Italy’s Ecomotive Solutions, a Holdim Group company and engine calibration specialist, has converted a rubber tyred gantry (RTG) Kalmar crane at the Port of Livorno from diesel to dual-fuel using its d-gid platform. The conversion to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)/diesel operation was carried out as part of the Sea Terminals project, which aims to encourage a new culture of port management by introducing eco-efficiency as a key factor, through the reduction of pollutant emissions from all of the vehicles used to move goods.
In this specific case, the transformation that Ecomotive Solutions carried out in collaboration with Global Service, a technical services company for port vehicles, involved an RTG Kalmar crane with a Cummins engine operating at the Terminal Darsena Toscana in Livorno.
The conversion took place through the installation of Ecomotive Solutions’ d-gid (diesel-gas dynamic injection) platform, as well as the insertion of a dedicated tank for storing 600 litres of LNG, which was built by the HVM company in Livorno, and of the complete line set up to transfer gas from the cryogenic tank to the engine, which is another Ecomotive Solutions product.
The return on operating costs proved to be significant, with a 23.8% savings on fuel (based on the cost of diesel fuel at 1€/l and methane at 0,79€/kg). The environment benefits as well with decreases of up to 40% for particulate emissions and 10% for CO2 after the conversion, using tests conducted on similar engines.
The d-gid Dual Fuel platform developed by Ecomotive Solutions is capable of fuelling a diesel engine simultaneously with a mixture of gas (Methane\ Biomethane stored in both compressed CNG form and liquid LNG, and diesel. Application of the d-gid system does not in any way change the nature of the diesel engine, maintaining the initial performance and efficiency; moreover, in the absence of availability of gas, the system automatically returns to operate on 100% diesel.
(Source: Ecomotive Solutions)
