by Outcast_Searcher » Thu 06 Aug 2009, 12:50:38
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', '[')What I am looking for is, if you used a liquid propane tank like the ones they use on Forklifts on your car and filled it half full of gasoline while it was at atmospheric pressure how much CH4 or C3H8 could you pump in under pressure? I am sure it is less than you could add if you didn't put the gasoline in first, but I am also aware that back in the 1900-1925 era gasoline often had Propane in its formula straight from the refinery.
I was thinking that if you didn't want to go with straight Natural Gas or Propane you could dissolve it on your gasoline and still get a benefit from it as a fuel extender.
That's an interesting idea, but what about
safety concerns?
Today, it's actually very rare for ordinary passenger cars to catch fire after wrecks, given how sheltered the gas tanks are. And even if the gas trickles out of a tank leak, it isn't a disaster as long as open flame or sparks aren't introduced.
Also, I've seen a television documentary on alternative energy for cars where they demonstrated actually introducing flame to a contrived leak in a NG car. It burned - like a big candle - it didn't explode or even progress. The NG car expert being interviewed claimed this would be normal - nice and safe.
Now, introduce gasoline in a tank under high pressure saturated with Methane or another gaseous hydrocarbon? That sounds like a recipe for an explosion in a crash/rupture scenario. Even if not, spraying gasoline around isn't exactly appealing. Unless it produced AMAZING efficiency results, I'm betting the risk-averse lawyers would insist on taking a big pass.