Re: Coast Guard Approval process.
Yes, natural gas can be safer. It has a much narrower window of combustible air fuel ratio than gasoline, safer; it has a higher auto ignition temperature, safer; it is lighter than air, safer; and it is stored at 3600 PSI,
. . . OK forget that last one . . .
Also, they can actually be dirtier if it is low tech kit that is simply slapped on. The one major environmental issue for Al Gore following knuckleheads is that you add methane to your exhaust, which is a Greenhouse gas with a 28 times potential. That means each gram of methane in the exhaust is equal to 28 grams of CO2. However . . . CO2 goes down, so it
can be better than gasoline. Buuuuut, total hydrocarbons and CO can go up . . . Not guaranteed to be cleaner is the point.
When used with Carbon Fiber tanks (the most expensive) it is heavier than gasoline due to tank weight. And it requires roughly 4 times as much space to store the same amount of energy. It can take a LOT longer to fill, unless you have a mega buck, mega compressor station ($1 Million +), or a lot of storage and a smaller compressor, (say $50K+), or a little personal compressor ($5K) that will fill 6 gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) overnight . . .
It is much higher octane, say 135, so highly boosted turbocharged or supercharged variants and/or higher compression ratios are possible. We can use it in diesels due to this fact. Buuuuttttt, it takes up more room in the cylinder, so it displaces available air in a typical naturally aspirated gasoline engine. What that means is slightly less power if you simply slap a kit onto an existing gasoline engine . . .
Oh, oh, can work in two cycles as well. Must be oil injected.
