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In this paper we address the design and performance of a mini-SHED (Sealed Housing Evaporative Determination) system prototype for measurement of hydrocarbon permeation of automotive fuel system components. It is PC-based, and is built around ‘National Instruments’ data acquisition boards and LABVIEW© software package. It is capable of running the 24-hour diurnal cycle, as well as steady state tests at user-selected temperatures. A flame ionization detector, FID, is used to measure the hydrocarbon emission of the component in the SHED as a function of temperature and/or time. The mini-SHED was tested using propane shot tests and the amount of emission was determined accurately within a +/-4% suggested tolerance. The system has been designed to run unattended once the user has responded to a few prompts. Data is taken and logged once an hour for the diurnal test cycle, and at a user-selected frequency in hours for the steady state test.

Four 1984 Buick Turbo Regals equipped with turbocharged V-6 engine and sequential port fuel injection were converted to demonstrate that near neat methanol (M-85) is a viable high performance and high octane motor fuel. Changes were made to the vehicle's fuel supply system, engine, transmission, and the on-board computer software to optimize the vehicle's performance with methanol fuel and to increase its operating range. Acceleration performance was greatly improved along with excellent energy equivalent fuel economy and tow FTP emissions as compared to the gasoline control vehicles. The experimental methanol engine lubricating oil protected the engine from wear as good as SF oils in the gasoline vehicles. With over a year and 24,100 km (15,000 mi) of service each, these vehicles are continuing to perform well.