My interest in ethanol is derived from the fact that it is a /fantastic/ fuel. What other fuel is there that is easily made by any knucklehead at home, has 120+ octane rating, is clean, nontoxic and can be made from virtually any substance on earth that contains a carbohydrate?
Ethanol has a myriad array of properties that make it a highly superior fuel. It needs no additives to maintain system cleanliness or anti-knock properties, since it's already high octane and highly solvent. Water can be added directly to the fuel in certain percentages, giving even more boost in AKI and adding an additional layer of cooling effect, not to mention aiding in cylinder cleaning. Ethanol's homogeneous composition makes creating aftertreatment catalysts simple, as well as making modeling the combustion easier. Deposit formation is reduced, because everything in ethanol as a fuel is combustible (several of the additives and compounds in gasoline don't even combust within the conditions present in a cylinder). Engines running pure ethanol tend toward less oil fouling and cooler operating temperatures, allowing for longer oil change intervals even on conventional oils. As a side note, this last is also true for engines running pure propane. Ethanol doesn't "go stale" like gasoline does, has less volatility and tendency to evaporate, and is environmentally safer in a spill or accidental contact. The problems of possible absorption of water from the atmosphere is already being addressed, though for a different reason. Evaporative emission controls are moving vehicles steadily toward totally sealed fuel tanks, which will be more than adequate for controlling water absorption from the atmosphere for high E blends. Ethanol's combustion range is also broader than that of most gasolines, allowing you to run richer or leaner without failing to ignite (yes, you can be so rich in a cylinder you simply won't ignite the fuel. Most folks don't believe me when I tell them that). Yes, right now we make ethanol in a very crappy manner, from corn. That's not ethanol's fault, that's our cultural bias toward monocropping and cash cropping showing it's face. There are many other starchy foods that are less energy intensive that yield a lot more ethanol per acre, and there are processes under development that would use discarded food to produce commercial quantities of ethanol. One in particular I'm interested in would use the spent slurry as part of the feed to a commercial digester, then sell the digester effluent as a field conditioner and fertiliser. The company's goal is to become a "zero waste" company. I like that goal, personally. Can't do that with gasoline, though... only so many source chemicals for gas. On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 3:58 PM, Gene Henry <[email protected]> wrote: > So what is your interest in ethanol? More than a passing one, by the length > of your responses. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
