Prospects for the Use of Liquefied Natural Gas as a Motor Fuel for Haul Trucks

Abstract

The state-of-the-art of efficiency and relevance of the use of liquefied natural gas as a motor fuel for truck operation is considered. A brief analysis of economic and environmental benefits of using liquefied natural gas as a motor fuel is conducted. It is noted that liquefied natural gas seems to be the most promising alternative to oil fuels for high-payload-capacity haul trucks. It is affirmed that for the first time in Russia, in Kuzbass, OOO “Siber-Energo” successfully implemented an integrated project for the production of liquefied natural gas and its consumption in relation to high-payload-capacity BelAZ haul trucks. The data on the assessment of the energy intensity of the process of rock mass hauling by high-payload-capacity BelAZ 75131 haul trucks equipped with on-board cryogenic fuel system are presented. The data show that the energy intensity of the process of rock mass hauling by dual-fuel (gas-diesel) haul trucks is much less than that of diesel-powered haul trucks. It is said that, according to the energy criterion for evaluating the operation, it is more efficient to use haul trucks running on gas-diesel mixture.