Emergency Power Gets a New Source of Fuel

Turning waste into power is something Korean gas generator producer Hanatech knows a lot about.

The company specializes in producing large, 450 kilowatt gas generators that turn biogas – carbon and methane emitted from waste sources like manure and trash – into power. These large 22 Litre engine power units are at work around the world – in a landfill gas generation plant in Scottsdale, Alabama and a pig farm in Vietnam, among others.

But when the company was approached by a Japanese customer to produce power from a much smaller generator using liquefied propane gas (LPG), it sought out a partner in Westport.

“We have experience manufacturing gas engine generators, but they are big structure engines based on diesel engines,” said Hanatech CEO Jeong Kyoon. “It’s very difficult to buy LPG engines in Korea.”

As a result of Japan’s 2011 earthquake and subsequent Tsunami, the country began to rethink its emergency power generation needs. Jeong says this created a demand for LPG-powered generators for internally displaced refugees to use for basic survival needs in temporary arrangements.

Westport's Jun Chung looks at a power generator with a 2.4L LPG engine from Westport. Westport has supplied the Korean-company Hanatech with the engine as a demonstration product.

Westport at Work: Load Lifter

A Canadian company with products working in a range of climates and off-highway applications around the world, Load Lifter designs and manufactures rough terrain forklifts. Their machines are used in a wide range of industries such as construction, mining, forestry, utility and agriculture.

Just over a year ago, Load Lifter’s President Hedley Thomas was researching alternative fuels for diesel engines and came across Westport’s 2.4 litre industrial engine. It runs on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or compressed natural gas (CNG) and integrates multipoint fuel injection (MPI) technology with Hyundai Motor Company's automotive engine platform.

“We decided to give Westport product a try,” said Dave Tughan, Load Lifter’s Operations Manager. “The experience with this engine compared to our past engines has been much better. It performs better and is more technologically advanced.”

Based in Stouffville, Ontario, just east of Toronto, Load Lifter is a family business run by Hedley, his three sons and Dave. Canadian utility companies are among Load Lifter’s customers, who use their forklifts to drive through extreme weather conditions and difficult terrain.

Deep mud? No problem for Load Lifter's forklifts which are designed to work in extreme conditions.

“In our business the primary fuel is diesel,” Dave said. “But there are a lot of applications where people don’t want to use diesel – there’s a perception it’s not as clean.”

Load Lifter’s forklifts are available in both two and four wheel drive. Load Lifter’s customers often work in mud and snow in places like Sherbrooke, Quebec for instance, optimal conditions for the design of their forklifts. By powering the machines with LPG instead of diesel, refueling can be more easily accomplished outside on the worksite by simply switching the propane fuel tank.

“We’re really excited about the relationship with Westport,” Dave said.

If you’d like to learn more about Load Lifter, visit their website at http://www.load-liftermfg.com/welcome.html or Stanmore Equipment, which is the retail division of the company. To learn more about Westport’s industrial 2.4L engine, visit the Westport website.

Load Lifter President Hedley Thomas in front of an LPG-powered forklift.