Propane powered petrol engines.

[difflock]

Since I am in danger of importing a Propane powered Kohler engine on a Sawmill.

That is a Kohler factory designed and supplied engine set up for Propane.

I am assuming it will be shipped sans cylinder.

I will then need to provide a suitable UK spec Propane cylinder.

I am thinking an Orange domestic one, though for some reason vehicle/forklift propane cylinders always lie on their side.

An there a different colour.

Do IC engines draw off the propane in liquid form, or what is the difference.

I presume the actual propane gas is the same.

regards,

Marcus

[agrimog]

yes, IC engines draw the liquid off, forklift containers have a dip tube that goes into the liquid, quick fix is a domestic one upside down, but not recomended( beware the H&S nazis). If you are going to be using a lot, investigate a autogas tank that you can fill at the garages, it could work out cheaper than the big orange cylinders, ( or a decant system for the big domestic gas tanks for folk not on mains gas....legality , Im not sure of, but they are available on e-bay)

[difflock]

Bloody Hell!

thanks Paul? (is'nt it Agrimog?)

Anyway at £74.90 for 34Kg at 493kg/m3

the orange Cyl works out at near enough £1.09/litre

Car gas = only 77p/l

how very very strange

Edited February 25, 2014 by difflock

[aspenarb]

Bloody Hell!

thanks Paul? (is'nt it Agrimog?)

Anyway at £74.90 for 34Kg at 493kg/m3

the orange Cyl works out at near enough £1.09/litre

Car gas = only 77p/l

how very very strange

 

The orange bottles includes the ongoing bottle hire and the pump gas fills your own cylinder. They run well enough on gas, she that must be obeyed has a gas genny on her horse box and that starts and runs very well.

 

Bob

[Aicchalmers]

Depends on the size of the engine really as far as I can understand it ..

Gas offtake like with the domestic cylinders relies on the gas vaporising from the liquid surface in the tank at a fast enough rate which can be unreliable with high loads and low temperatures .. Whereas the liquid offtake regulators act more like a carburetor producing a mist.

But I have a 9hp/5kva generator running a welder all day with absolutely no problems. Funny thing is though the guy that sold me it gave me two liquid offtake bottles but if I run liquid through the regulator it freezes it up in no time .. so I have to put them on their sides the wrong way up so the dipstick is pointing into the gas to use them! Depends on the regulator!

The liquid offtake bottles are easy enough to get though but only at a major calor gas supplier, but I don't think in the larger 47kg variety?

You will enjoy using it though, the engine oil will stay clear indefinitely, less exhaust fumes and also you have a much bigger tank of fuel before having to refill and without the mess of petrol.

 

One random question: has anybody seen a 4-way changeover for propane tanks that outputs at full bottle pressure? Would be lovely to setup for a house backup generator style where you can change over the bottles without losing service.

[difflock]

Since there is virtually no extra charge for the Propane engined option I may as well take advantage.

Probably pick up a 2nd hand LPG car tank/cyl somewhere then get a mate to refill me from his bulk chicken house LPG tank.

Where he fills his dualfuel Vauxhall and the LPG converted V6 Honda.

And he gets the VAT back

[openspaceman]

I am thinking an Orange domestic one, though for some reason vehicle/forklift propane cylinders always lie on their side.

An there a different colour.

Do IC engines draw off the propane in liquid form, or what is the difference.

I presume the actual propane gas is the same.

regards,

Marcus

 

Others have answered but it is to do with the fact that propane needs heat to vaporise and this is normally provided by the ambient heat, if you start drawing off gas too fast you will see a frost line on the bottle, as the bottle gets colder the gas cannot vaporise.

 

On forklifts and auto engines (like my V8 LR) the propane is taken off as a liquid and is vaporised in a coolant heated regulator. I reckon about 2kW of heat needs to be delivered to keep the landrover cruising.

 

The LPG firms are reluctant to supply gas for bulk tanks that have liquid take off because it might be used for on road vehicles. They will supply hot air balloonists though. Also gamekeepers tend to get very good deals on buying gas in 47kg because they use so much.

[Rune]

Depends on the size of the engine really as far as I can understand it ..

Gas offtake like with the domestic cylinders relies on the gas vaporising from the liquid surface in the tank at a fast enough rate which can be unreliable with high loads and low temperatures .. Whereas the liquid offtake regulators act more like a carburetor producing a mist.

But I have a 9hp/5kva generator running a welder all day with absolutely no problems. Funny thing is though the guy that sold me it gave me two liquid offtake bottles but if I run liquid through the regulator it freezes it up in no time .. so I have to put them on their sides the wrong way up so the dipstick is pointing into the gas to use them! Depends on the regulator!

The liquid offtake bottles are easy enough to get though but only at a major calor gas supplier, but I don't think in the larger 47kg variety?

You will enjoy using it though, the engine oil will stay clear indefinitely, less exhaust fumes and also you have a much bigger tank of fuel before having to refill and without the mess of petrol.

 

One random question: has anybody seen a 4-way changeover for propane tanks that outputs at full bottle pressure? Would be lovely to setup for a house backup generator style where you can change over the bottles without losing service.

 

 

Dunno what it's like on small engines, but I converted my old landy to LPG and it works by having a liquid gas line to a reducer that warms the gas vaporises it and regulates the flow based on suction from the engine and RPM by way of an electrical feed from the coil.

[pycoed]

I've run a Wheelhorse ride-on with a 10hp Kohler engine (also another with an 8 hp engine - both K series) on propane. I made a vapouriser plate to fit between the existing carb & inlet manifold & fed the gas via a demand regulator to that plate. Seems to work OK.

[Aicchalmers]

Dunno what it's like on small engines, but I converted my old landy to LPG and it works by having a liquid gas line to a reducer that warms the gas vaporises it and regulates the flow based on suction from the engine and RPM by way of an electrical feed from the coil.

My engine has a vapor 'beam' regulator that works on the suction from the carb directly without an external sensor, very easy to install. On the engine I got it with it had a modified jet that had a hose barb on the end, and with this engine I took the float valve and bowl out, took out the jets and clamped the hose around the outside of the tube that holds the jets. Has a little primer button to put in a couple seconds of gas and always starts on 3rd pull.