Copyright 2023, Antique Automobile Club of America. This is just a really quick answer to your question. Skip to the beginning of the images gallery, Energy Information Administration, United States Department of Energy, Applied Biogas Technology: Converting Organic Waste to Energy, NEWBio Switchgrass Budget for Biomass Production, Biodiesel Safety and Best Management Practices. (For these values, the initial temperature of air, gas, and oxygen is 20 C.) We hope this has cleared up some of the misconceptions and So I heard questions you may have related to the use of E85 and (or) ethanol in your hot rod. There will be significant tuning changes necessary when using E85 instead of gasoline, but high-compression engines can especially benefit from E85. There is no dispute about that. Car Smells Like Gas Causes & What To Do, Alternator Overcharging: Symptoms, Causes & Fixes, Check Engine Light On But Car Runs Fine Causes & Fixes, Conventional vs. "Monthly Spot Prices for Crude Oil." As ethanol becomes a more accepted alternative fuel, you will begin to see more blender pumps that will offer percentages of ethanol like E15, E30 or E85. For its part, the EPA said it has followed the intent of Congress in implementing the biofuels law, including the regulatory exemptions. Suffice as to say it takes a lot, and it takes a degree of neglect to let things get out of hand enough to cause real damage. However, ethanol actually *increases* evaporative charge cooling and *reduces* knock. Considering Ethanol-Free Gas? Try An Ethanol Treatment Instead - Gold Eagle Refiners have added ethanol to fuel for years because it burns cleaner than pure gas. Taheripour dismissed the idea that the ethanol industrys new corn plantings produced much pollution. This is because it is extremely expensive to remove that last bit of water. Ethanol has more than double the power of gasoline. Yes, pure ethanol is highly flammable with a flashpoint of just 12.7 degrees Celsius or 54.86 degrees Fahrenheit. The idea is that ethanol has less carbon than petrol - just two carbon atoms per molecule to petrol's average of eight - so burning it will release less carbon dioxide. The ethanol industry submitted reams of studies to support their claim that boosting ethanol is safe. The clean, pure water that most of us enjoy is being protected by ethanol's replacement of MTBE. A: The term E98 is used as a more accurate accounting of the total amount of ethanol. ( According to OSHA .) And on the plus side, unlike many countries, the US does not tax gas very heavily. If you are living in the Midwest, you likely have a variety of fueling stations to choose from that include ethanol options. Ethanol offers a significant and immediate carbon savings, he told Reuters. Ethanol fuel reduces emissions up to 30% per mile driven. Read and enjoy. The efficiency of the engines is also reduced due to the lower BTU's. Ethanol only contains 77,000 BTU's (compared to gasoline 114,000 BTU's) but it requires 131,000 BTUs of energy to produce 1 gallon of ethanol. On the other hand, buying ethanol where it needs to be transported might only save you 25 cents per gallon compared to gasoline. However, currently 96- to 97-percent of pump gasoline sold in the U.S. is blended with what averages to 10-percent ethanol. Part III: Fundamentals for Analysis and Calculation of Energy and Environmental Performance. Which Burns Hotter: Ethanol or Methanol? - ScienceBriefss Copyright 2023, Antique Automobile Club of America. Over time, it has been shown that it is these aromatics, and not necessarily the ethanol, that can cause fuel system damage. Methanol is safer for the environment than gasoline, it is an anti-freeze, it . 4. If there is ever a problem, I have some 6X heads I can drop on. The partially plugged jets don't flow sufficient fuel and the engine runs excessively lean. Drained the tank, filled with fresh fuel. I'll also comment later on what we find using chassis dyne's and real life road testing. Still, ethanol is known to produce a cleaner burn that is said to be better for the environment. Here's Everything You Should Know About Non-Ethanol Gas - HotCars Rome: United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, 2014. So E10 would contain 10-percent ethanol, E30 is 30-percent ethanol by volume and so on. What does that mean? The afternoons can get into the 90-100s here most of the year. By blending gasoline and ethanol at an 85/15 percent ratio (E85), the fuel becomes thirty percent less powerful. Ed. This fuel offers many of the benefits of using alcohol as a fuel with fewer of the negative side effects. Methanol is toxic and should not be ingested. Feel free to write a 10000 word essay explaining in detail why I am an idiot. Ethanol attracts and absorbs water, including water from the air. Although ethanol-free