C2572 02 Apr-May 06 AW - LP Gas Magazine

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AUTOGAS Reaching Out to Europe Recognising the dominance of one tank manufacturer in the UK market, Walker Autogas, after a management restructure, decided to break the mould and look for a new supplier. The company selected Atrama from Lithuania and Step from Turkey as the most likely to succeed. Both companies manufacture a comprehensive range of single hole tanks, with four hole tanks to follow later this year, and Step’s tanks are coated with rust resistant Teflon. Since both Lithuania and Turkey have recently become members of the EU, the companies were looking to expand their markets. Walker Autogas also employed a team of management consultants, who proved that the company’s previous autogas conversion equipment supplier was holding the company back through poor quality and reliability. “We approached several companies that did not already export to the UK and very quickly chose e-gas from Italy as the best in all respects,” said Simon Hardy, Budget Result The Chancellor announced in his Budget in March that, from September 1 2006, duty rates on lpg will increase by 2.25 pence per litre to reduce the differential between lpg and petrol/diesel by 1 pence per litre, and that the differential will be reduced by 1 pence per litre per year until 2008/9. “Three years ago, the Government announced that they were going to reduce the duty differential between lpg and petrol/diesel by 1 pence per litre per annum, and this September will be the first time that this has director at Walker Autogas. “They now give us a product that has an industry leading 24 month unlimited mileage warranty, which we further back up with a labour inclusive warranty for the first 12 months/12,000 miles. “The beauty of the SLY gas system is the ease with which it is calibrated, with a quick set up in the workshop followed by a minimal road test to check the calibration and driveability. Customers report actually happened,” said Tom Fidell, director general of the LPGA. “The Government were looking at trying to catch up on these three years by imposing more than 1 pence per litre, but we put forward a strong case why this should not be implemented, and they have listened to what we said. “We now have certainty on lpg fuel duty rates until 2008/9 and, with the fiscal policy we have in place now, we should continue to see lpg forecourt prices at close to half that of petrol and diesel until at least 2009. “This is a clear message of back to us that they are amazed at how simple it is to set up and they wish they’d had a product like this years ago.” Walker Autogas is also distributing Broquet’s fuel treatment catalyst into the lpg industry, which decreases fuel consumption by promoting more efficient combustion, and removing and inhibiting the build up of carbon deposits, waxes and gums that normally form in the combustion chamber. The product is backed by a 250,000 mile guarantee. “Broquet is a wonderful product that gives many advantages over the current valve saving products that, unfortunately, increase exhaust emissions,” said Simon. “That is exactly the opposite of what the industry needs, since it is the emission reduction that actually keeps the duty on lpg down, fuelling the number of conversions that we all benefit from.” Contact Walker Autogas, trading as e-G@S UK, on 01758 701144 www.walkerautogas.co.uk www.e-gasweb.co.uk support for lpg for the long term that gives motorists and fleet managers the confidence to purchase lpg vehicles and contribute to a cleaner motoring environment.” "The Chancellor actively encouraged drivers to switch to cleaner lpg in past budgets, but now their popularity has grown, he is clawing his money back," said Mark McArthur-Christie, the Association of British Driver's director of policy. "Yet another increase in tax is a severe deterrent to switching to a greener, lpg-powered car." Classic Becomes Oz’s Fastest A classic Holden Monaro has set a record as Australia’s fastest lpg powered vehicle. The 1971 Holden HQ Monaro reached speeds of up to 259km per hour at the Australian Dry Lakes Racers Speedweek at Lake Gairdner in South Australia. The vehicle is owned and built by Dr Don Hudson, who was co-driver with Justin Clarke. The pair were aiming to better 320km per hour but were prevented by bad weather. They set the previous record, 250km per hour, last year. The speed recorded is based on an average speed over a mile. Drivers need to be at a constant speed for about 5km, which can have a dramatic impact on the car and the engine. “The engine was perfect,” said Don. “We changed the heads and the intake manifold, upgraded to a larger size carb and placed an additional gas tank in the car to increase flow. This year we changed the diff gearing so it didn’t have to rev as high for the same speed but, as luck would have it, we were limited by the soft and slippery track and the distance we had to run with.” New Style for Forums Installer Forums will now be held annually and include a trade show after installers’ responses to a questionnaire sent out by the LP Gas Association. The first of the new style events will be held on June 14. The forum, including presentations and open discussion periods, will take place in the morning, with the trade show in the afternoon. Major equipment suppliers with stands at the trade show include Alternatech (Prins), Autogas 2000 (Tartarini), Autogas Worldwide (Romano), CLS (BRC), FES Autogas (OMVL), Jaymic (Zavoli), Millbrook (GM Vauxhall), Nicholson McLaren Engines (AG and Necam) and Walker Autogas (e-gas). Lpg Endurance