Compressed Natural Gas as an alternate fuel

  • May 5, 2011
  • Views : 5014
  • 2 min read

  • bookmark

Fuel prices have gone higher by a substantial number over the decade. This has made people conscious about installing alternate fuel options that are compatible with their cars and have lower running costs. CNG or Compressed Natural Gas has been considered as a viable option by many for using their current petrol cars. Zigwheels shows the facts on CNG

Compressed Natural Gas has been around for about two decades. It has come up as not only a working alternate fuel option, but, has also provided to the future of fuel after petrol. Upgrading to a diesel car is a good option if the price of petrol pinches a car owner, but, if the same car can be converted into an alternate fuel supply, and with not many modifications or high installation cost, CNG is considered as an option for alternate fuel.

As the name suggests, CNG or Compressed Natural Gas is natural gas which is compressed to a level where it can be combusted. No major changes take place in the fuel line assembly and the vehicle can be used on both, petrol and CNG whichever is required. 

Natural gas is at atmospheric pressure and expands easily when compressed. This nature of CNG is used for combusting the gas. A separate storage tank is installed for the storage and supply to the engine. A separate fuel line is also installed with the tank to give a separate line to CNG. A regulator is fitted in the engine bay which regulates the CNG supply going in the injectors.

Once the CNG system is working, the gas travels from the tank to the regulator via a fuel line and is then mixed with the air and sent through the injectors or the carburetor to the combustion chamber. The firing of the fuel takes place in the same way as it would in case of petrol. 

The cost of installing a CNG kit from the aftermarket hovers around Rs.30000 which goes upto Rs.70000 in authorized dealerships. This includes the cost of the kit, installation charges and entry in the registration certificate. 

While installing the CNG kit, one has to keep note that there would be a 10 to 15 % drop in brake horse power output once the car starts to run on CNG. Since, CNG takes more time to combust compared to petrol. But, rest assured, there would be savings of upto 60% on a monthly basis after installation.

See what our community has to say! NEW

India's largest automotive community

Explore Now
comminity image
×
Recently Visited
Select Category