Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/99982
Cover Story ���ame, or extremely heated surface, it will ignite. That���s why service facilities that perform natural gas repairs must install and utilize natural gas sensors, says Rick Mendoza, facility design manager at Clean Energy. Placed on the ceiling of a service facility, these sensors are designed to identify natural gas in the facility and immediately trigger a ventilation system that pushes that gas safely out of the building (For more information on building modi���cations, see page 18). CNG and LNG fuel lines also should be shut off when a technician is performing any engine service to avoid interaction with heated components. Technicians also need to understand the slight differences between a natural gas and diesel engine. ���I would say 80 percent to 85 percent of natural gas engine components are straight off a diesel engine,��� Haupt says. ���There isn���t a lot that gets changed.��� The major difference between the two systems is the previously mentioned engine start. Diesel engines are started with a high-pressure ignition system and natural gas engines rely on a spark-ignited start. Davis compares the natural gas think ORANGE improve UPTIME If you���re switching to wide single tires, think orange. The Timken�� 454-Series wheel bearing uses a unique design to help overcome the changes in bearing load and stresses of the wide single tire. When uptime drives the bottom line, Timken is your choice for reliable performance. When we do training we tell [students] that natural gas is different than other fuels. Not more dangerous, just different. Think Orange. www.timken.com Timken�� is a registered trademark of The Timken Company. �� 2012 The Timken Company Text INFO to 205-289-3544 or visit www.tpsdigital.com/info 24 T R U C K PA R T S & S E R V I C E | ��� Bill Davis, assistant director ��� operations at the National Alternative Fuels Training Council January 2013 Taking proper safety precautions is incredibly important when working with natural gas. Here, a technician uses caution while adding lique���ed natural gas (LNG) to a vehicle tank. system to the one used in gasolinepowered passenger cars. He says personal experience is helpful when diesel technicians start training for natural gas service. ���Most of the time we ���nd [technicians] are pretty quick at picking it up because it���s a new system, but it���s not totally foreign to them,��� he says. ���They are used to gasoline engines and spark-ignition systems in their own lives, so they���ve seen it before.��� Natural gas training courses available for heavy-duty technicians focus on these engine differences during a classroom period then are investigated more deeply during hands-on lessons with natural gas engines. Davis says the NAFTC technician training session is ���ve days long; two days in the classroom and three in the shop. Once technicians get into their comfort zone and start working, they���re fast learners. ���Most of them pick it up pretty quick,��� Davis says. ���I think it is easier for them to learn about the sparkignition system than it would be the other way around.��� Engine makers also are excellent sources of information on these systems, adds Horne. ���They are the experts for this technology,��� he says. The more sources you can bring