KAMAZ participated at GasSuf 2022, the only international specialized exhibition of CNG, LPG, gas vehicles and refueling equipment in Russia, which took place on 25-27 October in Moscow. For many years, the Russian company has been building truck and passenger vehicles running on CNG and LNG, and it is a regular participant of GasSuf.
During the panel session “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 NGV market. One of the speakers was Evgeny Pronin, Director of Gas Engine Vehicles at KAMAZ PTC.
As he 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,” said Pronin.
KAMAZ PTC arranged the mass production of a wide range of vehicles and buses running both on CNG and LNG. 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.
Pronin informed that technical specifications of KAMAZ natural gas vehicles had reached those of diesel ones. Thus, whereas only several years ago, a 12-liter KAMAZ engine generated only 240 hp, now a new R6 gas engine of the same liter capacity produces 450 hp. The use of CNG ensures the range of a gas-engine truck 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, which is still the company’s priority strategic activity. The Russian producers continue supplying KAMAZ a whole set of components for the manufacture of these vehicles. 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 NGV production is boosting. The fleet of natural gas vehicles and buses produced at the enterprise numbers over 17,000 units,” concluded Pronin.
Source: KAMAZ