gas is not bad for your car, gasoline with too much ethanol can actually cause harm to an engine that is not programmed to take it. For others, it seems to be the answer to all of life's problems. Diesel fuel will work also but it contains sulfur which will corrode any yellow metals (brass, copper, bronze) with which it comes in contact so it is unsuitable for many prewar cars. Operation of a diesel engine with intake manifold alcohol injection Q: Ive heard that ethanol is corrosive. Q: I keep reading about E98. Asked about the climate benefits of CRP land, however, the USDA told Reuters it had recently lowered its estimate of carbon in such lands by nearly half, to 0.8 metric tons per acre, after reviewing updated data. In fact, a gallon of standard gasoline produces one-third more energy than a gallon of ethanol, which is quite a stark difference. Engines that are rarely or seasonally used, such as lawnmowers or chainsaws, are especially prone to difficulties, although the reasons are not all clearly understood. Gas sold in the United States tends to contain 10% ethanol as a standard. Each year, the United States releases 1.7 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere just because of gas-powered vehicles. The small engine juice is available in barrels but the price will be a killer, it will probably work in a flathead car engine. There may be good technical articles out there that can confirm this through experimentation but I have never run across any. I then run the car in place (safely) at least monthly to have keep the seals lubricated (a habit I got into trying to keep fluid in my old Dynaflow over the winter). As for antique cars, I'm fairly lucky in that mine have relatively modern (1970s), reasonably well sealed systems. What is E10 Petrol, Explained | Top Gear I have not experienced any problems with my small engine equipment. 87 octane is Regular gas at the gas station and, therefore, very accessible. Answer (1 of 3): It runs cleaner for criteria pollutants. DOHC Vs. SOHC Differences and Which Is Better? At a time when catastrophic floods and droughts are threatening millions with starvation, how wise is it to use productive land to grow corn for ethanol to save a few carbon emissions when electric cars produce no tailpipe emissions at all? What temperature does alcohol burn at? - WittyQuestion.com Touting the program as a major solution to climate change, the department estimated between 2006 and 2017 that such lands contained about 1.4 metric tons of carbon per acre, on average. There may be good technical articles out there that can confirm this through experimentation but I have never run across any. The ethanol industry uses about 40 percent of America's corn crop. U.S. corn-based ethanol worse for the climate than gasoline, study finds. Went to get out the Deere and it wouldn't start. Gasoline is not water soluble, but ethanol is. Applied Industrial Energy and Environmental Management. And thats where things start to go sideways. Ethanol from corn or other crops can be grown and produced year after year after year. I read the same article, Consumer Reports issued it. New Castle, Del. But then again I remember reading in "Pur Sang" the Bugatti owner's club magazine about a guy that ran a Bugatti on methanol a thousand miles on a tour. Getting the world off dirty diesels | MIT Energy Initiative IN A CARBURETOR. It's easy! Can we please try to keep the discussion civil and simply focus on the effects on ethanol on the old car hobby and less on the politics? The content produced by this site is for entertainment purposes only. Which burns hotter ethanol or kerosene? Stoichiometry is the science behind air / fuel ratio. It is interesting to note that food prices worldwide are more closely correlated to petroleum prices than to ethanol production. . However, if you own older equipment or devices that sit idle for long periods of time, a few commonsense precautions can help minimize problems and maximize performance for your machinery. With small engines there are two issues, fuel mixture and materials compatibility. Gasoline is known to produce more energy than ethanol. Joseph P. Indusi 1. Clearing Up Myths About E85 And Ethanol: 16 Things You - EngineLabs This was part of the EPAs Reformulated Fuel Standard (RFS) that eliminated or reduced the use of other octane-enhancing additives that were deemed dangerous. I haven't seen the particular CR article, but I wonder just what sparked their interest in this issue? PDF Ethanol Blended Fuel The Unsung Villain - Excessive Heat It concluded ethanols emissions were 21% lower than gasoline, putting the biofuel just barely over the 20% threshold for RFS compliance. Having many of them now "fixed-speed" in nature makes it easier for them to meet CARB emission levels, I suspect, with their "basic" style of carburetor. I have been an owner, and driver, of 1929 Studebakers since the early 70s. Flammability of the Product: Flammable. Even in areas where ethanol isnt created, its often cheaper than comparable gasoline. Which only stands to reason: where less fuel is consumed in a finite volume of air, less heat is produced. Most cars were designed to work with gasoline. What is it? OK gentlemen, I have not commented on this topic for the past ten years as the debate can be quite intense. Shop For E-Bikes AND Support CleanTechnica! This fuel comes from renewable resources, such as corn and sugar cane. Adiabatic flame temperatures for common gases are provided for air and oxygen. Ive heard that methanol is nasty stuff and really corrosive. There are also OE sensors that are designed to be permanently mounted in the vehicles fuel line. Brazil has uses E100 for years and engines there are designed for it just as oil well pump engines are designed to run on natural gas (byproduct). Along these same lines, E0 would indicate no ethanol is added to the gasoline. Our preliminary E85 fuel economy estimates came out 20 to 25 percent lower than the Tahoe's 15 mpg city/21 mpg highway rating on gasoline. Researchers cannot even agree on the amount of carbon sequestered by agricultural land. A. Ethanol is a fuel created from the distillation of sugar. Reaching Las Vegas on a single tank of ethanol looked . March 30, 2013 in General Discussion. It has always seemed to me that there were TOO many hoops for retailers to jump thorough for them to have the priviledge of selling the allegedly "better choice" E15 fuel to consumers for them to really embrace it . Unused land does not have the capability to capture lots of carbon.. Because once ignited, all the fuel will burn. This number can vary depending upon some complex ways that octane is measured which do not take into account E85s ability to cool the inlet air. Synthetic Blend vs. Full Synthetic Oil. 5. The ethanol content of gasoline will cause the air/fuel mixture of a non-computer controlled carburetor engine to shift leaner, which will often cause a loss in driveability and throttle response. Please enter your email address below to create account. This is a bit mysterious since ethanol contains less energy per unit volume than gasoline, and the flame temperature of ethanol is more than 40C cooler than gasoline. This is because ethanol is an oxygenate (a compound containing oxygen), which means it has a more complete burn than gasoline. "In our. Lawnmowers often still have carburettors that don't and are usually overloaded anyway. Ethanol naturally burns slower than gasoline and is detonation resistant. You will not find a standard price for ethanol across the country. Lets go into more detail about the reason for this. Certified Automotive Diagnostic Technician. A federal agency says using gas labeled E85 (blends of 51-85% ethanol) can in turn reduce your gas mileage by 15-20 percent over E10. Rebuilt the carburetor, and it ran great. No, can say in a sentance: Ethanol may run hotter in an engine not designed for it. Ethanol can be created from any number of plants. They were turning to mush or hardening and cracking. Does E85 also burn invisibly? Jeff Smith, a 35-year veteran of automotive journalism, comes to Power Automedia after serving as the senior technical editor at Car Craft magazine. The main reason is that the laminar flame speed of methanol is significantly higher than that of ethanol under the oil-rich state; therefore, the combustion rate of methanol-gasoline will be significantly higher than that of ethanol-gasoline under rich fuel states. Ethanol helps keep engines clean, too. I don't subscribe to Consumer Reports, so I haven't read the article. This kind of confirms my memory, bad as it is, about how rarely cars in good condition overheated back in the day. The other 2-percent is gasoline, so it should definitely not be consumed. CO2 has a devastating impact on the environment. In a poor year (such as the drought of 2012), the presence of the ethanol market can drive up the price of feed corn and other crops that could be grown on those fields, leading to higher feed and food prices. The EPA has exempted more than 95% of all US ethanol plants from the requirement because they were built or under construction before the legislation passed. One disadvantage of ethanol fuel is that it has been reported to cause engine burns and corrosion. The more common issues attributed to ethanol include the following: Ethanol contains about 30 percent less energy per unit volume than gasoline. That is one place that NOS should stay on the shelf. . It has been linked to creating a warmer climate, rising ocean levels, and melting ice caps. . You will read estimates of 15- to 18-percent loss in mileage-per-gallon when using E85 compared to gasoline in flex-fuel vehicles (FFV). Geoff Cooper, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, disagrees and said that ethanol is cleaner than gasoline. The majority of gasoline used in the United States does not come from American sources, while ethanol does. Ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline, emitting much lower greenhouse gases and carcinogen benzene than petroleum oil. . There is no dispute about that. When ethanol is mixed with sufficient amounts of water, this can cause corrosion, but the effects can be minimized with easy steps such as keeping the fuel tank full when the vehicle is stored. The first ethanol blended with gasoline for use as an octane booster occurred in the 1920s and 1930s, and was in high demand during World War II because of fuel shortages. Methanol fuel - Wikipedia Fifty years latter, Nicolaus Otto, the inventor of the modern 4-cycle engine, used ethanol to power one of his first internal combustion prototypes. Because of these differences, it is not surprising that gasoline and ethanol do not perform identically, and that blending ethanol with gasoline can affect the performance of the fuel. Better combustion is an important factor leading to fewer harmful emissions. However, latest leading consumer magazine states the EPA bans use of E15 in mowers and other power equipment due to higher operating temperatures that cause engine component damage. The same cannot be said of gasoline. . This includes as much as an estimated 70,000 direct jobs and 330,000 indirect jobs, usually in rural areas and small towns. until it the over-time evaporation of the ethanol-blend fuel leaves the fuel pump diaphram dry, which will then become brittle. Only drive when the temperature is cooler which means leaving early in the morning and turning around and going home as soon as I arrive. Antique car owners and small engine operators are the most likely people to need this approach. Of course that could change with the stroke of a pen. A: Ethanol by itself is not corrosive. Airplane fuel is available for purchase at smaller airports and is ethanol-free but you will be violating federal law if you use it in a highway vehicle. Why is ethanol added to fuel? By the same token, as petroleum prices go down, food prices go down. Ethanol has 35% less BTU's per gallon than gasoline. When the gasohol absorbs enough water, fuel water contamination occurs in the car's gas tank and that affects engine performance. I agree and that was my point in this posting. Yes, I should have added a preservative, but why should I be required to have to add treatments to fuels produced by others? Given that our old cars may not be as good as when new even with our best restoration efforts, it seem that the gasoline we are forced to use is contributing to the potential for overheating. The result is fewer miles per gallon with each tank of ethanol. A: If your car is a factory-built Flex-Fuel Vehicle (FFV) the answer is yes. A: The simple answer is that this probably will not work. Ferris, J. Snowblowers work very well on regular gas. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. . This also has the benefit of keeping the batterys charged. Some manufacturers choose to use corn to make ethanol, especially in the United States. Impact of Today's Fuels on Carbureted Engines Ethanol burns hotter than gel but takes about 15 minutes to reach optimal levels of heat output. This extra amount of oxygen also helps gasoline burn better when it is blended with ethanol. Proper formulation and care of ethanol blends is something that fuel transporters and resellers are getting the hang of, so hopefully this will be less of a problem in the future. Q: What is E85s octane rating? Is there anything we can learn from all this controversy? Copyright 2023 Mechanic Base. Today, these plants produce more than 80% of the nations ethanol. What happens if a consumer has their 2 gallon fuel container, to get some lawn mower gas, only E15 is available, yet has to get the yard mowed, but doesn't want to travel in search of non-E15 fuels? In fact, more than 57% of the oil we use originates from a foreign source. However, these fuels are blended with much higher concentrations of octane improving chemicals called aromatics that increase the emission of exhaust toxins. Ethanol burning with its spectrum depicted In the study of combustion, the adiabatic flame temperature is the temperature reached by a flame under ideal conditions. The other thing I find about this fuel is that if you leave the fuel for more than maybe 60 days it plain will not burn unless you start the engine on fresh fuel and get it hot; then if 60 day fuel is introduced to the tank you can burn it. Ethanol Burns Clean, But Creates More Emissions Than Gasoline Keep your engine