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Long Term Effects of E85 on "Rubber" Bladder

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by cellculturist, Feb 6, 2017.

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  1. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i didn't realize there were pro ethanol people. i thought it was a political scam?
     
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  2. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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    Over time it has gotten more efficient to the point it's no more energy intensive than collecting gas because of the outputs the distillers gets.

    Remember the bush era ethanol subsidies are long gone in most areas and ethanol is still managing to compete.

    Don't get me wrong, quick and easy industrial ethanol is no where near the zero input like the old way of making ethanol but it is getting better than gas.

    Heck cellulosic production is ramping up in Iowa even during this downturn

    If we could get cellulosic e100 hydrous ethanol on the shelves it requires under half the energy to produce as e85 and removes any inedible corn for fuel argument.
     
  3. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Sure...our Minnesota contingent here for several
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    huh, i thought it drove up food prices?
     
  5. Moving Right Along

    Moving Right Along Senior Member

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    People involved in the corn growing industry like ethanol because it allows them to continue overproducing corn and getting paid for it. Such folks in the corn industry have heavily lobbied for it to be not only legal, but required. The political scam part comes in because the ethanol creation process uses gasoline as well as other chemicals and creates a bunch of byproducts, one of which is carbon dioxide. So it's not nearly as environmentally friendly as it's portrayed.

    The ethanol manufacturing process can be found at Renewable Fuels Association » How Ethanol is Made?
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    thanks. so why do we want to run E85?
     
  7. Moving Right Along

    Moving Right Along Senior Member

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    Beats me (n)
     
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  8. ILuvMyPriusToo

    ILuvMyPriusToo Senior Member

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    Knock on wood?
     
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  9. Justdidit

    Justdidit LVNPZEV

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    With some timing advance and proper tuning It would give me extra hp...and less detonation with the turbo...
     
  10. Samprocat

    Samprocat Active Member

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    It will downgrade MPG to the point that savings will be lost from E85 fuel.....
    What will happen with Engine life....that was already discussed. ....this Idea is not good for this .......


    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  11. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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    Up to 2006 that would be a correct assessment.

    Now, This is mostly a myth, the corn used for ethanol is not suitable as human food and barely useable for "finishing " cattle.
    The corn used has less demand than you think for "normal" uses,
    Like HFCS, pellets and packing materials, feed to finish cattle before slaughter.

    The ethanol process now makes both fuel and high grade animal feed with lots of b12 and protein out of something that was mostly useless. the co2 from the process of fermentation and processing is now collected and actually used by anyone who needs frozen or bottled co2.(which even the place I work for uses)

    I might sound like a staunch supporter, I am not, I actually was very strongly against US ethanol production but since I have to accept factory farms, and because this process has become very efficient I now realize it is better than gasoline.

    unsubsidized ethanol is at parity per gallon of gas, this is because of massive leaps in efficiency using every biproduct of production, ethanol uses less energy to process per gallon than gasoline.

    Ethanol is now less polluting per gallon than gasoline, of coarse ignoring farm water use :(

    My hope is they can get ethanol production off non-waste products, natural enzymes to break down and use only solar heating to process.

    But in the mean time profit motive and the removal of ethanol subsidies has made the industry less of a bad guy than gasoline.

    Saying gasoline is greener is like saying Satan is less evil than Marilyn Manson
     
  12. cellculturist

    cellculturist Junior Member

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    Responding to these questions may open up a can of worms that may hijack the main purpose of this thread, but here goes.

    If your question is to why I would like to use E85, it is because after extensive research, I have found it to be more environmentally friendly that using gasoline, reduces our dependence on foreign oil controlled by oil cartels, and invests into our local economies.

    This is something that has not been the case in the past. It has only been in the last decade where improvements in corn processing have gotten us to where energy input is less than the energy output (if you are wondering how this is possible, thank the sun for free energy).

    I have found some really neat info, published by the Department of Agriculture, on the energy output/input ratio of the ethanol process. They go into detail of calculating the energy input, be it from gasoline and diesel use on farms, fertilizer production, heat input during fermentation and distillation, trucking it around the country, etc. On average, there is a 2:1 output/input ratio for current ethanol production when making dry grains for feed. In some cases, such as in Iowa, where different methods make wet grains, which I believe require less processing to make feed, and where ethanol consumption is relatively high, and where the locations of ethanol plants relative to their highways reduce the mileage ethanol needs to be transported, can yield a 4:1 ratio.

