[Vwdiesel] Diesel working on liquid propane

[Stephen Kraus]

I run propane injection on my 81 vw rabbit diesel, only as a boost, but the
power difference is amazing

- Sent by an Android

On Oct 12, 2010 4:17 PM, "Doyt W. Echelberger" <doyt at buckeye-express.com>
wrote:

I re-viewed some of the Bob Hoover sermons and emails on his propane
project. This one surprised me:

"Actually, converting a water-cooled engine to run on propane is
dead-simple.
Once I get the bus and bug running to my satisfaction I'll probably try my
hand at a propane-powered trike (!) and a turbo-supercharged propane-powered
1600cc Datsoon pickup.  Then there is the attractive prospect of direct
fuel-
injection using propane..." Bob Hoover, Fri, 19 Dec 1997.  (my bolding and
underlining.)

It certainly isn't impossible, and all our diesels get fueled by injector
pumps.

One downside that I see is that when the injected liquid propane goes
through its phase change to a gas, it makes a lot of heat disappear. That
phase change would take place very near the injector tip. That space would
need a glow plug that could deal with that situation, to get things started.

The other things I wonder about are (1) what pressure is required to keep
propane a liquid at room temperature, (2) What is the pressure and
temperature in the cylinder of a diesel engine at the moment a charge of
propane should be injected during compression, (3) would that be sufficient
to  cause combustion without a spark plug, (4) and would the resulting
flame front be slow enough to provide an efficient push to the piston.

Also, liquid propane isn't a very good lubricant for the working parts of
an injector pump.

This is an interesting thread.

Doyt



_______________________________________________
Vwdiesel mailing list
Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
http://w...