The diversity of natural gas as a transport fuel is to be demonstrated
yet again, this time with liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be applied to
heavy-duty mining trucks in Australia. Westport Innovations Inc. of
Canada and Energy Developments Limited of Queensland, Australia, have
signed a new exclusive agreement for the next phase of a High Pressure
Direct Injection (HPDI) development program established earlier this
year.
The programme involves the application of Westport’s proprietary
HPDI technology to allow large mine trucks to operate on liquefied
natural gas (LNG). The two companies have completed the initial
feasibility study commenced in February of this year. Energy
Developments will now provide A$150,000 (approximately C$130,000) to
Westport for the completion of a detailed programme plan and budget,
and a joint business plan for the commercialization of the LNG mine
truck retrofit product. Energy Developments intends to present
these plans to its Board of Directors by the end of the first quarter
of 2006.
The proposed programme forms part of Energy Developments’ plans for
expanding LNG production and distribution in Australia. The
abundance of stable, competitively-priced natural gas resources in
Australia provides a significant economic incentive for LNG relative to
the expected continuation of relatively high diesel fuel prices.
Australian mines operate a significant portion of the world’s mine
trucks that typically haul over 200 tonnes per truckload. These
vehicles utilize high horsepower diesel engines that generate upwards
of 2,000 horsepower and each truck can consume over one million litres
of diesel fuel per year.
According to a Westport Innovations press release, HPDI delivers the
high performance and high efficiency requirements of off-road
applications such as mine trucks and railway locomotives. With
HPDI engines, approximately 95% of the diesel fuel consumed in a diesel
engine is displaced with natural gas. A 150-truck fleet of mine
trucks with HPDI natural gas engines could achieve emissions reductions
of approximately 21,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxides, 1,000 tonnes of
particulate matter, and one million tonnes of greenhouse gases over the
life of the fleet.
Information supplied by Westport Innovations
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