The Energy Commission earlier funded CWI to develop a 6.7-liter stoichiometric spark ignited (SI) natural gas engine now referred to as the ISB6.7 G. This engine is scheduled for full production in April of 2016 and is suited for Class 5 through 7 commercial vehicle markets including pickup and delivery trucks, utility trucks, school buses, shuttle buses, yard tractors, and specialized municipal works vehicles such as street sweepers.

The production launch of the ISB6.7 G will start with Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partner Thomas Built Bus in the C2 school bus platform. Further integration work is required to expand the vehicle OEM offerings of this engine in the Medium-Heavy Duty market.

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resource Board (CARB) require On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) to be implemented in heavy-duty alternative fueled vehicles for the 2018 model year. Heavy-duty diesel vehicles were required to implement OBD for model year 2013 vehicles while implementation in alternative fueled heavy duty vehicles was delayed till 2018 due to the development burden of this new level of diagnostics and the comparatively small volume of heavy-duty alternative fueled vehicles being manufactured.

The OBD system monitors all emissions impacting components on the vehicle to ensure the vehicle remains below pre-determined emissions thresholds throughout the life of the vehicle. OBD also aides with the diagnosis of emissions related faults and repair of emissions equipment. This in turn protects the environment from excess emissions due to engine issues and prevents costly progressive engine damage.

If an issue is detected by the OBD system, the operator is notified through a “Check Engine” warning on the vehicle dash and the operator is expected to bring the vehicle in for repair. The OBD system stores information about the fault and relays this information to a technician when connected to the engine control unit. This allows for more efficient troubleshooting and quicker and more accurate repairs. Development of HD-OBD to meet 2018 EPA & CARB regulations for alternative fueled heavy duty vehicles is required for continued sales and market expansion from 1 January 2018 and beyond.

GTI and its subcontractor CWI will use the production model year 2016 ISB6.7 G SI natural gas engine and further develop an advanced version of this engine with HD-OBD to meet 2018 EPA & CARB regulations for alternative fueled heavy duty vehicles.

A number of tasks will be completed to address integration issues currently preventing the ISB6.7 G from being utilized in vehicle OEM models such as street sweepers and shuttle buses. These tasks will further expand available engine options such as a remote mounted engine control unit (ECU) which allows the ISB6.7 G to work within existing vehicle chassis and also the compatibility with a hydrostatic drive which was utilized in street sweeper applications.

This engine will then be deployed in a number of vehicles in multiple applications including street sweeper, shuttle bus and school bus in California where the development tasks conducted will be utilized in real world operation and validated over a variety of duty cycles applicable to those vehicles (i.e. Shuttle Bus, Sweeper, and School Bus) with the performance measured and assessed. CWI will be targeting existing end-users of CWI ISB6.7 G engines and also those that may currently be utilizing ISB6.7 diesel engines and wanting to convert their fleet to natural gas.

The California Energy Commission also awarded GTI two grants totaling nearly $2 million to demonstrate new waste heat recovery systems for industrial furnaces and steam boilers. Joseph Gallo Farms received a $1-million grant to demonstrate a waste heat recovery system using advanced absorption chiller technology, and ergSol Inc. received a $1-million grant to demonstrate an integrated high-efficient solar thermal system in the Central Valley.

The City of Petaluma received a $3 million grant to design and operate an anaerobic digestion system to produce 150,000 gasoline gallon equivalents of renewable natural gas from food and beverage waste and use the gas to fuel refuse trucks. The goal is to recycle waste and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.