Ethanol

[Kwacky]

I was chatting today about ethanol. The Government have decided more of it needs to be in petrol, because it's more environmentally friendly.

It's that friendly that the petrol companies won't mix it at the refinery, they leave it until the last minute and add it either with the tankers or once it's in the tanks on the forecourt.

Great news, we're saving the environment.

Except we're not.

Ethanol will attack quite a few components in your car. Older cars in particular are at risk. It rots plastics and rubber. It'll do your fuel pump in and other engine parts because it does not lubricate the same was petrol does.

Ethanol is corrosive by nature and hygroscopic (attracts water), particularly when higher amounts of water are present. This type of damage to a carburettor is typical when phase separation occurs and the highly corrosive ethanol / water mixture corrodes fuel system components.

It doesn't evaporate the same way petrol does. Instead it leaves a sludge.

Another problem is that ethanol requires a lot of land and a lot of processing.

[kiwikrasher]

Yup, yup, and yup....

This topic grates me to no end, after 7 yrs of Refinery Operations experience I can tell you we hated the crap, it's a dangerous solvent, and required a special foam agent to fight fires involving ethanol as it breaks down the regular stuff. Australia has been adding it for years and there are a lot of cars now that are manufactured ethanol compliant, but if you get it wrong you risk damaging fuel components badly. A friend of mine accidently ran it thru' his mower and line trimmer, stuffed every hose and diaphragm in both. It reduces the octane rating of fuel as well. To obtain 91 RON at 10 % blend we had to use 95 RON as a base.

The only way that is even slightly environmentally friendly is that it's a renewable source. But you still add it to a fossil fuel and it's counter cost to the environment for all the reasons Kwacky mentioned make it just yet another fantastic example of spastic political reasoning.

[C00kiemonster]

My new car has massive warnings not to use ethanol added fuels and that's a new car FFS.

Bad idea all round

[Kwacky]

I think I'll switch to the super unleaded for the bike.

[Stew]

Tastes like shit but chuck some diet coke in and its a cheap night in

[Blade]

Are the government discussing this as a possible option or is it happening ? sounds like a very bad idea to me

[duke63]

It's already happened I think.

[Kwacky]

It's happening and they're increasing it.

[Blade]

Well that's just great. Another stupid decision made for our benefit.

[Stew]

The classic bike mags have been talking about this for a few yrs now, its particularly good at wrecking tanks, problem is any chemical will create problems of disposal as well, I worked in the waste industry for 10 yrs mostly on tankers but also as a process operative on a waste recycling in Preston and we used to get ethanol, methanol and just about every non chlorinated and chlorinated solvent you can think of coming through the gates, we'd recycle the methanol to produce fuel for some boilers to run on but ethanol was routinely incinerated because there was no call for it, I can see here being more of a demand for it now though, point is any chemical process produces a waste stream and that could be the hidden problem.

[Godzilla]

So its not added to higher RON petrol? AKA SuperPus? Ok thats in my bike now.

Car is Diesel.

Problem over for me

[kiwikrasher]

So its not added to higher RON petrol? AKA SuperPus? Ok thats in my bike now.

Car is Diesel.

Problem over for me

Not normally dude, in Oz it's only in the 91 RON at 10% blend (E10).

My new car has massive warnings not to use ethanol added fuels and that's a new car FFS.

Bad idea all round

Cause they don't want that crap anywhere near there quality machinery! Just feed that beauty the good stuff mate

[Deegee]

Hideous stuff ethanol, agree with all the above, fecking Civil servants without a clue, doing what looks right as opposed to what is right.

Can see an awful lot of off- road bikes and some road bikes having problems with tanks falling apart, my old Tiger has got a plastic tank, guess it's just a matter of time for it.

[C00kiemonster]

Cause they don't want that crap anywhere near there quality machinery! Just feed that beauty the good stuff mate

You got any spare ? I've only tried 95 Ron, need to try a tank of 98 next....

[kiwikrasher]

Cause they don't want that crap anywhere near there quality machinery! Just feed that beauty the good stuff mate

You got any spare ? I've only tried 95 Ron, need to try a tank of 98 next....

I'm out of the Oil Refinery now Cookiemonster, but if you can work out how to run it on Natural Gas the platform I work on in the Timor Sea pulls up AU$ 15 million/day worth, though delivery might be a bit hard....

[duke63]

Interesting articl here in What Car magazine.

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/new-e10 ... ts/1229022

[Kwacky]

I guess almost all vintage and classic cars are at risk.

[C00kiemonster]

Cause they don't want that crap anywhere near there quality machinery! Just feed that beauty the good stuff mate

You got any spare ? I've only tried 95 Ron, need to try a tank of 98 next....

I'm out of the Oil Refinery now Cookiemonster, but if you can work out how to run it on Natural Gas the platform I work on in the Timor Sea pulls up AU$ 15 million/day worth, though delivery might be a bit hard....

I've got some of the kids balloons somewhere.... I'll post you some

[C00kiemonster]

Interesting articl here in What Car magazine.

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/new-e10 ... ts/1229022

Interesting that.

There is loads of E10 already in France but it's next to normal 95 and super 98 not a replacement.

[Blade]

So its not added to higher RON petrol? AKA SuperPus? Ok thats in my bike now.

Car is Diesel.

Problem over for me

Is that correct ? cos I m in the same boat as you and will just have to fill the bike up with the expensive stuff.