Expanded Use of Small Engines by the Application of Butane Fuel Canisters Honda R&D Company Limited

Format:

Conference/Event

Author/Creator:

Sugimoto, Sugimoto, author.

Contributor:

Fujinuma, Masanori

Kojima, Hiroaki

Conference Name:

Small Engine Technology Conference & Exposition (2010-09-28 : Linz, Austria)

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Warrendale, PA SAE International 2010

Summary:

To enhance the convenience of small engines and their currentrange of application, we studied on the application of commercialliquefied butane fuel canisters containing sealed liquefiednormal-butane (n-butane) and iso-butane (i-butane).In processes for extracting a fuel mixture of n-butane andi-butane in a vapor phase state, the discharge pressure dropped asthe fuel within the canister was decreased, due to the phenomenonof prior discharge of the higher vapor pressure of i-butane. Thispressure loss from gas discharge had to be restored by raisingcanister temperature which increased the butane vapor pressure.However, in the liquid phase process, since there is no pressureloss as a vapor, the canister holding temperature could be setlower than that of the vapor phase process. Moreover, when theambient temperatures were the same or lower than the canisterholding temperature, the liquid phase process was superior in termsof heat balance. However, there was superior heat balance in thevapor phase process at ambient temperatures exceeding the canisterholding temperature.In the liquid phase process, the fuel supply system containedresidual non-volatile components. These nonvolatile componentscould however be separated out and removed by utilizing a trapstructure in the fuel supply system.A performance comparison using a 49.4 cm₃ test engine adaptedfor butane canisters was carried out. Compared to gasoline, engineoutput was 93%, energy efficiency and THC+NOX emissions wereequivalent, and CO₂ emission was reduced by 11%.From these results, applying liquefied butane canisters tovarious products is shown to be an effective means to enhance theconvenience of small engines and expand their potential use

Notes:

Vendor supplied data

Publisher Number:

2010-32-0055

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license