Gallery, Projects and General > How do I??
Pumping gas
Bernd:
Darren,
Talked to my friend the diver guy. He has a 4 stage 15HP elctric motor driven pump. These pumps are sold to diving shops to fill the diving tanks. They are also used by people that want to compress natural gas. They come in sizes from as small as 1.5HP to very high HP (or Kw I believe is what you use) and from 5cfm on up. The price is quite high from what this fellow tells me. So check out the diving equipment shops or diving equipment on the interweb. That should leed you to more info on these types of pumps.
Bernd
Darren:
Bernd, I realise you are not around for a day or so but thanks.
After a bit of research it's starting to look like a diving compressor is exactly what's required.
Trouble is they are not cheap, even 2nd hand they seem to fetch around £2,000 yes £2K you did read right.
Why the price, it's only a compressor after all, they don't even have a tank.
At those prices it's a no goer, shame as after the pump the rest is pretty straight forward.
Darren:
A bit more research and it seems a piston compressor is a no-no as gas can leak past the rings. Not a problem for filling bottles with air of course, but gas is thinner than air so potentially a real problem.
Comercial gas pumps are rare beasts seconhand and around 5K new !!! Ouch.....
For some reason this has led me onto a Lister engine..... :scratch:
I just fancy playing around with one.....don't ask :doh:
A nice single cylinder if you have one spare :lol:
Bernd:
--- Quote from: Darren on January 23, 2009, 10:57:53 AM ---A bit more research and it seems a piston compressor is a no-no as gas can leak past the rings. Not a problem for filling bottles with air of course, but gas is thinner than air so potentially a real problem.
--- End quote ---
Darren,
I didn't add this in my last post. But in the discussion with my freind on these pumps there are apperently two types. The venting and the none venting. The venting one's will have a connection to the outside away from any kind of spark. The non venting doesn't let the gas escape. I also believe as the pressure goes up they donot use rings but very close fitting piston and cylinder. In fact when replacing these they are replaced as a set since they are lapped together for almost non-leaking fit.
Perhaps they are not as plentiful in the UK as they are in the states. Seems like more diving is done here as a hobby/sport/activity than in the UK.
Does this mean you are giving up on your idea of compresing methane gas?
Bernd
Darren:
--- Quote from: Darren on January 23, 2009, 10:57:53 AM ---
Does this mean you are giving up on your idea of compresing methane gas?
Bernd
--- End quote ---
Not entirely, the idea is sound enough but the cost of the equipment (the pump) makes it unrealistic. I converted my car to run on LPG 4yrs or so ago and that works fine.
No probs at all. Altering it to run on Methane would be a simple task.
As I'm already saving by using LPG the attraction of methane is not as inticing as it would be if I had to rely on petrol alone and it's high costs.
Petrol here is currently about 90 pence a litre, about £5.00 a gal or $6.80, good grief the pounds dropped !!! A year ago that conversion would have been about $8.50 or so.
But anyway, our gallon is bigger than yours, so there :med:
Yours is 3.78 liters I believe and ours is 5.54 litres.
Oh this is getting complicated....... :bang:
The bottom line is it would take a long time to recover the costs of the pump. To add insult the Government is now getting on the bandwagon and declaring a tax on the use of.....so even less attractive.
Anyways, this is straying from the forums ethos just a tad.... :offtopic:
I need to find a pump at a realistic price, until then the idea is on hold...
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