Pioneering LNG in Valencia

The initiative will involve comparing the use of an LNG tractor against a brand new diesel stage IV engine tractor to decide which way to go in order to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions.

It will also help to verify the capacity as well as the autonomy and consumption of the tractor unit under the real demanding work conditions of a port container terminal, with intensive work shifts and maximum cargo loads.

Alfaland and Terberg developed the two different tractor units – one a cutting-edge diesel tractor unit equipped with a selective SRC catalytic converter and the Adblue additive (urea) tractor unit propelled by LNG and a three-way catalytic converter.

The container terminal says that this is the first time that a tractor unit has been designed specifically to operate with a motor running on LNG. A new and longer chassis had to be designed to make space for the LNG tank. To achieve the same towing power as that of a normal tractor unit running on diesel, a Cummins ISLG 8.9 motor was selected which is specifically designed to operate on LNG.

The initiative is part of the Greencranes project started in August 2012 with the support of the European Union through its Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) programme.

It will take place throughout October and November and results will be available at the end of 2013.