A conversion to natural gas fuelling, using a typical
mechanical carburettor with a ventury metering system will suffer the
same problems and so in this respect, you will be no worse or better off.
But recalling that the power of a natural gas engine also falls off by
about 12 to 14% because the gas occupies about 12% of the intake volume
and so you have less air or oxygen to burn it fully. Liquid fuels such
as Petrol don’t suffer this problem.
On the other hand there is a possibility of using an electronic
natural gas metering system operated by an oxygen sensor, which can maintain
a constant fuel/air ratio with altitude and this would solve the enrichment
problem, but not without the 12% loss. So if you're driving is limited
in terms of getting over the mountain quickly it might be better to stick
to petrol - although if you convert to gas you can still switch back to
petrol when hitting the high mountain passes.
Whether LPG or CNG !
To sum-up, the following Editorial which Indiacar carried
some time back may be of interest :
Will LPG succeed as an auto fuel in India?
Even before the country could end the crisis of shortage
of CNG fuel and thereby end the woes of the CNG vehicle owners, the government
has officially approved LPG as an auto fuel. But success or otherwise
of a fuel in India would finally depend on the cost factor. In the absence
of significant cost advantage, the switch over could be slow. That being
so, what are the prospects of LPG being preferred as an auto fuel?
Studies conducted on the cost factors do not infuse much
confidence at this stage about LPG emerging as a popular auto fuel. The
union ministry of petroleum says that while a Maruti 800 gives a mileage
of 13.5 km/lt. for LPG, it gives a mileage of 25 Km/Kg for CNG and 18km/lt
for petrol. LPG will cost Rs 16.36 per litre (when priced on import basis
and used as auto fuel).
As against this, CNG comes at 12.21 per Kg. The price difference may not
continue for long once subsidy on gas is withdrawn. Hence, as of now,
the cost per km for LPG works out to about Rs 1.21 while CNG will cost
a mere 0.49 and petrol will cost Rs 1.60.
Added to this, is the cost of the conversion kit. An LPG kit will cost
around Rs 19000, which is far below the CNG conversion Kit. But vehicle
manufacturers are not keen on retrofitting LPG engines on the line unless
there is a demand of such vehicles, say around 3000 per month. For the
time being, vehicle manufacturers would like to settle on the production
of CNG vehicles. The widely held assumption that the near abundance of
LPG in India (produced 80 per cent indigenously) alone can't drive the
demand unless cost factors tempt vehicle owners.
Incidentally, use of LPG as an auto fuel around the world is common. The
estimated number of vehicles run on LPG the world over is four million.
Japan and South Korea lead the way in Asia.
But, with most of the factors, going against the use of LPG fuel, the
question that arises is "Will LPG succeed as an auto fuel in India?"
