Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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product reviews, OEM & supplier news and equipment management trends by Jack Roberts Dawn of a 'new' fuel? Volvo unveils DME-based D13 engine V olvo Trucks North America last month unveiled a "new" alternative fuel for heavyduty commercial trucks. Dimethyl Ether (DME) is a methane-based biofuel that actually is fairly common: It is used as a propanehybrid cooking fuel in Asia, as a propellant in bug sprays, in deodorants and even as a refrigerant, among other products. Volvo has been eyeballing DME for several years now. It first was identified as a potential automotive fuel a couple of decades ago by Amoco, but there was little or no impetus to develop the fuel at the time. Today, interest in alternative fuels in North America is booming – so much so that Volvo opted to introduce its new DME D13 engines stateside because the company feels North America is the world leader in alternative fuel technology for trucks. With industry interest in alternative fuels at an all-time high, Volvo felt the moment was right to tell fleets its DME story. DME can be produced from natural gas or from wholly organic stocks like garbage, manure, corn or sawgrass. Volvo's DME initiative works like this: Say you're a poultry farmer and you contract with Volvo's partner, Oberon Fuels, to produce and provide the DME for your truck fleet. Oberon comes to your site and sets up a skid-mounted modular production unit. Chicken manure is fed into the unit and converted chemically into DME – enough to power about 100 trucks a day. Oberon operates and maintains the DME production unit and delivers the fuel to the fleet, where it is stored until it's needed. DME is not a cryogenic high-pressure fuel, nor does it expand as its ambient temperature rises; venting and special thermally optimized fuel tanks and high-pressure fuel systems are not required. I spent a recent morning driving a Volvo VN The truck maker has been eyeballing the fuel for several years. 24 commercial carrier journal 0713_Equipdept_Jack.indd 24 Volvo last month rolled out a VN daycab powered by its new D13 DME engine. The truck maker believes the fuel has a solid future in North America. daycab powered by a D13 DME engine, and I was impressed. As a fuel, nothing ever will beat diesel for powering commercial vehicles, but Ed Saxman, Volvo's marketing manager of alternative fuels, says that although DME has BTU and range shortcomings that new: DME first was Not compared to diesel, identified as a potential automoVolvo feels the fuel's tive fuel a couple of decades ago. performance in those two critical trucking Booming interest: Volvo metrics are superior feels North America is the world leader in alternative fuel technolto both liquefied and ogy for trucks. compressed natural gas. 'Unremarkable': The DME Even better, Saxengine performs so well, you forman says, DME is get you don't have a diesel under the hood. completely nontoxic | july 2013 6/19/13 1:56 PM