications that we think make sense are employing it in places where there is free gas--things like landfills or digesters at wastewater treatment plants or agricultural operations that produce methane, which can then be burned to produce power.
"In the agriculture arena, more and more digesters are being used to breakdown manure, making methane and carbon dioxide. We can take that gas and burn it in a Stirling engine for power as well as use the waste heat to keep The digesters warm. Digesters for these biogas applications need to be kept at 100[degrees]F to keep the anaerobic bacteria alive using the hot water. So it's a good marriage."
"The way it (the ENX 55) is being employed today is in both CHP (combined heat and power) and power only packages," said Mark Fallek, vice president and chief marketing officer for the Farmington, Mich., company. "The applications that we think make sense are employing it in places where there is free gas--things like landfills or digesters at wastewater treatment plants or agricultural operations that produce methane, which can then be burned to produce power.
"In the agriculture arena, more and more digesters are being used to breakdown manure, making methane and carbon dioxide. We can take that gas and burn it in a Stirling engine for power as well as use the waste heat to keep The digesters warm. Digesters for these biogas applications need to be kept at 100[degrees]F to keep the anaerobic bacteria alive using the hot water. So it's a good marriage."
Micro-cogen systems from marathon engine
It's fair to say that most generator set manufacturers don't make their own engines. The ones that do tend to be among the global giants. And then there's Marathon Engine Systems.
Marathon, based in East Troy, Wis., produces a line of application dedicated combined heat and power (CHP) gen-sets. The units range from 1 to 5 kW in natural gas or propane powered configurations with specific models tailored to cathodic protection, luxury homes, net metering, telecommunications, remote locations and true uninterruptible power.
At the heart of each system is Marathon's 272 cc, single-cylinder, four-cycle, liquid cooled 5K engine rated 7.5 hp at 1200 to 3600 rpm. The engine features a 4000-hour service interval and a 40,000-hour life which Gary Papas, vice president of engineering for Marathon, said equates into 1.6 million miles on an automobile engine. "This engine was designed to be durable so it can be placed in remote locations, running constantly," Papas noted. "In one remote prime power application it's connected to a gas well so it also has an unlimited fuel supply."
The cast iron engine was originally designed by the Gas Research Institute as a means to generate income during low usage months by powering residential heat pumps. Marathon purchased the rights to the engine in 1998. Today, it uses a top-mounted exhaust gas heat recuperator with three-way custom catalyst design to recover heat from the engine, generator and exhaust which Marathon said provides cogeneration with more than 90% efficiency. The 5K engine drives a high-efficiency, all-copper alternator with outside fitted coils designed by Marathon. The stator housing is coupled to the crankcase with the rotor mounted to the engine flywheel.
Advertisement The CARB 97 and EU Stage 3 certified 5K engine is used in all five gen-set models produced by Marathon and its European partner, Power Plus Technologies, Gera, Germany. Power Plus supplies the European market with the Ecopower gen-set, a 2 to 4.7 kW system designed for net metering. "Homeowners in Europe see a very fast return," said Papas. "It comes back to them in under three years." The Ecopower unit also has application in car washes, laundromats, homes, schools, lodges, hotels, small industry, agricultural, sport centers and swimming pools.
Marathon offers a modernized CHP version with its stainless steel enclosed PowerLast XLC package, as a prime power system for luxury homes. The PowerLast XLC produces 5 kW of grid independent power and 27,000 to 40,000 btu of heat for swimming pools, water heaters or hydronic heating in new homes. "It takes away the functions of the furnace, water heater and standby generator;' said Papas. "It will be common in the future to have this offered as an option by every new home builder."
While the majority of Marthon's lineup is used in some form of heating, its Minotaur 2500 gen-set is a 2.5 kW single phase system designed for cathodic protection of pipelines. The units are typically placed at 40-mile intervals, sending electrical current in both directions to inhibit the corrosion process or power railway switching and communications. The unit has a bullet-proof enclosure and in most instances processes the recovered heat through a radiator.
Also featured in the company's line up is the non-enclosed standup Power Rack, a 1 to 2.5 kW unit targeted toward the telecommunication sector and for prime uninterruptible power, a UPS unit. The UPS system provides 1 to 5 kW of pure sine-wave power at 120 Vac or 240 Vac. Marathon said the gen-set is designed with more than 400 amps of battery assistance, winch can supply two days of power if the engine is shut down. The UPS system targets internet hosts, banking, medical companies or other industries where unexpected outages cause costly or catastrophic interruptions, explained Papas.
Marathon, based in East Troy, Wis., produces a line of application dedicated combined heat and power (CHP) gen-sets. The units range from 1 to 5 kW in natural gas or propane powered configurations with specific models tailored to cathodic protection, luxury homes, net metering, telecommunications, remote locations and true uninterruptible power.
At the heart of each system is Marathon's 272 cc, single-cylinder, four-cycle, liquid cooled 5K engine rated 7.5 hp at 1200 to 3600 rpm. The engine features a 4000-hour service interval and a 40,000-hour life which Gary Papas, vice president of engineering for Marathon, said equates into 1.6 million miles on an automobile engine. "This engine was designed to be durable so it can be placed in remote locations, running constantly," Papas noted. "In one remote prime power application it's connected to a gas well so it also has an unlimited fuel supply."
The cast iron engine was originally designed by the Gas Research Institute as a means to generate income during low usage months by powering residential heat pumps. Marathon purchased the rights to the engine in 1998. Today, it uses a top-mounted exhaust gas heat recuperator with three-way custom catalyst design to recover heat from the engine, generator and exhaust which Marathon said provides cogeneration with more than 90% efficiency. The 5K engine drives a high-efficiency, all-copper alternator with outside fitted coils designed by Marathon. The stator housing is coupled to the crankcase with the rotor mounted to the engine flywheel.
Advertisement The CARB 97 and EU Stage 3 certified 5K engine is used in all five gen-set models produced by Marathon and its European partner, Power Plus Technologies, Gera, Germany. Power Plus supplies the European market with the Ecopower gen-set, a 2 to 4.7 kW system designed for net metering. "Homeowners in Europe see a very fast return," said Papas. "It comes back to them in under three years." The Ecopower unit also has application in car washes, laundromats, homes, schools, lodges, hotels, small industry, agricultural, sport centers and swimming pools.
Marathon offers a modernized CHP version with its stainless steel enclosed PowerLast XLC package, as a prime power system for luxury homes. The PowerLast XLC produces 5 kW of grid independent power and 27,000 to 40,000 btu of heat for swimming pools, water heaters or hydronic heating in new homes. "It takes away the functions of the furnace, water heater and standby generator;' said Papas. "It will be common in the future to have this offered as an option by every new home builder."
While the majority of Marthon's lineup is used in some form of heating, its Minotaur 2500 gen-set is a 2.5 kW single phase system designed for cathodic protection of pipelines. The units are typically placed at 40-mile intervals, sending electrical current in both directions to inhibit the corrosion process or power railway switching and communications. The unit has a bullet-proof enclosure and in most instances processes the recovered heat through a radiator.
Also featured in the company's line up is the non-enclosed standup Power Rack, a 1 to 2.5 kW unit targeted toward the telecommunication sector and for prime uninterruptible power, a UPS unit. The UPS system provides 1 to 5 kW of pure sine-wave power at 120 Vac or 240 Vac. Marathon said the gen-set is designed with more than 400 amps of battery assistance, winch can supply two days of power if the engine is shut down. The UPS system targets internet hosts, banking, medical companies or other industries where unexpected outages cause costly or catastrophic interruptions, explained Papas.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
New low-cost engine control systems from DynaGen
The GSC300 control integrates six critical engine readings, a complete range of engine control functions and a built in Auto/Manual/Off switch. Gauge functions displayed include oil pressure, engine temperature, fuel level, hourmeter, frequency and battery voltage.
Faulkner said the GSC300 engine controller is also unique in that it is socketed to accept three on-board, user-installed 40 amp cube relays, each protected by an easily replaceable automotive type fuse. This feature eliminates costs related to the mounting, wiring and fusing of-external slave relays for fuel, crank and preheat.
Information is displayed on an ultrabright backlit 16-character LCD panel and eight high intensity LEDs with regulated brightness for status and failure indications. LED indicators cover a range of functions and conditions, including low oil pressure, high water temperature, overcrank and overspeed, engine running, pre-heat/ETS, low battery and not in auto.
The GSC300 can be programmed manually via three buttons on the front panel or with an easy-to-use PC software interface. The software allows customization of messaging and languages, sender selections and control settings, etc. The unit can also be configured to customer settings at the factory prior to shipping.
Controller adjustments available include warm-up (zero to 200 seconds); cool down (zero to 255 sec-disconnect (12 to 140 Hz in the generator output version, 44 to 300 Hz in magnetic pick-up version); overspeed (60 to 4156 Hz in generator output version, 300 to 8492 Hz in magnetic pick-up version); crank rest (3 to 32 seconds); start delay (zero to 59 seconds); crank attempts (1 to 10 or a single long crank attempt available up to 256 seconds); oil bypass (15 to 55 seconds); and low battery indication (7 to 35 seconds).
