CNG tank explodes in school bus

[pugboy]

Since tank intact, more than likely it was the lines leading to engine that had faulty connection or oring that rot

[pete]

I watched a video from ansa where they said the range on cng is 200-250km. That's really not so bad. It uses gasoline til the vehicle warms up then you can switch over.

For people with short commutes with a filling station on the route it really wouldn't be so bad.

Honda city. Toyota imitation van.

That CNG tank has very LIMITED range, the smart ones would buy a Hybrid which is exactly what is happening, proving yet again that electric is the future.

[PariaMan]

Most people with CNG say they have to fill up every other day ,

People with Hybrid every ten days with about 50 % drop in fuel bill

I prefer the hybrid

[De Dragon]

I watched a video from ansa where they said the range on cng is 200-250km. That's really not so bad. It uses gasoline til the vehicle warms up then you can switch over.

For people with short commutes with a filling station on the route it really wouldn't be so bad.

Honda city. Toyota imitation van.

That CNG tank has very LIMITED range, the smart ones would buy a Hybrid which is exactly what is happening, proving yet again that electric is the future.

A short commute route would actually motivate remaining with gasoline/diesel.

[PariaMan]

Exactly less drive less saving

[Rory Phoulorie]

Most people with CNG say they have to fill up every other day ,

People with Hybrid every ten days with about 50 % drop in fuel bill

I prefer the hybrid

Does anyone have cost per kilometre for a CNG fuelled car and a hybrid? Because unless people have hard numbers, this hybrid better than CNG, CNG better than hybrid, is just conjecture.

The better analysis is a life cycle cost analysis for each type of vehicle.

[pugboy]

I believe Honda city gets about 150km per fill $10 or so

[mazdatt]

Ioniq is around $15-$16 for 100km (highway) or 3-7-4.0l/100km

[nervewrecker]

The world is moving to electric and this government still pushing CNG?

Dotishness on a whole new level, is like when Digicel and Massy was pushing Fibre Optic and TSTT was still pushing copper DSL

yup

This govt has mandated all state companies and anyone using govt funding to buy CNG fitted vehicles.

They had a CNG drive the other day through NGC. Literally giving away the CNG for free with a $120k gas card for big companies and nobody want it.

Word is that they spent hundreds of millions to install CNG infrastructure not realising that it is a dying technology and car manufacturers not making cars that use CNG.

ANSA got the heads up and stock the Honda City. They govt give tax break so it will sell.

Ahhh, you sir are well informed.

Yes, CNG is coming and fuel price increase is coming. ANSA got the heads up and pushing the CNG, tax on hybrid as a deterrent.

From what I understand, the installs are safe though. There is a scent added to it so if there is a leak it can be detected by smell. It will not ignite unless there is a certain air to fuel ratio. My take on this one is that it had a leak from a poor install and the gas accumulated into the cabin. The amount that escaped allowed for a sufficient air fuel ratio for combustion. But where did the ignition source come from?

I will trust Dumore to do any CNG install for me because I am sure about their technicians and their quality of work. Iirc their guys were trained and certified.

[No_Name]

But where did the ignition source come from?

I'm guessing the lock rubbing on the striker plate or a dry door hinge itself, upon opening created a minute spark enough to ignite...
A rubbing door jam on the arch could be the culprit too...
Seems like an older model bus after all....

[nervewrecker]

I dont see that happening. My guess is someone tried to light a cig.

Neglect on my part because the CNG does have a smell.

[sMASH]

The cng thread has enough relevant info on cng.

I get

[adnj]

But where did the ignition source come from?

I'm guessing the lock rubbing on the striker plate or a dry door hinge itself, upon opening created a minute spark enough to ignite...
A rubbing door jam on the arch could be the culprit too...
Seems like an older model bus after all....

I dont see that happening. My guess is someone tried to light a cig.

Neglect on my part because the CNG does have a smell.

Possible sources:

Open flame
Static electricity
Sparks from Motors
Sparks from Switches
Hot metal surfaces
Hot exhaust gases
Hot exhausts
Hot engine blocks
Electronic devices
Sparks from lighting

Take your pick

[redmanjp]

Most people with CNG say they have to fill up every other day ,

People with Hybrid every ten days with about 50 % drop in fuel bill

I prefer the hybrid

50%?

is that plugin hybrids u talking about?

