Ural NEXT gas-powered vehicle will take part in natural gas vehicle rally “Blue Corridor-2017: Iberia — Baltia”. Ural NEXT CNG/LNG (Compressed Natural Gas / Liquefied Natural Gas) uses a combined fuel system. The total fuel distance of the combined fuel system vehicle will be around 1000 km, which is one of the best indicators for all-wheel drive trucks. The final point of the rally will be St. Petersburg, Russia, where the grand finish, timed to St. Petersburg International Gas Forum, will take place on October 5th.
The use of liquefied natural gas as engine fuel allows to significantly reduce the environmental load. So, emissions of exhaust gases, for example, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons, are reduced by 66% and 89% respectively compared to those of diesel-fueled vehicles. The cost of equipment maintenance is also reduced by 40%. The vehicle is equipped with an efficient, state-of-the-industry 6-cylinder 4-stroke in-line YaMZ-536 gas engine produced by Yaroslavl Engine Plant Avtodizel of GAZ Group.
When selecting the gas cylinder equipment layout for Ural NEXT, the key properties of the vehicle were taken into account, namely: high level of the “geometric” cross-country capacity was maintained and requirements for ensuring efficient assembly properties and chassis load capacity parameters were taken into account. Design engineering of the vehicle and selection of design options were based on a thorough study of consumers’ opinions.
The vehicle contains nine gas cylinders with the total volume of 892 liters for compressed natural gas and an in-frame cryogenic storage tank with the total volume of 450 liters for liquefied gas placed behind the cabin. Liquefied natural gas cooled down to the temperature of minus 162 °C is stored in the cryogenic storage tank and prior to being supplied into the engine it is converted from a liquid state into gas. The volume of regasified fuel is approximately 240 cubic meters.
New-generation Ural NEXT vehicle combines the legendary cross-country capacity of Ural off-road vehicles with a state-of-the-art level of comfort, reliability and safety. Ural NEXT CNG/LNG is a prototype extending the model range of Ural machinery running on environmentally friendly fuels. Ural gas-fueled vehicles provide for low cost of fuel while maintaining functionality and reliability. The Ural Automobile Plant, like all companies within GAZ Group, is actively working to create a range of gas vehicles, by improving its product line to comply with the current market requirements. The model range of the company also includes Ural vehicles with a gas-diesel fuel system that can operate both in diesel and in gas-diesel modes.
The Ural Automobile Plant produces high-performance all-wheel drive trucks and chassis with 4×4, 6×6 and 8×8 wheel arrangement and the capacity from 4 to 23 tons; bus trucks on the basis of Ural all-wheel drive vehicles with 4×4 and 6×6 wheel arrangement, as well as cargo-passenger vehicles.