Faulkner pointed out that the new controllers am UL508 listed and in the near future will be J1939 and NFPA Level 1 complaint. "Compatibility for Tier 2 engines is a priority for our products," he said.
Despite its versatility, DynaGen was able to maintain a compact dimensional envelope to provide maximum mounting flexibility. The GSC300 controller, which is constructed with an impact-resistant, injection molded plastic housing, it 4.5 in. high, 5.5 in. wide and 1.25 in deep. The GCP300 panel's steel enclosure is 11.5 in. long, 8.254 in. high and 10 in. deep.
Three on-board replaceable 40A fuses protect fuel, crank and timer outputs. The unit is reverse polarity protected and includes short circuit and overload protection on annunciation outputs. All inputs are electrostatic discharge protected. Removable terminal blocks are used for annunciation outputs and low power connections. All other connections utilize 0.25 in. spade terminals.
DynaGen builds the new controllers at its new 34,0110 sq.ft. facility in Sydney.
SEE DIRECTLINK@WWW.DIESELPUB.COM
COPYRIGHT 2004 Diesel & Gas Turbine Publications
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
1 - 2 - Next
Find Featured Titles for: Business & Finance
click to hide
Academy of Marketing Science Review
Accounting Historians Journal, The
Accounting History
AgExporter
Agricultural Research
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review
Air Force Comptroller
Air Safety Week
Airline Industry Information
American Demographics
American Journal of Potato Research
Architectural Review, The
Asian Economic News
Entrepreneur
Find Research Guides for:
click to hide
Abortion
ADHD
AIDS
Alternative Energy
Alternative Medicine
Cancer
Capital Punishment
Cloning
Hate Crime
Cryonics
Drug Abuse
Eating Disorders
Gay Issues
Global Warming
Holidays
Immigration
Medical
Men's Health
Mental Health
Real Estate
Stem Cells
Women's Health
Faulkner said the GSC300 engine controller is also unique in that it is socketed to accept three on-board, user-installed 40 amp cube relays, each protected by an easily replaceable automotive type fuse. This feature eliminates costs related to the mounting, wiring and fusing of-external slave relays for fuel, crank and preheat.
Information is displayed on an ultrabright backlit 16-character LCD panel and eight high intensity LEDs with regulated brightness for status and failure indications. LED indicators cover a range of functions and conditions, including low oil pressure, high water temperature, overcrank and overspeed, engine running, pre-heat/ETS, low battery and not in auto.
The GSC300 can be programmed manually via three buttons on the front panel or with an easy-to-use PC software interface. The software allows customization of messaging and languages, sender selections and control settings, etc. The unit can also be configured to customer settings at the factory prior to shipping.
Controller adjustments available include warm-up (zero to 200 seconds); cool down (zero to 255 sec-disconnect (12 to 140 Hz in the generator output version, 44 to 300 Hz in magnetic pick-up version); overspeed (60 to 4156 Hz in generator output version, 300 to 8492 Hz in magnetic pick-up version); crank rest (3 to 32 seconds); start delay (zero to 59 seconds); crank attempts (1 to 10 or a single long crank attempt available up to 256 seconds); oil bypass (15 to 55 seconds); and low battery indication (7 to 35 seconds).
Faulkner pointed out that the new controllers am UL508 listed and in the near future will be J1939 and NFPA Level 1 complaint. "Compatibility for Tier 2 engines is a priority for our products," he said.
Despite its versatility, DynaGen was able to maintain a compact dimensional envelope to provide maximum mounting flexibility. The GSC300 controller, which is constructed with an impact-resistant, injection molded plastic housing, it 4.5 in. high, 5.5 in. wide and 1.25 in deep. The GCP300 panel's steel enclosure is 11.5 in. long, 8.254 in. high and 10 in. deep.
Three on-board replaceable 40A fuses protect fuel, crank and timer outputs. The unit is reverse polarity protected and includes short circuit and overload protection on annunciation outputs. All inputs are electrostatic discharge protected. Removable terminal blocks are used for annunciation outputs and low power connections. All other connections utilize 0.25 in. spade terminals.
DynaGen builds the new controllers at its new 34,0110 sq.ft. facility in Sydney.
SEE DIRECTLINK@WWW.DIESELPUB.COM
COPYRIGHT 2004 Diesel & Gas Turbine Publications
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
1 - 2 - Next
Find Featured Titles for: Business & Finance
click to hide
Academy of Marketing Science Review
Accounting Historians Journal, The
Accounting History
AgExporter
Agricultural Research
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review
Air Force Comptroller
Air Safety Week
Airline Industry Information
American Demographics
American Journal of Potato Research
Architectural Review, The
Asian Economic News
Entrepreneur
Find Research Guides for:
click to hide
Abortion
ADHD
AIDS
Alternative Energy
Alternative Medicine
Cancer
Capital Punishment
Cloning
Hate Crime
Cryonics
Drug Abuse
Eating Disorders
Gay Issues
Global Warming
Holidays
Immigration
Medical
Men's Health
Mental Health
Real Estate
Stem Cells
Women's Health
Saturday, December 30, 2006
New Energy Sources Gather Steam
Environmental awareness - combined with FALLING PRICES AND INCREASED NEED for reliable power expands markets for wind, solar and other power alternatives
Although fossil fuels - notably coal and natural gas - are finite resources, the United States still depends on these two sources for 68 percent of its electricity generation. Another 20 percent is supplied by nuclear power. Of the remaining 12 percent, about 7 percent is hydropower and less than 1 percent is wind power.
Put another way, the United States uses about 71 quadrillion Btus (quads) annually, according to Richard Moorer, deputy assistant secretary for technology development in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy. Renewable energy, including hydropower and biomass, accounts for 5.9 quads, or about 8 percent.
But though the numbers are small, they are growing. "The combined annual compound growth rate for wind and solar renewables is about 30 percent," says Steve Strong, president of Solar Design Associates in Harvard, Mass. "That means this market is growing faster than computers and cell phones in their early days."One sign of the strength of alternative energy is the number of utilities offering green pricing programs. According to National Renewable Energy Laboratory data, as of October 2003, 33 states had utilities with such programs.
As of December 2002, the U.S. Department of Energy reported the top 10 utility green pricing programs were Austin Energy, Portland General Electric, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, PacifiCorp, Xcel Energy, Los Angeles Department of Power & Water, Tennessee Valley Authority, We Energies, Alliant Energy and Puget Sound Energy, with average megawatts supplied ranging from 33 to 3.1.
"Facility executives willing to purchase green power actually are helping to pay for adding green power solutions someplace on the grid," says Terry Peterson, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) consultant for solar power and green power marketing. "You cannot purchase specific electrons, of course. You get the electrons on the grid. It's like dipping your canteen into a lake. You get whatever mixture of water is in that lake. But when there are cleaner streams feeding that lake, everyone benefits. And green power customers are helping to pay for clean streams into those lakes."
WIND POWER DEVELOPMENTS
Among renewables, wind energy capacity is soaring, with the United States installing 1,687 megawatts in 2003, according to data from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). AWEA places current cumulative capacity in the United States at 6,374 mw by year-end, with utilityscale turbines operating in 30 states. California has 2,043 mw of installed capacity. Texas is second with 1,293 mw; then come Minnesota with 563 mw, Iowa with 472 mw and Wyoming with 285 mw.
Those numbers pale in comparison to the picture in Europe. AWEA says Germany alone has an installed capacity of 14,609 mw. Spain has 6,202 mw, and Denmark is at 3,110 mw. According to estimates by the European Wind Energy Association, the installed capacity of wind power in the European Union by the end of 2003 was equal to about 2.4 percent of total EU electricity. By comparison, less than 1 percent of U.S. electricity is generated by wind.
Wind power potential is highest in many pockets in the far West, as well as large areas in the central Midwest, according to National Renewable Energy Laboratory data.
Wind is an established renewable resource, capable of competing head to head with dirty coal, says Strong. To prove how mainstream the technology is becoming, Strong cites the willingness of conservative conglomerate GE to scoop up the wind division of Enron. "They booked more than $1 billion in sales in less than the first year of operation," says Strong. "The strategists at GE are all business and they are enthusiastically embracing wind." he adds that GE also is in photovoltaics again, which suggests to Strong that wind and its sister solar will continue enjoying double-digit, compound annual growth rates.
SOLAR DEVELOPMENTS
According to Glenn Hamer, executive director of Solar Energy Industries Association, global electricity production from photovoltaics is doubling every two years. "We expect to produce more than 1 billion watts in 2004," Hamer told the House and Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. "However, increasingly, that production occurs in Japan and Germany."
Worldwide solar production in 2003 was more than 760 mw, up significantly from 550 mw in 2002. However, the U.S. produced just 109 mw of that power, leaving the country that produced the first watt of commercial photovoltaic power - in 1954 at Bell Labs - significantly behind Japan and Germany.
But hope is shining on the horizon. Concentrating solar power systems currently produce 354 mw of clean power in the California desert. Construction has begun on a 50mw plant in Nevada and a 1-mw plant in Arizona.