[redmanjp]

But where did the ignition source come from?

I'm guessing the lock rubbing on the striker plate or a dry door hinge itself, upon opening created a minute spark enough to ignite...
A rubbing door jam on the arch could be the culprit too...
Seems like an older model bus after all....

I dont see that happening. My guess is someone tried to light a cig.

Neglect on my part because the CNG does have a smell.

Possible sources:

Open flame
Static electricity
Sparks from Motors
Sparks from Switches
Hot metal surfaces
Hot exhaust gases
Hot exhausts
Hot engine blocks
Electronic devices
Sparks from lighting

Take your pick

or just a weak/faulty device which is highly pressurized/compressed and thus destined to explode due to the pressure itself

[PariaMan]

Most people with CNG say they have to fill up every other day ,

People with Hybrid every ten days with about 50 % drop in fuel bill

I prefer the hybrid

50%?

is that plugin hybrids u talking about?

Nope normal hybrid, most vehicles get around 25 mpg while hybrids around 50 , the more traffic is the better the hybrids perform

And you know that Trinidad is real traffic

[PariaMan]

In metric terms hybrids generally below 5 l per 100 km while normal cars around above 9 l per 100 km

[PariaMan]

My question is as these tanks and connections age on vehicles is maintenance being done

Can we expect more incidents like these?

We know how good Trinidadians are with maintenance

[sMASH]

My question is as these tanks and connections age on vehicles is maintenance being done

Can we expect more incidents like these?

We know how good Trinidadians are with maintenance

The tanks have a life span, just like any other high pressure system.
And supposed to be pressure tested to be recertified as safe fir use.

[bluefete]

And the lady is critical in hospital with burns all over her body.

[Pantos]

Yet authorities keep trying to fool the public by saying Chinese-manufactured products are good quality. The boast for these systems was that they were manufactured according to rigorous standards in China. Is there any good product that ever comes out of China?

[jhonnieblue]

Actually most of the products you use on a Daily basis both technological and otherwise comes out of China and asian countries so that's a stupid statement to make.
Where do you think most phones and chipsets are manufactured?
The CNG kit in question was actually installed by a technician previously employeed by Massy. I'm not sure about his certification and NGC is investigating this point but it's a private business that's supposedly "cheaper" kits and installs

[adnj]

Huawei
Lenovo
Foxcon (Apple iPhone)
ZTE
DJI (drones)
Norinco
Xiaomi
Haier
Any porcelain
Optics
Cutlery
Textiles
Heavy equipment
High speed trains
Satellites
Auto parts

Yet authorities keep trying to fool the public by saying Chinese-manufactured products are good quality. The boast for these systems was that they were manufactured according to rigorous standards in China. Is there any good product that ever comes out of China?

[maj. tom]

An of­fi­cial pho­to­graph re­leased by the Na­tion­al Gas Com­pa­ny (NGC) CNG Lim­it­ed showed the CNG tank re­mains in­tact in the of­fi­cial school trans­port bus af­ter an in­ci­dent which left its dri­ver in a se­ri­ous con­di­tion at hos­pi­tal.


The pho­to­graph was re­leased to the T&T Guardian yes­ter­day as in­ves­ti­ga­tions con­tin­ue in­to the in­ci­dent which left In­dra Changar, 53, nurs­ing se­ri­ous in­juries to her body in­clud­ing her eyes.

Up to yes­ter­day, Changar re­mained hos­pi­talised at the Er­ic Williams Med­ical Sci­ences Com­plex in Mount Hope.

Ac­cord­ing to NGC CNG’s com­mu­ni­ca­tions man­ag­er, Roger Sant pre­lim­i­nary in­ves­ti­ga­tions re­vealed that the “tank did not ex­plode. While there was an in­ci­dent, the CNG stor­age tank did not ex­plode.”

Sant al­so dis­put­ed the re­port ini­tial­ly giv­en to the T&T Guardian by one of Changar’s rel­a­tives that the tech­ni­cian, who in­stalled the CNG tank is NGC-ap­proved.

