Mar 18, 2002 12:19 AM
32491 Views
(Updated Mar 18, 2002 12:24 AM)
A whole lot of LPG conversion kits are available in the market to convert your petrol car to LPG. Most of these kits are made in Italy. Italians are the pioneers in using LPG in automobiles and they have been using it in Public Buses for the last 30 years or so with a single mishap.
Unfortunately a lot of duplicates of these Italian brands are now available in the Indian market. Basically there are 2 models. The electronic model and the vacuum model. the vacuum model is the most common. Costs about INR 7000/- for an all imported kit(Italian Solenoid valves and vaporiser and locally made control panel switches, plumbing and pressure gauge). If you settle for indian solenoid valves and Italian Vaporiser it would be about Rs 1000 less.
The conversion involves provision for belting down a LPG cylinder horizontally in your boot. Plumbing the gas to the vaporiser via a copper tube running either under the car or under your carpet to engine compartment and into the vaporiser via a solenoid valve. Another solenoid valve is fitted on your petrol line just before the inlet to the carburator. The vaporisor does what the name suggests, vaporiser the liquid gas and releases it as gas in the air intake of the carburator. It takes the heat input from the hot radiator water(coolant is re-routed through the vaporiser for this) to vaporise the gas and regulates the flow using the engine vacuum as the input in the case of the vacuum model or the unregulated alternator voltage as an input for the electronic version.
The pros: Very econonomical. One pvt gas cylinder cost about Rs 400/- for 17 kg and will give about 400 Km on a Maruti 800 and about 320KM on a Maruti Esteem. Should be around the same for other similar cars.
The Cons: The system of having the Cylinder belted down using a canvas strap with velcro grips is very unsafe and the cylinder is bound to shear loose in the event of a major crash. Since the Cylinder is Horizontal, the connecting valve(at the cylinder neck) is exposed to liquid gas and the smallest leak leads to rapid deteoration of the rubber gasket /'O' ring and subsequent dripping of liquid gas. In a Maruti 800 or similar hatchback cars, the leak could be smelt and we could disconnect the cylinder, but if this happens in an enclosed boot(like the Esteem, Ambassador, Fiat etc) you are sitting on a bomb. LPG is heavier than air and will stay at the bottom of the boot and could be ignited evn by a small spark say from your turn indicator bulbs or other tail lamps and wiring routed through the boot.
My advice: Wait for the fixed cylinder versions that have proper plumbing to the vaporisor and not the present quick-connect-quick-disconnect(qcdc) type connectors. These are meant for vertical standing cylinders for cooking and are really not meant to handle liquid state of the gas.
By the way - the Italians use only Fixed Cylinders and conversions and maintainence is left to specialised and certified professionals and is never done by wayside mechanics as in India.
