Clean
Air Power (CAP) of Aston Way, Leyland, Lancs., UK, is hoping that by teaming
with Ricardo the two companies can develop new products to serve the growing
market for dual-fuel powered commercial vehicles.
CAP, a global leader in
dual-fuel technology, has signed up with Ricardo Inc. in the US to further
develop the dual-fuel engine technology business.
The agreement aims to bring
together CAP's dual-fuel technology of compression ignited diesel engines that
use natural gas with diesel pilot ignition and Ricardo’s systems integration
expertise. Ricardo is headquartered at Shoreham, UK.
Natural gas powered
vehicles (using CNG or LNG) are seen as a potential growth market in North
America. CAP already has an operation in
the US in Poway, California.
In August, CAP’s UK business
proved successful in securing an additional £5 million in capital funding
through a share placement. The same month it disclosed a deal with United
Parcels Service (UPS) in the US which agreed to “in-use operation” of CAP’s Genesis
technology on Volvo D13 and Mack MP8 engines.
CAP's dual-fuel system
enables heavy duty vehicles to operate primarily on natural gas, with diesel
fuel acting as a 'liquid spark plug'. The diesel engine is basically unchanged,
and retains its high performance and high efficiency four-stroke diesel cycle. If
the natural gas runs out, the system changes seamlessly to operate on 100 per cent
diesel, providing complete diesel operational backup.
The aim is to reduce the diesel percentage of the gas-diesel mixture,
from somewhere in the region of 12 or 15 per cent to a level closer ideally to
five per cent.
As system integrator,
Ricardo will use its full-vehicle knowledge, engine design and controls
experience, and system modelling capabilities to ensure that CAP's dual fuel
system meets the fit, form and function requirements of complete vehicles.
"Natural gas in a dual-fuel
application offers both fuel economy and cost savings to the large and heavy
duty engine industry," claimed Tom Apostolos, president of Ricardo’s US
business Ricardo Inc. "This agreement will help our global clients to
achieve those savings more quickly, with reduced development time and robust
system integration. We are pleased to be working with CAP as a system
integrator for their patented dual-fuel technology."
John Pettitt, chief executive
of Clean Air Power, noted that “Ricardo is a world renowned engineering company
and this co-operation agreement offers further validation of the quality and
reliability of our dual fuel technology. Our medium term strategy is to develop
further OEM relationships. Through this agreement we have access to the
resources and engineering expertise needed to develop additional new OEM
products, based on our dual fuel technology, to meet the growing interest in
natural gas vehicles amongst manufacturers.
CAP hopes that by teaming
up with Ricardo in the US it will be able to place its dual-fuel system at the
forefront of the growing trend to adopting natural gas as a road fuel. ∎
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