Mcneilus Tapped To Modify California Mixers For Natural Gas Power

SCAQMD has approved funds to demonstrate a prototype natural gas-powered concrete mixer to help reduce emissions from the construction sector

Source: South Coast Air Quality Management District, Diamond Bar, Calif.

SCAQMD has approved funds to demonstrate a prototype natural gas-powered concrete mixer to help reduce emissions from the construction sector. McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing Co. has been contracted to modify a prospective commercial mixer truck to be powered by compressed natural gas (CNG). The project includes creating and conducting a six-month testing program and developing documentation for its maintenance and operational use. The total project cost is estimated at $380,000, with the SCAQMD’s share not to exceed $100,000 from its Clean Fuels Fund. All CNG modifications will be handled at McNeilusÌ Dodge Center, Minn., headquarters.

Robertson’s Ready Mix Concrete, a major southern California producer, is currently demonstrating a non-commercial prototype mixer running on natural gas. Company officials are considering purchasing as many as 100 natural gas-powered vehicles if the demonstration project proves successful.

According to SCAQMD, heavy-duty trucks are among the largest contributors of smog-forming pollutants in the Los Angeles South Coast Air Basin, but strides are being made to facilitate the commercialization of low-NOx and -PM (particulate matter) natural gas engine technology to achieve federal clean air goals. But currently, no original equipment manufacturer produces a concrete truck with a natural gas-powered engine. We are looking forward to making this type of clean-fuel truck widely available to construction companies interested in promoting clean energy, said William A. Burke, Ed.D., governing board chairman of SCAQMD. It’s important to have natural gas vehicles for all applications, including heavy-duty construction equipment, and this is a great example of how clean fuel technology is spreading to all kinds of vehicles.

There are about 4,700 mixer trucks in the South Coast Basin, with the trucks typically operating with 350-hp, diesel-fueled engines. Mixers represent 4 percent of the total vehicular PM emissions in the region, SCAQMD officials contend. The natural gas engine in this demonstration project already meets the 2010 heavy-duty engine emission standards, making the prototype the country’s cleanest operating mixer truck. Û www.mcneilusconcrete.com