GFS Corp. says it has received an order to convert an entire fleet of Caterpillar 785 trucks to liquefied natural gas (LNG) at an undisclosed mine in the U.S. The company expects the trucks to be operating on LNG by late January 2017.
According to the company, GFS Corp.’s newest EVO-MT 7850 and EVO-WL 9920 LNG retrofit systems join the product lineup, which includes NG+D systems for the Caterpillar 777 and 793 and the Komatsu 830 and 930 haul trucks. Trucks with these systems have successfully accumulated over 400,000 hours of runtime to date in mine service, substituting lower-cost, cleaner-burning LNG for a substantial portion of the diesel fuel that the trucks would have normally used.
“The 785 is a very common model of haul truck, used in mines in many parts of the world where LNG is readily available and diesel costs are relatively high,” said Jason Green, GFS Corp.’s president and chief technology officer. “We are excited to be able to add these new systems to our product offerings.”
The EVO-WL 9920 represents the company’s first LNG solution for wheel loaders, and the first of these will be operational in early 2017. Systems for other wheel loaders are scheduled to be released in the second half of 2017.
GFS Corp. designs, manufactures and sells proprietary solutions that enable high-horsepower, heavy-duty diesel engines to operate on a combination of natural gas and diesel fuel. The company’s primary focus is providing fully integrated alternative fuel solutions for the mining, construction, stationary power and rail markets.
