This story has begun a little more than year ago. We have found respectable client who became a kind of devoted dual-fuel sympathizer and insisted on dual-fuel immediate installation at his vehicle (that time we specialized on dedicated CNG conversion only). Well, client’s intention is a first priority, so we entered this magnificent dual-fuel world.
We have not had any dual-fuel experience before, so because “All cats are grey in the dark” we have chosen the first founded solution: OSCAR N by Europegas. Happily before installation at client’s vehicle we decided to test it at our YAMZ 7511 (V-8, 400h.p.) installed at our dyno test bench. We have bought one conversion kit and paid for Polish engineer visit.
Substitution coefficient announced as 75-80% at the exhibition started to decline gradually: when engineer came to us, he announced 75-80% to be a marketing ploy: – “bloody sales managers!”, and real coefficient as 50%. Having seen our engine, coefficient dropped down to 30% as a maximum achievable – “50% is for light-duty vehicles, not for your monstrous engine”.
Well engineer installed his kit and came back, and we started consumption tests under partial and full load, which in 2 days resulted in valves edges fusion. Europegas declined their responsibility and stopped further communications, not saying to pay compensation or to send engineer for investigation at least. Before valves fuck-up substitution was 15-20%.
Because we promised client not to give up, we like a silly fish tried to catch twice the same bait, and choosed Blue Power, this time basing on Internet references. It was strange there was not any manufacturer contacts at Blue Power web-site except email (that time we did not worry), so we send email and got reply from Polish Bluepower distributor Globalgas. They did not send us engineer, but advised us Ukrainian company Autogas, city of Kyiv as their partner in ex-USSR countries. We decided to convert our light-duty truck GAZelle NEXT with Cummins ISF 2.8 engine, and went to Kyiv from Moscow measuring diesel consumption on the way.
Autogas employees appeared to be not excellent engineers only but nice guys also (best wishes, Vadim and Igor!), after installation they tried their best without additional charge for two weeks: calibration-test ride 100km-calibration again, day-to day hard work. Unfortunately you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear: substitution coefficient achieved 25% as a highest value, and this result was not stable even. But engine worked even and was not overheated.
We have had nothing to do but to install Bluepower kit at client’s SCANIA R380 (tractor truck), after that we messed with it for one more month, trying to squeeze a little more substitution. The absolute maximum was 36% under small load (3 tons only), average coefficient was 20%. Client asked us to live Scania alone for a while for endurance&reliability test and it worked at Moscow-Saint Petersburg highway for year and half, so that dual-fuel system broke out.
Fortunately at that time we have developed our own dual-fuel system TRIOL and did not care what happened with Bluepower. We dismounted Bluepower and installed TRIOL, happy client have got 50-60% of real substitution coefficient and 2-3 rubles saving per 1 km at least (in 18 months after beginning).
That was the end of our Polish dual-fuel romance.
P.S. 1 new and 2 used Bluepower dual-fuel conversion kits for sale. Cheap. Customer pickup.