Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities (PRCC) has established a team and successfully proposed and was awarded a project by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) to convert an inland waterways towboat to run with natural gas in a dual fuel mode – part diesel and part natural gas. This project is expected to run about 2 years including a one year period of design and conversion of the vessel and one year of operational demonstration of the technology including measurement of exhaust emissions. The project recently was kicked off by MARAD.
The vessel to be converted is the M/V RON-CHRIS (soon to be M/V O.B. DEMENT). It is a twin screw 56’ x 20’ towboat built in 1952 by St. Louis Shipbuilding and Steel Company. It currently is powered by twin Cummins Model NTA855M diesel engines rated at 350 bhp @ 1800 rpm. Each currently operating engine was built in 1987.
PRCC is looking for companies interested in providing a “fumigation” type system, one separately for both main propulsion engines, on the M/V Ron-Chris. This system shall allow the engine/s to burn diesel and/or natural gas (LNG) efficiently and automatically. Fumigation is defined as the supply of natural gas in the form of LNG converted to gas and delivered as gas to the engines combustion air inlet system. In the interest of sole source coordination, PRCC would like companies responding to provide a “turn-key” system but will accept responses for major portions of the system from LNG tanks to the final fumigation system mounted on or near the engines.
All bid packages are to be submitted and received by PRCC by midnight August 25, 2016. Electronic submittals are acceptable.
Anyone interested in this project with an intent to submit a bid, should request the bid package from:
Dr. Lutitia Clipper
PRCC MARAD Emissions Reduction Demonstration
Project Manager
lutitiaclipper@comcast.net
412.721.4743
