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I found this yesterday as I was looking around for a new project to have for the coming year of my newly aquired 1990 740 Volvo 16 valve turbo and I think this project will be a good one for all of us to try. When gasoline gets up beyond 2.90 this summer, alternative fuels seem to come to mind. so why not convert your car to LPG? I think this will especially be a "neat-o" factor for the turbo. Especially since New Hampshire is coming around to getting us lined up to pay for the $65.00 smog test in addition to the regular inspection. check out this link:
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http://www.wps.com/LPG/lpg-how-to-book.html
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".....WHY LPG?
Liquefied Petroleum Gas, or LPG, is the correct name for what's commonly called propane, butane or bottle gas. It's actually a mixture of propane, butane, ethane, methane, and other gases. It is generally a petroleum product, but it can also be made by removing water and CO2 from Natural Gas. Physically, it's a gas at room temperature, and compresses into a liquid at reasonable temperatures and pressures, which is why it's called Liquefied Petroleum Gas. It's odorless, but has a stinky odorizer added so that you can smell leaks.
It's non-toxic enough to cook with indoors and heat your house; indoor warehouse forklifts use it without ventilation; Safeway buffs their floors with a propane-powered floor buffer. It's also a claimed environmentally-safe aerosol propellant, quickly replacing freon in many cases.
There are a number of reasons why I wanted an LPG car: I hate being dependent on the oil industry; when I'm done with this project (See the GETTING AWAY FROM PETROLEUM section) I'll only use LPG on long trips; extremely long engine life; 250,000 miles is routine, 400,000 miles rumored; reduced oil consumption, and waste oil is less toxic than a gasoline-engined car; near-zero atmospheric pollution; potential to operate on other ``waste'' gases (methane, etc); and it allows turning larger, simpler, cheaper, less-efficient vehicles into practical alternative fuel vehicles. It's also technically interesting, and I simply like traveling unusual paths.
I am hard-pressed to find LPG's inherent drawbacks. Of the limitations of my car compared to an equivalent gasoline car, all are because mine is homemade, and the ``system'' out there wants you to buy gasoline.
I live in an industrial neighborhood of San Francisco. I use my car within the city, and for long-distance trips, which I've engineered my car specifically for. I believe my usage is within the realm of ``normal'', as far as ``every day'' vehicle use goes.
PROPANE -- LPG is yet another ``byproduct'' of the petroleum distillation process, but can also be produced by removing unwanted junk such as water from natural gas. By a coincidence of physics these gases liquefy at reasonable temperatures and pressures, so that one gallon of LPG (liquified; about 270 gallons in gaseous form) contains 27KWH of energy; 13 gallons of LPG is equivalent to 10 gallons of gasoline, even though to use as a fuel they are handled very differently.
LPG GASOLINE METHANOL
lbs/gal 4.24 6.4 6.84
BTU/gal 91,500 126,000 79,400
Boils at -44F 85--390F 149F"
And now I too am Interested in the build.......
-Krazy_eskimo
two 1990 volvo 740's
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