Dual fuel & bi-fuel vehicles?

Question

What is the difference (if any) between a dual fuel and a bi-fuel vehicle? Thanks a lot in advance!

Answer 1

Dual Fuel is where you receive both gas and electricity from one energy supplier.   A lot environmentally friendly and cheap!

Biofuel is solid liquid or gas fuel also cheaper in price and is available in Vauxhall cars and major petrol stations

Answer 2

Unlike dual-fuel systems, which allow the use of only one fuel at a time, bi-fuel systems supply both fuels into the combustion chamber at the same time.

Answer 3

well bi means 2 so its just a differnt way of saying the same thing, probably an advertising slogan to get you interested in that particular product.

Answer 4

octane levels are lower in biofuels.

But if the amount of testosterone in your body is low...

bio fuels will get you to A to B without causing too much harm.

It burns cleaner and it is a renewable resource.

Brazil has been using it for 10 years or more.

And well i think it is around 80 % of their fuel is renewable!

America never went that route...

probably because the World's largest Oil producers are American and not to mention.... it would require some major investments into refining and production.

Also... prices of other products such as BEEF, wheat, grains and other things that grow in North AMerica will go up too because... the cash crop will be corn!

Corn uses up a lot of nutrients and takes a lot of space.

Cattle corn will not be produced as much... hence the feed will be more expensive, thus the end product, STEAK will go up... (in case you haven't noticed already... prices have been going up steadily).

So will other products... dependent on the available space Bio fuels can grow.

Answer 5

What you are asking about is engines that will operate on two [or more] different fuels.  The ethanol blend gasoline is 2 fuels in one.  Some cars are built with 2 fuel tanks and start on gasoline then switch to ethanol or another liquid unpressurised fuel. The latter is what you are asking about.

Most Internal Combustion engines use gasoline or are diesel. While there are IC engines that use Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Propane or other compressed gasses they are not common since the fuel tank is larger and more difficult to have refilled.

Some IC diesels can be run on vegetable oil.  Ethanol has a lower energy density and requires more fuel to go the same distance as gasoline.  All IC engines are inherently polluting through incomplete combustion and the production of noxious gasses.  Add in complex pollution controls reduces mileage.  In  1930 a Model T Ford got 25 mpg with no pollution controls, which is still the average for most auto companies. Great advances?

There is an engine which can be powered by any heat source. If stationary it can use solar heat, nuclear heat, coal, wood,  any dry fuel, liquid fuel or gaseous fuel.  If mobile it is limited more to liquids or gasses, although in large vehicles coal, wood or other dry fuel has been used.  It is the steam engine, cleaner and more efficient than IC engines by using modern technology.  It is dismissed as obsolete, dangerous and not efficient by those who love IC engines or electric vehicles.  However they know nothing about it, refuse to investigate and stay ignorant.

The cleanest, highest mpg auto could be the steam-electric hybrid.  It would be a plug-in EV for short trips, yet could go farther using a steam-engine powered generator to keep the batteries charged.  Using electricity for AC, heat and power for accessories would not be a worry, because the generator would run automatically as needed.  It should have no mpg when driving around town and could get 60 plus mpg on longer trips.  The whole power plant can fit  into a normal-looking car body.  If anyone wants to discuss this e-mail  [e-mail] and ask about steam-electric hybrids.

Answer 6

Hi!

I'm interested in this type of vehicles, so your question is perfect for me!

Dual-fuel and  Bi-fuel mean exactly the same thing: one of this vehicle can work using 2 different fuels, which, normally ,are one a gas (like LPG, Natural Gas, hydrogen, butane, etc) and the other is petrol.

This is because the engine is a normal petrol engine (otto cycle) modified in manner to be powered by a gas too. After this change, the engine could use both petrol and gas whenever you want.

For example, if your driving, and the LPG ends, the plant automatically changes fuel, using the petrol stored in the other tank.

There are a lot of bi-fuel vehicles, FIAT build a lot of cars powered by Natural Gas (called natural power, search on yahoo if you want) , all really good! They're very used in Italy, because of the low price of the fuel, and because it's good for enviroment (not sure about the last.. unfortunately..)

Even Volvo build the V40, and V70 bi-fuel, really nice car although the price...

Subaru mades it too.

Anyway, you can convert most of the normal cars (with petrol engine, not diesel) in a bifuel vehicle exept the ones which have direct fuel injection, like Alfa Romeo JTS or Audi FSI.

Sorry for my english, I think there are a lot of errors..I hope You'll enjoy my answer!

Ale

Answer 7

dual fuel or flex fuel cars can run on E-85 or gasoline.

E85 is a mixture of ethonal (85%) and gasoline (15%).

there are sensors in the car to tell it what fuel is in the tank and it adjusts accordingly.

E-85 is usually cheaper than gasoline but you lose approx. 10% gas mileage using it.