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BMW 3-Series and 4-Series Forum (F30 / F32) | F30POST > Technical Forums > N20, N26, B46, B48 Turbo Engine / Drivetrain / Exhaust Modifications > The TRUTH about Ethanol(Ethyl Alcohol)
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      10-04-2018, 01:04 PM   #1
jamesf30n20
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The TRUTH about Ethanol(Ethyl Alcohol)

Hey guys. So for the last week I've been reading into fueling for are vehicles and looking at the details. Have you ever thought about what's actually in our gas we pump everyday. Off the top of your head you would probably say something along the lines of "uh gasoline and some ethanol" since the pumps have a sticker saying up to 10%.
In reality that is not the case. During prohibition when alcohol's were banned so was ethanol, being that the stuff the tuner community pumps in their tanks is actually one and the same as the alcohol in your average bottle of vodka. (Ethyl-Alcohol) meaning distilled from plant based sources, being corn, sugar, etc.
so with prohibition in place, petroleum took over the fueling industry.
Over time with declining petroleum levels and rising emissions laws were put in place. So now as a product of that history our current "gasoline" is actually a entire host of mixed chemical's in order to keep down emissions and prolong our use of petroleum. I will provide a screenshot of a petroleum company's data and safety sheet chemical list. At the bottom with link cited. With that being said, if you dive into what these chemicals are you will learn that they are very toxic and trash our vehicles over time causing carbon build up, varnish, eating away at the fuel lines, and seals, etc. what the industry has done is blame this on ethanol as a way to continue to profit from the petroleum industry. But the truth is it's all a lie. 10% ethyl-alcohol is added to modern fuel to
1:keep down emissions, ethyl-alcohol burns much cleaner then petroleum.
2: increase octane, ethyl-alcohol naturally has a higher octane rating then gasoline 100% ethyl-alcohol is eyed around 113 oct and the only other way to raise octane efficiently is lead because it binds to the fuel molecule which is why you see some racing fuels are leaded.
3: to keep your fuel system clean. With all the other chemicals in modern day fuels our cars get "gunked" up.

The mis-conception today is that ethanol gunks up your motor causing parts to fail, I blindly believed this as well until I started to research for myself. But in reality it's actually the opposite.

Nascar has made the switch away from racing fuels an to ethanol base blends due to the higher knock index to prevent pre-detonation, burning colder, keeping their engines cleaner, and the price. NASCAR did a pretty good job of explaining it, they described an instance of how some people report that their fuel system has gotten gunked up after the switch to higher ethanol based mixes and blame it on the fuel itself. But what is really happening is the newly introduced alcohol is acting as cleaner and lifting all the sedimented buildup of crap from normal gas up and off of your fuel tank, lines etc. causing it to get caught in the fuel line and pump filters injectors etc. they recommended if making the switch to alcohol based fuels to either have new parts, or to slowly introduce it into your fuel system and raise the percentage of it over time so that the gunk and varnish that is inside it does not lift off all at once but slowly gets expelled instead.

I found all of this information to be really cool and I wanted to share it with you guys, and help expand your knowledge of cars and performance, as well as expel the misconception of ethanol. I hope u guys have the patience to read all this it's really informative. This is not a copy paste article, I researched and typed all of this to save u guys time.
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      10-04-2018, 01:05 PM   #2
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Link to full data sheet

http://www.triplespetroleum.com/pdfs/FlintHillsGasoline(9672)MSDS.pdf
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      10-04-2018, 04:11 PM   #3
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That's one point of view. Another is that ethanol is in fuel for purely political reasons, mainly to support the producers of the main supply of ethanol, which is American farmers. A third is that it's a complete scam. For instance:
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/op...rs/1483191002/

As for the octane properties, what it really allows is much higher compression and boost than straight gasoline, without the dangers of lead. NASCAR uses it for that reason. Most passenger vehicles don't have high enough compression ratios or atmospheric boost to get much, if any, benefit from it.
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      10-04-2018, 04:33 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Billfitz View Post
That's one point of view. Another is that ethanol is in fuel for purely political reasons, mainly to support the producers of the main supply of ethanol, which is American farmers. A third is that it's a complete scam. For instance:
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/op...rs/1483191002/

As for the octane properties, what it really allows is much higher compression and boost than straight gasoline, without the dangers of lead. NASCAR uses it for that reason. Most passenger vehicles don't have high enough compression ratios or atmospheric boost to get much, if any, benefit from it.
Yes
The American farmers who farm corn can benefit from the ethanol market.
Also Brazil is a huge proponent of ethanol due to their large surgarcan industry. Vehicles their come out of factory set up to run blends like 30%.

I don’t think ethanol is a rip off but that’s my opinion.
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      10-04-2018, 04:45 PM   #5
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Well, I like Vodka and corn and especially e85. That's why I had flex fuel wires with my JB4 and now run stage 2+e30 map with MHD. Been using E85 mixes for years in two cars, not only for the increased power, but the car seems to actually run better with the right mix. And, E85 is cheaper than octane boosters or racing fuel and actually cheaper than the lowest grade fuel as well.

And I am helping the environment...well...have a cat-less, so not as bad.
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      10-05-2018, 10:19 AM   #6
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Well written little post. Mostly inaccurate, obviously bought into the petroleum marketing fluff. The number of NO ethanol gas stations here in Louisiana has been expanding for years. Any small engine repair businesses will tell you about the evils of ethanol.
It’s hygroscopic, attracts water ! Yes, it has higher octane, but, the power output is less.
That’s why you get worse mileage from ethanol gas. I do not use in any of my cars!
While there are some benefits, there are trade-offs. Again, well writen piece.
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      10-05-2018, 11:54 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Billfitz View Post
That's one point of view. Another is that ethanol is in fuel for purely political reasons, mainly to support the producers of the main supply of ethanol, which is American farmers. A third is that it's a complete scam. For instance:
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/op...rs/1483191002/

As for the octane properties, what it really allows is much higher compression and boost than straight gasoline, without the dangers of lead. NASCAR uses it for that reason. Most passenger vehicles don't have high enough compression ratios or atmospheric boost to get much, if any, benefit from it.
Yep that is true
but as with all things its multifaceted
I certainly wouldn't let the fuel sit around too long with all the ethanol in it these days
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      10-05-2018, 03:53 PM   #8
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1973. That's when the first gas crisis/OPEC embargo caused gas prices to go from 35 cents to 55 cents in a matter of weeks. That's when ethanol started to be looked at seriously as a way to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. A lot has changed since then, our consumption of foreign oil is way down, CAFE is way up, electric is on its way in, internal combustion is on its way out. The need for ethanol is long gone, but like a Genie once out of the bottle it's a bitch to get it back in.
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      10-05-2018, 05:22 PM   #9
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I want to clarify my post, it was not aimed at the general population and their vehicles, I'm not a proponent of people just throwing e85 in their cars, they will not be able to support it. Due to fuel volume etc, this post was aimed at the tuner and performance/ forced induction community. To show the benefits of ethanol in specific applications. And maybe to the people debating on switching over this can be a positive.
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