Dual fuel biomethane application for tractors launched in Italy

Holdim Group’s company Ecomotive Solutions, known for its d-gid Diesel Dual Fuel platform

designed for logistics and industrial vehicles, has introduced the first dual fuel biomethane

application for Fendt Tier4 tractors. This represents the latest development in the Group’s ongoing

initiative to promote the use of biomethane in agricultural mechanization, in collaboration with

Italian Biogas Consortium and Piccini Paolo Group.

The system provides for the use of natural gas or biomethane as an alternative fuel for diesel

tractors, storing this gas in the transportable Ecomotive Solutions ‘Bio CNG Pack’, which effectively

solves the issue of fuel autonomy in the field for agricultural vehicles. Once the ‘Bio CNG Pack’ is

connected, the tractor is ready to operate in the field using biomethane, regardless if this is

produced locally, by the farm, drawn from a micro-station connected to the public network or taken

from a bio-LNG station.

The tractor engine has been optimized using d-gid Diesel Dual Fuel technology, developed by

Ecomotive Solutions: in real time, the d-gid ECU assesses how much diesel can be eliminated from

the primary fuel injection to the tractor, to allow for a secondary injection of CNG or biomethane,

calculating the perfect amount to be added in order to ensure the smooth operation of the machine,

without triggering losses of torque or power, or compromising the reliability of the engine in any

way.

The initiative was first presented in 2014 with the support of the Italian Biogas Consortium with a

view to introducing the use of biomethane across the diesel-powered agricultural vehicles already

working on the farms. “We believe that we have achieved our goal, and have found the missing

piece to the puzzle, fostering the self-consumption of locally-produced biomethane, and in doing so,

promoting the delivery of ‘zero-mileage’, short supply chain fuel to power diesel engines,” said the

company.

Now, on completion of the development and testing phases, the dual fuel tractor is set to be

transferred to the headquarters of Ing.am. Ltd., one of the first Italian companies with a biomethane

refueling point, validating the efficacy of this new system in the field.

NGS INDIA