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How I Work Smarter

The on-demand audio-visual solutions market is a tough one. It requires supplying all the technological hardware and expertise required to stage modern events, including everything from trade shows to IndyCar races. And the segment itself is highly fragmented, with a handful of very large companies at one end and a swarm of mom-and-pop shops at the other. Reaction Audio Visual, based in Irvine, California, has carved out a niche for itself in this tumultuous marketplace by working smarter from day one. As president and COO J Ocana explains it, the five-year-old company he co-founded with CEO Jeff Stora differentiates itself by being a hybrid focused on moving extremely quickly and being highly flexible with our clientslike a mom-and-pop shopwhile at the same time offering the highest level of technology, personnel and expertise available in the industry, all in a highly professional manner. Reaction Audio Visuals clients range from companies staging massive trade shows like Star Wars Celebration V, which had 50,000 attendees, to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and each has different requirements and expectations. We have to assign everything from sales staff to onsite technical operators to equipment based on each clients specific needs, Ocana says. To me, that level of customization is the definition of customer service. Whether I am buying a vehicle, a smartphone, or a service, I am looking for the company or product that meets my needs. And guess what? My specific needs are different than everyone elses.
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter: A solution that works harder for Reaction Audio Visual
Ocanas requirements include a tremendous degree of flexibility and the ability to customize and improvise, and his Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500 Extended Cargo Van with a 170-inch wheel base, supplied by Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel, California, fits right into those challenges. Sounds funny to say about a vehicle, but the Sprinter is something that solves small problems for us, and that helps us with our big ones, Ocana says. Sprinters cost/benefit ratio is a big plus, outperforming all other vehicles in its fleet of box trucks and full-size cargo vans in terms of fuel economy, longer maintenance intervals and overall value, which Reaction Audio Visual determines based on payload and cargo capacity versus cost. Sprinters payload and configurability lets the company use it for regional events that formerly required a box truck, allowing it to bypass weigh stations on interstate assignments. Thats the main reason were converting our smaller box trucks and cargo vans to Sprinters this year. It will be especially useful for those regional events, Ocana says. To learn more about Reaction Audio Visual and how other entrepreneurs are working smarternot harderwith the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, go to www.inc.com/sprinter.
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter: A Smarter Business Choice
A large cargo space that not only holds more, but also allows freedom of movement plus faster loading and unloading is possible thanks to Mercedes-Benz Sprinters: Best-in-Class* payload capacity of up to 5,358 pounds; Best-in-Class* cargo capacity of up to 547 cubic feet; Best-in-Class* side- and rear-door opening areas; and Best-in-Class* standing height of up to 66 (in base configuration).
What Can Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Do for Your Business?
How can you work smarter right now? Why not build your own Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and find out? Just go to the Build & eQuip tool at www.mbsprinterusa.com. With a multitude of configurations, theres a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter option designed to fit your needs. And to connect with a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter dealer near you today, simply click on the Find a Dealer link at the site.
For J Ocana and Reaction Audio Visual, Customization Defines Customer Service
* Based on a comparison of the Automotive News classification of full-size commercial vans.

INEEL/EXT-03-00009

U.S. Department of Energy FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity
HYDROGEN-FUELED MERCEDES SPRINTER VAN OPERATING SUMMARY
Don Karner James Francfort January 2003
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC

INEEL/EXT0300009

Hydrogen-Fueled Mercedes Sprinter Van Operations Summary
Don Karner1 James Francfort2

January 2003

Electric Transportation Applications Phoenix, Arizona
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory Transportation Technology and Infrastructure Department Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415
Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Under DOE Idaho Operations Office Contract DE-AC07-99ID13727
Principal Investigator, Electric Transportation Applications Principal Investigator, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
Disclaimer This document highlights work sponsored by agencies of the U.S. Government. Neither the U.S. Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Government or any agency thereof.

