Despite its indisputable advantages, both economic and ecological, compressed natural gas (CNG) has still been a neglected and little widespread fuel. This holds true especially for Europe and, of course, the Czech Republic. Over 15 million vehicles use CNG worldwide, just a little over 1 million in Europe and from that about three thirds in Italy. With its 4 thousand vehicles the Czech Republic has been one of the countries with the lowest spread of this advantageous fuel.
Why is it so? Why even the high price of standard fuels does not make drivers think about switching to a cheaper alternative? Are we a conservative nation? Or are we not informed? Are we afraid of natural gas and do we associate it automatically with the risk of explosion? We try to answer these questions, offer solutions and raise awareness.
Natural gas is the safest fuel of all currently commonly used fuels; it is lighter than air, immediately disperses in air and may form higher concentrations in enclosed spaces only. Natural gas is a flammable liquid of 4th category and has the ignition temperature at 650 °C, while gasoline of 1st category has the ignition temperature at 200 °C. In vehicles the compressed natural gas is stored safely in strong, specially tested and certified pressure vessels made of steel, carbon or special fibreglass. Inside the pressure vessel the natural gas has multiple securing using a system of safeguarding mechanisms. In case the vehicle sets on fire, the pressure vessel will not explode as one may expect, but the gas will burn out under a controlled process.
Economy in the natural gas operation is a topic on its own. Let us assume that a consumption of our sample vehicle is 7.5 l of gasoline per 100 km. With the price of CZK 37 per a litre of gasoline we pay for fuel CZK 2.78 per 1 km. Similar vehicle with the CNG consumption of 4.5 kg /100 km and with the price of CZK 25.50 per 1 kg requires the fuel cost amounting to CZK 1.15/1 km only. The savings within this example are CZK 1.63 per 1 km of drive. With 40,000 km per year it is CZK 65,200.
MOTOR JIKOV provides calculation of capacities, investments and their return. We will suggest an optimal vehicle or fleet for you along with a CNG refuelling appliance for cheaper filling than at few public stations. We will suggest, design and build the station for you. With our offer of technologies we can cover both slow and fast mode filling from approximately 5 m3/hour up to hundreds of cubic meters of CNG.
Should you be interested, do not hesitate to contact us.
