The managers and specialists of KAMAZ PTC took part in the 20th jubilee International Exhibition of CNG, LNG, LPG, gas refueling equipment and gas vehicles took place in Moscow on October 25-27.
For many years, KAMAZ has been producing truck and passenger vehicles running on compressed and liquefied natural gas. And it is a regular participant of the GasSuf exhibition. The business program included the panel session titled “How will new projects for expansion of gas refueling infrastructure and consumption of gas engine fuel develop under new conditions?”. The participants discussed the current situation and development prospects of the gas engine fuel market. One of the speakers of the event was Director for Gas Engine Vehicles of KAMAZ PTC Evgeny Pronin.
As the manager noted, nowadays the automobile transport is globally switching from the monopoly of liquid fuel to polygamy of energy sources, therefore KAMAZ is actively working on the development and organization of production of appropriate vehicles. With all that, according to the Energy Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, natural gas is to dominate among all available alternatives to traditional fuel in the transport sector of the Russian Federation.
“Gas vehicles proved to be efficient and are already a full-fledged alternative to diesel ones. Moreover, the need to switch to a wide use of gas fuel under today’s difficult economic conditions is rapidly growing. It enables at minimum expense to still follow the strategy of low-carbon development, not putting the emission standard of produced vehicles lower than Euro 5, due to their simple engine design, neutralization system and availability of all necessary components,” told Evgeny Pronin.
KAMAZ PTC arranged the mass production of a wide range of vehicles and buses running both on compressed and liquefied natural gas. At the same time, it achieved high productivity thanks to a single production flow for natural gas and diesel vehicles, only gas equipment is mounted separately.
Evgeny Pronin informed that technical specifications of KAMAZ gas-engine vehicles had reached those of diesel ones. Thus, whereas only several years ago, a 12-litre KAMAZ engine generated only 240 hp, now a new R6 gas engine of the same litre capacity produces 450 horsepower. The use of CNG ensures the range of a gas-engine truck tractor comparable with that of its diesel analogue. An additional advantage is a simple exhaust gas post-processing system represented by a two-component filter located right in a muffler. As a result, it is 205 kg lighter than the system of a diesel engine with AD Blue and requires no maintenance.
New consequences related to Western sanctions had a minor impact on the production of KAMAZ NGVs. The development of the gas vehicle line is still the company’s priority strategic activity. The Russian producers continue supplying a whole set of components for the KAMAZ NGV production. As for imported items, the current situation has urged to take timely steps to replace the majority of them with Russian-made analogues.
“Our experience proves that natural gas is already an absolute alternative to traditional fuels. KAMAZ’s NGV production is boosting. The fleet of natural gas vehicles and buses produced at the enterprise numbers over 17 thousand units,” summed up Evgeny Pronin.