Quicksilver AFI - blends in

© Mercury Fuel Systems Ltd.LPG can cut the fuel bills and emissions of such vehicles, too!

The Quicksilver AFI has been designed specifically for heavy-duty applications, which is hardly a surprise – blending LPG with diesel doesn't yield as much savings as replacing petrol with LPG (plus diesel-gas systems are more expensive than petrol-gas ones), so long-distance trucks and buses, covering tens of thousands kilometres annually (and often in excess of 100 thousand km), are best-suited for this solution.

On the technical side, the product utilises a separate set of injectors (as many as there are cylinders, unlike similar systems used to date, which included one or two injectors located in the air intake duct) and, of course, an electronic unit to control proportions of the dual fuel mixture. An LPG tank is fitted, sometimes replacing one of the original diesel fuel tanks.

Conversion cost is said to be around £9000. While it seems a lot, Mercury Fuel Systems Ltd. promises payback within 18 months, with constant fuel cost reductions of 10-15%. Calor Gas Ltd., a UK supplier of LPG and autogas, has converted several of its vehicles with the Quicksilver and saved on average £5783 per vehicle across a year's time. This means payback would take more than 18 months, but very little more.

Apart from financial savings, the product also provides substantial cuts in emissions. Tests done by Millbrook and Horiba Mira confirmed carbon emissions dropped by 5 tonnes across 100 thousand km, which accumulates to 37,5 tonnes across 5 years of operation. Average fuel savings proved to be 15% (with LPG displacement rate of 30%). This could mean a remarkable boost to the UK autogas market, from where the product could expand to mainland Europe and beyond.