Of the various types of alternate fuels, natural gas is the most popular type of alternate fuel used for vehicles. The compressed form of natural gas is called compressed natural gas or CNG fuel, while the liquid form of natural gas is known as liquefied natural gas of LNG. The vehicles running on natural gas are also called natural gas vehicles or NGV.
CNG is used to run a car in a way similar to the way LPG runs. To use LPG in your existing vehicle you have to install the kit and you also have to make arrangements for storing LPG
. To run your vehicle on CNG you need similar type of kit to convert a gasoline vehicle to a CNG vehicle. The CNG conversion kit comprises of various parts like a converter and a mixture.
CNG is usually used as the alternative gas to petrol in small and medium sized vehicles. To fill in the vehicles CNG is compressed to the pressures of about 3000psi.
Following are the pros and cons to using CNG in your car.
Advantages of CNG:
1) The burning of CNG fuel causes very few emissions; hence they cause less air pollution.
2) The octane number of CNG fuel is very high, making it highly suitable for the SI engines. The octane number of CNG also permits the engine to operate at a high compression ratio.
3) CNG is a form of natural gas and it is abundantly available in many parts of the world. It can also be made from coal, though this process is very costly.
Disadvantages of CNG:
1) To store CNG you need to have a pressurized fuel tank in your vehicle, which always carries with it some safety concerns.
2) Another disadvantage of CNG is that the fuelling process is very slow.
3) The energy density of natural gas and CNG is low, thus the performance of the engine reduces.
4) Since CNG is a gaseous fuel, it has low volumetric efficiency.
In spite of certain disadvantages of CNG as an alternate fuel for vehicles, its usage is sure to increase due to increasing costs of the oil and gasoline. The air pollution and greenhouse effect caused by gasoline will further encourage the use of CNG fuel.