USA, Houston

Silver Eagle Distributors, Houston’s largest Anheuser Busch (AB) Distributor and second largest AB distributor in the United States, consistently demonstrates its passion to improve the health of its customers and communities while improving operational costs using alternative fuels. Mr. Ed Pritchard (Vice President, Fleet Operations and Purchasing) , shares the company’s experiences operating the natural gas powered Phoenix NG 7.6L engine, manufactured by Emissions Solutions Inc (ESI), in the following edited transcript of an interview with business writer William Atkinson.

Q: Why are you involved in these trials with compressed natural gas (CNG) engines?

A: Silver Eagle has great interest in exploring any certified alternative fuel technology. We feel a great responsibility to minimize the impact our fleet has on air quality and the environment as a result of delivering our products. However, we have some specific requirements. We look for opportunities that are durable, cost-effective, and certified to perform as claimed. With our CNG trucks, we hope to demonstrate increased fuel efficiency, lower fuel costs, extended oil drain intervals that will generate less waste, and, finally, a very dramatic reduction in tailpipe emissions.

Q:  Was it difficult to repower the trucks (e.g. removing the diesel systems and tanks, installing CNG tanks and fueling systems)?

A:  We did the repower on both trucks simultaneously in our shop. We thought this would be a great way for our technicians to become familiar with the technology and, at the same time, get their buy-in. We are fortunate to have very skilled and dedicated technicians. The removal of the diesel engines and all fueling components was simply routine. After thoroughly cleaning and detailing the chassis and engine compartment, we began installation of the CNG engines. The entire conversion process took five days for both trucks. ESI was on hand for the merging of the engine harnesses, as well as ECM programming in the start-up process. Installation of the CNG tanks and all fuel lines are specialized activities that require certification. As such, we had a company named EnviroMECH from California on hand for this part of the installation process, because they are certified to do this work, including custom-fitting the stainless steel lines. The entire conversion process went quickly, and it was a quality job when complete, both in terms of the components used and the workmanship. These are truly impressive units to look at. You can clearly see that everyone involved took great pride in the project.

Q:  How do you compare the CNG trucks against diesels in terms of torque, acceleration, noise, and smell?

A:  The CNG units have a noticeable improved torque performance which is established at 660 foot-pounds. CNG units have better acceleration due to reaching the torque and horsepower at a lower RPM than diesel. The factory diesel horsepower rating was established at 250hp/660 lbs-ft. The CNG engines are putting out 250 horsepower, although the CNG engines can be mapped to 265hp @ 820lb-ft. With regards to noise, the CNG units are much quieter. In fact, once the air tanks reach maximum PSI, the air compressor cuts off, and you can barely hear any noise from the engine at all. The sound coming from the tailpipe is very low-toned and unobtrusive. With regards to smell, there is basically no odor coming from the exhaust system at all. The only exception is that, depending on certain weather conditions and humidity, you may see and smell condensation burning off during warm-up.

Q:  What has driver acceptance been like?

A:  Our drivers were skeptical at first, because they were anticipating low power and had concerns about dependability. However, after the first few days on their routes, our drivers tended to get pretty anxious if we put them back in diesel units. They really appreciate the power torque and other driving characteristics.

Q:  Any comments on CNG fill-up ease and fill-up time?

A:  We are fortunate in that there is a public access CNG fueling station next door to our facility. We have had no problem for our drivers to access the fueling station and to fuel when needed. We fuel our CNG trucks at 3,600 pounds per square inch. Our CNG trucks hold the equivalent of 31 gallons of diesel fuel, so the fueling time generally runs about 15 minutes per unit. Our drivers are certified on proper fueling procedures for safety reasons. In sum, the fueling process is easy and basically a non-issue.

Q:  How has your engine supplier been as a vendor and in terms of customer service and support?

A: We, like most fleet operations, have high expectations of all of our vendors. We also tend to be skeptical of vendors until they prove themselves. We visited ESI headquarters in McKinney, Texas, to see what they were really all about. In any business setting, there must be a mutual respect on both sides. We are comfortable at this point that we have that with ESI.

Q:  What is being learned?

A:  Right now, we still consider this to be a demonstration project. However, we are very excited about the potential of this technology in our fleet for specific routes and possibly some other applications as well. We are still gathering data to determine fuel efficiency, long-term maintenance costs, and durability.

Q:  What can be improved?

A:  It's hard to say at this point. We have had one plug wire failure in roughly 12,000 miles of operation. So far, that's about the only problem we've had. With the two-year parts and labor warranty on the CNG engines, we are pretty confident that there won't be any costly repairs upsetting our operating budget over the short term.

Q:  What would it take to consider repowering more trucks?

A:  We are planning to continue to evaluate the performance and operating costs for the remainder of 2007. Assuming that these trucks continue to perform well and meet our expectations, we will probably make a decision to convert more units in 2008.

For more information contact Emission Solutions, Inc.