Natural Gas Fueling Station Maintenance Overview and Commonly Overlooked Items
Effective CNG station maintenance can determine the success or failure of both a CNG station and the overall NGV program. However, maintenance is perhaps the most overlooked issue affecting CNG fueling stations. In many areas, there is a severe lack of experienced and qualified maintenance and repair technicians.
In this technical paper, AFVi outlines the why, what, who, when and how of utilizing a proactive CNG fueling station maintenance plan and some of the often overlooked maintenance issues.
The Achilles Heel of Natural Gas Vehicles: The Symptoms, Diagnosis and Prevention of Oil Carryover
A large transit agency was experiencing engine performance problems with their natural gas buses. Their contracted service technician, responsible for maintenance of the fueling station, diagnosed the problem as an engine issue. AFVi was brought in after explaining to agency management that the sealed fuel system onboard the vehicle allows gas to flow only one way, making it improbable that the oil could leak from the engine into the onboard fuel system.
The technician in question, like many working on natural gas vehicles, assumed a vehicle problem even though the majority of engine performance issues are attributable to oil carryover, which is a problem that begins at the fueling station. If the vehicle is hard to start, hesitates under acceleration, runs rough or stalls frequently, chances are the problem is with oil from the natural gas fueling station compressor carrying over into the vehicle fuel system.
