New Fuel Technology - PowerMaster

Wed Nov 13 05:29:45 AKST 2002

Ron, you little scientist, you!  Great info.  There are some advancements 
afoot in the glow fuel industry.  In September I bought 4 cases of Magnum 
15%.  The manufacturer of Magnum has made a similar claim that he's now 
using a lower viscoscity oil that still has the head absorption ability. 
My results are not as detailed, but in a Bully 1.45 with a 17x10 prop I 
tached my engine at 7950 with 20% Cool Power and then filled the next tank 
with the Magnum 15% and got 8200 rpm.  That's 250 rpm with less nitro. 
They also claim it will run cooler but I don't have a Raytek (yet) to 
measure this.

--Lance
---------------------------------------

I have been doing some research on new fuel technology and had the 
opportunity to ask for help from Wendell Hammond of PowerMaster Fuels 
recently.  Specifically I was looking for a high quality fuel to run in 
the my OS 140 EFI  with the objectives of eliminating bearing corrosion, 
lowering the operating temperature and increasing main bearing life.

As it turns out, Powermaster has been developing new fuels for both the YS 
 4 stroke and OS two stroke engines.  Powermaster has worked with some 
state-of-the-art oil and corrosion inhibitor manufacturers and have 
developed a new low viscosity fuel that appears to meet all of the 
objectives I have been working toward.  I asked  Wendell if I could try 
them out in my OS  140 Electronic Fuel Injection engine (onboard computer 
and sensors that track both RPM -  instantaneous and maximum, and Cylinder 
head temperature   - instantaneous and maximum).  These onboard sensors 
make the engine a good candidate to test new fuels.  Powermaster provided 
a 20% nitro blend of the PowerPac fuel along with the standard Powermaster 
YS 20/20 fuel. 

I ran both the Powermaster 20/20 and the Powermaster 20% Powerpac Low 
viscosity fuels and compared the data versus other fuels from reputable 
manufacturers that I have been using.  The table below shows the results 
for the full throttle sustained RPM and the cylinder head temperature on a 
consistent fuel injector setting.  The engine is propped with a 17/12 APC 
wide blade which is a relatively high load and is fully cowled in a PL 
products Smaragd airframe.  The day I did the test, the temperature was 93 
degrees F and high humidity.

Fuel                                    Nitro content      Max RPM   Cylinder head temp - deg C
 Powermaster PowerPac        20% nitro                7800          122 
degrees
 Powermaster YS 20/20         20%                        7650          134 
degrees
 Brand ZZ                             25-30%                   7600    149 
degrees
 Brand ZZ                             20%                        7500  134 
degrees
 Brand XX                             20%                        7500  142 
degrees

The Powermaster powerpac 20% low viscosity fuel gave 300 more RPM  and the 
cylinder head temperature was the lowest by far (122 degrees C vs 149
 degrees C for the Brand ZZ fuel).  This means that the engine was 
producing more horsepower and the engine actually ran cooler with the 
Powermaster powerpac fuel.   Also the regular Power master YS 20/20 blend 
showed good performance in terms of higher RPM and lower cylinder head 
temperature as compared to other fuels.  My conclusion is that that not all fuels of the same nitro percentage are 
the same. !!!!   Also new fuel/ oil technology has the potential to translate into reduced 
bearing / mechanical wear with the lower operating temperatures.  Also the 
proprietary corrosion inhibitors have the potential to eliminate bearing 
corrosion.  I understand that YS engines may be recommending this new fuel 
f! or the YS DZ fuel injected enginein a 30% nitro blend.  Also some of 
the helicopter guys are running the fuel in very high stress environments. 

I have flown several flights with the Powermaster Powerpac low viscosity 
fuel and really like the way the engine runs.  It puts out a smokey 
exhaust
 trail which generally indicates a good,  rich setting (safe for the 
engine) and excellent power.  The engine was set for 7800 RPM on the 
ground and
 showed a maximum 8250 RPM in the air (the onboard computer captures the 
max RPM).  It was clear that the Powermaster powerpac low viscosity fuel 
provided the best power and smooth performance in the air. 

This information is provided solely to gain insight on the technology 
improvements for fuel manufacturing.   I am not sponsored by Powermaster.  
If you have interest in some new fuel alternatives,  contact PowerMaster 
and Wendell Hammond and see their website.  Wendell is very knowledgeable 
and great to work with. 

Note: I am not bashing other fuel manufacturers and will not disclose the 
real names of the other fuel manufacturers shown above -- they make good 
products as well.

Ron Barr
 AMA 6507
 NSRCA 249

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