I have only limited experience of ethanol as motor fuel. Mine was hydrous (around 165 deg. proof) and immiscible with petrol. The car ran well enough after opening out the carb. jet, but the corrosion of metal and plastic components was very severe (just as decribed in the article). I have always ascribed this problem to the water content and assumed that all those Brazilians stay happy motorists because their fuel suppliers use A3 sieves. My suggestion, therefore, is to be sure the tests reported by the anti-ethanol press declare the water content of the blend under evaluation. Ethanol is hygroscopic anyway, so an actual measurement has to be made, and not a simple reliance on a supplier's statement. As for reports of knocking, this is most surprising given the high octane number. Indeed, most authorities suggest advancing ignition timing and/or increasing compression ratio to take advantage of this. In other words, engines are less likely to knock on alcoholic fuel blends.
David T. Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
