By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — After months of delays, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has finally opened the country’s first vehicle research and testing laboratory equipped with a chassis dynamometer and emission analyzer used to assess viability of different alternative fuels.
The facility is located at the Melchor Hall of the University of the Philippines, where the DOST’s academic partner institution, the UP Department of Mechanical Engineering is located. DOST is also represented by its sub-agency the Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development (PCIERD).
The facility is created under the requirements of Republic Act 9637 or the Biofuels Act to provide infrastructure support for assessment, validation, and performance testing of biofuels . The facility will also develop test protocols, standards and regulations including the use fuel-saving emission and control devices.
In an interview, PCIERD Deputy Director Raul Sabularse said the vehicle research and testing laboratory’s chassis dynamometer system can do performance testing of commercially available alternative vehicular fuel sources and their effects on vehicles. It can monitor power, torque, speed, fuel economy and emissions for each of the different alternative fuel sources.
The goal of the facility is also to inform the public about different sources and resulting usage of alternative fuels, particularly on the right formulation. Among the available fuel sources are coco-methyl ester, bio-ethanol, compressed natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas.
Sabularse said the facility already cost P150 million, with P50 million spent on the chassis dynamometer. The cost of the entire facility is shouldered by the DOST, the University of the Philippines, the Department of Energy and the Philippine National Oil Company.
Sabularse said the DOST will be adding new equipment, such as more accurate emission analyzer that can see particulate matters. “This one should be more accurate because it can check for unburned fuel and materials not shown by just an ordinary emission analyzer,” he said.
August 26th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Does this mean that dost is really open for alternative fuels for vehicles?…
This might be good news…
But would our government support those who have such alternative fuels, like for example water as fuel for our cars that was tested years ago but was not able to have been recognized i think…
September 1st, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I wish that government and private sector’s program on alternative fuel will continue without reservation in order to achieve objective of fully having alternative fuel whatever it is. World economy will always be hostage with the fluctuating cost of fossil fuel for no reason at all.
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:05 am
This piece of development would hopefully boost the ME dept of UP from its current unremarkable status. The topic of energy is crucial to our national development that we cannot but hope for the best mechanical engineering knowledge and skills. We cannot do this with the poor state of our ME dept in the premier university. We should retool this department to the highest possible level.