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CNG Conversion Systems Installation

Rising pollution particularly in all the major cities, without any incentive toward cleaning up the pollution either at the State or Federal Government level is turning out to be a serious matter.

If different arm of the Nigeria Government Ministries are communicating, they would have notice the high level of cancer in exposed cities of Port Harcourt, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Ibadan etc. One of the major contributing factors here is leaded fuel/petrol, which is still the number one fuel for transportation.

We on the other hand are driven by necessary changes that can be put in place by ordinary citizen. One of which is implementation of CNG Solutions, i.e., CNG Refuelling Stations.

CNG fuel is considered as a green fuel, because it emits less harmful exhaust gases. Compare to Petrol and Diesel the emission is reduce by over 50%.

People say Electric Car is more green, but you still need to charge those batteries and the electricity need to be generated from water, wind, solar, coal, geothermal, or nuclear, all of which Nigeria is current leaking. We generate electricity using fossil fuel.

Now how do we improve the quality of life for our people, reduce cost, create jobs, with many industrial off-spin. It is CNG. We have natural gas in abundance and it should be the number one fuel of choice. It require little processing compare to crude oil.

To reduce pollution and the number of harmful gasses emitted from the exhaust of the vehicle, different methods include the introduction of 100% electric vehicles, making some changes in diesel as well as petrol engines to emit less pollutant catalytic converter were introduced.

And one such option is amongst us for a long time now and is getting more reliable as time goes on. It is the installation of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) kits in petrol driven vehicles. 

CNG is a safe fuel.

Petrol vehicle technology is over a century old. Therefore, to run your petrol vehicle on CNG is as safe as it can be and more efficient.

In the developed countries and developing economy of Asia, CNG systems are more popular due to high fuel (Petrol & Diesel) prices. CNG on an average should cost 40% and more less than fossil fuel and is better all-round fuel.

There are pros and cons running your car on petrol and CNG.

Vehicle manufacturers are now installing CNG kits with in cars, and more should be produce to replace the bad petrol fuel. Factory fitted CNG kits gives a sense of security with valid warranty and insurance cover.

Which is superior Petrol or CNG?

Both have their plus and minuses depending on operating parameters. The ways through which a fuel can be studied are: -

Economy

• As we all know Petrol is less economic than CNG. This is a clear cut answer. At the time of writing (26/08/2021) the cost of petrol per litre is more as compared to the other fuel, averaging NGN165.00 at the pump.
• There is a cost associate to long term usage of CNG vehicles. They need to be regular checks on CNG systems e.g. checking for leaks and integrity of the systems. This is additional cost compared to the petrol car.
• Doing the maths, considering all variables, CNG is still about NGN20.00 per Km cheaper than Petrol.

Performance

• Petrol heads will always prefer high octane fuel. If high speed is your calling, doing 150 km/hr on the motorway, stay with petrol.
• Petrol will deliver more instant power than CNG, the faster you go the bigger the hole in your pocket. 

Pollution

• We all know now that petrol emits more harmful gases like No_x and Co_x.
• Whereas CNG cuts this pollution by over 50%.
• It is a common knowledge that CNG produce less harmful gases and emit less harmful Greenhouse Gasses.

Convenience

• Depending on the type of vehicle, you need space for the CNG Tank.
• In some cases, CNG Tank may reduce the boot space to accommodate CNG cylinder.
• We are making CNG fuel available at all State Capitals and franchises to other Towns and Villages serve by mobile tankers.

Safety

• CNG is prone to leaking if the systems are not check i.e. 10,000 km service.
• We always advise bullet proof CNG Tanks to fulfil high safety standard.

What vehicle would you buy CNG, Diesel, Electric or Petrol?

Reasonable consideration

You have good selection but remember there are pluses and minuses following your decisions.

