Cenex is providing independent monitoring and technical support to Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE), during the trial of a dedicated gas 21 tonne Iveco Stralis powered with biomethane produced from a landfill site in Surrey. It marks the first biomethane powered commercial vehicle to be operated anywhere in the world by CCE and the first such vehicle to be operated in the UK.
Biomethane
CCE selected biomethane due to the significant carbon savings available from the alternative transport fuel which can used in unmodified natural gas powered vehicles.
CCE receives the fuel from the GasRec reclamation site in Surrey, where gas produced during the decomposition of organic waste in a landfill is collected and upgraded to biomethane. The biomethane arrives at the Coca-Cola depot as an easy transportable liquid, which is then stored on site and delivered into the vehicle as a compressed gas when required.
Biomethane dispensing equipment installed at the Enfield distribution depot, showing the liquid storage unit (1), evaporator (2), compressor (3), compressed gas storage cylinders (4) and fast fill dispenser (5).
|
Monitoring and drive cycle development
Cenex is providing independent monitoring of the gas vehicle performance and comparing this data to diesel powered delivery vehicles in the CCE fleet. The vehicles are being operated from the CCE distribution centre in Enfield making daily deliveries into central London and surrounding areas of Essex and Reading.
In addition to monitoring the real world performance of the vehicles, Cenex is providing data logging equipment to accurately monitor vehicle speed, position and selected engine parameters. This data will be used to develop a drive cycle that is statistically representative of Coca-Cola delivery duties. Using this drive cycle the standard diesel delivery vehicles can be compared with the biomethane powered vehicle and other low carbon technologies on a rolling road in a vehicle testing laboratory. This will allow accurate comparison and assessment of the fuel consumption, carbon dioxide and air quality emission performance of the vehicles with external sources of variation such as driving style, traffic flow and route variation removed.
Example drive cycle showing vehicle speed versus time for three operational duty cycles
|
Partners
The drive cycle development and trial monitoring project is being supported by a number of organisations. Cenex; Iveco, the vehicle manufacture; GasRec, the supplier of biomethane; and Lysander, the supplier of Eco-driving aid equipment.
Trial dissemination
Cenex will be disseminating the results of the trial in 2011, to reserve your free soft copy of the trial report please email technical@cenex.co.uk with ‘Coca-Cola trial report’ as the subject line.