LNG - the 'cool' alternative in the fuel portfolio of CVs: Advantages and disadvantages of liquefied natural gas in heavy commercial vehicles

摘要

To date natural gas has managed itself as a fuel only in a few transport segments. In the field of heavy commercial vehicles, natural gas primarily applies to city buses. These provide customers with the opportunity of reducing the environmental impact with cost-effective operation at the same time. The "Bus of the Year 2015" award for the articulated MAN Lion's City CNG is visible proof of this and acknowledgement of the importance of NG drives. The greatest changes for future energy supply will be the result of extracting natural gas from unconventional deposits as well as its global transportation in liquid/cryogenic form by ship. The sales market in Europe, which until recently was strongly shaped by long-term supply contracts, is increasingly developing into a spot market similar to that of crude oil and is enhancing the market potential for natural gas in passenger and goods transportation by road. In vehicles natural gas is currently used mainly as compressed natural gas (CNG). Natural gas in cryogenic, liquefied form (LNG) offers a considerably higher energy density. As a result, LNG is opening up new application fields in long-haul transport and for vehicles with limited assembly spaces. New energy sources must meet high requirements in terms of availability, flexibility and profitability for use in long-haul transport. One interesting possible solution is "DualFuel" drive technology. In this way a high efficiency and power density comparable to those of the diesel engine can be achieved, which has a positive effect both on overall costs and climate. For this reason, MAN is involved in developing future natural gas vehicles with the construction of a LNG DualFuel long-haul truck as part of the European research programme, Horizon 2020. Thanks to the EU Directive 2014/94/EU regarding the construction of a CNG/LNG infrastructure on the main traffic axes of Europe, the European Commission has planned an important step for the expansion of the vehicle market for natural gas and thereby reduces the high dependency on crude oil-based energy supply.