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Propane? anyone running it?

2K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  derrickmanx1 
#1 ·
Anyone running propane out there? If so how do you like it? Whatkit do you have? I'm trying to increase my fuel economy and lower egt's while towing. Propane is still cheaper than diesel. Have considered water/meth.
 
#2 ·
I've heard there is some fuel mileage to be had with propane.
 
#3 · (Edited)
High combustion efficiency produces increased torque and horsepower, better fuel economy and reduced emissions. There are two keys in gaining fuel economy, buy the propane right (at least .75 less than diesel) and do not try and replace the diesel with a ton of propane. If you try and run the engine on propane, you will break even at best, and hopefully you enjoy the extra horsepower enough! (Most do!:)) Using too much, also increases EGT's (like too much of anything, diesel, meth, etc.) The correct amount at any given boost pressure is all that is needed.


Here is a link to a technical article http://www.aera.org/ep/ep9.html on the how and why.
 
#4 ·
The problem I've heard with propane is that you get increased combustion, but you don't increase your lubrication. The sulfur in diesel fuel at least lubricates. So I heard that propane causes premature wear. I would like to hear some real world results though.
 
#5 ·
With an injection or fumigation system, you are not running the engine on propane at any time, it always runs on diesel so there is no decrease in lubricaiton. The propane is not introduced through the fuel system. The lack of lubrication was more of a problem in the propane carb/ gasoline engines of the 70's. Diesels are more lubricated by the oil. Also, engines run cleaner, (reduced soot) and in general run longer with a "small" amount of propane added.
 
#6 ·
I hear one guy saying it helped him get close to 30 mpg on his diesel cummins. I'm just interested in backing up his claim.
 
#7 ·
If you use the forum search function, you will find a ton of info about this. I can run my Duramax on at least 90% propane if I want. The problem is that propane is much lower in btu/gallon, so if you do it to cut cost per mile, the gas needs to be less than 2/3 the cost of diesel. If you want it for a power adder, it is good for around 100 hp increase on the Duramax, but egts will soar doing that for very long. I have a prototype microcontroller that gives my truck around 130 mpg on #2. At the same time it does 15 mpg on lp, or 21 on cng. If you want to do this to cut cost per mile, find the mpg of each and add the cost per mile of each together for total cost per mile. If diesel is $3.00 and propane is $2.00, you break even, regardless of ratio. I have run lots of miles at various propane to diesel ratios, and the btus always add up. The best I did on propane with my mechanical system was 64 mpg on diesel on a 1500 mile trip.
 
#8 ·
Thanks
 
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