Dual-Fuel CV Test Under Way in U.K.

A U.K. government-funded project to measure the real-world running costs of low-carbon commercial vehicles converted to dual fuel – diesel and compressed natural gas – is under way involving 41 Euro V vehicles from a variety of manufacturers and operators.

Funded by the Department for Transport and the Technology Strategy Board, the aim of the 2-year project is to provide data encouraging road haulers in the U.K. to use low-carbon vehicles,

Vehicle fuel-consumption specialists Emissions Analytics is using its laboratory-grade testing, carried out on the road, to capture extensive data and provide a more complete analysis for the project.

With a quarterly test cycle, the project will test one of each model variant involved in the trial. Each test will be conducted on an identical route, with the vehicles running once on diesel and then on dual fuel the following day.

Emission Analytics CEO Nick Molden says the route will be driven at the same time each day by the same driver, allowing for an accurate comparison between the different vehicles.

“Although dual-fuel commercial vehicles work well on paper, it’s important that we understand the real-world benefits, across the variety of operating conditions they will encounter,” Molden says in a statement.

“Measuring emissions on the road is the only way to quantify those benefits.”

Emissions Analytics will align the data generated during the tests with key information gathered from the vehicle itself. This will show in real time when CNG is being substituted for diesel and the direct effect of the introduction of the gas on emissions.

Assessing the total hydrocarbons, the trials also will detail the emissions during urban stop/start driving and steady-speed motorway driving, as well as cold-start and warm-start idling. Using data obtained from its portable emissions-measurement system, Emissions Analytics will employ its unique analytical model to establish each vehicle’s on-road fuel economy.

It says the data collected this way is far more relevant in the real world than figures obtained from lab-based testing.