130 Million Miles and More on Westport™ HPDI

130 million miles and counting. That’s how far the Westport 15L engine with first generation high pressure direct injection (HPDI) technology has carried payloads since first hitting the road with commercial customers.

The big orange engine has carved out a piece of history as the first heavy haul engine in North America to successfully operate on natural gas. Its accumulated mileage to date is the equivalent distance of travelling from earth to the moon 544 times, or around the equator over 5,000 times – no short trip.

Westport’s 2013 Honourable Mentions

 As 2013 draws to a close, we’re taking a moment to shine the spotlight on a few Westport highlights we thought deserved another mention. From announcing a new President, to the launch of the Westport iCE PACK™ LNG Tank System, to orders for four liquefied natural gas tenders for rail, it’s been an exciting year.

~~~

Westport’s 2013 Honourable Mentions

Driving to the Forefront of the Trucking Industry, with First Generation HPDI

Jeff Salmon, General Manager of Denwill/Bridgeway-Ironclad Logistics, runs a fleet of 10 trucks that  have travelled aprox. 310,000 miles with 475 horsepower engines on first generation HPDI. 

Hauling a gross vehicle weight of 63,500 Kgs. of gas and diesel in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland and up the Trans-Canada Highway with stops in Pemberton and the Greater Vancouver area on the way to Hope is a regular day in the life of one of Denwill’s trucks, powered with a Westport 15L featuring first generation high pressure direct injection (HPDI). 

Jeff Salmon, General Manager of Denwill/Bridgeway – Ironclad Logistics, based out of Burnaby, British Columbia, has a fleet of 10 Peterbilt Model 367 trucks hauling tanker trailers that transport petroleum products to more than 120 fuel stations and card lock locations across the Lower Mainland region. The natural gas that powers the engine is stored as liquefied natural gas (LNG) on each truck.

Westport and EMD - Developing a Future of Natural Gas-Powered Locomotives

Getting a 4600 horsepower locomotive engine to run on natural gas isn’t something that happens every day. But that’s what Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) and Westport achieved this summer when both companies ran the EMD multi-cylinder 710 HPDI locomotive engine at the LaGrange facility. Westport also has a test rig in Vancouver.

EMD is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of diesel-electric locomotives. In December 2011, the company joined Westport, Canadian National Railway (CN) and Gaz Metro in a collaboration to demonstrate a natural gas locomotive. The work is part of a consortium project supported by $2.3 million in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to test Westport™ high pressure direct injection (HPDI) technology for use in high-horsepower applications.

Marti Lenz, EMD’s Director of Engine Systems, leads the project for the company from their engine testing facility in LaGrange, Illinois.

“Westport is the lead, but as the OEM we’ve got a team put together helping to ensure that the engine requirements are met and that we have a robust solution when we demonstrate this on CN in the latter part of 2014,” Marti said.

Part of the rigorous testing process currently underway involves ensuring the engine meets all of its performance parameters and emissions targets.

The EMD multi-cylinder 710 HPDI locomotive engine at the LaGrange facility in Illinois. 

According to the United Nations Statistics Division, railroads around the world burn 9 billion gallons of diesel fuel annually, largely in the transportation of freight. The development of natural gas fuelled locomotives could reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and costs associated with transporting the world’s primary resources and manufactured goods. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) produces up to 27 per cent fewer Green House Gas emissions and is currently cheaper than diesel.

Westport designed, built and installed the Westport HPDI fuel system on the engine and is also working on a high-pressure tender to carry the fuel. David Mumford, Westport’s Senior Director Off-Road Partner Development, says the technology is well-suited to high horsepower applications.

“This project is an entry point into the high horsepower world that demonstrates how Westport™ HPDI can successfully fuel engines with 10 times the horsepower of our heavy haul trucking while successfully meeting emissions.”

Westport's high horsepower locomotive test rig in Vancouver, British Columbia.

EMD first began investigating natural gas as a fuel for their engines in the 1990s.

“We got to the point where the thing that was holding us up was the fuel injector,” Marti said. “Westport had the technology to have a good fuel injector – it makes the whole thing do-able.”

EMD has a heritage of selling locomotives around the world. The company sells locomotives in over 70 countries with over 62,000 sales over the past 80 years. About 25,000 EMD locomotives are currently in use in North America.

Both Westport and EMD will be at the High Horsepower Summit in Chicago from September 17 – 19. EMD will be offering a tour of its LaGrange engine facility to key EMD rail and marine customers on an invitation only basis on the afternoon of Monday, September 16. 

