Landi Renzo has its dual-fuel kit installed in a Fiat Doblo, on display at NGV 2010.
Landi Renzo SpA has been working on what could soon be the first available dual-fuel CNG/diesel conversion kit for light-duty vehicles. Speaking at NGV 2010 in Rome on the topic of The Power of Dual-Fuel as part of the Dual-Fuel and Fuel Blends conference session, Daniele Ceccarini, Research and Development Manager, explained, “It is not a new idea. What is new is the approach, the technical approach.” The company has been working on a reconfiguration of the technology associated with natural gas vehicle retrofits, carrying out simulations to study the various impacts on efficient fuel utilisation and system durability.
The new kit is a result of multi-variable optimization, addressing identified performance issues including injection timing and boost control using tools like combustion fluid dynamics (CFD).
Ceccarini says their dual-fuel system will lower particulate matter and CO2 emissions, and reduce cost and maintenance cycles while increasing vehicle range – a win:win position for the end-user. Also, the cost will be similar to standard CNG kits.
The kit has also been designed to increase the life of older diesel engines.
“We want to maximise the use of CNG. We want to minimise particulate matter,” Ceccarini concluded. In Europe homologation of dual-fuel vehicles is currently problematic as existing rules do not cater for fuels with variability. Efforts are now underway to address this issue, both in the light and heavy duty arenas.
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