Natural Gas powered H3T

[ArtHummer]

The truck noted above has been used extensively and continuously gets 600 miles to a tank, it is fitted with 55 EGG tanks (Equivalent Gas Gallon).

This is not an improvement in gas millage... On average we get 270 miles out of 20 gallons on gasoline. out of 55 gallons you should squeeze about 750 miles. It's just a numbers game.

This system recently got popular in Russia and I did a little research on it. With CNG you will not gain anything. You will use more EGGs per mile and you will experience lose in power. The only good reason is to switch on CNG is the cost of natural gas vs gasoline. In Russia the natural gas is more then two times chipper then gasoline. Also, the tank is under very high pressure and that why it should not be mounted underneath. And, If the rapture of the tank will happen (due to hitting a tank on the rock or in the accident), the tank will turn in to a bomb and will explode. If the pressure regulator valve fails and tank will overfill it will explode... It make sense to have CNG on the bus and have the tank on the roof.
Also, in Russia they use little 10 gallons tanks and place it inside the car where spare tire is located. And with 10 gallon tank they have to fill up every day.

 

[ArtHummer]

... people a racing around trying to be the first to get the "best" system and no ones talking!

Personal, if you are planning to switch to CNG, the best idea that I could find is to switch to a hydrogen. And like Max explained, hydrogen is even more inefficient then natural gas. But, why is it better? Because you can collect your own hydrogen from water.

[video=youtube_share;K3GDjVskYIs]http://youtu.be/K3GDjVskYIs[/video]

Again it was just an idea and there was no numbers to support the efficiency of that. I wonder how much it will cost to build a converter? Just solar panels will cost you arm and a leg. Also, how many gallons will it be able to collect in one day? And how many mills can you drive on 1 gallon...
At least you can say that you are running on water and it is chipper then gasoline.

 

[ArtHummer]

[video=youtube_share;xEdQRVQtffw]http://youtu.be/xEdQRVQtffw[/video]

 

[Firesquirt]

There is no need to worry about the cylinders they are quite safe and are not bombs even when shot with bullets they do not explode just a small torch is made if the gas ignites. The worst case scenarios are that the gas is released into a confined space and then you get an explosive mixture, that can be bad news. But this already happens to gasoline everyday, I have been on quite a few of those accidents.

With all the CNG use here in the Coachella Valley (it is quite extensive), I have only been on one incident where the gas escaped and exploded due to over pressure, and that was not even catastrophic.

However I must note that only the wrapped cylinders are used here in vehicles, that may be law in the states not sure though.

That all said even the busses can not go all day on a single fill like they did with diesel, the transit agency had to put in several fill stations at the turn around points to fill up at, these are also accessible to the pubic if they have need to fill a CNG vehicle. The transit agency was one of the agencies that guarantied that CNG would work on an ambulance along with BASF, it turns out they all had an interest in expanding the use of CNG for profit. The vehicle was reliable mind you, it just could not go the distance, and running out of gas when you are trying to save lives is just tacky.