Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Orbital Engine (OE) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maverick who wrote (4422)	1/18/2000 10:44:00 PM
From: Maverick	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4908

Alcohol in fuel... I won't use gasoline/ethanol blends in any of my engines. Alcohol is corrosive to fuel system metals. This is why automakers list a maximum alcohol content that's safe to use in their vehicles. Pure methanol, which is what Indy car teams use, is so corrosive that the fuel cannot be left in the engine for any length of time. After the cars are run, the methanol is drained and the engine is run briefly on gasoline before being stored or returned to the transporter for shipment. The unknown scandal of alcohol is that it contains radically less energy, degrading fuel mileage: Gasoline has about 20,000 btu/lb. Ethanol has only 12,800 btu/lb, and methanol has only 9600 btu/lb. When ethanol is blended into gasoline at the typical 10% ratio, it's done by volume not weight. Alcohol has a higher specific gravity than gasoline, so this method results in fuel with 120,500 btu per gallon as opposed to 125,000 btu/gallon for pure gasoline. Plan on a 4% loss in fuel mileage. So the lower cost of blended gasoline doesn't really save you any money and risks your fuel system. It does however permit lower emissions, which is why it's become common in cities having trouble meeting EPA emissions. It's also common in areas where corn farming is popular. Alcohol also attracts water, increasing the risk of fuel contamination problems. Finally, methanol is highly toxic, and much more difficult to detect than gasoline. It's doesn't have a strong smell nor taste as does gasoline, making it an ideal poison. I would avoid underground storage due to this, as methanol leaking into groundwater could be a disaster. The upside of alcohol for racing is it's lower flammability (but it's a much more difficult fire to fight since it's burns without visible flames). There is also additional engine cooling provided by the dramatic fuel flow rate, particularly for methanol as in CART. I'm sure everyone is familiar with how fast alcohol evaporates (low "vapor pressure"). I'm sure some of you are wondering how the CART teams can switch from methanol to gasoline so easily? Fortunately FI makes this possible where carburetors do not. A carbureted engine that runs properly on alcohol would be "jetted" much too rich to run on gasoline. But the FI motor can have a special fuel "map" that leans out the fuel supply for the temporary switch to gasoline for storage. This is also how the "duel-fuel" cars are able to burn multiple different blends of alcohol and gasoline. A sensor detects the level of alcohol and chooses the appropriate fuel map. Here's an interesting combustion technology already in cars you see every day: adrenalineresearch.com And DFI is even mentioned: adrenalineresearch.com