    With time, we will undoubtedly get even more efficient.

    Link to 2015 DoA report
    Link to previous report, from 1996 to early 2000's. Useful for recognizing improvements made over time.

    I believe it was just the gen2, but I may be wrong.

    See DoA reports above.

    It is true MPG will drop. With 30% less energy content, E85 use requires 30% more injection. In the US, where gasoline is relatively cheap, E85 use will not save drivers money directly. I am not doing this to save money. Once gasoline reaches prices more on par with the rest of the world, then it might save us money.

    Please let me know where it has been discussed. I would love to learn what it will do to my engine.

    For starters, I will be sending in used motor oil for analysis, before and after prolonged E85 use, and will share the data will all of you.
     
  13. cellculturist

    cellculturist Junior Member

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    I have taken a similar stance on ethanol use recently, much like you. We may be in a similar boat.
     
  14. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    I did drive my Corolla with RE85 (E85 with ethanol made from waste) for years. RE85 was colored so when changing oil I would see that some of that coloring (and fuel) had gone into engine oil. Main reason for fuel going into oil was probably the cold starting when fuel mixture needed to be very rich to get the engine to start. Alcohol smell was strong if I started it cold with door open.
     
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  15. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Gen2 also tends to get gaso/fuel into the oil, several percent. Believe since Gen2 there are tighter clearances and less fuel entrainment in the used oil for Gen3 plus.
     
  16. Samprocat

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    Your percentage of water in oil will be high....
    It will escalate wear on all moving parts .....
    You will have issues with fuel injectors rings..keep close attention
    You will have more short cycling than prolonged warm runs...where E85 will be washing out lubrication on cylinder walls...i will leave for you to watch increased metal content via oil samples
    Hybrid are not made to be ethanol friendly...be cause of nature how this engine works
    Toyota have studied this while back and complicity of getting other various things to fight with cold start and percentage of water and erosion of combustion chambers will bring this engine in territory of Formula 1 ....where tooling and materials to be used to overcome all weaknesses of E85....
    Your idea is good...just a Car you are trying to use is not one you should try with.....
    I hope you will not get mad
    I do Testing and tearing apart engines for living with a job i do for other Car company....and you will discover this on your own quickly
    And one very important factor any piggy tail type of device that intersect impulses from various sensors and amplifies to give ECU different readings will drastically affect your settings that Main Ecu is already doing


    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  17. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    Metropolia university and ST1 fuel company (that manufactures RE85 (E85 with ethanol made from waste)) actually had test program for running converted cars with it. And they did use Gen 2 Prius as one test car. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find any better info than that at 2 year point nothing had gone wrong on a Prius.
     
  18. cellculturist

    cellculturist Junior Member

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    Not mad at all. Actually, I am very interested in your claims. Let me know if you find something to back them up. Without any data, it's hard to believe something I read on the internet. As for now, I will keep up with my regular maintenance.


    iPhone ?
     
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  19. Samprocat

    Samprocat Active Member

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    You have two opposing parties....One that push Crude oil...
    Other that believes in Fuel made by Corn
    I will just try to give simple answer
    Why in Senate this have been pushed?
    Why Crude oil Companies are using it
    Simply they can produce less quality fuel and blend it with Ethanol to get minimum mandatory octane up to desirable number.....
    With sharing my work data with society here it will cost me my job
    This approach to EPA reduce emissions are not worthy.....They are pushing from other aspects to make more profit..where this also what some people believe it will send less to Eastern country's...are true..but this will raise cost of food
    Loss of MPG will result in costing population more from what they actually pay and what they actually get from
    Green way is not using bio fuel or crude oil
    All things done With combustion chamber engines so far is using another band aid to meet emission...
    To get to the core of pollution is to educate people and focus in Electric propulsion
    And to mention just how much more by design BEV car's are more reliable...just using technology that was not yet improved for last 70 year's...
    And just try to imagine once R&D focus on energy storage and electric propulsion improvements....
    My information so far on hybrid power train are giving Gas engines about 40-70% more life because they work a lot less with hybrid setup...so future of hitting 500k miles are not to far away

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  20. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    There are three kinds of men.
    The one that learns by reading.
    The few who learn by observation.
    The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
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    Here on PriusChat, those who need to pee on the electric fence at least take detailed before and after measurements.
     
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