ABSTRACT

Over the past two years, Arizona Public Service, a subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energys Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity, tested four gaseous fuel vehicles as part of its alternative fueled vehicle fleet. One vehicle operated initially using compressed natural gas (CNG) and later a blend of CNG and hydrogen. Of the other three vehicles, one was fueled with pure hydrogen and two were fueled with a blend of CNG and hydrogen. The three blended-fuel vehicles were originally equipped with either factory CNG engines or factory gasoline engines that were converted to run CNG fuel. The vehicles were variously modified to operate on blended fuel and were tested using 15 to 50% blends of hydrogen (by volume). The pure-hydrogen-fueled vehicle was converted from gasoline fuel to operate on 100% hydrogen. All vehicles were fueled from the Arizona Public Services Alternative Fuel Pilot Plant, which was developed to dispense gaseous fuels, including CNG, blends of CNG and hydrogen, and pure hydrogen with up to 99.9999% purity. The primary objective of the test was to evaluate the safety and reliability of operating vehicles on hydrogen and blended hydrogen fuel, and the interface between the vehicles and the hydrogen fueling infrastructure. A secondary objective was to quantify vehicle emissions, cost, and performance. Over a total of 40,000 fleet test miles, no safety issues were found. Also, significant reductions in emissions were achieved by adding hydrogen to the fuel. This report presents results of testing conducted over 6,864 kilometers (4,265 miles) of operation using the pure-hydrogen-fueled Mercedes Sprinter van.

ACRONYMS

APS CNG DOE ETA FTI HCNG
Arizona Public Service compressed natural gas U.S. Department of Energy Electric Transportation Applications Fueling Technologies Inc. hydrogen blended with compressed natural gas

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT.... iii ACRONYMS.....iv CONTENTS.....v BACKGROUND....1 APS Program Description....1 OPERATING RESULTS....2 Vehicle History.....2 Emissions Summary....2 Fuel Efficiency....2 Operating Costs.....3 Operating Results Summary....4 CONCLUSIONS....4 Appendix A.....5 Fuel Properties and gasoline gallon equivalents....5 Appendix B.....6 Monthly Mileage Summary.....6
BACKGROUND APS Program Description
Several automobile manufacturers are developing fuel-cell vehicles. The fuel-cell power plants used in many of these vehicles operate using compressed hydrogen gas fuel. Arizona Public Service (APS), a subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, has designed and constructed its Alternative Fuel Pilot Plant to gain experience with the production and dispensing of gaseous hydrogen as a transportation fuel. In conjunction with operation of the Alternative Fuel Pilot Plant, APS operates a fleet of vehicles on pure hydrogen, and blends of hydrogen and compressed natural gas (CNG). The U.S. Department of Energys Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity, through its Qualified Vehicle Tester, Electric Transportation Applications (ETA), has developed a cooperative agreement with APS to collect data from the operation of these vehicles. The primary objectives for operating these vehicles were to provide hands on experience with the use of hydrogen, to determine the safety issues associated with dispensing hydrogen into motor vehicles, to evaluate the safety and reliability of operating vehicles on hydrogen and blends of hydrogen and CNG (HCNG), and to investigate the interface between the vehicles and the hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Secondary objectives were to measure the vehicle emissions, cost, and performance. This report presents results of 6,864 kilometers (4,265 miles) of operation using the purehydrogen-fueled Mercedes Sprinter van. The testing results for the other HCNG and 100% hydrogen-fueled vehicles are reported separately. The APS Alternative Fuel Pilot Plant and the vehicle fueling interface operations will also be reported separately. The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory manages the hydrogen and HCNG light duty internal combustion engine vehicle testing for the U.S. Department of Energys Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity.

OPERATING RESULTS Vehicle History
A 1998 Mercedes Sprinter van was operated using pure hydrogen fuel in the APS alternative fuel vehicle fleet. The Sprinter was originally equipped with a 2.4 liter gasoline internal combustion engine. The German government in Hamburg, Germany converted the engine to operate using pure hydrogen. The modifications include adding three hydrogen tanks (115 L), CV injection, and a spark ignition modification. When APS received the vehicle, a WEH 5,000 psi inlet was installed to make the vehicle compatible with the APS Alternative Fuel Pilot Plant. The fuel storage tanks installed on the Sprinter operate at 3,600 psi.
Figure 1. Mercedes Sprinter hydrogen-powered van.

