Hi Fred,Fred Gruendig wrote:Richard,
Are you saying other alcohols "instead" of ethanol are used in gasoline today?
I was under the impression that when alcohol was added to gasoline to reduce emissions that alcohol was always ethanol.
Fred
I was quoting someone else, and they were saying that there are various other alcohols used. Unfortunately I didn't take notes, but they were specific and I believe them. That dialogue included discussion of alcohol used as a fuel without being blended with gasoline, as well as other blends of fuels. Since I can't quote it very accurately, perhaps I shouldn't have brought it up! ...No, I don't recall them mentioning a different alcohol used with gasoline other than ethanol, but I may be mistaken!
I am just back from my road-trip (about 6000 miles), however, and I can report a few things. The route was: San Francisco Bay Area to LA via I-5, to Tucson AZ and then New Orleans via I-10, then to Asheville, NC via various highways through Atlanta, and finally back west, mostly on I-40. The highest altitude I recall was 6000 feet, warmest was 97F, and coldest was in the low 40s with rain.
First of all, the situation has changed a bit since my trip several years ago. Part of this may be due to the fact that after I lost an engine due to buying less than 84 octane fuel that was labeled as 91 at a Citgo station (IIRC) in Balmorhea, Texas (I-10, a bit west of Fort Stockton and a bit East of where I-20 intersects) I have avoided non-major-brand stations when road-tripping. Either way, unlike my trip a few years previous, I didn't discover ANY other labeling than "may contain up to 10% ethanol" during the entire trip EXCEPT for two stations that made a really big deal about offering "pure gas".
From a running point of view, there was only one time I wish I'd had in a fatter jet. I ran 115 in the Webers the whole way, and at one point I was certain that 120 would have been a better choice. But by the time I figured it out, it was too late - that fuel was burned already - and conditions had changed, too. (Remember, carbs are always a compromise and in a street car are rarely tuned optimally for temperature, altitude, load, etc.)
There were two points, however, where the conditions appeared to put the engine in perfect tune and I got an extra 10 miles per hour or so out of the beast! It was fun!
Regards,
Richard