THE FIRST LNG TRUCK CONVERTED BY OMNİTEK IN TURKEY

Mr. YILMAZ has impressive background about engine design and development , powertrain projects and especially alternative fuel vehicles. As a summary; he started to work  in 2002  for %100 Local Diesel Engine Project as Design Chief  in Motosan  , then he developed Turbo - Euro 2 engine in Başak Tractor, and then he made many powertain projects in Temsa as Project Manager, he worked in BMC as Engineering Manager and before Omnitek he was working in  Bozankaya Group as Group Coordinator and he managed Batteried Bus and Trolleybus projects. He is a Mechanical Engineer (MSc)  and he founded his own company Omnitek Engineering in 2015.

“Our main job is Engine Design for CNG”

One of the biggest problems is very high fuel cost in the logistic  sector in Turkey. Logistic  is a sine qua non for Turkey. We have to continue this business and reduce costs. Sure , the key issue is alternative fuel Technology  the companies. Which advantages   you are providing  to companies who wants to use alternative Natural Gas (NG)?

When our company established in 2015, we were focusing to CNG conversion. But there were very low  diesel price and due to this reason. To survive in CNG conversion business , we entered to CNG equipments market and made  Distrubitorship agreements with Global companies like Worthington , SSP. And now We are developing new projects with them as well as we do in this con-text, sales of CNG equipment to both OEM companies in Turkey. You can find any kind of CNG equipments in our Sales  Portfolio. Sure we are selling many CNG equipments to Turkish OEM companies  , but we can say our main business still based on Natural Gas engine design. We are focusing on Diesel engine conversion to LNG or CNG (Dedicated, mono fuel)

What were the problems of companies who used NG in the past ? How  they described their problems which they faced after conversion?

Turkish companies  met with many non-authorized and knowledgeable companies. That was the 1.st main problem. We started this business in 2015, but we never went to any customer before completing R & D of the our system and establishing a Motor Test Laboratory.

CNG conversion started in wrong way in Turkey. The sector thought that CNG conversion would be same like LPG conversion and they thought they are able to make  it with a simple kit. So they tried dual fuel. Because it has very simple installation and , no difference from LPG conversion. But, with Dual Fuel Tech., you don’t have a chance to save money, maybe you can save 20 TL per 100 km and this is not worth the money you spent. if you make Mono CNG or LNG conversion, we are calling it “Dedicated”, you can save %50 on fuel. 

But for  Mono NG applications, you need to have  serious engine engineering knowledge and you need to have Engine Test equipment. The structure of NG engine and compression ratio  is very different. Just as basic example, you  need to calculate the compression ratio and design a new piston to achive conversion .

There were many attempts to convert diesel engines with single fuel in the market. Many bus manufacturers even used the original CNG  stoichiometric engines. But  they have unsolvable issues, like  low traction loss if you compare with  diesel, lack of oil in the engine due to highest exhaust temperature like 900-950 C, constant  failing of turbo, broken valves etc.

In order to avoid all these problems, the NG engine must work with low exhaust temperature. This is possible with the Lean Burn system and Omnitek is the only one company in the World who has pat¬ent of this system.

“We Can Increase Torque By 60 Percent”

“What is the Lean Burn system? What does it provide?”

We started research on alternative fuel Technologies before starting to this business and  We found Om¬nitek Corporation  in USA , they are succeeded.

With the Lean Burn system, we are using 3 bar NG . Just with this big difference  , we are saving a lot if you  compare  with stoichiometric systems. Also We  have  max. 600 C exhaust temperature !  And  We can increase NG engine’s max  torque  around %60 , acc.to diesel values.

“We are able to Provide 50% Fuel Saving, Opportunity”

We are also committing to save %50 money for fuel  . Let’s say your vehicle burning 30 lt  diesel per 100 km. We are commit¬ting to the burn 30 Sm3 of gas per 100 kilometers. This means %50 Saving , acc. to today’s conditions.

“Totally Local R & D”

Although we are Omnitek USA’s exclusive dis¬tributor in Turkey, we have such a situation: Most of the engines in USA are not available in Turkey, also  EU market engines  are not available in USA! So we learnd  this technology and started to develop new engine conversion kits and calibrations by our¬selves in Turkey. With this way and Omnitek USA’s great support, we eliminated all  problems.

Dual Fuel Conversion Blocked the Conversion Business! 

Unfortunately, nowadays we are so sad to see , Socar closing their CNG stations due to failed projects.  With the dual fuel kit, we heard that large fleets save only 20 TL per 100 km. That’s why people are staying away about  CNG conversion business . The market began to died, before birth. Because of wrong startups .

“We trust ourselves, we are the only company that gives engine guarantee after conversion”

There are many companies on the market engaged in conversion business. They don’t even give motor guarantees. In the LNG conversion project which we completed for Shell, we  also gave them a guarantee letter for 42,500 Euro, committed for  realization of what we say. We trust ourselves in this business and we are the only company that gives engine guarantee.

We have proved Omnitek’s advantages in many projects. For example, Adana Metropolitan Municipality, IETT, Shell’s LNG project and Başak Tractor’s project are some of them. We also bought two trucks and using them as DEMO vehicles as well as our own logistic operations. In the near future, we will have 10 vehicles and  we are focusing to grow our logistic  business with natural gas.

“Demo Vehicles are Ready!

Do you able to send  your NG vehicles  to any companies , who wants to test them ?

Of course. We can send our demo vehicles to companies who want to try. In fact, many times the logistics companies in Turkey were interested with CNG – LNG conversion but there were many bad experiences. Thats’s why We prepared our demo vehicles to eliminate those bad experiences. 

We have 13,60 mt trailers also. If  any potential customer  wants to try our system, they can load with +25 tons  and they can  make  “live test” on the road, so they can be sure about our commitments .   