The Department of Energy's Photovoltaics Roadmap now predicts that solar electricity will be available for less than 8 cents per kilowatt-hour within 10 years.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - Next
Find Featured Titles for: Home & Garden
click to hide
Air Classics
Art Culinaire
Ask
CPSC Monitor
Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Magazine
Click
Consumer Comments
Essence
Family Economics and Nutrition Review
Fathering
Flight Journal
Girls' Life
Magazine Antiques
Model Airplane News
Southern Living
Sunset
Vegetarian Times
Find Research Guides for:
click to hide
Abortion
ADHD
AIDS
Alternative Energy
Alternative Medicine
Cancer
Capital Punishment
Cloning
Hate Crime
Cryonics
Drug Abuse
Eating Disorders
Gay Issues
Global Warming
Holidays
Immigration
Medical
Men's Health
Mental Health
Real Estate
Stem Cells
Women's Health
Although fossil fuels - notably coal and natural gas - are finite resources, the United States still depends on these two sources for 68 percent of its electricity generation. Another 20 percent is supplied by nuclear power. Of the remaining 12 percent, about 7 percent is hydropower and less than 1 percent is wind power.
Put another way, the United States uses about 71 quadrillion Btus (quads) annually, according to Richard Moorer, deputy assistant secretary for technology development in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy. Renewable energy, including hydropower and biomass, accounts for 5.9 quads, or about 8 percent.
But though the numbers are small, they are growing. "The combined annual compound growth rate for wind and solar renewables is about 30 percent," says Steve Strong, president of Solar Design Associates in Harvard, Mass. "That means this market is growing faster than computers and cell phones in their early days."One sign of the strength of alternative energy is the number of utilities offering green pricing programs. According to National Renewable Energy Laboratory data, as of October 2003, 33 states had utilities with such programs.
As of December 2002, the U.S. Department of Energy reported the top 10 utility green pricing programs were Austin Energy, Portland General Electric, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, PacifiCorp, Xcel Energy, Los Angeles Department of Power & Water, Tennessee Valley Authority, We Energies, Alliant Energy and Puget Sound Energy, with average megawatts supplied ranging from 33 to 3.1.
"Facility executives willing to purchase green power actually are helping to pay for adding green power solutions someplace on the grid," says Terry Peterson, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) consultant for solar power and green power marketing. "You cannot purchase specific electrons, of course. You get the electrons on the grid. It's like dipping your canteen into a lake. You get whatever mixture of water is in that lake. But when there are cleaner streams feeding that lake, everyone benefits. And green power customers are helping to pay for clean streams into those lakes."
WIND POWER DEVELOPMENTS
Among renewables, wind energy capacity is soaring, with the United States installing 1,687 megawatts in 2003, according to data from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). AWEA places current cumulative capacity in the United States at 6,374 mw by year-end, with utilityscale turbines operating in 30 states. California has 2,043 mw of installed capacity. Texas is second with 1,293 mw; then come Minnesota with 563 mw, Iowa with 472 mw and Wyoming with 285 mw.
Those numbers pale in comparison to the picture in Europe. AWEA says Germany alone has an installed capacity of 14,609 mw. Spain has 6,202 mw, and Denmark is at 3,110 mw. According to estimates by the European Wind Energy Association, the installed capacity of wind power in the European Union by the end of 2003 was equal to about 2.4 percent of total EU electricity. By comparison, less than 1 percent of U.S. electricity is generated by wind.
Wind power potential is highest in many pockets in the far West, as well as large areas in the central Midwest, according to National Renewable Energy Laboratory data.
Wind is an established renewable resource, capable of competing head to head with dirty coal, says Strong. To prove how mainstream the technology is becoming, Strong cites the willingness of conservative conglomerate GE to scoop up the wind division of Enron. "They booked more than $1 billion in sales in less than the first year of operation," says Strong. "The strategists at GE are all business and they are enthusiastically embracing wind." he adds that GE also is in photovoltaics again, which suggests to Strong that wind and its sister solar will continue enjoying double-digit, compound annual growth rates.
SOLAR DEVELOPMENTS
According to Glenn Hamer, executive director of Solar Energy Industries Association, global electricity production from photovoltaics is doubling every two years. "We expect to produce more than 1 billion watts in 2004," Hamer told the House and Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. "However, increasingly, that production occurs in Japan and Germany."
Worldwide solar production in 2003 was more than 760 mw, up significantly from 550 mw in 2002. However, the U.S. produced just 109 mw of that power, leaving the country that produced the first watt of commercial photovoltaic power - in 1954 at Bell Labs - significantly behind Japan and Germany.
But hope is shining on the horizon. Concentrating solar power systems currently produce 354 mw of clean power in the California desert. Construction has begun on a 50mw plant in Nevada and a 1-mw plant in Arizona.
The Department of Energy's Photovoltaics Roadmap now predicts that solar electricity will be available for less than 8 cents per kilowatt-hour within 10 years.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - Next
Find Featured Titles for: Home & Garden
click to hide
Air Classics
Art Culinaire
Ask
CPSC Monitor
Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Magazine
Click
Consumer Comments
Essence
Family Economics and Nutrition Review
Fathering
Flight Journal
Girls' Life
Magazine Antiques
Model Airplane News
Southern Living
Sunset
Vegetarian Times
Find Research Guides for:
click to hide
Abortion
ADHD
AIDS
Alternative Energy
Alternative Medicine
Cancer
Capital Punishment
Cloning
Hate Crime
Cryonics
Drug Abuse
Eating Disorders
Gay Issues
Global Warming
Holidays
Immigration
Medical
Men's Health
Mental Health
Real Estate
Stem Cells
Women's Health
Friday, December 29, 2006
A new star for fire truck market
Combining over 130 years of experience, Spartan Motors Inc. subsidiary Crimson Fire has introduced its first fire truck series since the merger that formed the company a year ago. The new Star Series features pumper-style fire trucks designed using the expertise of each of the merged company's predecessors.
Spartan Motors formed Crimson Fire in 2003 by combining its two fire apparatus subsidiaries, Luverne Apparatus, whose history dates back to 1912 and Quality Manufacturing, founded in 1962. The two companies were acquired by Spartan Motors in 1997. Following the merger, Crimson Fire continues to manufacture the product lines of each company and draws on the experience of both to create its new Star Series vehicles which are intended to replace these legacy product lines.
"We've listened to our customers, taken the best aspects of Quality and Luverne products, added new features and created the most user-friendly apparatus available today," said Jeff Lautt, president of Crimson Fire. "These apparatus are commonly built on Spartan Chassis' most popular chassis, the Gladiator," he added, noting that the series can also be fitted to Spartan's Advantage and Big Easy chassis.This combination of strength, fit and finish will ultimately help fire fighters perform their jobs at an even higher level." Lautt said.
The chassis for the Gladiator Evolution chassis used on the Star Series vehicles ate rated 42,000 lb. The chassis incorporates a six-cylinder, 24-valve, liquid cooled Cummins ISL diesel engine rated 350 hp at 2100 rpm. The engine is packaged with a Fleetguard fuel filter, Wabco air compressor, Farr dry-type air cleaners and a Leece-Neville alternator. Engine cooling is provided by an AKG cooling system.
Directly driven off the engine is a five-speed Allison EVS 3000 transmission which automatically selects gears based on the engine rpm, throttle position, vehicle load and road speed. An engine driven Vickers hydraulic power-steering pump supplies hydraulic power for the TRW steering gear controlled by a Douglas Autotech seven-position telescopic, tilt-steering column. Both the front ArvinMeritor MFS axle rated 18,000 lb. and rear ArvinMeritor single axle, rated 24,000 lb., incorporate Meritor Wabco antilock brakes. The front suspension includes two Bilstein monotubular shock absorbers that are nitrogen gas charged, while an Aero Glide suspension cushions the rear.
The chassis, which has a 190 in. wheelbase, is rounded out by Goodyear tires. Top speed for the vehicle is 75 mph at governed engine rpm.
The chassis frame is constructed of 110,000 psi steel and channel-type flame rails. Nestled between the rails is a 1000 gal. Propoly water tank. Water is delivered by" a Waterous CSUY 1500 gpm pump to six discharge points. The truck is also equipped with all electric upper deck gun which is operational through the remote Vulcan radio frequency controller designed and manufactured by Elkhart Brass Co.
Manufactured by Spartan Chassis, the cab features Seats Inc. 911 seats for the driver and officer. Both center and side-clustered instrument panels monitor all the system functions of the vehicle. An Onan hydraulic generator, driven off the vehicle engine, provides power for emergency equipment such as Jaws Of Life, as well as auxiliary lighting and Cans. Unused areas on the vehicle have also been repurposed for additional cargo storage, as well as a floor-dry system housed m the wheel well.
Crimson Fire is headquartered in Brandson, S.D, where it manufactures its line of aerial, heavy-duty rescue, tanker, mini-rescue and quick attack vehicles, as well as the Star Series. "We expect the Star Series to continue the positive order momentum we are experiencing at Crimson Fire" said John Sztykiel, CEO of Spartan Motors, "which will be reflected in our sales in 2004."
