Using CNG instead of Petrol in Generator

Hello Signode

You don't list your Location or Country, (You may easily do that in your Profile, it then Auto-updates through all your Posts, and may be helpful to people answering your Question).

You need to know the make and model of your petrol engine which drives the alternator.

You need to contact a local person familiar with the calorific (heat) value of your gas.

Then you will require a Gas Regulator, which reduces the high pipeline pressure to a pressure suitable for the input manifold of your engine.

You will also require a gas feed device, which sometimes is part of the gas Regulator.

The gas feeder senses the pressure in the intake manifold, if the pressure is LOW (Vacuum HIGH) then the engine is idling, or not doing much work.

If the gas feeder senses the pressure in the intake manifold is HIGH (Vacuum LOW) then the engine is doing much work, or about to.

The "Gas Feeder" automatically feeds the correct amount of gas, for the work required: Idling = little gas, working hard = much gas, and all the range in-between.

This is similar to the way any "ON-Demand" engine fuel controller works.

You will need to remove the existing carburretter, of course, and make an adaptor to instal the gas feed device.

In all this, dependent on your own ability, Jurisdiction, and/or Insurance Company, you may need to have the work done and Certified by a Registered Gas Fitter, or Motor/Mechanical Engineer.

CNG may well be cheap, but remember petrol is a "wet" fuel, and the incoming spray does "wet" the bore at the top of each cylinder.

CNG is a "Dry" gas, thus no bore-top lubrication from the fuel, as the engine was designed to have.

Thus the extra addition of an "Upper Cylinder Lubricant" is extremely important, to save the bore top from scouring, and the piston rings gouging, causing premature death of that fine engine.

Here in NZ, we did use CNG, which cost us 2 rebores in 3 LandRovers, until we discovered a simple Invention called a "Vacumatic Dispenser", invented in New Zealand, and sold by http://www.moreyoil.co.nz/index.php

The "Vacumatic Dispenser has a bottle which is attached to the engine frame, is filled with "Moreys Upper Cylinder Lubricant", and an adjustable screw which you can set for variable numbers of drops per minute in the "sight glass" (Plastic really), then the "Moreys Upper Cylinder Lubricant" is sucked thropugh a very small flexible tube through a metal feed pipe which is drilled through the Gas Regulator/Feeder, into the inlet manifold with the gas.

The system is cheap and easy, saving us 2 further Landrover engines from premature rebores.

I think I even still have a complete unit, new and unused, still in the box, somewhere in my workshop, although now in the South Island of NZ, there is no CNG available, nor would I use CNG if it were now available.

I see the Automatic dispenser is now called a "Morey's Power Booster" and a picture of the kit is at left.

CNG is a short term thing, almost all the New Zealand CNG equipment, regulators, Bottles, Compressors, etc. were scrapped, then we discovered an enterprising Company was buying that scrap, and selling it to Bolivia, South America, where CNG is still extensively used.

That Contractor made a fortune, and retired early, because he thought laterally somewhat more than myself.

I have explained in some detail, and please remember any engine fuel or equipment modification, will surely invalidate any maker's Warranty.

The Morey's Power Booster may be obtained from: http://www.sullivansupplies.net/gallery/details.php?image_id=484&sessionid=b5ccfb267b8837cd18dc92dfc525e404

Other Suppliers of the Moreys products may be in your local area.

Trust you feel assisted.

Kind Regards....

Thanks for replaying. I would check.

Signode,

There are standard kits available for that generator. As a matter of fact if you are going to use that for your house natural gas is safer than gasoline insofar as gasoline produces the odorless killer carbon monoxide.

But even for natural gas I would run that unit in a small shed just outside the house.

You also want to check out a transfer switch, which Honda sells, insofar as it prevents, in the case of an outage, putting power onto lines that folks may be working on and assuming are dead.

j.

Why are you using CNG (compressed natural gas)? Use natural gas through kit after consulting the Generator Manufacturer. There is a calorific value difference between gas and petrol. Also the engine has different efficiencies at different fuels. Please keep in mind the engine metallurgy as the gas engines efficiency is normally 35 % of thermal energy. It is recommended first consult to the manufacturer.

yes,you can use CNG but you have to replace the gasoline (petrol) system because all system are deferant as well as protection system is very important here.