“We Offer 900 Km Range Guarantee”

We are able to mount approximately 1200 lt, 300Sm3 gas Volume to the trucks we convert. (For Axor) This creates a range of app. 900 km. depending on the Truck’s structure may we can increase this volume and range of the vehicle.

Sayfa 5 (38)

 “The first LNG Conversion made by Omnitek Mühendislik in Turkey”

What is the legal way for conversion companies ? Do you have all requ¬irements ?

for Shell’s LNG project , We  prepared two demonstration vehi¬cles (Automatic Transmission E5 Axor) for the first time  in Turkey and  after LNG Conversion , we  tested them  around six months. 

With this Project  , we completed all TSE, TÜV and ministry processes of a diesel-to-LNG convertible ve¬hicle and we have authorization to prepare all documets to change Fuel Type to “LNG” in vehicle  license.

According to the new regulation, we have AİTM and MARTOY certificates from TSE. Our Gölcük Conversion center  has service profi¬ciency certificate. We provide all the neces¬sary criterias.

Apart from these certificates, what else should the company come to you for conversion? What should they ask you to understand that you are a good company, that you are really doing this job properly?

The best thing is for potential customers ; to test  demo vehicles  and have experience about performance and efficiency. And they will see what’s happening . For example, they can focus on  ECT overheat, whats it the max. exhaust temperature  , how is the the traction  ,  how much they save during test etc . ?

Then , if they  decided to use this technol¬ogy, they can visit us to talk  about commercial issues. However they will be convinced. 

“We can convert a vehicle in four days”

How long time you need to  convert a vehicle? Is it possible to give a rough idea for Heavy Duty vehicle Conversion ? 

Sayfa 6 (39)

We need 4 days to convert  one vehicle  , but it that doesn’t mean we convert two vehicles in 8 days. You can think of it like production line , we can convert 5-6 vehicles in same time.

For Euro 5-6 engines, electronics is also in the our business. For example, we need to develop gateways to create engine-trans¬mission communication. In such cases, the cost are changing, but we are able to do complete Project as “turn-key” around 20-22 thousand dollars. I can say this price for trucks because those vehicles are usually wants to use cheaper steel cylinders. For  municipal busses you need to use Type 3- Aluminium Cylinders due to storage systems on the roof and  ,cylinders must be lighter. Therefore, the cost of the bus conversion will be higher.

“We Can Create % 80 Saving for  Municipal Busses ! ”

In Public Passenger transport, municipalities have close proximity to natural gas and long-standing habits. You also have inten¬sive collaborations with the municipali¬ties, technologies and even tools. Can you elaborate on this?

When I worked for OEM companies in the past , I de¬signed the first natural gas bus in Istanbul. Therefore, we have an ongoing knowledge. We also supply gas cylinders to EGO for their current NG busses. Also we made great projects with IETT for  autono¬mous vehicle and CNG conversion.

We can create saving around %80 (as fuel cost) for municipalities. We take this seriously. Because municipali¬ties have many low tax in CNG. So instead of paying to diesel  6,40 TL for 1 liter , they can pay   1,5 TL for 1 sm3 CNG and their vehicles can work with better performance and efficiency. 

This means ; minimum savings will be 500 million TL/year for a city like Istanbul. 

And even only one reason can be acceptable to use CNG/LNG ;  for better air - environment.

We can provide such services to municipal¬ities. Municipalities have been busy for the last 6 months because of the elections and the municipalities’ organizations are not fully clear yet. Hopefully, we will knock their doors and state that we have an activity in this business and we will try to provide support.

“Only the fuel changing in the engine with our conversion”

There are also another companies are offering to replace  diesel engine  with a new natural gas engine. What is your comment for this process? Can you evaluate in terms of cost and efficiency of the vehicle with this way?

It is much more expensive solution . It is superfluous . We can convert any engine  by changing the pistons. Ifyou replace any engine with another one , you need to be-careful. Because each engine has different characteristics . This means ,  that you may need to replace ; Air filter according to Air Restiriction ,Exhaust silencer-tubes acc.to  new exhaust back pressure value , and the Cooling system if the cooling capacity need to increase . And maybe Transmission , due to max Engine torq because  You do not new input torque will match the transmission shifting.

We simply replace the piston and adapt the spark plug to the cylinder head. We also have a Engine test Device (Bremse). You can see the each parameters of the diesel engine in the beginning . And We’re calibrat¬ing the NG engine acc. To same values to  make sure everything’s the same. As summary ; we can say Our conversion only changing fuel in the engine.

“We haven’t seen the enough support from gas provider companies”

International regulations and European Union regulations also impose certain conditions. There are regulations to be implemented and comes to Turkey after this legislation. What is your prediction? For example, improving the infrastructure of gas providers will actually enable you to produce better services. Do you have a cooperation with the state and these orga¬nizations?

CNG is the most important fuel in the world. In Turkey, many potential companies  tried inadequate systems and due to this reason they are not interesting with CNG-LNG conversion anymore. They tried and they said “it didn’t work” and they closed the CNG case . Even Socar closing  the stations with same scenario. 

You cannot make conversion businees CNG, if there is no CNG station and you cannot sell CNG and CNG vehicles if there is no station. (like egg-chicken) 

We have to  work together with  gas supplier companies . Obviously we haven’t seen enough support from potential players yet. None of them tried Omnitek  Lean Burn system , except Naturelgaz and Shell. 

And all others  tried and used  stoichiometric CNG engines or tested dual fuel technology. This caused a bad image in many of them.

Therefore, I hope that ,   this interview will be very helpful  to inform  to this kind of companies, insti¬tutions and individuals. We are ready and open to cooperate with all of them  in this business .