High Performance Methane Engines

Several approaches to recovering power lost in a methane conversion are discussed in the paper. High compression, turbocharging and improved breathing capability were investigated. The base engine was 1781 cc aluminum boxer-type four-cylinder engine. Compression ratios as high as 12.3:1 were tried as was 20 PSI turbocharger boost. Four-valve-per-cylinder heads were manufactured and tested. The original BHP of the engine on gasoline (71 BHP) was more than doubled on methane.