Record Set Ford New Zealand says it has set the world’s first endurance record for a car running on lpg. The team from Ford Racing Experience travelled 2,449.15km in 24 hours in an lpg XT Falcon, averaging 102.5km per hour around Christchurch’s 2.35km Ruapuna Park raceway. The team – Keith Sharp, Graham Sharp, Anthony Myhre and Mark Babb – says it set records at the sixhour mark of 620.88km; the 12-hour mark of 1,238.16km, and the 18- hour mark of 1,858.23km during 1,043 laps of the circuit. The team used 850 litres of fuel, stopping 11 times during 24 hours to fill up. The brake pads were changed three times. “This is a fantastic achievement for the Ford-Rockgas endurance challenge team and highlights lpg as a cheap, clean and user friendly alternative fuel source,” said Keith Sharp, director of Ford Racing Experience and a member of the team. “We were extremely impressed with this standard Falcon road car – it was tight and as strong at the end of the 24 hours as it was at the beginning. It didn’t skip a beat and we didn’t even have to pop the bonnet to change the oil.” The record run will stand when it is ratified by Motorsport New Zealand. 24 LP GAS MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2006
AUTOGAS European Autogas Visits Poland Lpg quadbike from FES Autogas. Quadbikes Go Green The 10th International LPG Gas Forum 2006 was held on March 9- 10 in Warsaw, Poland. It is the most important industry exhibition and conference in Poland and central Europe, says the Forum organiser, BROG Media Biznesu. The conference is designed to keep delegates up to date with decisions on the market's future and those who make them, and learn about developments in Poland and Europe. Over 5,000 delegates visited the exhibition this year. Invitations to visit the exhibition are sent to owners of car garages assembling gas systems, equipment dealers, and representatives of firms and institutions interested in converting their fleets to lpg. Edward and Leighton Davies of Autogas Worldwide attended the exhibition as guests of Stako, an autogas conversion equipment manufacturer based in Poland. Arek Kubasik of Stako said of the exhibition: “Stako was visited by customers from 20 different countries, including the most important, the UK.” FES Autogas has developed a gas system for the Kymco road legal and agricultural quadbike range. Kymco UK chose FES to develop a dedicated autogas system for its quadbikes due to the relationship that FES has with OMVL Italy. The Kymco quadbike range of agricultural and road legal quadbikes can be supplied already converted by FES Autogas or can be retrofitted by one of its approved autogas installers using a model specific kit that comes with full brackets, pipes and comprehensive installation manual for each model. The autogas conversion is recognised by Kymco UK and, if fitted by a trained FES installer, does not affect the quadbikes’ two-year warranty. “Kymco, a leading quadbikes supplier in Europe, is becoming very popular here in the UK, not only with farmers and agricultural users, but also with car drivers wanting a mode of transport that is slightly different,” said Nick Farrow, managing director at FES Autogas. “Road legal quads are taxed as PLG (private light goods) vehicles, the same as cars, so anyone with a car licence can drive one on the road. The gas system uses the latest OMVL lpg products, enabling a fantastic reduction in emissions but, also provides reliability in all driving and weather conditions.” Tank locations and sizes depend on the Kymco model. For future models of two cylinder 450cc to 700cc EFI Quadbikes, FES will be using the recently launched OMVL Piro gas injection system. FES technical manager, Dai Brace, said: “It was great to work on such an interesting project. Our first aim was to achieve a good reduction in exhaust emissions, which we have done. Developing a commercial kit wasn’t as easy as you’d think. “We had to project manage it from start to finish and, very importantly, the gas system had to be reliable and simple to use. Many quads were fitted out and given to farmers and road users and put through hell and back for longevity testing before we were all happy to sign the kits off.“ If you want to try a Kymco quadbike on autogas, FES has a number of demonstration models available. Contact FES Autogas on 08452 301819 www.fesautogas.co.uk Edward Davies, Autogas Worldwide (left), chats to Antonio Romano, Romano Group (right), through an interpreter (centre). LPG Injection Kits for sequential, semi-sequential, full group and mono point engines UK supplier of ATRAMA and Step Tanks also suppliers of: • hoses and fittings • multivalves Email: sales@e-gasweb.co.uk Phone: 01758 701144 www.e-gasweb.co.uk LP GAS MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2006 25
Page 1 and 2: APRIL/MAY 2006 AUTOGAS CONVERSION E
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS APRIL/MAY 2006 LP GAS THE
Page 5 and 6: If It’s autOGas EquIPmEnt It has
Page 7 and 8: What do you do for the LP gas indus
Page 9 and 10: Tankgas Equipment Ltd Specialist St
Page 11 and 12: DIRECTOR GENERAL launch of this at
Page 13 and 14: ZINC SPRAYING spray is perhaps not
Page 15 and 16: PRODUCTS Mitsubishi Launches Lpg Cu
Page 17 and 18: AUTOGAS CONVERSION EQUIPMENT NME Pa
Page 19 and 20: AUTOGAS CONVERSION EQUIPMENT Worldw
Page 22 and 23: AUTOGAS CONVERSION EQUIPMENT FROM H
Page 26 and 27: LPGA FOCUS SPRING MEETING REPORT Ov
Page 28 and 29: WORLD VIEW Nigeria Sets Regulatory
Page 30 and 31: TRAINING ABC OF ADR By Henry Laferl

C2572 02 Apr-May 06 AW - LP Gas Magazine

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