Propane as a fuel and performance

[rickpilgrim]

Chapter 1
Whenever I suggest propane as a fuel I hear a lot of negative feedback about it. To share what I have learned from having 2 vehicles with big block engines running propane as their sole fuel and what I learned yrs ago from it.

If you ever were considering propane as a motor fuel there are some things you need to know. They concern the btu content of all, second is some of the available parts and kits to convert to it and why they lead to disappointment, and the third is how I set up my 2 engines and how to set up yours. The fourth part will deal with fuel tanks and supplies.

The first is the BTU content of these fuels.

Gasoline, 1 gallon = 125,000 btu
Natural Gas, 1 gallon= 100,015 btu
Propane, 1gallon= 91,700 btu

So that means 1 gal gasoline=1.25 gal NG =1.36 gal propane
Or natural gas and propane contain 20% and 26% less energy than gasoline

Those btu results were published about a century ago and were obtained using pure fuel. We no longer have pure gasoline, it has ethonal and other octane additives and chemicals have been added into our gasoline for less pollution, anti evaporites and less carbon emissions. A more recent btu test of 87 Ron gas revealed:
87 Ron gasoline, 10% ethonal content = 109,272 btu
93 Ron gasoline = 118,791 btu

In octane rating terms:
pump gasoline (USA). 85-93 RON
Natural Gas. 104-108 RON
Propane. 105-110 RON

This is one of the reasons that propane appears a losing proposition as an alternative fuel. Another is a lack of firsthand knowledge about the mixers,regulators and tanks that are sold and recommended by vendors who have no experience in trying propane for performance or a spirited daily driver. Stay tuned for chapter 2