What is the difference between natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas?
As of late 2016, Ford Australia no longer manufactures vehicles that are capable of running on Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), nor does it offer any of these vehicles for sale. Ford Australia does not offer any vehicles that can run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
LPG is a flammable hydrocarbon gas fuel including propane, butane, and mixtures of these gases. It is produced from the processing of natural gas(the gas used in many Australian homes for heating) and oil refinement. In other countries, CNG is different from LPG. It is predominantly methane and requires very high pressures to compress it into a liquid form. CNG fuel can not be used in an LPG-equipped vehicle without significant modifications, which can only be made by a licensed specialist and can cost many thousands of dollars to perform.
Click on each of the four types of conversion systems below for more information:
Converter and mixer systems
Many early and dual fuel aftermarket systems use this technology. The liquid fuel is converted into vapour and then mixed with air before going into the intake manifold.
Vapour phase injection (VPI)
Use a converter and mixer system, but the gas exits the converter under pressure and is injected into the intake manifold.
Liquid phase injection (LPI)
These systems inject liquid directly into the intake manifold without the use of a converter, where it vaporises. The fuel vaporising in the intake manifold cools and increases the density of the intake air, substantially increasing power output, improving fuel economy, whilst also resulting in lower emissions.
Liquid phase direct injection (LPDI)
In these systems, the LPG instantly vaporises, which cools the combustion chamber fuel-air mixture, resulting in further improvements in performance, economy and emissions.