These reports of better economy with an admixture of acetone in diesel fuel are extremely interesting. I surmise that something is going on besides reducing unburned fuel, and that the acetone is improving the speed of combustion, resulting in more energy being released close to top dead centre, and a higher average expansion ratio.
Normally one would be suspicious of a possible increase in peak pressure. The reduction in noise reported by Mr. Jain suggests that possibly this is not the case although the possibility of an increase remains. If there is an increase in peak pressure, it would likely be significant for engine durability only at high power levels in relation to rpm, i.e. large amounts of fuel burned per cycle, and fast acceleration of cars. It would be extremely interesting to see a pressure diagram (these show cylinder pressure over the cycle). Perhaps some university department of mechanical engineering could be perusaded to run such a test; it should be quick and cheap. I suspect also that Indian universities may have a more enterprising attitude to exploring efficiency improvements than those in North America or Europe. Doug Woodard St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada On Wed, 20 Apr 2005, Y. K. JAIN wrote: > Dear Mr. Subramanian, > > I tried commercial acetone (the one commonly available in India with chemists > and used as nail polish remover) in my diesel car @ 0.2% with ordinary > diesel. The result as noticed by me under identical conditions of daily > commuting was increase in kmpl from 17 to 19.5 . Additional effect noticed > was cooler running of the engine and reduction in noise. During highway > driving, while overtaking vehicles, > I noticed better pick-up (the diesel cars are a bit sluggish as compared to > gasoline cars) similar to gasoline cars. A quantitative check could, however > be made only in laboratory conditions. > > A tip here: the acetone may be premixed with fuel to, say, a 5% or 10% > mixture so that while it is being added to the fuel tank, it does not damage > the tank hose as it flows down; it does not emit fumes that could be inhaled; > the measurement accuracy is better (the quantity to be measured and added to > the fuel tank does not remain too small to cause appreciable error) and the > possibility of damage to car > paint by its accidental spillage is reduced. > > The 0.2 % addition to fuel is not expected to do any damage to the rubber > hoses. However, the risk perception and risk taking is personal in nature > and, here also, laboratory tests would be required to establish long term > effects. Anyway, I am already proceeding with acetone doped fuel for my car. > > Y. K. Jain > > "subramanian D.V" wrote: > > > Hi , > > > > Gasolene( petrol ) costs in India about 95 cents a liter, roughly twice of > > its price in U.S. And is edging up towards a dollar and more. The > > possibility of getting more mileage by mixing with a small dose of acetone > > came up from a mail posted in this list. As one of the middle class using a > > car & trying to balance my budget I decided to give it a try. Iāve not even > > asked anybody else to try and report. > > > > I only put a harmless query about the difference between commercial acetone > > and lab quality acetone and added a footnote whether anybody else has tried > > this acetone mix & with what results. I seem to have caused a minor Tsunami. > > > > If my experiment does not measure upto expectation, I have not hurt anybody > > else O.K. > > > > Thank you all for yr comments. > > Regards, > > D.V.S _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