Further Reading:
SDTC Agreement, February 2011:
http://www.westport.com/news/2011/westport-awarded-2-million-in-funding-by-sdtc-for-natural-gas-high-horsepower-applications

EMD announces it has joined SDTC, December 2011:
http://www.westport.com/news/2011/consortium-agreement-with-emd-to-develop-natural-gas-fuel-system-for-rail-locomotives

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver Visits Westport

 

During a visit to Vancouver today, federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver visited Westport Innovations head office to meet with CEO David Demers and have a tour of our facility. The Minister is currently touring the western provinces, and spoke earlier in the day at a Vancouver Board of Trade meeting about the potential for natural gas in British Columbia, given the province’s large reserves and growing infrastructure, such as the planned liquefied natural gas terminal in Kitimat.

Minister Joe Oliver posing with a Kenworth truck powered by the Westport HD System, featuring Westport HPDI Technology

Minister Joe Oliver and Westport CEO David Demers with the Westport HD 15-litre natural gas engine for heavy-duty trucks

Minister Joe Oliver at a Westport test cell

Minister Joe Oliver poses with the Westport team

China Shifts Gears to Natural Gas in Transportation

Today we announced the unveiling of China’s first engine with Westport HPDI technology during the China National People’s Congress. The introduction of this engine fills an important gap in China’s natural gas engine market for heavy-duty trucks, as demand for natural gas increases along with the support of alternative fuels for a variety of uses – including transportation - by the Chinese government. It’s encouraging to see China take an interest in natural gas as a cleaner alternative to coal, which has traditionally been the country’s main fuel source.

  

China Is In The Market For A New Energy Resource

With coal supplying roughly two thirds of the country’s energy needs, China’s emissions of greenhouse gases are some of the world’s highest. As a result, the Chinese Central Government has created an international campaign to develop and explore shale gas as part of China’s energy strategy, with a particular focus on natural gas.

As China’s energy consumption increases (it’s now second only to the United States), the shift to cleaner fuel sources is notable. Preliminary findings (conducted by the United States) show that shale gas resources in China might be 100 trillion cubic meters, the same level as the United States.  Although China doesn’t yet produce shale gas commercially, the Ministry of Land and Resources announced its shale gas production goal as equal to 8-12 percent of the total annual domestic natural gas output. By incorporating shale gas into the National Energy Strategies Toward 2030 the country aims to triple its use of natural gas by 2020 to 10 percent of energy consumption in an effort to curb pollution. The 2011 International Energy Agency special report, Are We Entering a Golden Age of Gas? predicted that Chinese gas demand would increase by as much as 50 percent by 2035 to match that of the 27-nation European Union. Natural gas will allow China to use its large domestic natural gas reserves, reduce the country’s dependency on foreign oil and coal, and improve air quality while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The economic benefits of using a domestic resource, coupled with the lower price of gas versus oil offer added incentive for the Chinese to focus on this alternative energy.

China’s Need for Natural Gas Transportation Solutions

Given China’s clear goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality, and shifting to alternative fuels that are abundant domestically, the Chinese transportation sector is experiencing a significant shift. Currently there is an estimated 600,000 natural gas vehicles in China and over 2,100 refuelling stations to support those vehicles. Weichai Westport has seen significant growth in the China markets and Weichai Power’s most recent Annual Report showed that Weichai holds approximately 40 percent of the heavy duty truck engine market for trucks over 14 tonnes. According to Weichai's August 2011 Interim Report, they sold over 200,000 heavy-duty engines for the six months ended June 30, 2011. In 2010, heavy duty truck sales in China exceeded one million units, according to the Weichai Power August 2011 Interim Report.

Note the marked increase of engine sales of Weichai Westport engines

HPDI Engine Technology Enters the Chinese Market

This marks the first use in China of natural gas engine technology that isn’t spark-ignited, and a significant advance in heavy-duty and long-haul trucking. What makes HPDI technology stand out is that it allows a diesel engine to run, primarily on natural gas without having to change the main parts of the engine. HDPI works by using a small amount of diesel to ignite the natural gas, a process that would normally require a spark, thus allowing the engine to stay largely unaltered. Since the pistons and engine body remain unchanged, the engine is able to deliver torque at low speeds and deliver increased efficiency at the higher end.