Propane Conversion

Hi,
As an environmentalist, more concerned about pollution than climate I'd like to convert my bike to propane, and still get 300mi/400km ride. Of course with a 50km gasoline reserve.
So I'm floating this idea out there for those that may be interested. Formal project management shall apply, scaled to project size.
First, the tank. I'm thinking of a carbon fiber 3D web, with a kevlar skin. The propane and gasoline reserve would be in same tank, one floating on top of other. A 3-way manual selection valve would be used to drain fuel from inside top or bottom of tank. The challenge is adding the gasoline reserve in this single tank containing propane. My thoughts are to have a kind of pouch that would buffer gasoline "2 litre gulps" to a transfer fuel pump, "et voila". 1st brain storm.

¿ What sayeth thou ?

xian

....well....if I was your doctor, I would suggest that you cut back on the mind expanding drugs.

Seriously though, and speaking as a UK motorist/biker, it sounds like a lot of hard work and complication for not much benefit.
It might make more sense to folk on the other side of the pond though, so i'm open to being educated about these suggested benefits so i'm all ears....

How many miles do you ride every year on your Rocket? (Thinking.....Is your fuel usage higher than most)

Wouldn't a nuclear reactor make more sense?

Compared to the '60's the emissions of modern gasoline engines have been reduced 99 percent!
I wouldn't worry about that last one percent. Besides, propane polutes too much. Not from combustion, but raw unburnt propane escapes into the atmosphere every time the tank if refilled.
Besides that, propane has fewer BTUs than gasoline so you would need a much bigger tank to get the same range from propane.

Jagster said:

....well....if I was your doctor, I would suggest that you cut back on the mind expanding drugs.

Seriously though, and speaking as a UK motorist/biker, it sounds like a lot of hard work and complication for not much benefit.
It might make more sense to folk on the other side of the pond though, so i'm open to being educated about these suggested benefits so i'm all ears....

How many miles do you ride every year on your Rocket? (Thinking.....Is your fuel usage higher than most)

Click to expand...

Hi,
Thanks for reply.
Nothing to fix the drug issue, was born this way.
At the current cost of fuels on this side, with a conversion cost of about 5500$ + 15% taxes for a car, depending on km/yr, CapEx to zero in 15-18 mo.
Lowest ecological footprint, in order: propane, methane (natural gas) then electric. Electric only on top if buy same energy in solar panels, but you can do better: propane + solar panels to displace your other energy needs.
Dunno yet for km/yr, just bought bike and ave not yet found winter tires, besides love of my life has not accepted winter riding yet.
This will be my primary vehicle to go to work, and I have to spend quite a bit of time in the field, so 8mo/yr @ 1200km/mo, plus 3000km/yr un planned, plus 3000km/yr personal + 5000km vacation, so say about 20,000 km/yr. But it's not about CapEx payback, it's about leading by example, thinking about alternate ways of minimizing enviro impact and about coherence in principals. What's the matter with you man, don't you have any principles?
Besides who's to say your side of the pond isn't a more likely source of solutions: my insane beautiful bike comes from UK that also produced Monty Python.
Really. Take care, and thanks for any more doubts or suggestions. Doubts = questions = identiication of a possible challenge, implicating it's half solved.

Cherio

xian

I'm thinking one of these...

xian555 said:

Hi,
Thanks for reply.
Nothing to fix the drug issue, was born this way.
At the current cost of fuels on this side, with a conversion cost of about 5500$ + 15% taxes for a car, depending on km/yr, CapEx to zero in 15-18 mo.
Lowest ecological footprint, in order: propane, methane (natural gas) then electric. Electric only on top if buy same energy in solar panels, but you can do better: propane + solar panels to displace your other energy needs.
Dunno yet for km/yr, just bought bike and ave not yet found winter tires, besides love of my life has not accepted winter riding yet.
This will be my primary vehicle to go to work, and I have to spend quite a bit of time in the field, so 8mo/yr @ 1200km/mo, plus 3000km/yr un planned, plus 3000km/yr personal + 5000km vacation, so say about 20,000 km/yr. But it's not about CapEx payback, it's about leading by example, thinking about alternate ways of minimizing enviro impact and about coherence in principals. What's the matter with you man, don't you have any principles?
Besides who's to say your side of the pond isn't a more likely source of solutions: my insane beautiful bike comes from UK that also produced Monty Python.
Really. Take care, and thanks for any more doubts or suggestions. Doubts = questions = identiication of a possible challenge, implicating it's half solved.

Cherio

xian

Click to expand...

I do believe I have principles and as part and parcel of those principles, I do care for the environment too, but as a design professional I also tend to approach resolving challenges in my general life in logical ways.
Ways that I can tackle within my abilities, budget, facilities and also just general technical understanding in a worldly sense, if you know what I mean.
I read your first piece and the first thing that came into my head was 'BOOM'. What did I just read? Is there something that I don't know about or is this a crazy brainstorm idea after a long session at the pub....or maybe you are a scientist/chemist or something, and you are talking about propane conversions as just a completely known and straight forward thing that's common in your country/region.
My logic then kicked in and I thought to myself, why would someone who was that sensitive about petrol emissions buy a bike with the biggest petrol engine in production anywhere in the world? My brain was struggling to comprehend how to read this thread.......So that's why I said I was interested to understand more.
I don't mean any disrespect to you, it's just that you've kinda blow my mind somewhat.

One fundamental question I have is: Who is going to give validity to such a conversion for use on the highway and who would give insurance? I for one wouldn't feel very safe riding a bike around with a pressurized gas canister on board. Maybe it can be made safer in the structural shell of a automobile but bolted on the top of a bicycle?

stingray said:

Wouldn't a nuclear reactor make more sense?

Click to expand...

Hmmm... thought of that but that would dry up my family joules! Are you nuts ? ;-)

What year Rocket do you have?
Any pics?