Federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) and the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT), together with other state regulations have encouraged or mandated transit systems to use alternative fuels to power bus fleets. Among such fuels, compressed natural gas (CNG) is attractive, although it must be stored in robust, heavy pressurized cylinders, capable of withstanding pressures up to 5,000 psi...

Low fuel consumption and low emissions are key issues in modern internal combustion engines design. For this reason, an effective on-line control of the injection process requires the mathematical equations describing the system dynamics. The inherent nonlinearities make the modeling of the fuel-injection system hard to accomplish. Moreover, it is necessary to trade off between accuracy in repr...

This study assesses the fire safety risks associated with compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle systems, comprising primarily a typical school bus and supporting fuel infrastructure. The study determines the sensitivity of the results to variations in component failure rates and consequences of fire events. The components and subsystems that contribute most to fire safety risk are determined. Fi...

This two-part paper describes a compressor redesign program for improving efficiency, lowering sound emission, and cost. Part 2 indicates how sound and discharge pulse were reduced through research conducted on transmission loss of plastic vs. steel manifolds and discharge pulse modeling using four pole parameters Common reciprocating compressors utilize steel flapper valves and a Cylinder Head...