“Please note nei­ther NGC nor NGC CNG or any­one else oth­er than the Min­istry of En­er­gy and En­er­gy In­dus­tries ap­proves con­vert­ers,” Sant said.

He added that to be­come a li­censed CNG con­vert­er, ap­pli­cants must go through a rig­or­ous ap­proval process which is sole­ly the purview of the Min­istry of En­er­gy and En­er­gy In­dus­tries. “Once again, we state the tech­ni­cian is not “NGC-ap­proved,” Sant said.

As the in­ves­ti­ga­tions con­tin­ue in­to last month’s in­ci­dent, an in­de­pen­dent in­ves­ti­ga­tor – the Nat­ur­al Gas Ve­hi­cle In­sti­tute, which is a cer­ti­fied CNF Fu­el Sys­tem In­spec­tor, has been brought on­board to as­sist in the in­ves­ti­ga­tions to as­sess the ve­hi­cle’s CNG sys­tem.

The in­ves­ti­ga­tions are be­ing done by the Min­istry of En­er­gy and En­er­gy In­dus­tries (MEEI), NGC CNG and Massy Au­to­mo­tive Com­po­nents Lim­it­ed (MACL).

On Sep­tem­ber 21, at about 5 am, Changar was get­ting ready to leave her home in Munroe Road, to go and pick up her school chil­dren pas­sen­gers. As soon as she opened the door of the van there was a loud ex­plo­sion which threw her against a wall.

Changar went un­con­scious for a few min­utes and when she re­gained con­scious­ness she found that her en­tire body was on fire and her clothes burnt off com­plete­ly.
Changar had the CNG tank in­stalled in her van on Sep­tem­ber 18 by a tech­ni­cian.
Af­ter in­stal­la­tion, Changar had to take it back on Sep­tem­ber 19 and Sep­tem­ber 20 to have “fi­nal works” done.
Changar had filled up the tank on the night of Sep­tem­ber 20 be­fore park­ing it in the garage area of her home.
Changar usu­al­ly trans­ports pupils of St Au­gus­tine Girls’ High School and Lak­sh­mi Girls’ Hin­du Col­lege.

Changar has been trans­port­ing school chil­dren for just over six years and had de­cid­ed to con­vert her ve­hi­cle to CNG af­ter a rec­om­men­da­tion by NGC.

In Sep­tem­ber 2017, NGC CNG Com­pa­ny Lim­it­ed be­gan to dis­trib­ute in­cen­tives to maxi taxi, taxi, and pri­vate school bus own­ers who have tran­si­tioned to CNG.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/ngc-cng- ... d8df9c81e6

[shaneelal]

^
In an article the day before, it was stated that the installation was done by an approved installer. Why is so difficult to get these simple facts correct? I see MACL being mentioned in every article, unless they state explicitly that they didn't install it, some readers may infer that they did the install.

Independent probe into explosion of woman’s CNG

by
Rhondor Dowlat
Yesterday
Thu Oct 11 2018

An In­de­pen­dent in­ves­ti­ga­tor has been brought on board to as­sist in the in­ves­ti­ga­tions in­to last month’s CNG tank ex­plo­sion of an of­fi­cial school trans­port bus trans­port ve­hi­cle which left its dri­ver in a se­ri­ous con­di­tion at hos­pi­tal.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tions man­ag­er at the Na­tion­al Gas Com­pa­ny (NGC) CNG Com­pa­ny, Roger Sant yes­ter­day con­firmed this to the T&T Guardian.

Sant’s re­sponse was a co­or­di­nat­ed one, in­clud­ing, from the Min­istry of En­er­gy and En­er­gy In­dus­tries (MEEI), NGC CNG and Massy Au­to­mo­tive Com­po­nents Lim­it­ed (MACL).

Sant dis­closed the in­de­pen­dent in­ves­ti­ga­tor as the Nat­ur­al Gas Ve­hi­cle In­sti­tute, which is a cer­ti­fied CNG Fu­el Sys­tem In­spec­tor.

