Liquefied Petroleum Gas is typically referred to by its acronym – LPG. LPG is mixture of flammable hydrocarbon gases that include propane, butane, isobutane and mixtures of the three LPG gases. LPG is commonly used for home heating gases, cooking, hot water, and autogas – fuel for LPG cars and vehicles.
LPG gas comes from oil and gas wells, as it is a fossil fuel. LPG gas manufacturing process includes natural gas processing and the crude oil refinery process.
LPG, liquefied through pressurisation, comes from natural gas processing and oil refining.
First step is to select appropriate generation of installation. That depends mainly on the car type itself. We will cover and explain all types of systems generations available at the market in the next articles.
Main part of the installation is electronics – it’s the brain of the autogas system. This element is selected depending on the complexity and type of the power unit. Most important information we need to know to select most appropriate ECU is type of injection (direct or multipoint) and number of cylinders in our engine.
Next element is the reducer – its main job is, as the name states, to reduce the pressure coming from the tank and transfer it into the volatile phase. Choice of the reducer depends on the power that the drive unit has. What we need to know is how many horse power our engine has and based on that select appropriate element.
Another important element of the autogas installation is injector. It is responsible for appropriate dosage of gas to the engine, which is indispensable for engine to work properly. It also affects overall efficiency of the unit and usage of LPG or CNG itself. Selection of most suitable injector type rely on the number of cylinders in the engine, but also the efficiency of particular component.
Let’s assume that we have already selected compatible front kit components of the LPG or CNG system. Now we need to also remember, that we need other elements of overall installation. Those mainly include: gas tank, fuel switch, valve (for CNG) or multivalve (for LPG), volatile phase filter and remote filling unit. Their selection depends on front kit type as well as type of car itself.
Having all devices selected, we can proceed to the assembly itself. As mentioned in previous article, “How to choose appropriate workshop to install autogas system” it is always recommended to outsource installation for professionals. Mainly, because every driver and its passengers should always drive in most safe environment. Still it is good to know few important aspects of assembly to control our subcontractor. For example, all elements should be installed for later access to them more easily during service. Also that the reducer should be located below the coolant expansion tank. In addition, the reducer should be fixed to the fixed and stable components in the engine compartment.
The mounted autogas system should be adjusted at the end. This is done by calibrating the controller. The test should be accurate. It is carried out both at low speed and in test drive. Without testing in the work of the reducer and the controller, it may turn out that we will experience problems with the operation of the LPG system in the future. Our meticulousness will pay off.