Re: I want my MTBE

In article <9kap15573f9ntmaddsh3p6bsb94nk8nig0@xxxxxxx>, David V.
Loewe, Jr <daveloewe@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Tue, 26 May 2009 17:47:08 -0500, Steve Cutchen <maxfaq@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

David Loewe, Jr. <dloewe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Tue, 26 May 2009 12:06:53 -0500, Steve Cutchen <maxfaq@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
CheeseHusker dos <jonruss63@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Plenty of reasons to be wary of ethanol - the number one being the
direct subsidies and legal mandates needed. That's really all you
need to know.

I've also had too high ethanol content screw up my cars three times;
once on my car, twice on my daughter's. I now carry a bottle of Heet
(which seems to work) in every vehicle.

BTW, each time it was Valero gas. I'm wondering if they just have bad
QC at the jobber rack or if there is some economic incentive for the
retailer to spike ethanol above 10%.

That's funny.

Heet is just isopropyl alcohol. It seems to me that any deleterious
effects of an alcohol are not going to be solved by the application of a
different alcohol. Moreover, I used to, when I was a courier, fill up
with E85 every once and a while. There were no deleterious effects and
I got as high as 50-65% ethanol in the tank.

Yeah, there is a big difference in alcohols.

We used to blend t-butyl alcohol directly into gasoline. Now we
dehydrate it to isobutylene, react it with methanol and make MTBE.
This gets methanol into the gasoline pool, and it is much cheaper as a
raw material than straight gasoline blending components.

One of the things that make ethanol so bad is that it is very
hydroscopic. This is especially bad in boats where the gas tanks are
typically open to the (humod) air. Thus, over time, the ethanol just
sucks water into the fuel.

If you have a boat, especially with an in the hull tank, be SURE you
have a good water filter. And carry a spare cartridge.

Sounds like what is actually going on there is water contamination and
not anything with the alcohol itself.

It is water contamination, but it is caused by ethanol's love of water.
It literally sucks the moisture out of the air to the point that the
ethanol and water can form a second liquid phase in the gasoline tank.
.

Relevant Pages

  • May Be A Good Summer To Stay Home
    ... after MTBE was found to contaminate ground water. ... "Ethanol has its own problems. ... Ethanol blended gasoline is ... because the water stays in the bottom of tanks. ...
    (rec.outdoors.rv-travel)
  • Re: Older motorcycles and ethanol
    ... already set up to run lean on pure gasoline. ... ethanol well, leaving a sooty appearance much like a very rich mixture. ... The ethanol would absorb the water then fall out of suspension to ... Found the bottom of the tank had close to a half gallon of unburnable junk ...
    (rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: 2-strokes and oil ratio
    ... would you bump the oil ratio? ... Alcohol has less energy so it leans the mix. ... alcohol mix with water and alcohol mix with gasoline, ...
    (rec.motorcycles.dirt)
  • Re: 2-strokes and oil ratio
    ... would you bump the oil ratio? ... Alcohol has less energy so it leans the mix. ... alcohol mix with water and alcohol mix with gasoline, ...
    (rec.motorcycles.dirt)
  • Re: I want my MTBE
    ... direct subsidies and legal mandates needed. ... different alcohol. ... I got as high as 50-65% ethanol in the tank. ... We used to blend t-butyl alcohol directly into gasoline. ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)
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