Gaseous fuel: application and future outlook

Question: What is CNG, LNG and LPG? What are the differences between them? What are their areas of application?

MITASU OIL expert help: CNG is compressed natural gas used as a motor fuel. It is also known as pressurized methane. In automotive industry, it is stored under pressure of up to 200 - 250 atmospheres in very heavy high-strength cylinders. It is the cheapest gaseous fuel available, costing approximately 30 - 35% of the cost of the equivalent amount of gasoline.
LNG - liquefied natural gas or liquefied methane. If, instead of being compressed, methane is cooled down to -160 ° C, it becomes liquid and its volume reduces by 600 times. Liquefied methane is stored in large and heavy heat-insulated containers. Therefore, it has very limited use for passenger transport. However, line-haul trucks and big buses, which run on liquefied methane or mixed diesel fuel are becoming more popular in many developed countries.
LPG - liquefied petroleum gas, a mixture of light hydrocarbons liquefied under pressure. A mixture of propane and butane is usually used as a motor fuel. In automotive industry, it is stored under pressure of 10 - 15 atmospheres in thin-walled cylinders. Due to different boiling points of hydrocarbons that make up LPG, propane and butane ratio varies depending on the ambient temperature. The summer mixture has a ratio of about 35% propane, 60% butane and about 5% of other gases (ethylene and ethane). In winter, the mixture composition is 75% propane, 20% butane and 5% other gases. At negative temperatures, propane-butane mixtures are hard to use, and at below -40° C they are impossible to use without heating the gas cylinder. Propane-butane mixtures are much more expensive than methane (approximately 50% of the cost of the same amount of gasoline), however, to date, this particular fuel is the most common. The reason being is that propane-butane is easy to store, and the LPG equipment for vehicles is much cheaper than similar methane equipment.

Question: Which fuel gas has the most future potential?

MITASU OIL expert help: Speaking of propane-butane in the long term, it must be kept in mind that it is a derivative of oil, which means that it will end when the oil runs out, so the most future-proof gaseous fuel, of course, is methane. Its world reserves significantly exceed the reserves of oil, not to mention the biogas which is obtained literally from waste and in essence is the same methane. As for the future of compressed and liquefied methane, both CNG and LNG are most likely to be developed further, but their application will be different. Compressed methane will obviously be used more in passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, while liquefied methane will find more application in heavy machinery.

Question: What are the current trends in the production of gas–powered vehicles?

MITASU OIL expert help: The number of gas-powered vehicles in the world increases every year. With the reduction of world oil reserves and stricter environmental requirements, the number of gas vehicles will continue to grow.