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innovation
New filter technology will help power the greater use of
natural gas to fuel vehicles.
The high-pressure natural gas filter developed by Omnitek
Engineering has been certified by the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe – the UN-ECE-110R. This certification is
expected to help the company expand its market internationally,
with a number of light and heavy vehicle manufacturers opting for
the filter. Already, Indian OEM, Tata Motors is fitting the compressed
natural gas filter as an original equipment part.
“The filter is a critical component of a compressed natural gas
system, providing protection from solid particulate matter and oil
aerosols which can damage fuel injections, carburetors and regulators.
In addition to Tata, numerous OEM customers report superior
performance from Omnitek’s multi-layer filter element over
competing brands and we look forward to expanding
“
We can now
cover every engine
from one cylinder
to 16 cylinders.
”
Werner Funk, president and
chief executive officer of Omnitek
Engineering Corporation.
our customer base with this international certification,”
says Werner Funk, president and chief executive officer of
Omnitek Engineering Corporation.
The company says that across the world, there are 11 million
light and heavy duty vehicles that run on compressed natural gas
or CNG, with one million being added to this number annually.
According to Omnitek, many developing nations with readily
available natural gas from indigenous sources are shifting to
CNG. Omnitek has developed a system to convert any existing
diesel engine to a clean-burning natural gas engine at a fraction
of the cost of a new engine. Omnitek estimates that ten million
diesel engines around the world can be converted using the
Omnitek Diesel-to-Natural Gas Conversion System while still
offering ROI.
Converting
diesel engines to
natural gas By: Jon Knox
Automotive Industries asked Funk what his general
criteria are for taking on the repowering of an engine?
Funk: We go through a checklist which includes: driving range;
space for CNG tanks; power needed (CNG may have five to ten
percent lower power than diesel); condition of the engine; and can
the engine be converted. After it is checked we either convert the
engine or sell the customer a new natural gas engine. We are picky
since there are so many diesel engines out there looking to be
converted to natural gas.
AI: Do you do many re-powering jobs on relatively new
diesel engines? If so, how will you deal with the latest diesel
engine developments such as on-board-diagnostics or the
addition of emissions control systems such as selective
catalytic reduction (SCR) systems?
Funk: Most engines are over five years old.
Customers wait out the warranty period when
they own the vehicle. Our system is OE
quality and we offer our own on-boarddiagnostics.
Our system communicates
over the CANbus and can control all
CAN functions such as automatic
transmission, electronic dashboard,
cruise control, etc. We would
remove the SCR system since this
Nox controlling technology is not
needed with natural gas and threeway
catalytic converter.
AI: Which countries are the
principal growth markets for
NGVs and for Omnitek?
Funk: The largest amount of vehicles
we have converted are located in Southeast
Asia. Now it looks like our business will
shift to South America and Eastern Europe. We
are also seeing great progress in the USA where
we have started several projects in recent months.
AI: Do customers receive government incentives for
the conversion to CNG in any of the countries?
Funk: Most of the natural gas conversions in the USA are
supported by government incentives in one form or another. In
other countries incentives take many forms – usually as low or no
interest loans and fuel subsidies.
AI: Many of the strongest growth markets are also highly
price sensitive. How is this affecting the degree to which
Omnitek can do a relatively complicated and expensive
engine conversion (repowering)?
Funk: We perform conversions in Myanmar, Thailand, Peru,
USA and Europe so price is not always the most important factor.
I think reliability and fuel savings are much more important.
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