Spartan Motors formed Crimson Fire in 2003 by combining its two fire apparatus subsidiaries, Luverne Apparatus, whose history dates back to 1912 and Quality Manufacturing, founded in 1962. The two companies were acquired by Spartan Motors in 1997. Following the merger, Crimson Fire continues to manufacture the product lines of each company and draws on the experience of both to create its new Star Series vehicles which are intended to replace these legacy product lines.
"We've listened to our customers, taken the best aspects of Quality and Luverne products, added new features and created the most user-friendly apparatus available today," said Jeff Lautt, president of Crimson Fire. "These apparatus are commonly built on Spartan Chassis' most popular chassis, the Gladiator," he added, noting that the series can also be fitted to Spartan's Advantage and Big Easy chassis.This combination of strength, fit and finish will ultimately help fire fighters perform their jobs at an even higher level." Lautt said.
The chassis for the Gladiator Evolution chassis used on the Star Series vehicles ate rated 42,000 lb. The chassis incorporates a six-cylinder, 24-valve, liquid cooled Cummins ISL diesel engine rated 350 hp at 2100 rpm. The engine is packaged with a Fleetguard fuel filter, Wabco air compressor, Farr dry-type air cleaners and a Leece-Neville alternator. Engine cooling is provided by an AKG cooling system.
Directly driven off the engine is a five-speed Allison EVS 3000 transmission which automatically selects gears based on the engine rpm, throttle position, vehicle load and road speed. An engine driven Vickers hydraulic power-steering pump supplies hydraulic power for the TRW steering gear controlled by a Douglas Autotech seven-position telescopic, tilt-steering column. Both the front ArvinMeritor MFS axle rated 18,000 lb. and rear ArvinMeritor single axle, rated 24,000 lb., incorporate Meritor Wabco antilock brakes. The front suspension includes two Bilstein monotubular shock absorbers that are nitrogen gas charged, while an Aero Glide suspension cushions the rear.
The chassis, which has a 190 in. wheelbase, is rounded out by Goodyear tires. Top speed for the vehicle is 75 mph at governed engine rpm.
The chassis frame is constructed of 110,000 psi steel and channel-type flame rails. Nestled between the rails is a 1000 gal. Propoly water tank. Water is delivered by" a Waterous CSUY 1500 gpm pump to six discharge points. The truck is also equipped with all electric upper deck gun which is operational through the remote Vulcan radio frequency controller designed and manufactured by Elkhart Brass Co.
Manufactured by Spartan Chassis, the cab features Seats Inc. 911 seats for the driver and officer. Both center and side-clustered instrument panels monitor all the system functions of the vehicle. An Onan hydraulic generator, driven off the vehicle engine, provides power for emergency equipment such as Jaws Of Life, as well as auxiliary lighting and Cans. Unused areas on the vehicle have also been repurposed for additional cargo storage, as well as a floor-dry system housed m the wheel well.
Crimson Fire is headquartered in Brandson, S.D, where it manufactures its line of aerial, heavy-duty rescue, tanker, mini-rescue and quick attack vehicles, as well as the Star Series. "We expect the Star Series to continue the positive order momentum we are experiencing at Crimson Fire" said John Sztykiel, CEO of Spartan Motors, "which will be reflected in our sales in 2004."
Power boost: a hunger for new energy sources could revive the outlook for waste-to-energy plants
Incineration has traditionally been the EPA's least favored approach to dealing with solid waste because of the lost resources and the pollutants emitted out the stack. But incineration's cousin, the waste-to-energy (WTE) system, may be redeeming itself because of its best attribute: The energy produced (generally electricity) is a desired commodity used by surrounding communities.
The basic steps in the WTE process that make the critical difference are that the solid waste is burned in a furnace and is channeled into heat tubes of water in a boiler. The high temperatures produced transform the water to steam, the force of which drives a turbine generator, producing electricity. In a clean system, ash particles and harmful chemicals are removed before being emitted as smoke and gases. The heavier ash that falls to the bottom is collected for transport to the landfill, and the remaining gases escape through the stack. It's this last step that still draws attention from detractors. The WTE plane built near Columbus, Ohio, was championed in its early days, even though it was referred to as the "cash-burning plant," says John Remy, director of communication at the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO), Grove City, Ohio. The plant was designed to burn a combination of coal and the city's trash. The equipment in the plant was touted as state of the art.
Initially, some components broke down, an inherent by-product of innovation, says Remy. Toward the end of its life, it was denounced particularly because of its emissions. For this, the plant got a bad rap and was closed in 1994. Bringing it up to the new standards was judged to be economically unfeasible. Right now it's a gutted shell used for storage.
Dr. John H. Skinner, executive director and CEO of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Washington, sees fuel generated by WTE plants as one of the cleanest fuels available, provided current standards are met. The mercury and dioxin standards for WTE plants are far more stringent than those for coal-fired plants, he notes. WTE plants are also cleaner, he assures, "than some sources of oil in terms of oil-fired power plants, especially high-sulfur-content oil. The industry over the last 10 years has gone through a major upgrade in terms of installing pollution control equipment as required by the Clean Air Act."
But is WTE a form of recycling, or does it squander potentially recyclable resources? Critics are concerned that if burning collected material were to become more prevalent, there would he less incentive to take the trouble to recycle.
In some states, such as Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, no new WTE plants will be considered until recycling is thoroughly in place. Currently, 98 WTE systems are operating in 29 states in the U.S., a number that has decreased in the last few years.
Skinner points to statistics to demonstrate that WTE plants are compatible with recycling. "There's a lot of recycling that goes on in the context of a WTE plant. Metal is often recycled. Quite a few communities have paper recycling programs in conjunction with their WTE plants. The amazing thing, if you look at the statistics on the communities that have WTE plants, is this: The recycling percentage is higher than the national average--35 percent recycling compared to a national average of 30 [percent] to 32 percent."
BURN VS. BURY COSTS. WTE plants are considered more costly to operate than typical incinerators. Not only do emission control costs exceed those of coal burning incinerators, but plant capacity is also greater in a WTE than in a coal burning incinerator. For example, it takes 1 ton of garbage compared to 1/4 ton of coal to produce the same amount of energy, according to the Energy Information Administration, Washington.
Skinner counters that WTE plants are more economical in the parts of the country where landfill costs tend to be high. He cites the densely populated Northeast as well as Florida, where landfilling is limited because of the high water table. There are not as many further west, he notes, "because landfill prices lend to be lower. The big states for WTEs are Virginia, Florida, New Jersey and New York, where landfill costs are higher. For WTEs, $35 to $40 per ton of waste deposited is typical. In the West, landfill prices are $20 to $25 per ton, so it's more expensive. But in the East, land disposal [tipping fees] are above $40 per ton, so in those cases it's competitive."
The basic steps in the WTE process that make the critical difference are that the solid waste is burned in a furnace and is channeled into heat tubes of water in a boiler. The high temperatures produced transform the water to steam, the force of which drives a turbine generator, producing electricity. In a clean system, ash particles and harmful chemicals are removed before being emitted as smoke and gases. The heavier ash that falls to the bottom is collected for transport to the landfill, and the remaining gases escape through the stack. It's this last step that still draws attention from detractors. The WTE plane built near Columbus, Ohio, was championed in its early days, even though it was referred to as the "cash-burning plant," says John Remy, director of communication at the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO), Grove City, Ohio. The plant was designed to burn a combination of coal and the city's trash. The equipment in the plant was touted as state of the art.
Initially, some components broke down, an inherent by-product of innovation, says Remy. Toward the end of its life, it was denounced particularly because of its emissions. For this, the plant got a bad rap and was closed in 1994. Bringing it up to the new standards was judged to be economically unfeasible. Right now it's a gutted shell used for storage.
Dr. John H. Skinner, executive director and CEO of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Washington, sees fuel generated by WTE plants as one of the cleanest fuels available, provided current standards are met. The mercury and dioxin standards for WTE plants are far more stringent than those for coal-fired plants, he notes. WTE plants are also cleaner, he assures, "than some sources of oil in terms of oil-fired power plants, especially high-sulfur-content oil. The industry over the last 10 years has gone through a major upgrade in terms of installing pollution control equipment as required by the Clean Air Act."
But is WTE a form of recycling, or does it squander potentially recyclable resources? Critics are concerned that if burning collected material were to become more prevalent, there would he less incentive to take the trouble to recycle.
In some states, such as Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, no new WTE plants will be considered until recycling is thoroughly in place. Currently, 98 WTE systems are operating in 29 states in the U.S., a number that has decreased in the last few years.
Skinner points to statistics to demonstrate that WTE plants are compatible with recycling. "There's a lot of recycling that goes on in the context of a WTE plant. Metal is often recycled. Quite a few communities have paper recycling programs in conjunction with their WTE plants. The amazing thing, if you look at the statistics on the communities that have WTE plants, is this: The recycling percentage is higher than the national average--35 percent recycling compared to a national average of 30 [percent] to 32 percent."
BURN VS. BURY COSTS. WTE plants are considered more costly to operate than typical incinerators. Not only do emission control costs exceed those of coal burning incinerators, but plant capacity is also greater in a WTE than in a coal burning incinerator. For example, it takes 1 ton of garbage compared to 1/4 ton of coal to produce the same amount of energy, according to the Energy Information Administration, Washington.
