Propane engines....

[noe-place]

I was re-reading an old article in Mothorhome Magazine where an engineer was discussing the feasibility of replacing the gas engines in rv's with propane powered engines. Anybody have any recent data on such research?

[dougrainer]

powderman426 wrote:
A gallon of LPG has approx. 75% of the btu's in a gallon of gas. Where I live a gallon of lp is about $2, so it would be cheaper than gas, but being able to get it when and where you need it may be a problem. I'll just stay with the diesel. :B

The national average for LP is around $3.03 and yes, it does fluctuate. Right now it is $3.02 in Texas and Gasoline is $3.29. Doug

[Ozlander]

powderman426 wrote:
A gallon of LPG has approx. 75% of the btu's in a gallon of gas. Where I live a gallon of lp is about $2, so it would be cheaper than gas, :B

It may be cheeeper than gas, but when the tax man shows up and wants his money plus a fine, it won't be.

[powderman426]

A gallon of LPG has approx. 75% of the btu's in a gallon of gas. Where I live a gallon of lp is about $2, so it would be cheaper than gas, but being able to get it when and where you need it may be a problem. I'll just stay with the diesel. :B

[5thwheeleroldma]

I worked for an oil company in Eastern Venezuela in the early 1960's. They had to burn off propane, but paid for gasoline. Consequently, they fitted most of our trucks to burn either gasoline or propane. There was a device on top of the carburetor to switch from one to the other as needed. We were firmly told to burn propane unless there was an emergency (no propane available). Worked pretty well, but occasionally had problems with the switching device.

Incidentally, the propane or natural gas is much easier on an engine. We had a pump jack running on an automobile engine, fired with natural gas, and it had the equivalent of 500,000 miles one it. Never needed new spark plugs or a tune up.

[dougrainer]

35 years ago, there were a few Motorhomes that had dual LP/Gasoline systems. Tiffin and Winnebago were two (we sold and serviced both). The problems were, LP has less BTU/Horsepower than gasoline. LP requires a VERY large LP tank which is difficult to mount and adds a LOT of weight. The COST of LP was fluctuating very hi and lo back then, so cost of fuel became an issue(LP gets less gas mileage). The plain fact is, LP is NOT cost efficient in Motorhomes or Automobiles. Doug

[PapPappy]

I'm thinking that you want to know about the perfomance and fuel efficiency of such a change.
I guess that it will really depend on the price and availability of the LP as compared to the gas/diesel. Most of the time, it seems the vehicles that have this conversion, work for the LP company:B......or are back at the shop each night, so they aren't out looking for LP while traveling around the country.

As I understand it (and I have no data to back this up:?), the LP doesn't burn as hot, so you have less energy produced, so your vehicle may not have the same performance that it had. This may be OK if you life on basically level ground, but if you are up in the mountains, it may be a factor....and if you are putting the pedal to the metal, you'll probably use more propane (more $$) per mile.

I don't know how quickly there would be a "Payback" by using LP, if there was actually one at all.
Around here, LP is not really cheaper than gas, so there is no real savings, unless this is more of a "Green" issue.
Maybe someone else has figures to answer this question? I just don't think I'd make the investment.

Happy Camping:)

[popupcamping]

all of the "Island Hopper" buses on Mount desert Island in Maine are propane powered. There are a lot of propane powered buses.

Other than the "green" aspect of it I do not believe there would be any advantage.

Petroleum companies could make it advantageous by lowering the price of propane since it is a free product from the refining process to make gasoline but it is too expensive.

unsure what data you are looking for

[K_Charles]

You don't need to change the engine, a gas engine will run on LP gas with only modification to the carburetor and timing.