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Safety issues associated with the use and operation of natural gas vehicles: learning from accidents in Pakistan

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Abstract

The use natural gas in transportation is well established globally with over 18 million natural gas vehicles (NGVs) distributed through more than 90 countries of the world. This paper discusses several safety issues involved with using natural gas as a transportation fuel. After introducing the NGVs safety aspects and reviewing various standards for compressed natural gas (CNG) system, the paper discusses the 55 CNG-related accidents in Pakistan (which conduced to over 250 casualties) and analyzes the causes for these accidents and extracts “lessons to be learned” for CNG. The analysis reveals that due to low-quality CNG system material, e.g., CNG cylinder, CNG design and installation, maintenance system, etc., lack of strict government CNG vehicle safety regulations and driver negligence every year several CNG vehicles’ accidents took place in Pakistan which showed a major threat to life in Pakistan.

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Abbreviations

AISI:

American Institute of Steel and Iron

A/F:

Air–fuel ratio

ANSI:

American National Standards Institute

APCNGA:

All Pakistan Compressed Natural Gas Association

BTU:

British thermal unit

CMVSS:

Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

CNG:

Compressed natural gas

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide

CSA:

Canadian Standard Association

CVEF:

Clean Vehicle Education Foundation

ECE:

Economic Commission for Europe

EFV:

Excess flow valve

FMVSS:

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

ISO:

International Organization for Standardization

LHV:

Lower heating value

LPG:

Liquefied petroleum gas

NFPA:

National Fire Protection Association

NGVs:

Natural gas vehicles

OGRA:

Oil and Gas Regularity Authority

PRD:

Pressure relief device

SCC:

Stress corrosion cracking

TNT:

Trinitrotoluene

USG:

US gallon

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mari Petroleum Company Ltd, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Imran Khan

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Tabassum Yasmin

  3. Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, KL, Malaysia

    Niaz Bahadur Khan

Authors
  1. Muhammad Imran Khan
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  2. Tabassum Yasmin
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  3. Niaz Bahadur Khan
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Correspondence to Muhammad Imran Khan.

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Technical Editor: Marcelo A. Trindade.

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Khan, M.I., Yasmin, T. & Khan, N.B. Safety issues associated with the use and operation of natural gas vehicles: learning from accidents in Pakistan. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 38, 2481–2497 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-015-0410-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-015-0410-9

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