Skinner counters that WTE plants are more economical in the parts of the country where landfill costs tend to be high. He cites the densely populated Northeast as well as Florida, where landfilling is limited because of the high water table. There are not as many further west, he notes, "because landfill prices lend to be lower. The big states for WTEs are Virginia, Florida, New Jersey and New York, where landfill costs are higher. For WTEs, $35 to $40 per ton of waste deposited is typical. In the West, landfill prices are $20 to $25 per ton, so it's more expensive. But in the East, land disposal [tipping fees] are above $40 per ton, so in those cases it's competitive."
Connie's post scripts
TIRE/WHEEL ASSEMBLES IN SWA
Tank-automotive and Armaments Command has expanded stockage of mounted tire and wheel assemblies, assigning 39 NSNs for those assemblies used on light, medium and heavy tactical vehicles. Additionally, TACOM has shipped more than 5,000 assemblies to SWA for HMMWVs, HEMTTs, FMTVs, PLS/HETs, M915 line haul tractors and M939 series 5-ton fleets, A complete listing of NSNs, item managers and prices are located at TACOM's AEPS website: https://aeps2.ria.army.millcommodity/tire_wheel-assy-item.mgr.xls
The SMR code for the assemblies is PCOHH. The stacked items can be installed, replaced or used by org/unit level, but GS is the lowest level that can do complete repair and determine disposition action on an unserviceable item. As supplies increase, units within SWA will be able to update their SARSS boxes to forward unserviceable assemblies for repair to the AMC Forward Repair Activity in Balad, Iraq. Address questions to Marleen Fiantaco, That old and often broken down conveyor system on your M992A2 amino carrier is no longer required. In fact, you can get rid of it. Instructions for removing the conveyor are found in TB 43-0001-62-03-2 (Jun 03). See your TACOM LAR or write to Half-Mast for a copy.
M1A1 Infrared viewer
Page B-3 in TM 9-2350-264-10-2 (Mar 03) lists the AN/VAS-5A infrared viewer, NSN 5855-01-475-9446, as a Component of End Item for the M1A1 tank. This item is for Marine Corps use only and is not authorized for Army tanks. Any Army requisitions for this item will be rejected.
5-KW GENERATOR APU OIL FILTER
Use NSN 2940-12-342-1512 to get a new oil filter for the MEP-952B 5-KW diesel generator used on your M577- and M1068-series command post carriers. Just remove the E from the end of the part number (Item 15 in Fig G-19 in TM 9-6115-664-13&P) and it will cross on FED LOG.
Tank-automotive and Armaments Command has expanded stockage of mounted tire and wheel assemblies, assigning 39 NSNs for those assemblies used on light, medium and heavy tactical vehicles. Additionally, TACOM has shipped more than 5,000 assemblies to SWA for HMMWVs, HEMTTs, FMTVs, PLS/HETs, M915 line haul tractors and M939 series 5-ton fleets, A complete listing of NSNs, item managers and prices are located at TACOM's AEPS website: https://aeps2.ria.army.millcommodity/tire_wheel-assy-item.mgr.xls
The SMR code for the assemblies is PCOHH. The stacked items can be installed, replaced or used by org/unit level, but GS is the lowest level that can do complete repair and determine disposition action on an unserviceable item. As supplies increase, units within SWA will be able to update their SARSS boxes to forward unserviceable assemblies for repair to the AMC Forward Repair Activity in Balad, Iraq. Address questions to Marleen Fiantaco, That old and often broken down conveyor system on your M992A2 amino carrier is no longer required. In fact, you can get rid of it. Instructions for removing the conveyor are found in TB 43-0001-62-03-2 (Jun 03). See your TACOM LAR or write to Half-Mast for a copy.
M1A1 Infrared viewer
Page B-3 in TM 9-2350-264-10-2 (Mar 03) lists the AN/VAS-5A infrared viewer, NSN 5855-01-475-9446, as a Component of End Item for the M1A1 tank. This item is for Marine Corps use only and is not authorized for Army tanks. Any Army requisitions for this item will be rejected.
5-KW GENERATOR APU OIL FILTER
Use NSN 2940-12-342-1512 to get a new oil filter for the MEP-952B 5-KW diesel generator used on your M577- and M1068-series command post carriers. Just remove the E from the end of the part number (Item 15 in Fig G-19 in TM 9-6115-664-13&P) and it will cross on FED LOG.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Partnering for security: Pierce, LDV team to develop mobile command post vehicle for homeland security applications
Oshkosh Truck Corp. subsidiary Pierce Mfg. has partnered with LDV Inc. to produce and market mobile command post vehicles for homeland security applications. The vehicles will be sold through Pierce's dealer network and feature its chassis, custom exterior bodies and emergency apparatus. LDV will provide the vehicle's custom interiors and communication systems.
Pierce entered the homeland security arena four years ago and paired up with global command center outfitter LDV last year. "We knew that LDV are experts in outfitting global command centers in the interiors and communication side of it for 12 years," said Jim Parker, vice president of homeland security, at Pierce. "Because their quality and expertise were a match for the processes we like to use, we decided to partner with them."
Together, Pierce and LDV are producing the mobile command post vehicles for law enforcement, fire and emergency and local arid federal agencies. The vehicles are designed to maintain constant communication while facing a natural disaster, biological or terrorist attack. The first vehicle model was featured on the Lance chassis and powered by a 14 L, six-cylinder, turbocharged and air-to-air charge-air cooled Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine rated 500 hp at 2100 rpm. Engine cooling is through a front-mounted Modine radiator.
Driven off the engine is art Allison EVS4000PR (emergency vehicle series) five-speed automatic transmission. The electronically controlled transmission is a part of Pierce's TAK-4 suspension system. TAK-4 integrates the suspension, brakes, steering, axles and tires into a singular standard option. The components are matched to provide greater performance, handling, stopping power and overall durability, the company said.
Front Bendix 17 in. ABS brakes and rear ArvinMeritor 16.5 m. cam brakes stop the vehicle with 60 ft. less stopping distance than similar vehicles, the company said. The vehicle has a 40[degrees] to 45[degrees] cramp angle, depending on weight rating, and an 18,000 lb. Oshkosh front axle. Combined with the 24,000 lb. Arvin Meritor RS24-160 tear axle, the chassis' gross vehicle weight rating is 42,000 lb. The wheelbase is 200 in. with Michelin 22.5 x 9 tires fitted to the steel wheels.
The vehicle's body is completely supported by the Lance chassis' 13.38 in. steel, 110 psi yield strength frame rails. Enclosing the chassis is a steel and aluminum body built to endure biological and chemical toxins, the company said. A Draeger vehicle filter system maintains the inside air pressure and a variety of filters clean contaminants from the air.
Although Pierce offers the Lance chassis as one of seven chassis options for the mobile command post vehicle, it will customize the vehicle to specifically what the buyer requires. "The customer works with our dealers or internal product experts," said Parker. "They basically tell us, 'this is what we need to use this product for.' Then, we design the chassis, body and where everything is going in it and configure the final product."
The construction of the vehicle up until this point takes place at Pierce's Appleton, Wis., facilities. Installation of the customized interior and communication technology is done in Burlington, Wis., where LDV is head quartered. Pierce's dealers work to assist customers on the basic interior and communication schemes. "When it gets to technical details of communication equipment, that's when we bring in LDV," said Parker.
The specifications to every mobile command post vehicle are different. but the interior basically breaks down into three sections: a conference room area, a living area (galley, restrooms) and a command center. The conference area is a seating/meeting area used to display and communicate directions, plans or discuss actions. The command center houses the communication technology, systems including satellite TV, phone, radio data/voice communications, interoperable communication centers and video surveillance. The living area can be configured for up to 72 hours of self-contained living with a galley and restroom.
Only four years ago, Pierce was selling a few homeland security vehicles a year. Today; the interest and volume on these types of vehicles has escalated and be come a product that many departments and agencies am looking to add to their fleet, said Parker. "These types of products help prepare for terrorist and other major incident. And, given the level of terrorist activity, around the world today, I see the continued need For these kinds of products for many years."
Pierce entered the homeland security arena four years ago and paired up with global command center outfitter LDV last year. "We knew that LDV are experts in outfitting global command centers in the interiors and communication side of it for 12 years," said Jim Parker, vice president of homeland security, at Pierce. "Because their quality and expertise were a match for the processes we like to use, we decided to partner with them."
Together, Pierce and LDV are producing the mobile command post vehicles for law enforcement, fire and emergency and local arid federal agencies. The vehicles are designed to maintain constant communication while facing a natural disaster, biological or terrorist attack. The first vehicle model was featured on the Lance chassis and powered by a 14 L, six-cylinder, turbocharged and air-to-air charge-air cooled Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine rated 500 hp at 2100 rpm. Engine cooling is through a front-mounted Modine radiator.
