alternative fuels ideas and questions

[thebanq]

im quite sure everyone using these or any other automotive forums are fed up with gas prices, so, im thinking it may be time for a fuel conversion, i have a 94 4 cylinder (2.2L) chevy s-10, it currently gets approx. 28 mpg, in researcing various alternatives, it seems propane would be the best choice, currently averaging nearly $1 a gallon cheaper than gasoline, my biggest concerns are converting a multi-port fuel injection engine to run on propane, anyone alse been contemplating this??? if not for this particular vehicle, one that is similar?? the resulting costs of such a coinversion??? from what i have gathered in researching tis propane is much much more efficient than unleaded gasoline, any given vehicle can expect a massive increses in fuel economy as well as performance....is it just me or is it time to fight back????

[drdisque]

it would cost you way more to convert it than you could possibly save

[MagicRat]

I agree. I have extensive experience with propane vehicles, and a conversion is not woth the money in this case.

Propane has only about 66% of the potential energy of gasoline so a gallon of propane gets you roughly only 2/3 of the distance as gas, so, given $3 gas and $2 propane, you actually save NO money at all.

Propane also produces less power than gas, all other factors being equal. A 4 cyl S-10 does not have much or a reserve of power anyways, so such a conversion may be unsatisfactory to drive.

[beef_bourito]

the propblem with these alternative fuels is that 1) for many there isn't the infrastructure, 2) it's expensive to convert and 3) they dont contain as much energy.

with propane, as mentioned before, it doesn't have the same ammount of energy, so you get less power and less gas mileage. so if you have the same volume of liquid propane as liquid gasoline, you wont go further. also, getting that propane into a liquid form in your gas tank is difficult. converting wouldn't be much of a problem but you probably wouldn't be able to use your mpfi system. you could probably usesome form of tbi or something similar where you have one large injector upstream of the intake manifold. this would be cheaper and easier.

another thing is that to get the most ouot of your propane system you would have to increase the compression ratio significantly. i don't know the exact figgures but it's above what a gasoline engine can do without alcohol or water injection (so somewhere above 14:1)

[razr_88]

here's what i did, i took a soup can, and am running electricity from an old fog light harness through some salt water, or baking soda water. this turns it into hydrogen and oxygen. i then let the intake suck in this mixture of gases. it din't cost me a cent and i get about 20 to 30 more miles per tank. depending on the engine your mileage difference could be better than mine, since i have a big engine in my car to begin with.

before you ask if it creates wear and tear on the engine let me just say that it doesn't. In fact, it helps clean up the carbon buildup!!

[iBgodsmacked]

Originally Posted by razr_88

here's what i did, i took a soup can, and am running electricity from an old fog light harness through some salt water, or baking soda water. this turns it into hydrogen and oxygen. i then let the intake suck in this mixture of gases. it din't cost me a cent and i get about 20 to 30 more miles per tank. depending on the engine your mileage difference could be better than mine, since i have a big engine in my car to begin with.

before you ask if it creates wear and tear on the engine let me just say that it doesn't. In fact, it helps clean up the carbon buildup!!

so you are saying you suck in hydrodgen through your intake? I am a little foggy on what you are trying to do here

[72chevelleOhio]

Ibtl

[curtis73]

Originally Posted by razr_88

here's what i did, i took a soup can, and am running electricity from an old fog light harness through some salt water, or baking soda water. this turns it into hydrogen and oxygen. i then let the intake suck in this mixture of gases. it din't cost me a cent and i get about 20 to 30 more miles per tank. depending on the engine your mileage difference could be better than mine, since i have a big engine in my car to begin with.

before you ask if it creates wear and tear on the engine let me just say that it doesn't. In fact, it helps clean up the carbon buildup!!

Uh... yeah, I call BS on this one. First of all a SOUP CAN? That wouldn't hold enough water to do anything. Second of all, you won't be electrolyzing much water with a fog light harness.

Pics, man, pics.

[J-Ri]

Just adding a hydrogen and oxygen mix won't give better MPG (and two small contacts wouldn't make enough to do anything). The only way hydrogen helps is to speed the flame front of a lean fuel mixture. It does this because the hydrogen ignites much faster than gasoline and ignites the fuel that is also in the cylinder. It will also heat the longer HC molecules and make them ignite sooner, which means they are burnt more completely before the exhaust stroke, which means that "lean" mixture isn't actually lean since enough fuel is burnt.

[Polygon]

Originally Posted by curtis73

Uh... yeah, I call BS on this one. First of all a SOUP CAN? That wouldn't hold enough water to do anything. Second of all, you won't be electrolyzing much water with a fog light harness.

Pics, man, pics.

I think I've heard of this and I believe that Mythbusters tested it. It did nothing.

[72chevelleOhio]

Nobody noticed the cobwebs between post 5 and post 6???? opcorn:
Everyone probably abandoned the thread once they read the "soup can" part.....crickets chirping and all.......