Dual Fuel And The SUV
By using a mixture of diesel and natural gas, facility
managers can cut down energy costs.
By Brian Kraemer
Hybrid
cars are being promoted by automobile manufacturers
as the clean driving solution. Consumers are slowly
coming around to the notion that a mix of gasoline
and hydrogen doesn't necessarily mean driving a car
that looks like a cross between something out of "Close
Encounters of the Third Kind" and a peanut. In
fact, rising gas prices are helping to fuel the transition.
Who doesn't want to get close to 50 miles per gallon?
SUV drivers aside, no one likes to pay for gas.
These days, facility managers have the option of
driving a hybrid. Simple modifications to generators
in the building can help stretch the legs of diesel
engines. Raul Llanos, president of Ft. Lauderdale,
FL, based Innovative Technology Group (ITG) believes
that a system of diesel gas generators with an infusion
of natural gas (called dual fuel) will help facility
managers save money and reduce emissions.
The process of switching to a dual fuel system is
a simple one. "There are no changes to the engine,"
says Llanos. "It's totally transparent and safe."
However, before the system can begin running, a few
cosmetic concerns have to be addressed. A gas train
needs to be run to the generator so the natural gas
can be delivered. Then a programmable logic control
(PLC) is mounted in conjunction with sensors that
feed data back to it. The guts of the engine remain
the same-there are just a few more accessories.
"Typically we complete the installation over
three or four days," Llanos continues. "There
is no down time on the engine. We are able to complete
the process even with the engine in operation we may
require half a day to tune in the dual fuel system."
The addition of a dual fuel system will have an immediate
impact on the bottom line energy costs of a facility
manager. Instead of having to purchase a large amount
of diesel to run the generator all day, dual fuel's
PLC helps mitigate those costs.
"The essence of dual fuel is to understand combustion
dynamics, or simply stated, knowing how to burn and
administer the gas in the engine," Llanos says.
By using engine modeling and computational fluid dynamics,
nearly any diesel engine can be converted.
"The PLC has all the algorithms and programs
to ensure the gas is administered correctly into the
engine," says Llanos. Instead of running at 100%
diesel with the costs entailed in purchasing that
many gallons of fuel, a facility manager can reduce
the upfront cost by a predetermined amount.
The process begins by adding natural gas in increments
to the mix to determine the best operational parameters
for the engine. Twenty percent will be increased to
30%, 40%, and so on until the right combination is
found. "People have the misconception that the
more natural gas you can substitute into the engine,
the better it runs," says Llanos. "That's
not true. Each engine has a sweet spot where optimal
performance can be achieved."
Now, instead of paying for 200 gallons of diesel,
a facility running a dual fuel system at a substitution
rate of 50% can purchase 100 gallons of diesel, substitute
the rest of the fuel with natural gas, and save the
difference.
Once installation is complete, the benefits of the
system become apparent to the user. "It's very
rugged," Llanos relates. "It provides you
with the virtues of natural gas and the virtues of
diesel."
In addition to being cost effective, the impact
of natural gas on the environment is significantly
less than diesel. "Think of the black smoke you
see pouring out of a school bus," says Llanos.
"If that engine were replaced by a dual fuel
system, most of that exhaust would be eliminated."
The same is true of facilities.
Protecting the environment is an important matter,
but this system offers another way to save money.
This approach is called peak shaving.
"During the day you have high demand electrical
consumption by facilities," Llanos says. "Everyone
gets up in the morning and starts running their equipment.
The cost of electricity is significantly higher during
those peak demand hours." But if a facility has
an emergency generator with adequate transfer switches
running a dual fuel system, the facility manager can
run the back up generators during peak hours to curtail
energy costs.
However, natural gas engines have more uses than
just peak shaving and saving the environment. The
dual fuel system is also useful in disaster situations.
"Take for example," Llanos continues "the
four hurricanes that hit Florida late in '04. There
was a period of time where no supplies were reaching
certain parts of the state. A facility that had a
dual fuel system already installed could still ramp
up generators and run some systems."
A second disaster to consider is the East Coast blackout.
If facility managers had the system installed, the
amount of money a given company lost would have been
significantly less.
In this respect, dual fuel is like having a gas can
and road flares in the trunk of a car. By investing
in a back up generator that does not require mass
amounts of expensive fuel, a facility manager saves
the company money in two ways. First, the amount the
paid for fuel is reduced because of the natural gas/diesel
fuel mixture. Second, by ensuring that the back up
generator will be able to create power inexpensively,
a company will never shut down due to blackout or
disaster.
The dual fuel technology is a lot like car shopping.
Sure, there's always the options of the 50 megaton
truck or the hybrid. Its a personal choice. Facility
managers have the same options in choosing generators.
They can choose ones that function on natural gas
and save both money and the environment, or not. It
may not be as sexy as driving down the road elevated
10' in the air, but it is more efficient.
Do you know about a material revolution
that has changed the way facility managers think?
E-mail your comments to bkraemer@groupc.com.
