Removing Ethanol from Gasoline

[Olympiadis]

Originally Posted by dmac257

when you say "gearing sweet spot" are you stating a physical speed that is a "design spec" ie. something I can look up someplace or something that I would need to measure by making runs at different speeds and calculating? I don't have any way to measure mpg in real time so would be interested in knowing this "sweet spot" for my cars.

The optimum speed for best MPG is a balance of a great many factors, and many are not constant. For this reason it is always changing with conditions, for example the changing inclination of the road.
You need a real-time feedback to fully utilize this information.
In a pinch a vacuum gauge can get you pretty close.

[dmac257]

Originally Posted by Olympiadis

The optimum speed for best MPG is a balance of a great many factors, and many are not constant. For this reason it is always changing with conditions, for example the changing inclination of the road.
You need a real-time feedback to fully utilize this information.
In a pinch a vacuum gauge can get you pretty close.

And how does vacuum gauge tell me mpg? I don't know enough about ICE to interpret vacuum into mpg or effiency or whatever. I just looked at a ScanGuage add from a little ad icon here. Might get one but don't see how it is installed. Need to look farther into it before I spend $200 just to find out my quad-cab gets horrible gas mileage

Don

[unixrocks]

I hate ethanol.

[Phantom]

Originally Posted by womprat

This is the worst recipe for cheap moonshine I've ever read about.

Regarding removing trace water content from gasoline, anyone considered freezing? Cold gasoline would unfortunately pick up moisture out of the air, so one would need to take steps to avoid that. But putting your gas can in a freezer (-18 C) then transfering it to another container would possibly leave behind any moisture as ice inside the original container. Might work?

Doesn't gasoline pretty much always have some trace of water content anyway and it generally isn't a problem in most fuel systems?

I have not finished reading the pages yet but wanted to post this, freezing the gas/water or Eth/water will help remove the water as it will freeze first although if there is enough water mixed with the Ethanol both will freeze but the water will freeze first. That can help to have mostly ethanol.

Another way to remove the water from the ethanol is to get the equipment to distill. That will get you usable ethanol there are little glass balls (can't remember the name of them) that will determine what proof the ethanol.

[Phantom]

Originally Posted by nibs

Help me out here, alcohol is a very clean burning fuel, it is a renewable resource. Are folks trying get the maximum miles per gallon, or the minimum pollution per mile?

I do not agree with the above statement using Ethanol in places with low population densities and has a local source is ok but it is not "clean".

Here is why:
"Mark Jacobson of Stanford University in California modelled emissions for cars expected to be on the road in 2020. The model assumed that carbon emissions would be 60 per cent less than 2002 levels, so overall deaths would be halved. However, an E85-fuelled fleet would cause 185 more pollution-related deaths per year than a petrol one across the US, most of them in Los Angeles.

The findings, to be published in Environmental Science & Technology, run counter to the idea that ethanol is a cleaner-burning fuel. While ethanol-burning cars will emit fewer carcinogens such as benzene and butadiene, they will spew out 20 times as much acetaldehyde as those using conventional fuel. Acetaldehyde can react with sunlight to form ozone, one of the main constituents of smog, and so increase the risks to people's health."
Biofuel's dirty little secret - environment - 21 April 2007 - New Scientist

[Frank Lee]

I love ethanol and burn it all the time. And look, I still manage to be a hypermiler with it. Go figure.

Pro/con depends on what your agenda is. I (pro) like the renewableness of it, and the oxygenatedability, and the domestic supply, and the money savings to me too. Con... I dunno what they're all excited about. Whatever.

Acetaldehyde - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acetaldehyde | Technology Transfer Network Air Toxics Web site | US EPA

[unixrocks]

Renewable?

If you mean you can grow crops year after year and get fuel from it then sure...but we are already at a point where the nitrogen we use for fertilizers is destroying the waterways - has already turned large parts of the gulf into dead zones where there is not enough oxygen in the water to sustain life.

Ultimately its a not-so-cheap fix that does more harm than good while pretending to be a "green alternative" to fossil fuels.

The ultimate answer is simple - STOP BURNING STUFF. =-)

[Frank Lee]

Yah OK then

[comptiger5000]

I have no issue with Ethanol in itself. I have an issue with how we get our Ethanol. If we could derive it from cellulose and other plant matter left over in farming, it would be cheaper to produce, and greener in the end, than the corn ethanol we're using now. Plus, for those who crave power, E85 is about 105 octane, almost as good as race gas (fun with a cranked up turbo car).

[unixrocks]

Yeah....but thats a liability in most cars (the high octane)

IF you have a high performance race car that you need to have precise control over the ignition of the fuel then ethanol is perfect since it requires such a high temperature to ignite it it is not going to burn prematurely.

If you dont - then your likely going to have some unburnt fuel coming out your car in small amounts (like very small amounts)

given the energy density of ethanol being half that of gasoline (see why theres no E85 stations around?) I dont see much to like about ethanol other than as a fuel additive and a niche market as a racing fuel - maybe aircraft could use it - or rockets I dont know about those types of engines.

Edit: that was dumb - rockets and aircraft need the highest possible energy density - last thing they need is lot of weight.....just dawned on me.