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Originally Posted by 123
Hi I will put in my 2 cents. I have made ethanol to run in engines and no I don't work for anything related to the ethanol industry. 99% of problems with ethanol and engines not running well on E85 is the engine being made to run gas not ethanol. The worst "damage" I have seen from running ethanol was on an old Briggs and stratton engine. There was rust in the tank after letting it sit for 6 months with ethanol that had 20% water in it.
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Well, any untreated fuel gasoline or ethanol will attract water and cause rust in fuel tank. I've seen tanks rust out long before there was e10. That's why all my motorcycles gas tanks get protective coating.
What method and materials did you use to produce your ethanol?
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Originally Posted by 123
Ethanol has oxygen molecules in it so it needs a higher fuel to air ratio then gasoline to compensate for the oxygen. Like Frank Lee's snow blower the Briggs and stratton engine ran great after choking the engine = less air into engine.
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First off, Gasoline a not a single molecule, but a blend of compounds. Nearly all of them have some oxygen in their makeups.
Ethanol has 5 HC bonds to oxidize and one Hydroxide per molecule.
Octane (one of the measured compounds of Gasoline) has 18 HC bonds to oxidize and no hydroxides.
Less HC bonds means more Fuel needed for a given volume of atmosphere.
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Originally Posted by 123
Also the cold weather problem with ethanol is because its less volatile then gas, so to compensate flex fuels squirt more fuel into the engine when starting. The other major problem people see even on flex fuel vehicles is running high % of ethanol on high mileage vehicles that have only run on gas and this is do to the solvent properties of ethanol. Your fuel system gets cleaned of gasoline residues and this causes clogged fuel filters.
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That again comes back to the fact that gasoline is not a single compound, but that it is a mix of many molecules. Some that vaporize at very low temps, that lets us have enough vapor to start an engine at cold temperatures, but this also leaves high vapor temperature compounds behind to form varnishes. Then along comes the ethanol that acts as a solvent, breaking down these varnishes, dissolving them into the liquid again. Unfortunately some of the really bad crud gets trapped in the filters and they need replacing.
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Originally Posted by 123
Yes ethanol does have some compatibility issues with some materials like natural rubber and some types of plastic.
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Gasoline also has issues with natural rubber and plastics, that's why I use neoprene and silicone materials wherever possible and I don't even have access to E85.
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Originally Posted by 123
An engine built for ethanol will see the same if not better fuel economy then gas, only problem is high compression = no more gasoline. Saab made the best flex fuel vehicle I have ever seen it increase turbo boost for more power when it senses higher % of ethanol in the tank.
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Oh, yeah An engine built to run on Ethanol, will run best on compression up near the diesel engine range.
I remember experimenting with a variable compression head in college as a possible design solution for flex fuel.