Propane assist for gasoline engine ?

[roadyj]

I have another possibly insane thought about using propane along with gasoline in my uhhhhm vehicle (see Yoda 2 in my garage).

PLEASE ANYONE READING - PLEASE DO NOT DO ANYTHING THAT COULD MAKE YOU OR YOUR CAR GO BOOM!!!!!

When I filled up the other day I noticed the the station was selling propane for $2.75 per gallon and gas was $3.05 per gallon. I had never seen propane advertised in a per gallon fasion before, always per pound. When I was leaving I noticed someone putting their filled propane tank in the trunk of their car probably for a BBQ pit or in this area Crawfish boiler.

Driving home and thinking about how I could benefit from the .30 per gallon difference in price I came up with this idea. If you were to inject propane gas at some point into the air going into the engine it would burn it as if it were gasoline.

Next I wondered how the cars computer would handle this. From what I have read about ECMs the amount of gasoline supplied to the engine is based on the oxygen content of the exhaust gases. Everyone help me out here if this is not correct. If this is the case it seems if you added propane in a ratio which was less than needed for the engine to run on just propane the engine would still be able to change the air fuel mix by how much gasoline it dispenses to the engine.

So if you included a valve linked to the trottle you could increase and decrease the amount of propane entering the engine relative to the amount of air entering. While still allowing the computer to do its thing. And reap some of the benefits of using propane.

Please let me have some of your thoughts on this. And also

PLEASE ANYONE READING - PLEASE DO NOT DO ANYTHING THAT COULD MAKE YOU OR YOUR CAR GO BOOM!!!!!

[SVOboy]

You can get a conversion kit and run full propane if you so desire,

[roadyj]

Thanks,

I did look up propane conversion kits. I was as usual thinking low cost mods.

[ELF]

I thought about trying that, but there are only maybe a small gain possible?
also I have other family drive my cars, so there's the potential for mishap. Like some one turning on the propane when the car is off. besides turning the pressure up and down while you drive would get old real fast. Might be a good thing to try on a long trip where you could keep it at a steady pressure.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

I was looking at the forklift at work today that runs off propane, and couldn't belive how simple it's injection system appears to be, of course I didn't get a chance to take it appart, but it's alot simpler then a normal carburator, or fuel injection.
then I got to looking at a propane generator with a 8hp briggs and straton engine with propane carburator as well, and that looked even simpler, it appears to adjust the richness based off vaccum, high vaccum, low input, low vaccum high input, it appears to be that simple, then just wire in a propane cut off valve in to the ignition or something, so it turns the propane off when the key is turned.
I'm sure that if you are doing it as a hybrid setup with gasoline at the same time that it might give you greater flexiblity in your design, but it sounds very possible to make one that is user friendly for strangers who barrow your car, of course to transport propane you are suposed to have it in an area that is open to the air, not inside a trunk or passenger compartment.

[Sludgy]

Propane has less BTU per gallon than gasoline, so the price difference may not make up for the mileage difference.

[caprice]

Propane assist, i don't know. But propane exclusively gets worse MPG than gas. It has a much higher octane rating, 104, so that means you could run it in a higher compression engine. Then it may meet, or beat the FE of gasoline. Not to mention, your engine would last longer and the oil would stay clean.

Also I am not familiar, but bulk propane delivery is less, I believe. If you lived in the country, you could get a big storage tank.

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by Sludgy

Propane has less BTU per gallon than gasoline, so the price difference may not make up for the mileage difference.

Yep yep yep. I agree. Still it is a fun idea...

[roadyj]

Thanks for the comments. I had not taken into account the difference in BTUs per gallon.

I saw threads in here on Hydrogen.

Any other interesting gasses to try?

[GasSavers_DaX]

Originally Posted by Sludgy

Propane has less BTU per gallon than gasoline, so the price difference may not make up for the mileage difference.

Propane was my first idea for an FE mod, waaaaaay before GasSavers.org was a website. As sludgy said, after research I found out it would not be worth it.