Natural Gas Powered Vehicles

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Natural Gas Powered Vehicles
Introduction
Natural gas powered vehicles also known as natural gas vehicles (NGV) is an alternative fuel vehicle that uses gas instead of fossil fuels.
Brief overview of technology
Natural gas vehicles (NGVs), run on cleaner alternative natural gas as the source of energy. There are two variables of this technology depending on the type of gas they use. The first type is liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the compressed Natural gas (CNG) type. According to the Energy Policy Act of 1992, CNG and LNG are considered alternative fuels. (NGVs are not to be confused with vehicles that run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (afdc.energy).
The form of natural gas opted for relies on upon the application needs and desired range. LNG is much preferred for its greater energy since it is a fluid, thus more of it can be carried on board the vehicle. Since it has a wider range, LNG is appropriate for vehicles that travel for longer distances.

Dedicated vs. bi-fuel vehicles
Depending on the available options, generally, vehicles with dedicated NGVs have better performance bi-fuel vehicles. Also it's not noted that dedicated NGVs are lighter as they only have one fuel tank as compare to bi-fuel NGVs and thus offering more cargo capacity. NGVs are available in three types: dedicated (designed to run on natural gas only), Bi-fuel (can run on either gasoline or natural gas; they have two separate fuelling systems) and dual fuel (uses diesel fuel during ignition but runs on natural gas. Heavy vehicles use either the dual or dedicated fuel design while light vehicles are majorly designed to operate on dedicated or bi-fuel designs.
Overview of function: How Natural Gas Vehicles Work
The working mechanism of a CNG system entails high-pressure transfer of natural gas from the storage tank to the engine consequently the pressure of the gas reduces in-line with the operating pressure of the engine's fuel-management system. The intake system for gas is identical to the system in a gasoline engine. The engine functions as the gasoline engine does, that is: The fuel-air mixture is compressed and ignited by a spark plug and the expanding gases produce rotational forces that create motion in the vehicle. Heavy-duty vehicles may use the normal ignition systems on top of the spark-ignited natural gas systems. This is done in a cycle where a small amount of diesel is injected in addition to the natural gas to facilitate ignition. In a dual fuel system as in heavy-duty engines, diesel and natural gas is burnt in a dual-fuel system (j.d 2012).
Description of importance
In the current world, there has been endeavours to have an energy source that can be used in the future. That is a renewable source. Renewable energy sources such as solar have been pursued to meet the need for an energy sources for the future. A more reliable option is natural gas which has been a by-product of the oil industry. Compared to crude oil, the pricing for natural gas is much affordable thus cutting the costs of running automotive. Natural gas picture has proved to be more reliable as there are more independent sources. Availability of technology to exploit natural gas has propagated the end of the oil energy era and the beginning of the renewable energy era (Hofstrand, 2010).
History
Natural gas technology dates back to the 20th century with the first car produced in the 1910's which was basically a low-pressure bag carried on a trailer. It was first as a fuel after the Second World War. It was developed out of necessity due to the scarcity of gasoline. This was basically a bag of gas loaded onto the vehicle's rack. These vehicles were referred to as gas-bag vehicles. This technology had its own setbacks ranging from overheard obstacle that could rip off the bags to fire accidents. Gasbag vehicles were still used in china up to the 1990s. In 1930, a wood-gas car was developed in Germany, the advancement was the use of metallic cylinders. After the
III. Evaluation
Merits
NGCs have a wide range of benefits with the top point being that they are economical. It is cheaper than gasoline/diesel. Though, other factors also matter. These range from environmental benefits as the emissions of greenhouse gases is substantially low. Currently, most interventions in the world are geared towards reducing pollution the use of gas is the right option to choose for combustion in automobile engines. Coupled with availability of natural gas due to the exploration of new gas fields, this ensure there's a guarantee in energy security. That is, reduced crude oil use.
Moreover, the contemporary gasoline/diesel engines can be converted to use gas. This offers flexibility as technology shift can be effected smoothly without necessary out phasing the current one. Both systems can be integrated into a same engine thus offering flexibility for the vehicle owners.
Demerits
Due to the lower energy density of natural gas, NGVs have a lesser driving range as compared to that of conventional vehicles. This can be overcame by adding extra storage tanks but the additional weight may displace payload capacity of the vehicle.
Also there has not been subsequent supporting developments in the concept. The availability of gas stations is a challenge to most motorists especially people in the third world countries have the inability to exploit such a technology as it is expensive in adoption.







Works Cited
Afdc.energy. Natural Gas Vehicle U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. web
Don Hofstrand. The Role Of Natural Gas In Tomorrow's Energy Economy. AgMRC Renewable Energy & Climate Change Newsletter. Web
Fuel for thought. The First Natural Gas Vehicles. Blog
 J.D. Power, McGraw Hill Financial. How Natural Gas Fuel Powered Cars Work. Web.
Pike Research. Forecast: 17M Natural Gas Vehicles Worldwide by 2015. Green Car Congress. Print








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