LPG fuel around the world...

[Lang]

Rob,

The gas systems fitted to cars definitely produce less greenhouse gas than petrol or diesel. That goes for specific built engines such as the Ford Taxis here in Australia and after market add-on kits.

The add-ons can be attached to carburettor vehicles using straight gas or dual fuel and injected vehicles using both with the same results. The mixture sensing units are very sophisticated.

I think that dual fuel systems would be the go in Canada with either manual or automatic changeover to gas during the cruise period - maybe a heater system for the gas is called for but it would probably be pretty simple to devise.

I am interested in your comments that there is no shortage of fuel in Canada. If we continue to use petrol without milking everything out of it eg LPG we are just going faster down the international slippery slope - Canada is not an island. Your comments about emissions show you care about this aspect like most of us - gas is a way to reduce them. With your pioneering experience with gas you should be a salesman for it !???

Lang

[Jon Skagfeld]

Rob, Lang et al. In 1981 I bought a brand new Chev Caprice Classic. I had installed a 77 liter propane tank in the large trunk. A brushed aluminum lockable access door for filling, and appropriate dash switches completed the ensemble.

At the time, and also during the same time to which Rob refers, efforts were made to encourage such dual conversions. Heavy subsidies for LPG meant a 0.13 per liter cost.

Yes, performance was down about 10-15%.

Yes, filling stations were far and few between.

Yes, cold weather starts were a bitch.

But if one had dual fuel, no sweat. Start on regular in the AM, run on LPG during the day, shut down on regular.

The military, bless their hearts, went total LPG for, primarily the usual inter base pedal runs and staff car routes which, through experience, had authorized regular gas refill stations located en-route.

With a lower performance profile, recovery calls started coming in because vehicles were stranded with out-of-fuel conditions. Quel surprise!

An expensive exercise indeed.

Any lessons learned, I wonder?

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Lang

I think that dual fuel systems would be the go in Canada with either manual or automatic changeover to gas during the cruise period - maybe a heater system for the gas is called for but it would probably be pretty simple to devise.

In Holland (and most of Western Europe) mostly dual fuel systems are used. Even today´s modern systems start the engine on petrol, and switch over to LPG unnoticably once the vaporiser has warmed up. The vaporiser is plumbed in with the car´s cooling system. This works in cold climates too, although it might take running a few kilometers instead of a few hundred meters (like here) to heat up.

The latest technology is LPG liquid injection. Instead of vaporising the LPG, it is injected in the inlet manifold in liquefied form. This allows improved control of the fuel injection, which results in improved performance and optimum combustion. Because a liquefied petroleum gas system employs the original petrol engine’s computer, all the original characteristics are retained and the emissions are less harmful to the environment.

Holland and Italy are the home to the world´s leading LPG systems manufacturers, succesfully exporting their products across the globe.

H.