Posted by Gerald J. on July 19, 2008 at 06:55:01 from (4.254.71.134):
In Reply to: Alcohol as a gas posted by Dan-IA on July 18, 2008 at 22:20:44:
It takes about 5% gasoline to denature ethanol, eg. to make it undrinkable. E-85 has 15% gasoline to make it start better in cold weather. 185 proof has some water that doesn't mix well with gasoline.
The newest ethanol plants use molecular sieves to remove the last bits of water at lower energy cost than distillation.
Ford's models T and A had dash board knobs on the carburetor main jet so they could use all kinds of fuel including ethanol and methanol. No computer to do it automatically, but a low enough compression ratio that a bit of pinging didn't do damage either when run too lean.
I wasn't around for prohibition so I don't know if it was to prevent alcohol being used as motor fuel. I don't recall any history of any significant amount being used as motor fuel, e.g. where were the big ethanol plants, all went for drinking with flavoring and aging?
Yes it is possible to brew and distill ethanol on a small scale, but its hard to be as economical as the large plant because the small plant has difficulty making eeconomical use of the side products, like the distillers grains (good cattle and hog feed) and the waste heat (good for growing hothouse vegetables). So its hard to compete.
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