E-15 news flash

[Dave Neptune]

Guys, a friend of mine cruising in Mexico just sent me this regarding E-fuels.
Perhaps with a bit of coverage the word will get out better as the marine industry has already suffered. They are listing many car manufacturers voiding warranties if the eE-15 is used.

Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceW9Nc1hVHU

Dave Neptune

[hcrisp]

Thanks, Dave
EPA. Follow the money.
H

[sastanley]

I like watching NASCAR. But they are pissing me off saying that the cars have more HP running E-15 and that the environment is better.

The farmers are using diesel to run their tractors to harvest the corn (no problem with keeping the farmer in business...but they are using diesel to harvest, so it costs money and fuel)..the environment is not better with all the diesel burned to harvest..& #2, ethanol has less BTU's per gallon than gasoline...how can the cars have more HP?.

OK...done with my rant.

[Dave Neptune]

Shawn, alcohol engines make more that a gas engine in racing stuff. The alcohol burns different and takes far more of it to do so. When mixed at burning ratios there is enough more alcohol to offset the BTU numbers.

You can make a lot more HP with gas than diesel as you can spin the gas engine far more than the diesel It is not the efficiency of the diesel but the method of delivery that is the efficient part. In gas engines that are computer monitored the efficiency numbers a very close today almost down the actual difference is the energy in the fuel itself.

Dave Neptune

[joe_db]

E-100 is more power yet. Alcohol is far higher octane than gasoline and allows more compression and more advanced timing. MPG though is much worse. Gasoline runs around 14:1 air/fuel and alcohol is closer to 8:1. I had an old motorcycle I used to run on a mixture of methanol, nitromethane, and castor oil. I had to drill out the carb jets to make it work. It was very fast and got about 18 mpg

Originally Posted by sastanley

I like watching NASCAR. But they are pissing me off saying that the cars have more HP running E-15 and that the environment is better.

The farmers are using diesel to run their tractors to harvest the corn (no problem with keeping the farmer in business...but they are using diesel to harvest, so it costs money and fuel)..the environment is not better with all the diesel burned to harvest..& #2, ethanol has less BTU's per gallon than gasoline...how can the cars have more HP?.

OK...done with my rant.

[romantic comedy]

the efficiency of a diesel comes from its compression ratio.

[zellerj]

The problem with E10 is that if the fuel is contaminated with 7000 PPM of water (0.7%), you can get phase separation with a water\ethanol phase on the bottom and a gasoline phase (organic phase) on the top. Engines that suck up the water/ethanol phase don't run very well. Unless you let the E10 fuel sit for a long time, this is generally not an issue. Since most of us sail, there is a good possibility that we use old gas, and if that gas is E10, there is a good possibility that 0.7% water has been sucked into the tank, and you could get phase separation. This process is helped because E10 is more hydroscopic (absorbs water) than non ethanol containing gasoline.

However, since E15 contains more ethanol, it can absorb more water without phase separation. The likelihood of absorbing 4 % water is much less than absorbing 0.7% water, unless something unusual occurs, so E15 may be better for boaters that use their engines often (a tank per year, for example). This is the same principle of adding dry-gas (alcohol) to dissolve the water in a gas tank so that the water becomes soluble in the gas (single phase).

Ethanol blended fuels do have different dissolving power, therefore things that did not dissolve and get into our carburetor before could be dissolved with E10 or E15, so we need to be sure our fuel system (hoses, and pump parts mostly) are approved for ethanol blended gas. Facet fuel pumps are rated for ethanol blends and ethanol compatible hoses are cheap. Some call this corrosive but I do not believe E10 or E15 are corrosive, just dissolve different stuff that may be lurking on our fuel lines.

Fuels are going to change overtime. Now we are worried about ethanol (2 carbon alcohol) in the fuel, but there is also a good chance that methanol (one carbon alcohol) and butanol (four carbon alcohol) will also enter our fuel supply as technology advances. Methanol from syngas (carbon monoxide and hydrogen) and oxidation of natural gas (methane), and butanol from cellulose (the famous switch grass of the Bush era).

I am convinced that the venerable A4 will be able to adjust to these changes.

Best,
Jim

[joe_db]

And the fact diesel has more BTU than gasoline per gallon. Also more then kerosene. A builder of diesel airplanes pulled a fast one with GPH figures when run on actual #2 diesel when the usual fuel for the airplane is kerosene.

Originally Posted by romantic comedy

the efficiency of a diesel comes from its compression ratio.

[Dave Neptune]

The efficiency of the diesel has very little to do with compression. The efficiency is the method of injection and the fact that they run at WOT even at idle unlike gas or alchy engines.

Dave Neptune

[romantic comedy]

Dave, I disagree. Sorry, but that is what the engineers say.

[joe_db]

Higher compression = greater efficiency.
Running with no throttle (diesel is always wide open air intake) = greater efficiency.
Direct fuel injection = greater efficiency.

They all play a part.
The modern SkyActive Mazda gasoline engine uses something like 16 or 18 to 1 compression ratio and direct injection. Not long ago that would have been a diesel!