Getting educated about gasoline...

[Redneck in training]

I used to race boats 40 years ago. Fuel was not specified so we could burn anything. The fuel of choice was methyl alcohol reason being it has octane number about 110 (if I remember it right), since it has about half of the energy content there was twice much as delivered to the engine. Since it had to evaporate before ignition it lowered internal engine temperature preventing burned pistons. The engines had compression ratio close to the diesel range of about 14 to 15. Typical engine produced about 300 HP/liter or 491 HP/100 cubic inches. Trade of was about 8 hours between overhauls.
Ethanol has similar qualities as methyl. It doesn't burn hotter (as somebody previously suggested) but in fact it burns slower than gas and if the ignition timing is not advanced enough it will be still burning when exhaust valve opens burning it. Gasoline engine runs at most efficient region close to knocking. Most modern engines have knocking sensor and the fuel is leaned and ignition advanced until knocking is detected and then the engine management unit somewhat backs off. For older engines it should be necessary to set ignition (for ethanol blend) to somewhat greater advance than for pure gas I suppose.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Is it worth the premium for getting some Bio mixed in with your ULSD for the lubrication that it brings to the table?


Or, is the whole ULSD and it being hard on older diesels an old wive's tale?

Thoughts???......

My fuel guy says anything over 2% is just wasting your money. 2% is all you need for the lubricity factor.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

I though marine stabil was blue, wht do i know i have not bought any

I think Star Brite makes a blue marine Stabilizer.

http://www.starbrite.com/productdet...nd Diesel Additives&ProductSSCat=Startron Gas

This is what we have been using now for 3 years with great results. I tried to talk my neighbor into using it for his stuff. He is a commercial mower. He though I was nuts till he ruined his power washer with water in the carb.

On container at WalMart or TSC is $20 and treats 320 gallons. Thats $.06 per gallon. Very cheap insurance.

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Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

I can buy pure gas in all octanes at 3 stations near me, maybe more. Its only like 5 cents more a gallon. Several other stations have pure 93 octane cause of the lake nearby. All this fuel comes out of the tank farm in N. Augusta, SC.

Side note on E85. My work truck is flex fuel. and we are suppose to use it whenever its avialible. I work for the gov and its part of the green thing so they can say were helping. My truck on either E10 or pure fuel will get at bet 15 mpg usuall 14. When i have drained my tank to the last 2 gallons and filled up with E85 i get about 10 mpg. The times i bought e85 was when fuel was about $2.39/gallon. Once i paid more for the e-85 and once i paid the same as E10 fuel. so i paid the same price to get 30% less mpg?? Oh yea this is a smart program for us to be paying more tax dollars to use a green fuel than regular fuel. Anyway E-85 rises and falls to just dosent go as high and has a bottom usually that is higher than real gas. This is cause fuel is tied to its produciton with the use of trators etc. Anyway i think you would have to have about 40% less of a price to justify E85.

E85 also burns hotter creating increased cylinder pressures etc.

I have found the same thing. My current gas truck is E85 approved but I have not ran it. My last gas truck was a 07 F-150 4x4 Super Crew. It got 15.5 mpg on 10% and when I tried 3-4 tanks of E85 I was lucky to get 11 mpg.

As I said before, in Indiana its law that all fuels used for on road must have a minimum of 10% ethanol. My uncle owns a fuel station in Ohio. He put in a couple E85 pumps. Folks flock to it and its really a money maker for him. Instead of having to fill up every 300 miles now you are in in 225 or so. That means more cigarettes, soda, candy bars, chips, ect sold for him.

Chris

 

[Skyco]

The bio-D government supplement, which was around $1 a gallon, ended back in January. Chapped me to read of bio-D makers sending millions of gallons out of the country while collecting the $1 a gallon from us, the taxpayers.
Anyway I run some in my diesel fuel, 2% or less. Problem for me is to get B99 to use as an additive I have to buy it in Asheville NC 150 miles away. I'm up near there frequently but they only sell it in summer as it gells in winter. I found it doesn't store well if I try to get a years worth. So I add 2 stroke oil when I don't have any....

I also use one of the gas additives periodically with the PEA (polyetheramine sp?) that has been proven to work well as a cleaner.

 

[V1Rotate]

Here is a link to a website where you can locate gas stations in your state that sell ethanal free gasoline.
Hope this helps.

pure-gas.org

 

[dstig1]

It is here too, but the classic car guys were able to get an exception written into the law. Stations are allowed to sell an ethanol free premium grade. I think it needs to be 91 octane min, and they tend to mark it as "ethanol free" since it is a selling point for those who need it or want it. The Minnesota classic car association maintains a list of places in Minn/W Wisc that have it, though it is not totally inclusive.

Nobody will pay for the top grade stuff unless they really need or want it, so Minn gets the ahem "benefit" of the 10% ethanol mandate, but keeps a small minority happy at pretty much no cost.

Here's their link for anyone interested. You have to click Features at the top to open the PDF listing from this page for some reason.

Non-Oxy Fuel

Might be the kind of exception someone could talk to their state reps about getting in place. It worked here.