Westport Innovations (, ) is a company that develops

alternative fuel Alternative fuel, known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are any materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels like; '' fossil fuels'' (petroleum (oil), coal, and natural gas), as well as nuclear mat ...

, low-emissions technologies to allow engines to operate on clean-burning fuels such as

compressed natural gas Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in cy ...

(CNG),

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...

(LNG),

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

and

biofuels Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...

such as

landfill gas Landfill gas is a mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill as they decompose organic waste, including for example, food waste and paper waste. Landfill gas is approximately forty to sixty percent methane, ...

. Headquartered in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Canada, where the company was founded, Westport also has facilities in France, Sweden, Italy, China, Australia and the United States. Westport is best known for its technology that allows the

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

to operate on

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

without modifications to the engine's combustion chamber.

History

In the early 1980s Philip Hill, then a

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

mechanical engineering professor, sought improvements to natural gas

combustion Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combusti ...

in engines. Hill's team of graduate students and research engineers focused on natural gas as a fuel in diesel engines to reduce

emissions Emission may refer to: Chemical products * Emission of air pollutants, notably: **Flue gas, gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue ** Exhaust gas, flue gas generated by fuel combustion ** Emission of greenhouse gases, which absorb and emit rad ...

nitrogen oxides Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds: Charge-neutral *Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide *Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide *Nitrogen trioxide (), or ni ...

(NOx) and harmful

atmospheric particulate matter Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The ter ...

. At the same time, he wanted to preserve the performance, fuel economy, durability and reliability characteristics of the traditional diesel engine. With funding limited and finding few suitable commercial components or testing equipment, Hill and his team designed and fabricated their own components and equipment. The theoretical results they obtained from their research and experimentation was a significant factor in the later development of Westport. By injecting a small amount of diesel fuel before a main, high-pressure, direct injection (HPDI) of natural gas to start the combustion, Hill was able to successfully retain important characteristics of the diesel engine. In 1994, through UBC's University-Industry Liaison Office, Hill met David Demers, who later became Westport's CEO. In 1995 the two founded Westport Innovations Inc. to capitalize on the HPDI technology.

Milestones

* 2001: Westport and

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...

formed a joint venture, Cummins Westport Inc, which now offers medium-duty

natural gas vehicle A natural gas vehicle (NGV) is an alternative fuel vehicle An alternative fuel vehicle is a motor vehicle that runs on alternative fuel rather than traditional petroleum fuels (petrol or diesel fuel, petrodiesel). The term also refers to an ...

engines from 150 to over 400

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

. Now used in over 60

OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

vehicles, over 30,000 of the engines have sold worldwide. * 2005: Westport and Beijing Tianhai Industry Co. Ltd. began a relationship which led to forming a joint venture—BTIC Westport Inc.—to develop and market natural gas tanks for transportation. * 2006: Westport HD Engine and LNG Fuel System for heavy-duty trucking applications was launched. The HPDI technology is based on the 15-litre Cummins ISX but is adaptable to other OEM engines as well. * 2008: Westport formed a joint venture with

Weichai Power Weichai Power Co., Ltd is a developer and manufacturer of diesel engines with headquarters in Weifang, Shandong in the People's Republic of China. It also manufactures forklifts and non-diesel engine automotive parts. History Weichai Power was ...

, China's largest heavy-duty engine manufacturer, and Hong Kong Peterson (CNG) Equipment Ltd. Today Weichai Westport Inc. manufactures and sells alternative-fuel engines for automobiles, heavy-duty trucks, power generation and shipping applications. Westport listed on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

Stock Market in 2008 as WPRT, while continuing to trade under WPT on the

Toronto Stock Exchange The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; french: Bourse de Toronto) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in t ...

. * 2009: Westport and

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

committed to a supply agreement for Westport natural gas fuel systems for commercializing Volvo heavy-duty applications. * 2010: Juniper Engines Inc. (now Westport Light Duty Inc.) became a wholly owned subsidiary of Westport as a result of the acquisition of OMVL SpA in July 2010 and OMVL's 51% share of Juniper. Westport LD now offers natural gas and

liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking e ...

engines and fuel systems for the OEM light-duty automotive and industrial market. * 2011: Westport acquired Emer SpA, a fuel system and components manufacturer, and AFV, a Swedish bi-fuel engine manufacturer and supplier of alternative fuel systems for

Volvo Cars Volvo Cars ( sv, Volvo personvagnar, styled VOLVO in the company's logo) is a Swedish multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Torslanda, Gothenburg. The company manufactures SUVs, station wagons, and sedans. The company's ...

. * In April, 2013

using technology developed by Westport Innovations began shipping large natural gas fueled engines to truck manufacturers in the United States as trucking companies began converting portions of their fleets to natural gas and the natural gas distribution network in the United States began to expand.

References

{{reflist

External links

Company website

UBC University-Industry Liaison Office

Beijing Tianhai Industry Co. Ltd.

Hong Kong Peterson Group
Companies established in 1995 Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Nasdaq Technology companies of Canada

History

Milestones

See also

References

External links