Gas well on farm. Can one run a car on it?

[coffeeman]

Hi all

I have a gas well that is being drilled on my property near my house. The gas allowance for my use is 250,000 cubic feet.(I believe) I am wondering if this gas allocated for home heating could be used to power a car or truck? My house is heated with electric heat pumps. I hate to redo the whole heating system. But I don't want to waste the "free" gas. I was thinking it might be possible to compress the gas and somehow get a car or truck to run on it. I would keep car local.

Anyone have any ideas or info?

Cheers....Coffeeman

 

[crabjoe]

What you want is a Honda Civic GX. My buddy has one and a home refueling station.

2008 Honda Civic GX - the Official Honda Web Site

2008 Honda Civic GX Natural Gas Vehicle - Refueling - the Official Honda Web Site

FuelMaker Corporation - World Leader in Convenient On-Site Refueling Systems

 

[Z-Michigan]

Several companies make or have made cars/small trucks that run on natural gas. Honda makes a GX model of the Civic that does, and Ford in the past made models of the Crown Victoria and Ranger pickup that were natural gas powered. I don't know if Ford still makes those models, and I think the Civic GX is only sold in a few states that adopt California emissions laws; but maybe you could contact a dealer in one of those states or buy used. My understanding is that it burns clean and cars run well on it, though fuel range is less compared to gasoline. I think you can get a simple appliance under $1000 that will fuel a car in your garage from natural gas off the household system.

 

[Bird]

As the others have said, there have been a few vehicles built specifically to run on natural gas, but there have been lots of others converted to run on natural gas, and in many cases, dual fuel; i.e., able to swap between natural gas and gasoline. I've noticed the U.S. Post Office vehicles in some places have a little sign on the back that they're powered by natural gas. There are at least two kinds of fueling systems, one that refuels the natural gas almost as quickly as fueling gasoline and one in which the vehicle is left connected to the gas pump overnight. It's very clean burning which means long life for spark plugs and less frequent oil changes; however, when I was doing gas leakage surveys for gas companies, one company's pickups were the dual fuel system and the company had a hard time getting the employees to use the natural gas instead of gasoline because the trucks had less power and acceleration on natural gas, and the mileage is lower so the range on a tank of natural gas is shorter.

 

[dqdave1]

You may want to look into a natural gas powered generator to run your heat pumps and household items.

 

[rberg]

Is your allowance for well head gas, directly from the well, or in trade for processed gas?

 

[dqdave1]

allowances are usually at well head.

 

[firedog]

Most propane delivery trucks are purchased as gasoline and then converted to propane. You might talk to a local propane supplier about who does their conversions. Also any gasoline generator can be converted.
Try this link:Generator Conversion Kits to Propane and Natural Gas.

 

[mjncad]

What you want is a Honda Civic GX. My buddy has one and a home refueling station.

2008 Honda Civic GX - the Official Honda Web Site

2008 Honda Civic GX Natural Gas Vehicle - Refueling - the Official Honda Web Site

FuelMaker Corporation - World Leader in Convenient On-Site Refueling Systems

When I worked for NREL (National Renewable Energy Lab) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Home Page , one of the projects I worked on was a refueling station using FuelMaker products to refuel vehicles used on site. If you are intent on using natural gas for your personal vehicles, I'd suggest you check into whether the gas company would help spring for a FuelMaker system. Try selling them on the idea of them being a "green" company working with a homeowner who is allowing the company to drill a gas well on their property. I don't recall if the FuelMaker system required processed natural gas, or if it could use raw natural gas from the well with some sort of on site processing. NREL's system is tied into the Xcel Energy company's gas infrastructure.

 

[Egon]

From your comments you are talking about well head gas. Depending on the components in the gas you could have a few problems with liquids such as water, H2S or hydrocarbon condensates.

Technology for running on CNG should be readily available.