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Dual-fuel
Years ago I converted our city fleet to duel-fuel gasoline/propane. Using CNG drops the HP considerably and in police patrol cars it was too much of a power loss. Also, this was in the 1990's and in Texas LPG was cheap. LPG losses was about 10% of gasoline and in a chase they simply let off the throttle, switched back to gasoline, and continued the pursuit. At a show for duel-fuels a truck company owner showed my Public Works Director and me his LPG-Diesel setup. He gained considerable MPG and a gigantic HP gain...to the point he had to fire a couple of drivers for burning out clutches racing other trucks in Colorado. He said, they would start up a mountain behind a normal diesel rig, then blow by them at some crazy speed...which eventually fried the clutch. After a few very expensive clutch replacements, the drivers had to be fired. When gasoline was $3.50 to $4.00 a gallon LPG was .75 cents, and it ran much cleaner. I went back a few years after retiring and the LPG station I built was no longer in use. The mechanic said the new Fords ran as clean on gasoline as LPG when I ran the shop. I guess we are making improvements.
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