Open AccessInspection of Compressed Natural Gas Cylinders on School Buses
Author(s) -
Not Given Author
Publication year - 1995
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/87041
Subject(s) - compressed natural gas , certification , scholarship , transport engineering , engineering , natural gas , training (meteorology) , business , forensic engineering , automotive engineering , waste management , mechanical engineering , political science , physics , meteorology , law
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is sponsoring compressed natural gas (CNF)-powered school bus demonstrations in various locations around the country. Early in 1994, two non-DOE-sponsored CNG pickup trucks equipped with composite-reinforced-aluminum fuel cylinders experienced cylinder ruptures during refueling. As reported by the Gas Research Institute (GRI): ...analysis of the cylinder ruptures on the pickup trucks revealed that they were due to acid-induced stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of the overwrap. The overwrap that GRI refers to is a resin-impregnated fiber that is wrapped around the outside of the gas cylinder for added strength. Because ensuring the safety of the CNG vehicles it sponsors is of paramount concern to DOE, the Department, through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), conducted inspections of DOE-sponsored vehicles nationwide. The work had three objectives: inspection, documentation, and education. First, inspectors visited sites where CNG-powered school buses sponsored by DOE are based, and inspected the CNG cylinders for damage. Second, information learned during the inspections was collected for DOE. Third, the inspections found that the education and awareness of site personnel, in terms of cylinder damage detection, needed to be increased