NEWS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Making gas-powered
N
GV Gas, the natural gas provider
of commercial fleets and a
division of CNG Holdings, is
enabling the growth of gas-powered
transport in South Africa through a
rapidly expanding compressed natural
gas distribution network of stand-alone
and in-house fuelling stations in Gauteng
and KwaZulu-Natal.
Natural gas — widely used in motor
vehicles across most of the rest of the
world — is significantly more cost-effective,
safer, and cleaner than other conventional
fossil fuels. Its introduction into South
Africa’s transport industry is helping vehicle
and fleet owners to improve the running
costs and performance of their fleets.
Already, over 950 taxis, 100 municipal
buses, police cars, fleets of delivery
vehicles, as well as forklifts around
Gauteng have been converted to run
on compressed natural gas by NGV Gas.
These vehicles are seeing between 20%
and 40% reductions in fuel costs (see
Table 1).
NGV Gas’ fuelling stations are
strategically located in Langlaagte,
Soweto, Pretoria, and Vanderbijlpark,
with future stations targeting Mamelodi,
additional areas in Soweto, Johannesburg
CBD, Midrand and Thembisa. It has also
retrofitted existing commercial fuelling
stations with natural gas dispensers.
In addition to these dedicated and
retrofitted fuelling stations, the company
installs turnkey in-house filling stations for
centralised fleets, regardless of whether
these can be geographically serviced by
the existing gas pipeline or not. In the latter
case, a continuous road-based transport
system of gas trailer modules, each
storing compressed natural gas, ensures a
constant supply at custom er sites.
Vehicle conversion kits, consisting
of the cylinder, injectors, filling nozzle,
inlet manifold, regulator, and ECU, are
installed by South African Gas Association
(SAGA)-qualified and South African
Qualification & Certification Committee
(SAQCC)-certificated NGV Gas units.
Drivers pay only R8.99ℓ/eq for their gas
usage, with further discounts offered on
larger fleet consumers.
Besides the far cheaper per-unit cost of
natural gas, it is one of the safest transport
fuels available. Significantly lighter than
air, natural gas does not pool in the
case of a vehicle accident like its petrol,
diesel, and LPG counterparts, and has
a high auto combustion temperature of
approximately 600°C.
It is much cleaner than petrol and
diesel, with up to 27% less CO 2 , NO X , HC
and PM emitted compared to other
fossil fuels. This is not just of environmental
importance; the cleaner fuel significantly
lowers vehicle maintenance and running
costs, with less contamination and residue
build-up across engine components.
NGV Gas, in partnership with the
Industrial Development Corporation, will
continue to develop the accessibility
of natural gas for motorists and fleet
operators, as the drive for more cost-
effective, safer, and more environmentally
sustainable energy use becomes
increasingly critical. CLA
transport a reality
NGV Gas is expanding its compressed natural gas distribution network of stand-alone
and in-house fuelling stations in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Table 1: Performance and cost comparisons of natural gas against petrol and diesel engines, as demonstrated by six different vehicles
for the period 1 January – 31 December 2016.
Type of vehicle Taxi NP 200 NP 200 Hilux Hilux Hilux
Km travelled 35 426 44 189 27 529 41 482 54 906 28 446
Litres 4 888.79 3 579.31 2 229.85 5 060.80 6 698.53 3 470.41
R/100km (approx.) R170.75 R100.22 R100.22 R150.95 R150.95 R150.95
Total cost R60 490.60 R44 287.98 R27 590.66 R62 619.01 R82 883.17 R42 940.56
Litres 4 053.43 3 703.78 2 134.81 4 297.24 5 975.61 3 265.21
R/100km (approx.) R106.44 R78.94 R68.96 R91.79 R97.83 R114.25
Total cost R37 707.60 R34 883.58 R18 982.79 R38 075.86 R53 714.14 R32 500.70
Savings R22 783 R9 404.40 R8 607.87 R24 543.15 R29 169.03 R10 439.86
37.66% 21.23% 31.20% 39.19% 35.19% 24.31%
Petrol
Mixed (bi-fuel)
COLD LINK AFRICA • November | December 2017
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
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