Linea Clave natural gas facility in Boca Chica.
SANTO DOMINGO.- The natural gas era will reach the Dominican market when the company Soluciones de Natural Gas (SGN) inaugurates two facilities in Isla stations next month.
The two stations of a planned four to open this year, will be located at Maximo Gomez and John F. Kennedy avenues, where the company will add natural gas pumps, so motorists can get all fuels in one place.
The two new natural gas stations mean savings, affirms the Group Plaza Lama, which already began marketing it at the industrial level.
SGN executives Miguel Guerra, Rafael Antonio Ubeda and Dayanne Grullón note that since natural gas costs RD$18.09 per cubic meter, motorists save money compared with other fuels.
They told news source diariolibre.com that a driver who uses propane gas (LPG) at RD$68 per gallon will save RD$25.31 per gallon with natural gas, whose price is RD$42.69 per gallon. Whereas with premium gasoline at RD$153, the executives said the savings are RD$90 per gallon.
From: Dominican Republic, No Spin Zone
every little bit helps to control this problem......free enterprise lives .....the lefties would hope for the government to do this .....what a joke just look at Cuba and what Nutty hugo is doing to his country
Written by: Belly, 26 Oct 2009 9:53 AM
From: United States, Seattle, W.A.
Blutarsky
Capitalism at work here and showing. I wish we could allow this kind of behavior into every other leg of the gov hey maybe we won't need to figth corruption alone against these crooks in office.
From: Dominican Republic, No Spin Zone
Belly you got that right ......all governments want to do is spend and steal your money
Written by: xwill7, 26 Oct 2009 10:06 AM
From: United States, El cuarto bate
I heard that the kit to convert your vehicle to natural gas is a bit expensive. The taxi cabs will benefit but a regular driver might not see the savings in the first year.
Some taxi drivers actually did not want natural gas to be available because the passengers will want a lower fare and they will all be force to but the expensive convertion kit
Written by: Belly, 26 Oct 2009 10:14 AM
From: United States, Seattle, W.A.
xwill
No the kit at least in San Francisco is fairly cheap and can be done same day. I know for sure San Francisco has one of the lowest price for the kit and Santiago too has a fairly low price.
Written by: xwill7, 26 Oct 2009 10:49 AM
From: United States, El cuarto bate
I will check when I go down there. I have propane in one of my vehicles(pro system) will the natural gas offer the same performance? Propane makes the vehicle feel like its running on gasoline
Written by: Juango, 26 Oct 2009 11:53 AM
From: United States, far S. Florida (formerly Santo Domingo)
Great care must be taken when converting vehicle to CNG. The propane system is not compatible to CNG, therefore money must be spent to make conversion. Also a unit of CNG is not equal to a like unit of Propane... therefore price differential of fuels must be >35% to see actual savings..CNG must be much less expensive than the price of propane (equivalent units). I fear, due to the many uneduacted/under educated people in the DR, there will be much confusion. There will be some even thinking they can fill their existing propane tanks with CNG and their engines will operate the same.
Written by: joelcorn, 26 Oct 2009 12:25 PM
From: United States
Belly
when you say fairly cheap for kit to convert to natural gas how much is it for conversion in San francisco or santiago?
Written by: xwill7, 26 Oct 2009 12:30 PM
From: United States, El cuarto bate
juango,
hopefully they make the fill up valves a differant size. kind of like a disel hose does not fit a regular gasoline car. Yes, I also think that people will fill up a propane tank with natural.
Is natural harder on the engine? I have someone run my vehicle on gasoline every month to avoid the rust in the engine
Written by: xwill7, 26 Oct 2009 12:55 PM
From: United States, El cuarto bate
is natural going to be sold the same way as propane??? Were there is no price posted and the clerk charges you a few extra pesos for him?
Written by: Belly, 26 Oct 2009 1:33 PM
From: United States, Seattle, W.A.
Joelcorn
The price of the whole install will come down to the cost of the kit you buy there are some cheap option but i got the kit of ebay and was install on my dad's truck. In San Francisco the price of labor is cheaper due to so many people converting there. The kits come with material that can be found locally so if you are savy enought then you could just buy the major components and buy the rest locally to reduce cost. Both LPG and CNG offer the same performance when it comes to MPG but in my opinion CNG is safer due to disipating faster into the air in case of a leak. I worked in the HVAC industry long time ago(10 yrs) and we did a lot of convertions of Gas Furnaces from LPG and CNG. To me both offer the same benefit if price equally but CNG is safer.
Written by: joelcorn, 26 Oct 2009 4:04 PM
From: United States
belly
thank you for your information and input about the different systems, hopefully this starts working all over the country and we can be less dependent on gasoline. one last question what is this kit called so i can look for it on Ebay?
Written by: xwill7, 26 Oct 2009 4:17 PM
From: United States, El cuarto bate
joel,
make sure that you have a pro install it. Everyone in DR will tell you that they know how to install it. Next thing you know your car is on fire. lol
Written by: Juango, 26 Oct 2009 4:53 PM
From: United States, far S. Florida (formerly Santo Domingo)
One question. There will be only two CNG filling stations initially, both in SD. Why would anyone outside SD want the system installed (in their car) beforel there are at least plans to set up at least more CNG filling stations around the country? CNG tanks in vehicles must be coded pressure vessels (inspected) due to the higher pressure. You cannot have a "rigged" tank in your vehicle without the fear of maybe killing someone.
Written by: Belly, 26 Oct 2009 5:13 PM
From: United States, Seattle, W.A.
Joelcorn
Is just a CNG conversion kit. In Utah many people are already switching to this.
Written by: Belly, 26 Oct 2009 5:17 PM
From: United States, Seattle, W.A.
