Services - CNG Training Courses
CNG safety training courses have been successfully delivered by CFS International to international groups and classes in Australia through TAFE NSW. They can be customised to suit your training requirements.
These training courses contain a significant amount of detailed information not readily available from other sources. They are essential to all CNG stakeholders, whether they are considering, commencing or are already involved in CNG business or work.
Attendees wishing to obtain hands-on CNG vehicle conversion mehanic training should enquire with Sydney Institute of Technology via the Automotive Head Teacher, Mr Dennis Spagarino (). This formal vocational training course awards a CNG mechanic certificate which is used in Australia to obtain CNG mechanic registration (authorisation to perform vehicle conversion work).
All CNG training courses provided by CFS and Sydney Institute of Technology can be conducted in Sydney, Australia, or at a location chosen by the clients to suit their operation needs as well as to minimise trainees' travel costs.
_____________________
Customised training courses
In response to requests from clients, CFS International has prepared a comprehensive range of training modules that cover CNG technical, safety, standards, CNG refuelling station and fleet conversion project management and financial evaluation of CNG projects.
Customise your training course by selecting CNG training modules developed by CFS International. The training sessions are interactive. Depending on the module, the trainees may be required to perform one or all of the following: internet searches, financial analysis spreadsheets, anwering questions based on the lecture material, and numerical exercises under the trainer's supervision. The length of each module including trainees' exercises and assignments may take between two and five days.
- Module 1: CNG industry overview.
- Module 2: Properties (including safety and health issues) of natural gas and CNG.
- Module 3: Overview of CNG vehicle safety.
- Module 4: Standards and regulations.
- Module 5: Regulatory framework.
- Module 6: CNG refuelling stations.
- Module 7: Economics of vehicles and refuelling stations.
- Module 8: Refuelling station risk assessment.
- Module 9: How to start a successful CNG program.
- Module 10: Refuelling station installation practice.
- Module 11: Refuelling station safety practice.
- Module 12: Refuelling operation and maintenance (O&M).
- Module 13: Learning from refuelling station safety incidents (selected from world database over the last 25 years).
- Module 14: Vehicle installation and conversion.
- Module 15: CNG cylinder safety.
- Module 16: Vehicle safety practice.
- Module 17: Engine technologies.
- Module 18: Periodic inspection of vehicles.
- Module 19: Design and safety of vehicle workshops and garages.
- Module 20: Safety measures - CNG vehicles and refuelling stations.
- Module 21: CNG mother daughter operational safety.
- Module 22: Financial analysis - CNG refuelling station and fleet conversion projects.
- Module 23: Government financial support policy.
- Module 24: Managing a refuelling station construction project.
- Module 25: Learning from vehicle, cylinder and vehicle workshop safety incidents (selected from world database over the last 25 years).
- Module 26: CNG emergency response.
- Module 27: CNG vehicle fire protection design, operation and maintenance.
- Module 28: CNG exhaust emissions and environmental benefits.
Intending trainees or their employers/sponsors may select modules from this list to suit their training needs. The training modules are also listed in this pdf document.
Please fill out the CFS International information request form to register your interest, to provide your contact details and to obtain a more detailed explanation of what is in each module.
_____________________
CNG training course for Bangladesh by CFS International
CFS International and the Sydney Institute of TAFE NSW have collaborated for a decade in CNG training programs for Asian countries, starting with a program to train Singapore CNG industry and government officials in the early 2000s. Sydney Institute has been at the forefront of training for gas fuelled vehicle conversion auto mechanics in Australia for three decades. It has a large number of expert instructors, a well equipped vehicle conversion laboratory and extensive industry contacts from its training and technical assistance programs over several years.
The CNG industry is an important element of Bangladesh’s economy and energy setup. Bangladesh has one of the world’s highest CNG market penetration rate, with a CNG vehicle population (currently at about 250,000 out of a total vehicle population of some one million).
Like many other countries with large CNG vehicle populations, Bangladesh has had its share of safety incidents in its long history of CNG vehicle usage. However, to our knowledge this would have been the first time a major CNG vehicle nation has commissioned a large and structured CNG training program at an Australian educational institute to tackle CNG safety issues in a comprehensive, systematic and thorough way.
From July to December 2009 CFS International conducted CNG training courses at Sydney Institute of Technology, Australia, for four groups of officials and technical staff from Petrobangla, RPGCL (the country’s natural gas company), the Bangladesh Ministry of Planning - Energy and Mineral Resources Division.
The program consisted of four courses:
- Course 1 (by CFS): Planning, engineering, design, operation and maintenance of refuelling stations (eight weeks, 18 persons)
- Course 2 (by CFS): Project planning and management (with special reference to CNG project identification, preparation and economic evaluation (eight weeks, nine persons)
- Course 3 (by Sydney Institute, with a one - week safety course by CFS): Planning, engineering design, operation and maintenance of CNG conversion system (eight weeks, 18 vehicle converters)
- Course 4 (by CFS): Safety and environment (including new safety codes, standards and regulations related to conversion and use of CNG) (four weeks, 11 persons)
CFS’s program (Courses 1, 2, 3 and 4) was supported by the Institute through the use of lecture rooms, course note production, AV equipment, administrative support, the library and computing/internet facilities.
The course placed strong emphasis on:
- The extensive set of international CNG codes and standards, as well as standards on supporting infrastructure such as gas cylinder test stations and test procedures, vehicle workshops and garages, hazardous area classification and CNG flow metering testing and approval
- Government regulatory framework for effective safety management
- Safety management by owners and operators of vehicles, equipment and facilities
- Design and operation of CNG vehicle for safety in fire and collision
- CNG cylinder safety: selection, storage, handling, operation and maintenance
- CNG vehicle and refuelling station design and installation
- CNG safety management in the challenging regulatory and market conditions of developing countries
- Lessons learnt from databases of over 25 years of CNG safety incidents in many countries
- Online and PC-based course work where attendees underwent supervised tutorials to ensure that the lectures were correctly understood and technical assignments were correctly completed
The delegates of Course 4, who were experts on CNG safety (having experienced first hand the practical aspects of safety incidents from the nation’s large population of CNG vehicles), appreciated the free-flowing class discussions on the topic with Dr Ly.
Technical field visits were conducted to State Transit Authority’s CNG bus depots and fast fill CNG stations, a CNG cylinder retest station, an OEM CNG bus building factory, and the Australia Post Parcel Distribution Centre where CNG forklifts have been successfully deployed for several years.
Upon successful completion of the training courses, many delegates will be able to upgrade their safety programs and train their CNG industry colleagues. Additional training courses will also be conducted in Australia, or in Bangladesh, for more groups later. CFS looks forward to providing further technical assistance to enhance the implementation of Bangladesh’s subsequent nation-wide and industry-wide CNG safety improvement programs. CFS congratulates Petrobangla, PRGCL and the Government of Bangladesh on this important, large scale and forward looking training initiative.
On completion of the course, the delegates received a certificate presented by Dr Ly. The following photograph shows one of the course delegates, Engineer Abu Wayes, receiving his certificate:
An article on the Bangladesh CNG Training Course was published in NGV Global on December 16, 2009.