“We have al­so en­gaged the ser­vices of this in­de­pen­dent in­ves­ti­ga­tor to as­sess the ve­hi­cle’s CNG sys­tem,” Sant said.

He added that im­me­di­ate­ly af­ter the in­ci­dent in­volv­ing the in­jured vic­tim— In­dra Changar—the reg­u­la­tor, the Min­istry of En­er­gy and En­er­gy In­dus­tries (MEEI) were con­tact­ed and a team set up to start a for­mal in­ves­ti­ga­tion.

“The Min­istry of En­er­gy and En­er­gy In­dus­tries (MEEI) is work­ing with T&T Fire Ser­vice Fire Pre­ven­tion Unit to in­ves­ti­gate the in­ci­dent and has al­so en­gaged an in­de­pen­dent in­ves­ti­ga­tor,” Sant said.

On Sep­tem­ber 21, In­dra Changar, 53, was get­ting ready to leave her home at Munroe Road about 5 am to pick up her school chil­dren pas­sen­gers. As she opened the door of the van there was a loud ex­plo­sion. She was thrown against a wall.

Changar went un­con­scious for a few min­utes. When she re­gained con­scious­ness she found that her en­tire body was on fire and her clothes burnt off com­plete­ly.

Changar sus­tained se­vere burns on her en­tire body and se­vere in­juries to her eyes and has since been ward­ed at the Er­ic Williams Med­ical Sci­ences Com­plex in Mount Hope.

Changar had the CNG tank in­stalled in her van on Sep­tem­ber 18 by a qual­i­fied tech­ni­cian, who is NGC-ap­proved.

Af­ter in­stal­la­tion, Changar had to take it back on Sep­tem­ber 19 and Sep­tem­ber 20 to have “fi­nal works” done.

Changar had filled up the tank on the night of Sep­tem­ber 20 be­fore park­ing it in the garage area of her home.

Changar usu­al­ly trans­ports pupils of St Au­gus­tine Girls’ High School and Lak­sh­mi Girls’ Hin­du Col­lege.

Of­fi­cials from MEEI, MACL and NGC CNG vis­it­ed Changar at the hos­pi­tal.

Both com­pa­nies con­tin­ue to sup­port Changar and her fam­i­ly and re­main in con­tact with her and her fam­i­ly on a dai­ly ba­sis.

“In the spir­it of trust and with re­spect for the fam­i­ly’s wish­es for pri­va­cy on her jour­ney to a full re­cov­ery, we con­tin­ue to en­sure that all com­mu­ni­ca­tion is main­tained sole­ly with the im­me­di­ate fam­i­ly,” Sant said.

Changar has been trans­port­ing school chil­dren for just over six years and had de­cid­ed to con­vert her ve­hi­cle to CNG af­ter a rec­om­men­da­tion by NGC.

In Sep­tem­ber 2017, NGC CNG Com­pa­ny Lim­it­ed be­gan to dis­trib­ute in­cen­tives to maxi taxi, taxi, and pri­vate school bus own­ers who have tran­si­tioned to CNG.

The com­pa­ny said then that it “is man­dat­ed by the gov­ern­ment to ac­cel­er­ate the use of CNG as a ve­hic­u­lar fu­el, as well as in­crease the num­ber of CNG fu­elling points across the coun­try.”

—Rhon­dor Dowlat

http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/independ ... 64c89cc14b

[redmanjp]

And the lady is critical in hospital with burns all over her body.

And it could have been even worse if several CHILDREN had burns all over their body

[maj. tom]

It's poor journalism research. The original source that it was an approved tech was from the woman's family. Now NGC is officially stating that the tech was not approved. If the journalist had simply made a call and the editor had asked this question before publishing, the media houses wouldn't be able to sell sensationalized fake news.

But at least they published the error in today's article.

Sant al­so dis­put­ed the re­port ini­tial­ly giv­en to the T&T Guardian by one of Changar’s rel­a­tives that the tech­ni­cian, who in­stalled the CNG tank is NGC-ap­proved.

[Ted_v2]

roger is the man.

who here know a certified NGC technician?

[sMASH]

Not personally. But they don't deal with kits, they woukd deal with the refueling stations.

[rebound]

No NGC employee installs those kits....