Juango
I'm sure smaller station will start to pop up every where very soon remember just like every other fuel they can transport this quick. Is good to note that the pressure of LPG(around 200 PSI) is much lower than those of CNG(Around 1500 PSI) but don't be scare of that because all CNG kits are well beyond the 1500 PSI mark.
Written by: xwill7, 26 Oct 2009 5:25 PM
From: United States, El cuarto bate
Shouldn't the concho cars be required to have no smoking signs posted???
From: United States, Fresh Water Paradise-NY Finger Lakes
The equalizer for all fuels is BTU content and $/BTU. Alternatively, you could base all other fuels on gasoline equivalent factors, which makes it a bit more nebulous and more subject to cheating and confusion.
Because of the much higher energy density of gasoline over CNG, it takes ~743X more CNG volume flow to gain equivalence, and it must occur in the same amount of time, because engine timing is based on degrees of crank. It is for this reason that CNG vehicles typically operate at a higher pressure.
I, myself, lead a design and development group working on a 10-bar system, intended for the European, Brazilian and Asian markets, original equipment manufacturers-meaning car makers! Mine is fuel injector based, and intended as a "mainstream'" fuel system. In less developed countries, such as DR, you are likely to have low pressure systems [1-1/2 to 2-1/2 bar systems]. These are less capable systems, employing bulky, rudimentary and imprecise injectors, typically.
From: United States, Fresh Water Paradise-NY Finger Lakes
Continued:
The advantage of CNG over all other fuels are emissions, cost/BTU and fact it can dissipate quickly into atmosphere without being a big polluter.
Regarding conversions, you have to be concerned about these things mainly:
1) Loss of 10-20 percent in hp and torque.
2) Loss of range, possibly even greater than torque and horsepower
3) Greater potential for intake valve wear due to inherent lack of lubricity in CNG
Dual fuel [CNG & gasoline] and CNG-specific engines don't suffer this intake valve wear because this has been taken into account in material selection in the design of the engine. Kit and retrofit, however, are a totally different story.
A good supplier of kits, for modern and more sophisticated kits is "PRINS" of the Neatherlands. They are a customer and they are definitely top notch; however, their kits might command a higher cost.
This will be great for the dreaded motoconchos and it should clean the environment a bit.
Good luck.
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Capitalism at work here and showing. I wish we could allow this kind of behavior into every other leg of the gov hey maybe we won't need to figth corruption alone against these crooks in office.
Some taxi drivers actually did not want natural gas to be available because the passengers will want a lower fare and they will all be force to but the expensive convertion kit
No the kit at least in San Francisco is fairly cheap and can be done same day. I know for sure San Francisco has one of the lowest price for the kit and Santiago too has a fairly low price.
when you say fairly cheap for kit to convert to natural gas how much is it for conversion in San francisco or santiago?
hopefully they make the fill up valves a differant size. kind of like a disel hose does not fit a regular gasoline car. Yes, I also think that people will fill up a propane tank with natural.
Is natural harder on the engine? I have someone run my vehicle on gasoline every month to avoid the rust in the engine
The price of the whole install will come down to the cost of the kit you buy there are some cheap option but i got the kit of ebay and was install on my dad's truck. In San Francisco the price of labor is cheaper due to so many people converting there. The kits come with material that can be found locally so if you are savy enought then you could just buy the major components and buy the rest locally to reduce cost. Both LPG and CNG offer the same performance when it comes to MPG but in my opinion CNG is safer due to disipating faster into the air in case of a leak. I worked in the HVAC industry long time ago(10 yrs) and we did a lot of convertions of Gas Furnaces from LPG and CNG. To me both offer the same benefit if price equally but CNG is safer.
thank you for your information and input about the different systems, hopefully this starts working all over the country and we can be less dependent on gasoline. one last question what is this kit called so i can look for it on Ebay?
make sure that you have a pro install it. Everyone in DR will tell you that they know how to install it. Next thing you know your car is on fire. lol
Is just a CNG conversion kit. In Utah many people are already switching to this.
I'm sure smaller station will start to pop up every where very soon remember just like every other fuel they can transport this quick. Is good to note that the pressure of LPG(around 200 PSI) is much lower than those of CNG(Around 1500 PSI) but don't be scare of that because all CNG kits are well beyond the 1500 PSI mark.
Because of the much higher energy density of gasoline over CNG, it takes ~743X more CNG volume flow to gain equivalence, and it must occur in the same amount of time, because engine timing is based on degrees of crank. It is for this reason that CNG vehicles typically operate at a higher pressure.
I, myself, lead a design and development group working on a 10-bar system, intended for the European, Brazilian and Asian markets, original equipment manufacturers-meaning car makers! Mine is fuel injector based, and intended as a "mainstream'" fuel system. In less developed countries, such as DR, you are likely to have low pressure systems [1-1/2 to 2-1/2 bar systems]. These are less capable systems, employing bulky, rudimentary and imprecise injectors, typically.
The advantage of CNG over all other fuels are emissions, cost/BTU and fact it can dissipate quickly into atmosphere without being a big polluter.
Regarding conversions, you have to be concerned about these things mainly:
1) Loss of 10-20 percent in hp and torque.
2) Loss of range, possibly even greater than torque and horsepower
3) Greater potential for intake valve wear due to inherent lack of lubricity in CNG
Dual fuel [CNG & gasoline] and CNG-specific engines don't suffer this intake valve wear because this has been taken into account in material selection in the design of the engine. Kit and retrofit, however, are a totally different story.
A good supplier of kits, for modern and more sophisticated kits is "PRINS" of the Neatherlands. They are a customer and they are definitely top notch; however, their kits might command a higher cost.
This will be great for the dreaded motoconchos and it should clean the environment a bit.
Good luck.