Driven off the engine is art Allison EVS4000PR (emergency vehicle series) five-speed automatic transmission. The electronically controlled transmission is a part of Pierce's TAK-4 suspension system. TAK-4 integrates the suspension, brakes, steering, axles and tires into a singular standard option. The components are matched to provide greater performance, handling, stopping power and overall durability, the company said.
Front Bendix 17 in. ABS brakes and rear ArvinMeritor 16.5 m. cam brakes stop the vehicle with 60 ft. less stopping distance than similar vehicles, the company said. The vehicle has a 40[degrees] to 45[degrees] cramp angle, depending on weight rating, and an 18,000 lb. Oshkosh front axle. Combined with the 24,000 lb. Arvin Meritor RS24-160 tear axle, the chassis' gross vehicle weight rating is 42,000 lb. The wheelbase is 200 in. with Michelin 22.5 x 9 tires fitted to the steel wheels.
The vehicle's body is completely supported by the Lance chassis' 13.38 in. steel, 110 psi yield strength frame rails. Enclosing the chassis is a steel and aluminum body built to endure biological and chemical toxins, the company said. A Draeger vehicle filter system maintains the inside air pressure and a variety of filters clean contaminants from the air.
Although Pierce offers the Lance chassis as one of seven chassis options for the mobile command post vehicle, it will customize the vehicle to specifically what the buyer requires. "The customer works with our dealers or internal product experts," said Parker. "They basically tell us, 'this is what we need to use this product for.' Then, we design the chassis, body and where everything is going in it and configure the final product."
The construction of the vehicle up until this point takes place at Pierce's Appleton, Wis., facilities. Installation of the customized interior and communication technology is done in Burlington, Wis., where LDV is head quartered. Pierce's dealers work to assist customers on the basic interior and communication schemes. "When it gets to technical details of communication equipment, that's when we bring in LDV," said Parker.
The specifications to every mobile command post vehicle are different. but the interior basically breaks down into three sections: a conference room area, a living area (galley, restrooms) and a command center. The conference area is a seating/meeting area used to display and communicate directions, plans or discuss actions. The command center houses the communication technology, systems including satellite TV, phone, radio data/voice communications, interoperable communication centers and video surveillance. The living area can be configured for up to 72 hours of self-contained living with a galley and restroom.
Only four years ago, Pierce was selling a few homeland security vehicles a year. Today; the interest and volume on these types of vehicles has escalated and be come a product that many departments and agencies am looking to add to their fleet, said Parker. "These types of products help prepare for terrorist and other major incident. And, given the level of terrorist activity, around the world today, I see the continued need For these kinds of products for many years."
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
FWMurphy, Miratech in control systems joint venture
Two well-known companies, FWMurphy and Miratech Corp., recently joined forces to form Compliance Controls LLC. FWMurphy, established in 1939, is an ISO 9001 registered manufacturer of equipment management and control solutions for off-highway and construction equipment, gas compressors, standby generator controls, irrigation and water pumping. Privately held Miratech Corp. and its subsidiary, Miratech SCR Corp., are leaders in the development and engineering of emission control and engine performance technology for industrial engines. Compliance Controls and both parent companies are based in Tulsa, Okla., and have sales offices located across North America.
"The new organization is dedicated to sales, support and continuing development of its state-of-the-art, user-friendly Windows-based air-to-fuel ratio control systems," said Kevin O'Sullivan, president of Compliance Controls. "We saw a need in the industrial engine marketplace tar more advanced, cost-effective, flexible, easy-to-install and easy-to-use engine control systems. Development of our rich-burn (MEC-R) and lean-burn (MEC-L) air-fuel control systems was a team effort to meet that need.
"Backed by our parent companies' distribution networks, Compliance Controls will focus exclusively on delivering and supporting air-fuel ratio control solutions tailored to our customers' specific requirements," he said. Both control systems are designed for use on carbureted, spark-ignited natural gas and LPG engines. MEC-R is a rich-burn engine control system for use on engines equipped with three-way catalysts to reduce regulated pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.
"The controller minimizes fuel consumption while maximizing catalyst performance for precise, continuous compliance. It also cuts engine maintenance and includes a fail-safe diagnostic and troubleshooting system for operators and management," said Bill Clary, vice president of sales and marketing for Miratech.
MEC-L is a lean-burn engine control system that can control fuel with a variety of valves in full-authority arrangements. "It reduces lean-burn engine maintenance costs, enhances performance and improves fuel economy," said Clary. "MEC-R and MEC-L air-fuel ratio control systems are the result of experience gained over the past decade and offer customers a dramatic upgrade in capabilities and user-friendliness at a competitive price," he added.
Jack Maley, vice president of operations for FWMurphy, pointed out that the MEC systems are closer in design to automotive-type air-fuel controllers than earlier engine control systems. "Using a reliable, high-performance air-fuel controller in conjunction with a three-way catalyst is the most effective method of cleaning rich-burn spark-ignition engine exhaust gases available today," he said.
The three-way catalytic converter that simultaneously oxidizes excess levels of exhaust carbon monoxide (CO) and nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) and reduces nitric oxides (N[O.sub.x]) becomes ineffective if the rich-burn engine air fuel ratio differs by more than 1% from the stoichiometric value. The MEC-R system maximizes the efficiency of a three-way catalyst by maintaining a constant air-fuel ratio and continuous emissions compliance over yawing engine loads, speeds, fuel quality, ambient temperatures and barometric pressures. It fits virtually any gas-fueled, carbureted, rich-burn industrial engine with any catalytic converter.
The MEC-R control scheme includes pre-catalyst closed loop, exhaust oxygen ([O.sub.2]) feedback control, post-catalyst exhaust [O.sub.2] feedback; cascade control for fast, real-time adaptation to changing catalyst performance; variable set-point for pre-catalyst and post catalyst exhaust [O.sub.2] control for fast, real-time response to varying engine loads; catalyst temperature monitoring to protect emissions control catalysts from engine and fueling malfunctions; and two-dimensional open loop valve positioning, based on engine speed and load. It drives up to two fuel-metering valves for V engine configurations and can maintain compliance even with critical oxygen sensor malfunction.
Compliance Controls indicated that a crew of two could install and program the MEC-R system on an engine in two days for a new field installation with hard conduit, or less than a day with one technician for a retrofit project.
In addition to fuel control valve(s) and a microprocessor controller in a NEMA 12 enclosure, the system includes [O.sub.2] sensors downstream of the catalyst and in each exhaust bank upstream of the catalyst, air manifold pressure and temperature RTU's, pre- and post-catalyst temperature probes and a dedicated magnetic pickup for sensing engine rpm from the flywheel. The system includes all connectors and a selection of cables that can be cut to length at the terminal end where they connect to a terminal block inside the controller enclosure. A 9 to 30 Vdc power supply is required. The company and many of its distributors provide installation, set-up and operator training.
"The new organization is dedicated to sales, support and continuing development of its state-of-the-art, user-friendly Windows-based air-to-fuel ratio control systems," said Kevin O'Sullivan, president of Compliance Controls. "We saw a need in the industrial engine marketplace tar more advanced, cost-effective, flexible, easy-to-install and easy-to-use engine control systems. Development of our rich-burn (MEC-R) and lean-burn (MEC-L) air-fuel control systems was a team effort to meet that need.
"Backed by our parent companies' distribution networks, Compliance Controls will focus exclusively on delivering and supporting air-fuel ratio control solutions tailored to our customers' specific requirements," he said. Both control systems are designed for use on carbureted, spark-ignited natural gas and LPG engines. MEC-R is a rich-burn engine control system for use on engines equipped with three-way catalysts to reduce regulated pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.
"The controller minimizes fuel consumption while maximizing catalyst performance for precise, continuous compliance. It also cuts engine maintenance and includes a fail-safe diagnostic and troubleshooting system for operators and management," said Bill Clary, vice president of sales and marketing for Miratech.
MEC-L is a lean-burn engine control system that can control fuel with a variety of valves in full-authority arrangements. "It reduces lean-burn engine maintenance costs, enhances performance and improves fuel economy," said Clary. "MEC-R and MEC-L air-fuel ratio control systems are the result of experience gained over the past decade and offer customers a dramatic upgrade in capabilities and user-friendliness at a competitive price," he added.
Jack Maley, vice president of operations for FWMurphy, pointed out that the MEC systems are closer in design to automotive-type air-fuel controllers than earlier engine control systems. "Using a reliable, high-performance air-fuel controller in conjunction with a three-way catalyst is the most effective method of cleaning rich-burn spark-ignition engine exhaust gases available today," he said.
The three-way catalytic converter that simultaneously oxidizes excess levels of exhaust carbon monoxide (CO) and nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) and reduces nitric oxides (N[O.sub.x]) becomes ineffective if the rich-burn engine air fuel ratio differs by more than 1% from the stoichiometric value. The MEC-R system maximizes the efficiency of a three-way catalyst by maintaining a constant air-fuel ratio and continuous emissions compliance over yawing engine loads, speeds, fuel quality, ambient temperatures and barometric pressures. It fits virtually any gas-fueled, carbureted, rich-burn industrial engine with any catalytic converter.
