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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com FCA & Ford Working with Argonne National Laboratory on Blended CNG-Petrol Auto's Many questions can be asked far more than answers but Argonne National Laboratory has partnered up with FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) & Ford to study the tricky challange of blending CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and Petrol or regular gas in a Direct Injection engine. The goal of this project is to decrease petrol use by 50% and increase over all efficiency and power density by 10 percent. Many are familiar with Bi-Fuel auto's such as GM's Bi-Fuel Impala, Trucks and other converted Bi-Fuel auto's where the auto starts up on Petrol, when the CNG regulator gets to 160 degrees, it auto switches over to Natural gas (CNG) and runs on this till the tank is empty and then it swaps back to Petrol. The focus here is to use the 110 octane rating of CNG to blend with Petrol for a far more efficient engine that does not knock with out fuel enrichment advancing of the timing, burns cleaner reducing service intervals and reduces the biggest enemy to engines, engine damage from the knocking. Blended natural gas and petrol would according to the Argonne Release would allow the engine to run at optimal timing without enriching the engine with timing advances and optimize the spark gaining better engine efficiency especially under load. This project is funded by the DOE's office of vehicle technologies. Questions raised by this announcement is as follows: Is it Too Little Too Late to go blended since infrastructure is not there? Honda Civic GX proves pure CNG auto's work, so why blend when we could go pure? Will this ever get to market with Hydrogen and EV's already out? Is this more of a research into better Long Haul trucks where blending diesel and CNG makes better sense? What are your thoughts on this subject? Sound off and voice your consideration on blended CNG-Petrol auto's.