Emissions Summary

Inasmuch as this vehicle operates using pure hydrogen, its only potential emission is nitrogen oxide. No testing for nitrogen oxide was performed on the Sprinter.

Fuel Efficiency

From the time that the van arrived at APS until June 2, 2002, it was fueled directly from a hydrogen tube trailer. No accurate fuel measurement was available from this system, and, thus, no fuel economy data are available for the time period. After June 2, 2002, the van was fueled using dispensers made by Fueling Technologies Inc. (FTI). The FTI dispensers, shown in Figure 2, are
equipped with an accurate fuel measuring system. The FTI dispensers receive compressed hydrogen (99.9997% purity by volume)3 from the APS Alternative Fuels Pilot Plant. Between June 2 and June 23, 2002, the van used 22.9 gasoline gallon equivalents (gges) of hydrogen and accumulated 739 kilometers. The fuel economy over this time period is 20 miles per gge. This fuel economy appears to be unrealistically high. As the fuel economy was computed over a very short time period, more data should be collected to confirm these results. See Appendix B for monthly mileage reports.
Figure 2; FTI Hydrogen Dispenser.

Operating Costs

The Sprinter van had no mechanical problems during its operation at APS, and, therefore, incurred no repair-related expenses. One of the goals of the APS program was to determine if oil change intervals could be extended by using hydrogen fuel. During its operation at APS, the Sprinter had one oil change (odometer reading 6,719 kilometers) at a cost of $90.00. This translates to an operating cost of 2 cents per mile. Mobil 1 Synthetic oil was used in the oil
The purity test was conducted by Air Liquide America Corporation on 8/7/2002.
change. An oil analysis was performed on the drained engine oil to serve as a baseline for future oil analysis.4 Additional testing will be required to determine actual oil change intervals.

Operating Results Summary
The Sprinter experienced only minor mechanical problems during its 6,864 kilometers of operation in the APS fleet. Drivers of the hydrogen van reported rough operation: It sounds like a diesel engine. Drivers also reported a dead spot in the accelerator. The only operational problem occurred when the vehicle failed to start after refueling. It was determined that a failure to fully shut the fuel door caused the fueling interlock switch not to release. This was, therefore, an operator error. No safety problems were observed during the Sprinters operation. As shown in Appendix B, limited fuel-use data indicate that the Mercedes Sprinter operates at 20 miles/gallon. Based on German experience with this vehicle, this would appear to be an unrealistically high fuel economy. It is believed that the short period over which fuel use measurement was available significantly reduced the reliability of the fuel economy measurement.

CONCLUSIONS

The pure hydrogen Mercedes Sprinter operated 6,864 kilometers in the APS fleet. The vehicle was operated to gain experience in fueling pure hydrogen. No safety problems were encountered during operation of the Mercedes Sprinter in the APS fleet. The vehicle appears to have a good fuel economy. However, this was based on very limited data and more data needs to be collected to validate the results.
Oil analysis was performed by Schaeffer Lubricants.
APPENDIX A FUEL PROPERTIES AND GASOLINE GALLON EQUIVALENTS
The gasoline gallon equivalent (gge) is a simple metric to compare the energy content in any given fuel to the energy in one gallon of gasoline. The gge values used for various fuels/fuel mixtures are given in Table 1. The value of 5.66 lb CNG is defined by the National Conference on Weights and Measures to be equal to one gge. However, no similar standard exists for hydrogen or various blends of HCNG. The listed gges were derived from the properties given in Table 1. Table 1. Fuel properties and gge's.
Energy Content (kWh/Kg) Gasoline CNG Hydrogen 15% H2 blend 30% H2 blend 50% H2 blend 13.44 33.90 13.85 14.32 15.56 Energy Content (kWh/gal) 34.5 GGE (lbm) 5.66 2.28 5.49 5.31 4.89 GGE (kg) 2.57 1.04 2.49 2.41 2.22
APPENDIX B MONTHLY MILEAGE SUMMARY