The MEC-R control scheme includes pre-catalyst closed loop, exhaust oxygen ([O.sub.2]) feedback control, post-catalyst exhaust [O.sub.2] feedback; cascade control for fast, real-time adaptation to changing catalyst performance; variable set-point for pre-catalyst and post catalyst exhaust [O.sub.2] control for fast, real-time response to varying engine loads; catalyst temperature monitoring to protect emissions control catalysts from engine and fueling malfunctions; and two-dimensional open loop valve positioning, based on engine speed and load. It drives up to two fuel-metering valves for V engine configurations and can maintain compliance even with critical oxygen sensor malfunction.
Compliance Controls indicated that a crew of two could install and program the MEC-R system on an engine in two days for a new field installation with hard conduit, or less than a day with one technician for a retrofit project.
In addition to fuel control valve(s) and a microprocessor controller in a NEMA 12 enclosure, the system includes [O.sub.2] sensors downstream of the catalyst and in each exhaust bank upstream of the catalyst, air manifold pressure and temperature RTU's, pre- and post-catalyst temperature probes and a dedicated magnetic pickup for sensing engine rpm from the flywheel. The system includes all connectors and a selection of cables that can be cut to length at the terminal end where they connect to a terminal block inside the controller enclosure. A 9 to 30 Vdc power supply is required. The company and many of its distributors provide installation, set-up and operator training.
Monday, December 25, 2006
MQ Power's new welder/generator - Brief Article
MQ Power Corp. has launched a new welder/generator for use by welding supply houses and the rental markets. Operating as a 225 amp welder and a 6 kW 120/240 volt a.c. generator, the Scorcher 225, manufactured for MQ, Carson, Calif., by Denyo Ltd., is the first model to include constant voltage operation and expands the company's line of welders joining 300 and 400 amp models.
Power for the new welder/generator is a water-cooled, two-cylinder Kubota Z482 diesel rated 12.5 hp at 3600 rpm. The engine comes equipped with an automatic idle control, hour-meter, warning light, fuel gauge, pre-heat lamp and self-priming fuel system. A gasoline version of the Scorcher 225 is due later this month.
One of the primary features of the new set is its lower noise level; 68.7 db(A), according to MQ. The set also features 100 percent duty cycle at 200 amps and a brushless generator design for lower maintenance costs. The automatic idler helps reduce fuel consumption, while the self-priming fuel system aids in restarting the unit.
The package is able to operate simultaneously as a welder and generator and has controls for both CV and CC welding. MQ said the set features outstanding arc characteristics, ideal for welding pipe and structural steel. The system is available with an optional over-the-road traile
Power for the new welder/generator is a water-cooled, two-cylinder Kubota Z482 diesel rated 12.5 hp at 3600 rpm. The engine comes equipped with an automatic idle control, hour-meter, warning light, fuel gauge, pre-heat lamp and self-priming fuel system. A gasoline version of the Scorcher 225 is due later this month.
One of the primary features of the new set is its lower noise level; 68.7 db(A), according to MQ. The set also features 100 percent duty cycle at 200 amps and a brushless generator design for lower maintenance costs. The automatic idler helps reduce fuel consumption, while the self-priming fuel system aids in restarting the unit.
The package is able to operate simultaneously as a welder and generator and has controls for both CV and CC welding. MQ said the set features outstanding arc characteristics, ideal for welding pipe and structural steel. The system is available with an optional over-the-road traile
MQ Power's new welder/generator - Brief Article
MQ Power Corp. has launched a new welder/generator for use by welding supply houses and the rental markets. Operating as a 225 amp welder and a 6 kW 120/240 volt a.c. generator, the Scorcher 225, manufactured for MQ, Carson, Calif., by Denyo Ltd., is the first model to include constant voltage operation and expands the company's line of welders joining 300 and 400 amp models.
Power for the new welder/generator is a water-cooled, two-cylinder Kubota Z482 diesel rated 12.5 hp at 3600 rpm. The engine comes equipped with an automatic idle control, hour-meter, warning light, fuel gauge, pre-heat lamp and self-priming fuel system. A gasoline version of the Scorcher 225 is due later this month.
One of the primary features of the new set is its lower noise level; 68.7 db(A), according to MQ. The set also features 100 percent duty cycle at 200 amps and a brushless generator design for lower maintenance costs. The automatic idler helps reduce fuel consumption, while the self-priming fuel system aids in restarting the unit.
The package is able to operate simultaneously as a welder and generator and has controls for both CV and CC welding. MQ said the set features outstanding arc characteristics, ideal for welding pipe and structural steel. The system is available with an optional over-the-road traile
Power for the new welder/generator is a water-cooled, two-cylinder Kubota Z482 diesel rated 12.5 hp at 3600 rpm. The engine comes equipped with an automatic idle control, hour-meter, warning light, fuel gauge, pre-heat lamp and self-priming fuel system. A gasoline version of the Scorcher 225 is due later this month.
One of the primary features of the new set is its lower noise level; 68.7 db(A), according to MQ. The set also features 100 percent duty cycle at 200 amps and a brushless generator design for lower maintenance costs. The automatic idler helps reduce fuel consumption, while the self-priming fuel system aids in restarting the unit.
The package is able to operate simultaneously as a welder and generator and has controls for both CV and CC welding. MQ said the set features outstanding arc characteristics, ideal for welding pipe and structural steel. The system is available with an optional over-the-road traile
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Deep Sea continues product expansion; eight new products include additional J1939 modules; markets expand to include pumps sets, chippers, shredders
Continuing what has been a very, aggressive product development and introduction strategy since setting up operations in North America in late 2001, Deep Sea Electronics Inc. has introduced another array of engine and generator set controls. Further, the Rockford, Ill.-based company has recently moved into a dedicated facility that will include an engine and generator set control demonstration and test center. Deep Sea is the U.S. subsidiary of Deep Sea Electronics PLC in North Yorkshire, England.
This new launch of eight new products is significant to volume alone, but also breaks new ground for Deep Sea in that it includes the introduction of an additional two families of J1939 enabled controls.
The first of tire new J1939 control families, tire models 4210 and 4220, not only expand Deep Sea's line into the electronic engine world, but also may open up new markets beyond gen-sets, with pump sets as well, as off-highway equipment such as chippers and shredders being application possibilities, said Paul Apsey, vice president of Deep Sea. These two modules are strictly J1939 modules that cannot read analog instrumentation.
The model 4210 is a J1939-enabled auto-start module that can be used to automatically start a generator set or other types of equipment, via a remote signal or manually by pressing the start button located on tire front of the control. The key, of course, is the ability to link to J1939 engine management electronics providing engine protection and instrumentation without requiring additional senders The 4210 has a 16-bit microprocessor control and a collection of timers and pre-configured sequences. Tire module is also designed to provide indications of operational status and fault conditions, automatically shutting down the gen-set and indicating failures by means of an LCD display.
The test based LCD display provides "at a glance" diagnosis of fault conditions. The LCD displays engine rpm, oil pressure, coolant temperature, engine hours, auxiliary charging voltage, plant battery volts and engine ECU diagnostics. The engine ECU error codes are displayed in text and numerical format.
Apsey said the 4210 provides comprehensive PC configuration and status monitoring using 42xx PC software. Alterations to the system are done using the 42xx PC configuration in conjunction with an 810 interface. The module also features PIN number protected front panel programming for selected trip points and timers, and allows field changes to be made to module setting.
The 4210 also has a "sleep" mode to save on battery life when the control is off. Multiple LCD languages, English, French, Spanish and German, are now available.
The second of Deep Sea's J1939-enabled modules is the model 4220 auto mains failure module that includes many of the same features as the 4210, but adds integral utility mains monitoring and load switch control capability. Thus, the 4220 typically is used to automatically start standby generator sets.
The second J1939-enabled control family is the 5310 auto-start module and 5320 auto mains failure module. Following Deep Sea's platform module design concept, these two controls mirror the 4210 and 4220, but can read both J1939 and analog allowing its use on a wide range of engines.
While gen-sets are the primary market for the 5000 series, Apsey said these modules are also targeted for use on other types of equipment with analog or J1939 inputs. The 5310 and 5320 feature remote communication capabilities via an optional RS232 port that provides a link to a personal computer via either a PSTN line or GSM network. The module can also signal operators via cell phone using the GSM SMS messaging system.
This new launch of eight new products is significant to volume alone, but also breaks new ground for Deep Sea in that it includes the introduction of an additional two families of J1939 enabled controls.
The first of tire new J1939 control families, tire models 4210 and 4220, not only expand Deep Sea's line into the electronic engine world, but also may open up new markets beyond gen-sets, with pump sets as well, as off-highway equipment such as chippers and shredders being application possibilities, said Paul Apsey, vice president of Deep Sea. These two modules are strictly J1939 modules that cannot read analog instrumentation.
The model 4210 is a J1939-enabled auto-start module that can be used to automatically start a generator set or other types of equipment, via a remote signal or manually by pressing the start button located on tire front of the control. The key, of course, is the ability to link to J1939 engine management electronics providing engine protection and instrumentation without requiring additional senders The 4210 has a 16-bit microprocessor control and a collection of timers and pre-configured sequences. Tire module is also designed to provide indications of operational status and fault conditions, automatically shutting down the gen-set and indicating failures by means of an LCD display.
