TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canada’s largest railway operator Canadian National Railway (CN) has placed an order for four liquefied natural gas (LNG) tenders to supply fuel to adjacent natural-gas powered locomotives, as the company tests LNG as a viable fuel source for its locomotives.

The first tender, which was designed and being built by Westport Innovations, was scheduled for delivery by the end of the year.

"There is growing consensus around the enormous potential of using LNG as a fuel for locomotives and there is a clear path for the industry to achieve this shift to a cleaner, cheaper and domestically available fuel.

"The Westport LNG tender leverages our substantial expertise in LNG storage, cryogenic systems, and natural gas fuel delivery for mobile applications to create a product that will immediately help railroads to validate the value of LNG in their operations today, with a built-in upgrade pathway to the next-generation locomotives coming over the next few years,” Westport executive VP Nicholas Sonntag said.

Westport said putting the LNG on a tender, rather than simply replacing the diesel fuel tanks on existing locomotives, offered a number of advantages, including almost 40 000 l of LNG capacity, which would provide a longer range than a diesel locomotive, reducing the need for LNG refuelling infrastructure and refuelling stops.

Westport added that intelligent fuelling controls would also allow tenders to supply fuel to natural gas locomotives from virtually any manufacturer, and that each tender could support two locomotives, reducing the capital investment required to move to LNG.

"CN is testing natural gas locomotives and Westport's experience in providing LNG solutions for transportation makes it the natural partner for us. These tenders will be used immediately with our dual-fuel locomotives in mainline service, allowing CN to continue to explore this technology as a means to advance the company's sustainability agenda and improve environmental emissions,” CN VP for supply, fleet and fuel management Gerry Weber said.

CN carries significant volumes of petroleum and chemicals, metals and minerals, coal and grains and fertilisers, besides other commodities.