Natural Gas Conversion - Anyone?
 

Anyone here done a CNG conversion on their car? Pros, cons?

Just curious. All of these Boone Pickens ads have piqued my interest.

Best,

I can't see it being cost effective. CNG conversions are expensive, and CNG stores far less energy than gasoline or even ethanol. I think you have a range similar to an electric car too. And where do you fill it up?

About 10 years ago ComEd (Chicago Electric Utility) converted all of their cars to CNG. They went back to gasoline in less than two years.

Depending on the car, propane is the way to go. It's especially good for older, worn engines.

One way or the other, there's kits for all the major engines out there, I would never consider piecing together a propane or CNG setup myself, I've seen what kinda pain is involved when one does that.

Where are those CNG refueling stations we'll need? Hey, T. Boone Pickens...you need to step it up buddy! :)

I believe there's one in downtown LA next to Philippe's. However, driving there to fill up would neither be cost effective nor an efficient use of my time.

I haven't seen any DIY kits for FI cars, only carb'd ones. What are you planning on putting it on?

I drove to San Francisco this weekend and as I passed thru Los Banos, I saw a gas station that had nothing but CNG. It looked like one of the card stations that have no attendants.

I too am interested in seeing how this is done. I saw the T. Boone Pickens ad where he stated that Iran was/has converted their cars to CNG and we could do the same.

I'm interested in how this is done and how it affects performance. Not all of my cars need to be Porsche race cars. Some of each seems reasonable.

I just completed a 23 page paper on computer controlled propane injection. Propane use falls under 3 catagories.
1) carb
2) gaseous injection
3) liquid injection

Liquid injection is by far the most advanced system offering fuel economy rivaling conevntianal gasoline system (volume base)

Gaseous injection is simpler than liquid-phase but more complicated than carb. It sits in the middle of liquid and carb in the way of complexity, efficiency and emmisions.

Speedy:)

For the most part you can refuel in your own garage via a regulator off your domestic supply.

A long trip out of town might be a different matter...

Don't you need expensive, specialized equipment to compress the NG?

You're not going to get much pressure out of your house gas feed. If you have a tank the size of a bus on your car, that might be OK :)

'' For the most part you can refuel in your own garage via a regulator off your domestic supply.''

road gas tax????
donot you need a pump to get more then vapor in the tank

we used propaine to run big forklifts
but needed a pump to fill the tank on the F L

There is a Honda civic CNG car which came with a at-home natural gas pump which takes the low pressure CNG and pressurizes it in the tank of your car.


http://automobiles.honda.com/shop/?modelname=civic+gx&ef_id=1097:3:s_bb538b77fb954d1 e6e9459d5ece3f83b_444155100_honda%20ngv:8IrldtB6B3 YAAB9JbhMAAAAS:20080908234008
Speedy:)

To store enough energy you need a gas than can be pressurized and stored as a liquid. For practical purposes propane can n.g. can't.

For a short range commuter car you could switch to n.g., buy a compressor and refill at home. Or, even better, at work for free.

I used to work for the natural gas utility here in Ontario. My old work vehicle was a GMC 6500 series 5 ton truck. It had a 350 engine ( I think) fuel injection dual fuel. On natural gas in the city it ran great. On the highway the power wasn't there so I ran it on gasoline.

If I do this, can I then turbo my NA?

Just kidding.

Propane is getting more and more popular in rock crawling, especially with the Toyota 22 series engines. www.gotpropane.com/ has kits for all trucks.

I also think that Toyota made a wagon in the 70s that had a propane tank in the hatch area so you could run dual fuel.

It's beyond popular in rock crawling. I have every intention of switching to propane on our Willy's when we finally drag it out here.