Ford says YES to CNG F-150!

[HappyOne]

At home I have a liquid propane tank in my yard. It gets filled about once a year. It's not protected from heat. How does that differ from what would be in a pickup?

 

[k0ua]

At home I have a liquid propane tank in my yard. It gets filled about once a year. It's not protected from heat. How does that differ from what would be in a pickup?

James there is a big difference in the molecule size of LP (Propane) vs. Methane or "natural gas" The propane is closer to being a liquid at Standard Temperature and Pressure and to be in a liquid state it does not have to be kept as cool and under as high of a pressure as Methane. Propane has 3 carbon atoms bonded together with Hydrogen atoms on the remaining bonding locations so it is C3H8. so a much larger than CH4 which is Methane. Gasoline which is a pretty stable liquid in standard temps and pressure is larger yet, its main ingredient is octane 8 carbon atoms with 18 hydrogen atoms.

 

[timster2]

LNG is a cryogenic liquid and is stored and maintained at −260 °F at low pressure in insulated storage vessels. When the temperature of the LNG rises so does the pressure once it hits the rated pressure of the storage vessel the overpressure vent valves relieve the excess pressure. Propane is stored at atmospheric temperature and relativity low pressure. Like any insulated container some heat transfers or is lost through the insulation. CNG is typically stored at 3600 Psi in the fuel cylinders at atmospheric temperatures.

 

[two_bit_score]

On the contrary no I am not. Lets just say I have over twenty four years experience in building, designing, running, converting, maintaining, purchasing and integrating CNG vehicles into a major municipal fleet. I am one of those that did put in the time an effort to make it work, a very long and uphill battle. What you have today is in part through my efforts. I am just a realist and understand the process in much more depth than a headline or news announcement.

Any questions just ask and I will provide whatever insight I can.

You can relax. I think they've looked into all that already.

 

[timster2]

At home I have a liquid propane tank in my yard. It gets filled about once a year. It's not protected from heat. How does that differ from what would be in a pickup?

CNG in a pickup would be stored in cylinders at 3600 psi and unlike propane it is stored as a compressed gas, no liquid. The high pressure cylinders are what add the most to the incremental cost of running CNG. The cylinders would be protected from the exhaust system and impact damage.

 

[crazyal]

That tank in the bed of the truck looks to be about equal to 21 gallons of gasoline. The article says that the engine will get 23 mpg running on CNG highway. So you're range should be pretty good. Plus if the truck still has it's gasoline system then you could switch over. I think the range of 750 miles is from using both gasoline and CNG. At about $2 a gallon for CNG there's is potential for savings. But you'll need a compressor capable of 3600 psi to fill it up at your house. Has Ford released any numbers on how much power you will loose? I remember reading about a Honda with a 1.8L engine that dropped from 140hp running gasoline to 110hp running CNG. That's almost a 30% hit. Then, of course, you loose quite a bit of bed space, looks like 25% or more.

F-150 CNG Systems

 

[Scooby074]

Its a chicken and egg thing as mentioned, but the stations are coming.

Currently Irving (major gasoline refiner/retailer in Eastern Canada and Maine) is building a "Natural Gas Corridor" of new stations to provide NG to trucks traveling from Nova Scotia to Ontario. Once this is finished I fully expect to see many more CNG trucks on the road. Right now it seems that only fleets like city buses have adopted it here.

Irving eyes LNG corridor | The Chronicle Herald

 

[HappyOne]

I gotta get after the gas company to extend their lines another mile and a half. I could ditch the propane tank and provide my own fueling station. Biggest issue I see with LNG is the tank. My next truck will see some duty hauling a pickup camper so I hope they find a way to do it without taking cargo space some time soon. You know the market will be wanting it.

 

[crazyal]

I think CNG is an all or nothing type of solution. Running it in an engine that's designed for gas is like buying a gear tractor that's designed for pulling a plow and then trying to use that tractor for loader work. Sure it'll work but you loose the time saving advantage that a tractor with HST would give you. To get the full advantage out of CNG you would need to change the compression ratio. I'm not sure if Ford could play around with the boost from the turbos to help offset this. It could be possible to have different boost levels for CNG and gas, not sure how much it would help.

 

[two_bit_score]

I think CNG is an all or nothing type of solution. Running it in an engine that's designed for gas is like buying a gear tractor that's designed for pulling a plow and then trying to use that tractor for loader work. Sure it'll work but you loose the time saving advantage that a tractor with HST would give you. To get the full advantage out of CNG you would need to change the compression ratio. I'm not sure if Ford could play around with the boost from the turbos to help offset this. It could be possible to have different boost levels for CNG and gas, not sure how much it would help.

I tend to see it that way too. I'm not too keen on the combo idea but I think Ford must be looking at it as a crossover type vehicle. If the break even point is three years then an owner who had it five years would have saved some money in the last two years and as additional fueling stations would have hopefully been opened they would be more inclined to buy a single fuel vehicle by then.