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E10 fuel (10% ethanol)

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by R-P, Mar 6, 2020.

  1. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    Seriously, if you can't identify the difference between water damage and something in the fuel that is causing that corrosion, maybe you should stop messing around with carburettors.
    Methanol is one of the more serious water problem fuels, but they use it a lot in performance engines. The Australian Group A Touring cars run E85 min and many actually run E100, if it really was the cause of problems you seem to think it causes, these things would die in no time at all ....
    Pre 1990, there were some carby parts that could corrode if a very high concentration of ethanol was used, but this is more a racing fuel blend problem where high oxygenating fuels are used, not the mix ratio used in pump fuel.

    Over this side of the planet, the last bits of the wheat seed, after all the good stuff has been removed, is used to make ethanol.

    Let's be realistic here, ethanol and bio-diesel are really only stop gap measures, the days of burning fuels in a combustion engine is rapidly drawing to a close, squabbling about some perceived harmful effect by using these alternatives to oil based fuels will be a moot point. As the demand for oil based fuels drops, the economics of processing crude oil into a motor vehicle fuel will reach the point where it is no longer viable, then the oil fuel for these engine will be synthetically produced from what ever turns out to be the most cost effective base product.
    All manufacturers knew they had to make fuel systems and engines that could function without Tetraethyl lead, there were those that said it was the end of the world as we knew it. Then there was the removal of sulphur from diesel, same story, now we have plant based fuels replacing oil based fuels and a very similar story seems to be doing the rounds ..... it is a lost cause over here and the butt of many jokes, particulate filters and the requirement to add urea to the exhaust of diesel engines is the latest out cry but rapidly loosing ground as well. The cry now is about electric vehicles killing your babies or something equally stupid, there will always be those who can't adapt and change needs to be fought with what ever tools are available including "alternate truths" but change will happen anyway ....

    T1 Terry
     
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  2. Another

    Another Senior Member

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    Processing crude oil into motor fuel is the easy part. Synthesizing it from non crude oil sources is costly. Crude is the basis of petrochemicals and plastics, which aren’t going away anytime soon, the motor fuel comes along for the ride, just one more distillation range and then post processing to increase octane. Most of these higher octane compounds like aromatics and branded chain hydrocarbons are multi-use and fungible.
    Accounting for the ridiculous to the absurd regulations regarding adding oxygenates to the fuel for over a hundred different geographic formulations is the problem.
     
  3. privilege

    privilege Active Member

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    the "something in the fuel that's causing corrosion" is simple:
    ethanol

    ethanol is absorbing water from the air, and turning into a nasty slurry of corrosive garbage.

    the suggestion that I don't know what I'm doing with carbs, that's a nice condescending tone you have there, but the reality is that this simply doesn't happen with real gasoline.

    real gasoline will create varnish and clog jets, but not create very aggressive corrosion, like ethanol does.

    if you're blessed with banks and banks of high performance carbs that get flushed with fuel stabilizer and used frequently, that's awesome !

    the rest of the world knows that carbs that sit with the curb garbage in them are going to corrode, and quickly.

    as far as gasoline and diesel going away... I remember when the govts if the world claimed there were gasoline shortages and"the end of gas is near!" ...
    didn't work then and the lie isn't working today either
     
  4. t_newt

    t_newt Active Member

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    "the end of gas is near!" ...didn't work then and the lie isn't working today either

    My grandfather remembered when people were claiming that 'the end of the horse is near!" ... Actually that one worked.
     
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  5. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Are you scrambling memories here?

    As for gas shortages, I'm remembering specific foreign governments unfriendly to our own, deliberately working to cause fuel shortages here. Very intentional disruptions for their political and foreign policy interests that didn't align with ours.

    As for claiming "the end of gas is near!", I'm remember various organizations and interest groups saying this. But not our government.
     
  6. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Two things can be true at once.

    Petroleum isn't going away anytime soon, and by 'soon' I mean as long as it's more economical to fly planes on kerosene, make plastics with natgas, and to a lesser extent make pharma and other products out of the petroleum THAN it is for these things to happen with some kind of an "earth friendlier" substitute.....and all of this AFTER cars, trucks, trains, and ships shift over to some theoretical non-petrol source AND we figure out how to make electricity that is BOTH more "earth friendly" (statistically or real-world) AND more impervious to ice, wind, water, fire, and increased demand.....

    In addition to this, it "may" also be somewhat true that fuel infected vehicles, which is to say MOST vehicles sold since the mid 90's have mostly been designed to operate just fine using E-10.
    I'm old enough to remember when "pure" gas contained lead, so it's pretty easy for me personally to ignore the folks who insist that ethanol is "ruining" a product that's pretty much been used successfully by people who know how to follow simple instructions and maintain their vehicles or other power equipment properly....
    Fun Fact:
    The Googles say that The 1994 Isuzu Pickup was the last new vehicle sold in the United States with a carburetor......buuuut they also 'fact check' many political stories so take that with a grain of salt, or maybe add a disclaimer excluding crudely built ChiCom motorcycles, scooters, etc....

    Heck....
    I'll bet that dot.gov even used E10 when they measured (or validated) the Prius' EPA numbers.
    But then.....dot.gov also insists that vaccines are wise for most people over 12 too....and we see how THAT is going here in mid-2021.....

    Arguing all of this in FHOP might be entertaining (to some) but the idea that E10 is an inferior product for G2 Priuses, which are SPECIFICALLY built to operate efficiently burning E10 is fairly counter-factual....just in case people forgot which sub-forum this is.
    That fact is under-girded by the G2's VERY well earned reputation for efficiency and reliability since 2004.

    Facts don't care about people's feelings, and it's a FACT that G2 Priuses run juuuust fine on E10 - at least here in North America. ;)

    So:
    Getting back to the Big Oil....Tin Foil, Fluoride, and Bill Gates....

    Absenting some legal or fiscal "nudges" from dot.gov.....or more one-percenter welfare for the EVangelists and cooperate giveaways for convicted felons like PG&E (corporations are people... ;) ) I personally think that both petrol AND corn will be around for a while.

    The line forms behind me
    when it comes to being a little skeptical about things that come from DC, the fourth estate, or the "science and data" crowd...BUT.....

    Vaccines are a proven product with a 250 year track record, more or less and this new-fangled Gassy-haul stuff has been in wide use for decades.

    Remember when and why they started tinkering with it in the first place!!!!
    If you know...
    You know.

    ACTUAL mileage may vary.
     
    #46 ETC(SS), Sep 2, 2021
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2021
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  7. privilege

    privilege Active Member

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    "runs fine" , just happens to be lower mpg from every gallon used. if you're ok with that, I guess it's ok with you.

    if you want a less efficient Prius, that's a pretty easy way to do it:
    just fill it up with inferior fuel
     
  8. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    :lol: The theoretical compression ratio for a Prius ICE is around the 13:1, but do you know what the actual running compression ratio is? If you know that and understand the link between octane rating and actual compression, you would know just how silly such a statement is .... but then you wouldn't have made such a statement if you really knew what you were talking about ..... would you ?????

    I'll leave the tin foil hat brigade to flood this thread with nonsense, it has gone well beyond being entertaining now .....

    T1 Terry
     
  9. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Comparing MPGs of different fuels straight across, without adjustment for the reality of being different fuels, is rather like comparing $US vs $CDN vs $AUS prices of things without doing any currency conversions.