clean and your cooling system in good shape, and perform regular maintenance as appropriate. At the atomic level, gasoline is mostly carbon, with some hydrogen. Over time, the plastic and metal components can start to rust, crack or become deformed. The RFS currently requires that about 10 percent of all gas-engine fuel sold in the United States be ethanol. Yes, there is. Yes, you may spend less on ethanol while at the pump, but you might also be filling up more often. Since ethanol is firmly established as a part of our fuel supply, it is worthwhile to try to keep a balanced view and make effective use of this biofuel. The Middle East is a dominant location for oil production and is a member of OPEC (Oil Producing and Export Countries). Some small engine manufacturers recommend using fuel stabilizer mixed with gasoline at all times, not only when storing equipment. Older vehicles and small engines may not be equipped to do this, resulting in a "leaner" burn that may increase engine temperatures and/or reduce engine power. Ethanol Producer Magazine (October 2013): 50-52. Ethanol is the same alcohol used in alcoholic beverages, but with water removed so it's suitable for blending with gasoline. As mentioned is that the real issue with E85 is that to be competitive, it needs to sell for about 3/4 the price of gasoline to have the same cost per mile. We just purchased a new 2013 car. I have long suspected and heard that gasoline with ethanol (currently 10%) where I live will cause engines to run hotter. Gasoline has been the go-to choice for energy production in vehicles for decades. Newer vehicles are generally designed to take care of this automatically, but older engines may need a bit of manual adjustment to get the air-fuel mixture just right. Everything that I have read points to Ethanol gas as the problem for both the running hot and vapor locking. You will read claims that can vary by a tremendous amount. Works for me. Injector care when using E-fuels is important. especially as (I understand) part of the E15 implementation legislation releases the government for any liability involved in using E15 in any vehicle that was not designed to use it, although such vehicles would fall under the "Model year 2001 and newer" government approvals. A blend containing 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline (called E10) can . No doubt, it's a pain. nol blends are used, suggesting that ethanol burns "hotter." This is a bit mysterious since ethanol contains less energy per unit volume than gasoline, and the flame temperature of ethanol is more than 40C cooler than gasoline. Urbanchuck, J. When comparing the energy content of gasoline with ethanol, it has about 33% less energy. Comments welcome. Only real change I've made other than to use slightly richer jets is to use only new carb kits and fuel lines. The most critical problems are water contamination and fuel separation. . The TSB also states that "conversion" to FlexFuel status is more than just a computer recalibration issue. NASCAR recently switched to Green E15 for the Cup cars. This is especially true with supercharged or turbocharged engines. Octane number in ethanol is higher than that of gasoline, that is the reason behind its usage in engines to improve the . Having been a subscriber to this magazine for many years I find that they are generally on the side of conservation and environmental protection so the fact they published this article makes me think it is correct; in fact they claim that a Department of Energy study is the basis for the hotter operating temperature with E15. Regarding Mark Huston's question above, I've been adding 2-cycle engine oil to my older cars for a long time now and this has cured the vapor lock problems I've experienced. Ethanol Fuel is a Source of Hydrogen. A simple adjustment to the fuel system to "richen" the mixture can often fix this problem. An Iowa native, Smith served a variety of roles at Car Craft before moving to the senior editor role at Hot Rod and Chevy High Performance, and ultimately returning to Car Craft. Most What is the ratio? ENJOY! It is not as easy with an antique car. I think my answer may lie in the fact I have several collectable John Deere ELECTRIC riding mowers. Incidentally, the octane rating system for fuels was originally developed by Penn State chemist Russell Marker in the 1920s. He would never discuss fuel at shows because of all the arguments from people with no background in chemistry or engineering. Is there any advantage to using E85 for a naturally-aspirated engine? As I understand it, E85 is the legal term for any mix between 50% and 85% ethanol with the rest gasoline, so exactly how much less energy, how much lower miles per ga. Do Snowblowers Take Regular Gas? 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