• The foremost decision affecting vehicle purchasing decision is the mileage/kilometres running per day and maintenance cost as been a major factor.
• Converted Diesel vehicles using alternative fuel like LNG is a better solution than straight diesel fuel. General diesel propel vehicle have high maintenance cost and the green environmental issues will not make running cost any cheaper.
• The case once again is clear cut. Petrol pollutes and legislation are being draw up about almost all Nation to cut pollution thus making anything petrol propel vehicle more expensive. Ranging from the price of fuel, road tax, insurance to MOT. Now manufactures are making petrol running vehicle less expensive to buy pushing low maintenance cost. The difference is because of the prices in the fuels.
• Where CNG shines is that a CNG vehicle can be propel not only with CNG but also petrol fuel. Petrol engine easily run on CNG fuel with little adjustments. Overall, for high mileage go for CNG. For lower taxes it is CNG. Reduced pollution buy CNG vehicle. What may lose to maintenance cost at every 10,000 km checks is gained on fuel savings.
• EV is in a different class, there strong debate for and against. You still need fuel as propellant for EV. The fuel comes as electricity. This electricity needs to be generated either from gas, water, diesel, geothermal, nuclear, solar or wind. If the electricity is not generated from fossil fuel, EV is better and only in the sense that it is green fuel. Beyond this are other debates on production pollution of new systems when existing systems can be converted. One fuel that the world has in abundant is gas and we need controlled methane burning for plant CO₂ intake. Indeed, EV has a low running and maintaining costs, but you do carry a heavy load around all the time (battery). There is heavy tyre wear, it may be low maintenance but you may need to change tyre regularly about 8-10,000 mile shorter than a CNG or Petrol vehicle. The price is not encouraging either and the system setup, where only the manufacturer can service the vehicle and battery change costing several thousands, only serves as major disadvantages.

Nigeria Fuel Prices (26/08/2021) guide

• CNG NGN 50.00*
• Petrol NGN 165.00*
• Diesel NGN 240.00*

*= Nigeria Federal Capital Abuja prices and may vary at your location.

CNG in vehicles

There two types of CNG equipment in the market – Manufactured/factory fitted and conversion or retrofitted.

Manufactured/Factory Fitted CNG systems, come equipped with CNG kit straight from the factory. They are specially designed for a particular vehicle and cannot be replace or re-installed into any another vehicle. These carries manufacturer guarantee and consider safer, compared to conversion fitted but are more expensively packaged by the manufacturer.

A CNG conversion specialist with good workmanship can guarantee converted vehicle to be as safe as factory produces.

Conversion/Retrofitted CNG Systems

·        Any vehicle (any) on petrol propellant can be converted or retrofitted with CNG systems and can run on CNG or petrol.

·        There are some universal CNG kits. This must be avoided because there are CNG kits designed for particular vehicle or range of vehicle with minor adjustment. Using universal kits is not safe.

·        Converted vehicle systems are cheaper and if fitted by professionals, it is considered equally safe as factory fitted CNG systems.

Retrofitted CNG kit

Advantages of using CNG

• CNG has higher octane rating of about 120 to about 130.
• CNG combustion process have better results in cleaner exhaust emissions.
• Pollution emissions are reduced by up to 80% as compared to other fuels.
• CNG vehicle have less NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness).
• The overall running cost of the vehicle is considerably low.

Pre-requirements

• We recommend “sue-able” conversion engineer with necessary prerequisite like insurance, length of practice, modern workshop etc for your vehicle conversion.
• We recommend genuine and guarantee CNG kits.
• Ensure that the CNG Tank is Hydro tested for any leakage.
• Install bullet proof CNG Tank.

Installation of CNG

Installing an aftermarket CNG kit is a typical task. It should be done by professionals or under their guidance.

Components to successfully convert a vehicle from Petrol to use CNG are: -

• CNG Aftercare
• CNG filling valve
• CNG tank and valves
• Emulator
• Gas/Air Mixer
• Heating System
• High-pressure Line
• Manometer
• Petrol/CNG Selector switch
• Pressure Regulator

After care maintenance: -

• Public Transport check for leak every 5,000 km and full pressure test every 10,000 after CNG system installation.
• The engine oil are specially formulated for vehicle using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) engines. Something like Mobil Delvac™ Modern CNG/LNG engine oil provides excellent performance and extended drain capability for spark-ignited, CNG- and LNG-fuelled engines.
• Mobil Delvac™ Modern CNG/LNG
  15W-40

Just like petrol engine, Air Conditioner vehicle drains power away from the engine i.e. additional load to the engine. Depending on your driving style, a CNG vehicle may or not affect the cooling system of the vehicle.