The first subject of the Forum was “CNG Safety issues: A regional perspective on the most compelling safety issues in each region”. This panel discussion was aimed to review regional safety issues seeking commonality to avoid duplication of effort to resolve issues.
Its moderator was Bernie James (TransEnerTech, Canada) and the regional panelists involved were Jaime del Alamo ( NGVA Europe, Spain), and Diego Goldin (Pro GNC, Argentina). Dr Alex Lawson, who chaired the Forum, also participated in the discussion.
In the session the topics for discussion were: cylinder safety issues – improper installation, improper operation/maintenance of fuelling stations. Experience in different regions, cylinder inspection – enforcement, lack of periodic /after incident inspections; end of life cylinder disposal and unsafe cylinders remaining in service; tank valve failures – need to identify when a valve has failed closed, impact of stop/start systems on valve durability and refueling connector abuse.
James highlighted the importance of identifying the role that NGV Global can play to address the discussed issues. In turn, Diego Goldin stated what he considers the most important safety concerns: illegal installation of on-board containers not designed for CNG, the continuous use of old cylinders with no service limit, and the existence of some below-standard installations resulting in risks of on-board cylinders displacement in vehicles involved in road accident.
Later, Jaime del Alamo said: “There is a lack of a common European approach when building NG infrastructure”. According to him it is very important to change this together with a revalidation of CNG cylinders and the installation of pressure relief devices.
RFID Opportunities
Following, the second subject of the day was RFID Opportunities, moderated by Alex Lawson. In this part, there was a brief overview of RFID systems and the panel discussion was integrated by the same speakers of the first session.
After the introduction, each speaker was followed by tabling issues for discussion: issues surrounding implementation of RFID systems in various parts of the world – what are the barriers to introduction, are they different in different parts of the world-; how feasible is it to develop wide spread use of RFID systems or is there an alternative approach that makes sense and what is the current experience with RFID systems, including Pakistan implementation of RFID systems.
All the speakers discussed about the best way to phase in RFID systems, how the database should be built and who should be the responsible for managing it in every case.
Regarding RFID systems in the USA in particular, Alex Lawson said that in the country the database should be done” on State by State basis”. In this sense, the speakers wondered about which would be the cost of implementation.
Photo 3: Bernie James, TransEnerTech, Canada
Photo 5: Alex Lawson, NGV Global’s Technical Chair
