With Chesapeake Energy and TGT providing the fuel for the car's 24-hour run and Structural Composites Industries donating the specialized gas cylinder, OSU racing enthusiasts have also planned the first Formula SAE car event in the United States to be over 30 minutes in length.

“This has never been done before with this fuel in this engine. Several volunteer drivers, who have been involved with various aspects of the race car, will take the wheel to help us go the distance and finish the run by the next morning,” said Jim Beckstrom, adviser to OKstate Racing, a student-run Formula SAE racing team overseen by the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at OSU.

“We hope this attempt will help more individuals understand that natural gas is a practical transportation fuel, and see how OKstate Racing's Formula SAE program is equipping students and growing OSU's human technical capability in natural gas,” added Beckstrom.

It is worth mentioning that OSU has recently launched a public-access CNG filling station at its Stillwater campus, operated by Clean Energy, and has also converted 18 of its transit/community buses.

Source: Oklahoma State University