Liquid Methane as a Motor Fuel

A comprehensive programme of work on the development of liquid methane as a motor fuel was started in 1938 in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Imperial College. This paper describes some of the work concerned with the actual utilization on the vehicle. The factors affecting power output and fuel economy are discussed, and engine test results obtained at the laboratories of Messrs. Ricardo and Company, Engineers (1927), Ltd., are presented. Work on the development of a suitable vacuum-insulated fuel tank is described with particular reference to “neck losses”. The vehicle fuel system and its components as finally developed are described, and the results of long-distance service trials of a motor ‘bus with the normal and a higher compression ratio are given. A disadvantage of liquid methane with the fuel system used so far is the loss of fuel by evaporation; the paper ends with a description of fuel systems which enable this loss to be virtually eliminated.