The test based LCD display provides "at a glance" diagnosis of fault conditions. The LCD displays engine rpm, oil pressure, coolant temperature, engine hours, auxiliary charging voltage, plant battery volts and engine ECU diagnostics. The engine ECU error codes are displayed in text and numerical format.
Apsey said the 4210 provides comprehensive PC configuration and status monitoring using 42xx PC software. Alterations to the system are done using the 42xx PC configuration in conjunction with an 810 interface. The module also features PIN number protected front panel programming for selected trip points and timers, and allows field changes to be made to module setting.
The 4210 also has a "sleep" mode to save on battery life when the control is off. Multiple LCD languages, English, French, Spanish and German, are now available.
The second of Deep Sea's J1939-enabled modules is the model 4220 auto mains failure module that includes many of the same features as the 4210, but adds integral utility mains monitoring and load switch control capability. Thus, the 4220 typically is used to automatically start standby generator sets.
The second J1939-enabled control family is the 5310 auto-start module and 5320 auto mains failure module. Following Deep Sea's platform module design concept, these two controls mirror the 4210 and 4220, but can read both J1939 and analog allowing its use on a wide range of engines.
While gen-sets are the primary market for the 5000 series, Apsey said these modules are also targeted for use on other types of equipment with analog or J1939 inputs. The 5310 and 5320 feature remote communication capabilities via an optional RS232 port that provides a link to a personal computer via either a PSTN line or GSM network. The module can also signal operators via cell phone using the GSM SMS messaging system.
Power on demand
With gas prices in the mid 90's in parts of Canada, the timing is right to launch GM's hybrid full-size pickup, combining V8 power with reduced fuel consumption and portable 110-v, 20-amp power.
By Howard J Elmer
First announced in 2001, the GMC Sierra parallel hybrid pickup truck has arrived in Canada. And right on cue - wildly fluctuating gas prices are a fitting backdrop for the sale of a conventional looking pickup that promises 15% fuel savings while also doubling as a portable generator. First offered to the commercial market, 50 of the trucks have already been sold and more orders are pouring in.
But what exactly does GM mean by "hybrid?" Frankly, it's a word that's often not defined and its usage varies from company to company.
Tom Stephens, vice-president, GM Vehicle Integration, explains GM's take on itThis is a hybrid with a twist," he said. "Unlike our competitors, who are looking to use the electric motor as a power assist on a small powertrain and giving up some utility to accomplish that, we give you all the acceleration, towing and hauling capability you've come to expect by using a truck V-8 engine. The energy captured through regenerative braking and being able to shut off the engine at idle improves fuel economy by up to 15%."
Instead of a conventional starter motor and alternator, GMC uses an electric motor that is integrated into the drivetrain between the engine and the transmission. This provides starting power and generates electricity. It also reduces weight and parts. Each time the truck coasts, it is making up to 4.8 kilowatts of electricity that is stored in a 42V battery pack, which (among other uses) can power tools off a pair of 110V, 20-amp outlets in the cab and bed.
Where the truck really saves fuel, though, is at stoplights, stop signs, or when idling at the landing. Here, the gasoline engine actually stops running, but most of the accessories continue working using the stored electrical power. To keep the systems alive, the hybrid truck's power steering is run by an electrically driven hydraulic pump rather than the traditional belt-drive system. Similarly, the heating system has an electric pump that keeps hot water circulating even when the engine is off. When the light turns green, or the chatting at the landing ends, the driver steps on the accelerator, and the gas engine kicks in again. (Think about how a gasoline golf cart works; same principle.)
The truck gets more out of each litre of gas because of the engine start/stop function and regenerative braking (which is what turns the motor into a generator each time the truck decelerates). The 4.8 kilowatts of electricity generated by the system is stored in advanced lead-acid batteries to keep the size and cost of the 250 lb battery pack reasonable. But as more 42V systems and by-wire controls become available, this architecture should also become smaller and lighter than the 12V counterpart, which will further improve fuel efficiency.
The hybrid truck has obvious environmental advantages, and could give forestry and logging companies a "good news" PR edge. As an added bonus, think how handy it would be to have a portable generator sitting around the work site, or even in your driveway - particularly after last summer's hydro letdown here in Ontario. Next time, I'll plug my house into my truck.
Though the MSRP for the public version of the hybrid truck has not been announced, GM sources suggest that the cost will be between $3 000 and $3 500 more than a similarly equipped non-hybrid pickup. GM has also begun delivering a diesel hybrid (military version) pickup truck equipped with a fuel cell auxiliary power unit (APU) to the US Army. This diesel hybrid is said to improve fuel consumption by 20% over conventional diesels, reduce emissions and provide troops with reliable electrical power. With fuel transportation costs reaching up to $400 a gallon depending on location or battlefield operations, that fuel consumption reduction could well save millions of dollars.
The four-door pickup is powered by a 6.6L Duramax diesel engine, and mated to a parallel hybrid electric system. This hybrid system is under development by GM for future commercial applications. This system uses a split power continuously variable transmission (CVT) with integral electric motors and an energy storage system. Power demands are satisfied with a combination of electric and diesel power, as needed. The storage system is a lightweight, nickel-metal hybride-based system that weighs a third less and is half the size of lead-acid batteries. In addition, this diesel-electric hybrid powertrain can operate as a self-contained generator, capable of providing up to 30kw of DC and AC electricity for operations in the field.
By Howard J Elmer
First announced in 2001, the GMC Sierra parallel hybrid pickup truck has arrived in Canada. And right on cue - wildly fluctuating gas prices are a fitting backdrop for the sale of a conventional looking pickup that promises 15% fuel savings while also doubling as a portable generator. First offered to the commercial market, 50 of the trucks have already been sold and more orders are pouring in.
But what exactly does GM mean by "hybrid?" Frankly, it's a word that's often not defined and its usage varies from company to company.
Tom Stephens, vice-president, GM Vehicle Integration, explains GM's take on itThis is a hybrid with a twist," he said. "Unlike our competitors, who are looking to use the electric motor as a power assist on a small powertrain and giving up some utility to accomplish that, we give you all the acceleration, towing and hauling capability you've come to expect by using a truck V-8 engine. The energy captured through regenerative braking and being able to shut off the engine at idle improves fuel economy by up to 15%."
Instead of a conventional starter motor and alternator, GMC uses an electric motor that is integrated into the drivetrain between the engine and the transmission. This provides starting power and generates electricity. It also reduces weight and parts. Each time the truck coasts, it is making up to 4.8 kilowatts of electricity that is stored in a 42V battery pack, which (among other uses) can power tools off a pair of 110V, 20-amp outlets in the cab and bed.
Where the truck really saves fuel, though, is at stoplights, stop signs, or when idling at the landing. Here, the gasoline engine actually stops running, but most of the accessories continue working using the stored electrical power. To keep the systems alive, the hybrid truck's power steering is run by an electrically driven hydraulic pump rather than the traditional belt-drive system. Similarly, the heating system has an electric pump that keeps hot water circulating even when the engine is off. When the light turns green, or the chatting at the landing ends, the driver steps on the accelerator, and the gas engine kicks in again. (Think about how a gasoline golf cart works; same principle.)
The truck gets more out of each litre of gas because of the engine start/stop function and regenerative braking (which is what turns the motor into a generator each time the truck decelerates). The 4.8 kilowatts of electricity generated by the system is stored in advanced lead-acid batteries to keep the size and cost of the 250 lb battery pack reasonable. But as more 42V systems and by-wire controls become available, this architecture should also become smaller and lighter than the 12V counterpart, which will further improve fuel efficiency.
The hybrid truck has obvious environmental advantages, and could give forestry and logging companies a "good news" PR edge. As an added bonus, think how handy it would be to have a portable generator sitting around the work site, or even in your driveway - particularly after last summer's hydro letdown here in Ontario. Next time, I'll plug my house into my truck.
Though the MSRP for the public version of the hybrid truck has not been announced, GM sources suggest that the cost will be between $3 000 and $3 500 more than a similarly equipped non-hybrid pickup. GM has also begun delivering a diesel hybrid (military version) pickup truck equipped with a fuel cell auxiliary power unit (APU) to the US Army. This diesel hybrid is said to improve fuel consumption by 20% over conventional diesels, reduce emissions and provide troops with reliable electrical power. With fuel transportation costs reaching up to $400 a gallon depending on location or battlefield operations, that fuel consumption reduction could well save millions of dollars.
The four-door pickup is powered by a 6.6L Duramax diesel engine, and mated to a parallel hybrid electric system. This hybrid system is under development by GM for future commercial applications. This system uses a split power continuously variable transmission (CVT) with integral electric motors and an energy storage system. Power demands are satisfied with a combination of electric and diesel power, as needed. The storage system is a lightweight, nickel-metal hybride-based system that weighs a third less and is half the size of lead-acid batteries. In addition, this diesel-electric hybrid powertrain can operate as a self-contained generator, capable of providing up to 30kw of DC and AC electricity for operations in the field.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)