Alcohol for fuel

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I was wondering if anyone makes alcohol for auto engine fuel. When I say alcohol I mean made from a still. I got the plans from a book in the E.C. Kraus catalog, but I didn't know if any engine modifications are required. Just for example, say I wanted to run my 1969 Chrysler with a 383-2bbl on pure grain. I would sure appreciate any input. Thanks. Dan

-- Daniel E. Krabel (dkrabel@tigerpaw.com), September 13, 2000

Answers

Dan. I have read that its very expensive to convert an old Detroit dinosaur. Even unleaded gas contains lubricants and conditioners to protect cylinder walls and pistons. For this reason gasahol only contains 10% to 15% ethynol. I have seen the type of books that you are speaking of and in my opinion, the costs of conversion, initial setup and licensing fees to operate legally eliminate any realized savings on the small scale. Even if you are thinking about large scale production, theres heavy competition from corn and soybean farmers that moved into this in the late 70s and 80s.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 13, 2000.

When my son was in high school , we raced go kart,using 5 h.p. engines.The were corverted to alcohol by boring out the carburator jet to a specified diameter. This was necessary because a higher fuel to air ratio was required to obtain proper combustion. With some cam modification , alcohol conversion , and compression tuning ,we acheived 23h.p. dyno testing with the 5 h.p. B&S engine block. I am sure that something simular would work in the older carburated engines. R Jones

-- bobbie jones (bjones@tnns.net), September 13, 2000.

The biggest draw back to alcohol use as a fuel is that it will absorb water from the atmosphere, hence causing corrosion problems. "Dry Gas" is methanol used to absorb the water in the gas and mix with the gasoline. Getting the water out and keeping it out is a big problem.

-- Rich (pntbeldyk@wirefire.com), September 14, 2000.

I'm not totally up to speed on this subject,but if you do a bit of research on line, you'll find that Brazil converted almost totally to ethanol way back in the late 1960's. I think their vehicles are still are mostly ethanol powered.

JOJ

-- jumpoffjoe (jumpoffjoe@yahoo.com), September 14, 2000.


Here's an internet site I found on my very first try!

http://www.mct.gov.br/clima/ingles/comunic_old/alcohol3.htm

Some highlights:

Ethanol as a Fuel

In Brazil, ethanol is used in one of two ways:

* as octane enhancer in gasoline in the form of 22 percent anhydrous ethanol at 99.6 Gay-Lussac (GL) and 0.4 percent water (a mixture called gasohol) or * in neat-ethanol engines in the form of hydrated ethanol at 95.5 GL

In other countries, gasohol blends typically contain only 10 percent (or less) ethanol.

Ethanol makes an excellent motor fuel: it has a motor octane number which exceeds that of gasoline and has a lower vapor pressure than gasoline which results in lower evaporative emission. Ethanol's flammability in air is also much lower than that of gasoline which reduces the number and severity of vehicle fires. Anhydrous ethanol has lower and higher heating values of 21.2 megajoules per liter and 23.4 megajoules per liter, respectively; for gasoline the values are 30.1 and 34.9 megajoules per liter.

Ethanol's properties (as a fuel) have led to the development of dedicated engines and modified engines for the ethanol-gasoline mixture in Brazil. Until 1988 developments were made by manufacturers (GM, Ford, Volkswagem, Fiat) for carburetor-based systems; electronic fuel injection systems are now available for all engines.

The main fuel properties of gasoline and alcohol are indicated in Table 3.

-- jumpoffjoe (jumpoffjoe@yahoo.com), September 14, 2000.



Thanks to you all for the information Dan

-- Daniel E. Krabel (dkrabel@tigerpaw.com), September 20, 2000.

i want to search for calculation for -octane number when use ethanol blending with gasoline -reid vapour pressure when use ethanol blending with gasoline

-- do duc ngoan (ddngoanvietnamese@yahoo.com), April 19, 2001.

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