Winter, the first thing it reminds us is of cold breeze and snow fall. Rajith was pacing up fast in his walk, dejected, he felt the pain of bearing the whole weight of earth on his young shoulders. Armed with a mechanical engineering degree, he set out to make it big in this world of intriguing gadgets and gizmos. His project was called off due to funds and the storm in his life has bagun. The "cooooooo" of the train's siren was audible from half a kilometre. He began run in order not to miss the penultimate train back home. The last would arrive an hour later, it was already eleven in the night then. Things weren't going his way that day, he missed the ride home.
He was visibly shaken that day following the events that took place earlier in the day, so, missing a train wasn't much of a pain. he bought the ticket and headed over the flyover bridge to Platform No.7, he placed himself on the bench and bowed his head down as if he were the world's biggest loser.
The clock ticked by and every second pained him terribly, he never lost something so far, but at certain times somethings in life happen for the first time. This was his first. The wind beagn to grow thick and fast, it picked up fallen leaves on it way an they began to sway as if they were dancing to its tuning with glee and merry. It was fifteen minutes since his arrival, he was still lost in thoughts, pensive.
The giggle, a smile of opposite gender distracted him from his moody ponder, a welcome distraction. The girl clad in red, was addressing her friend on her way down the flight of stairs that made way to platform below. She was smiling, a smile that had something in it, something that stole Ranjith's immediate attention. All of a sudden, his mood of pensive and thoughtful attitude seemed to be lost for his own good. but there was something wrong about her, something lacked in her but she seemed not to taken nothice of it, she was happy the way she was. Unfortunately nothing in this world was perfect, so was she. She was handicaped. She was a victim of polio, had difficulty in walking. But She was happy, the way she lived her life was something that caught the attention of Rajith.
From the moment she arrived on the platform, he kept his gaze towards with acute interest. Her benevolent manner of addressing things, her independency and over coming the deficiency, made him feel better. Her independency was something that really kept him stick to her. The night was growing cold as the minutes passed by, it was drawing close to midnight, the train was due for arrival any moment.
He picked up his guts, he got up from his bench and started moving towards her direction. He face now revealed a new and more passionable look, with full of life totally in contrast to what was an hour ago. A totally transformed and confident young man. He headed towards her and finally opened his mouth to speak, the first since hours.
He was straight into the topic, "Hello lady", was a nice way to begin and she looked at him in a totally different yet gleeful manner.
"Yes", she said in reply in a voice that touched the inner of the listener.
"You rock. Be happy and keep smiling", he said. Just then the trained broke through the wind and its siren disturbing the silence, all of a sudden everything seemed to be happening.
He turned towards the train and in a final turn backwards he said, "Thanks for teaching me about life".
After those final words he headed to his trains and got resurrected.
We all live life in our own ways... but sometimes it takes someone else to teach us the way to live and love it.... He learnt it from her...Its not something that makes life unworthy of living but it is we who make it...
Live it and Enjoy it coz...Life is Worth Living and Be postive and confident....[:)]
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Alternate Fuels
Introduction
Petrol and Diesel are obtained from the crude oil after a pain sticking extraction process. Petrol and Diesel are generally fossil fuels, these are non-renewable. The main producers are generally called as OPEC nations. However, it has been concluded in a recently conducted survey that the oil wells in the Gulf region would run dry by the year 2016. The present stocks would last till 2050 at the maximum.
The research into alternate fuel sources started way back in the 1980’s. After more than two and a half decades of extensive research and development, today we have fuel sources that can be used as substitutes for conventional fuels. These fuels are easy to manufacture and are easily renewable too.
Their main advantages lie in their ability to enhance engine performance and at the same time curtail the exhaust gases content thus, limiting the NOx and COx emissions. Another added advantage of alternate fuels is the lower sulphur content in the fuel in relative comparison with conventional diesel and petrol. This reduces the wear of the engine components due to acidic action of sulphur and corrosion.
Methanol (CH3OH)
Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, can be used as an alternative fuel in flexible fuel vehicles that run on M85 (a blend of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline). However, it is not commonly used because automakers are no longer supplying methanol-powered vehicles.
Methanol is predominantly produced by steam reforming of natural gas to create a synthesis gas (combination of CO and H2), which is then fed into a reactor vessel in the presence of a catalyst to produce methanol and water vapor. Although a variety of feedstocks other than natural gas can and have been used, today's economics favor natural gas.
Methanol can be used to make methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), an oxygenate which is blended with gasoline to enhance octane and create cleaner burning fuel. MTBE production and use has declined because it has been found to contaminate ground water.
The main benefits of methanol include the following:
I)Lower emissions, higher performance and lower risk of flammability than gasoline.
II)Can be manufactured from a variety of sources such as carbon-based feedstock such as natural gas, coal, and biomass.
III)In addition, methanol can easily be made into hydrogen. In the future this could well be used to produce hydrogen for use in fuel cell electric vehicles.
But the black mark in methanol is the high production of formaldehyde emissions.
Methanol and Ethanol have the same chemical properties.
Natural Gas (incl. CNG and LPG):-
Natural gas is domestically produced and readily available to end-users through the utility infrastructure. It is also clean burning and produces significantly fewer harmful emissions than reformulated gasoline or diesel when used in natural gas vehicles.
Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons—mainly methane (CH4)—and is produced either from gas wells or in conjunction with crude oil production. Natural gas is consumed in the residential, commercial, industrial, and utility markets.
The interest in natural gas as an alternative fuel stems mainly from its clean burning qualities, its domestic resource base, and its commercial availability to end users. Because of the gaseous nature of this fuel, it must be stored onboard a vehicle in either a compressed gaseous state (CNG) or in a liquefied state (LNG) or Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
The main constituent of natural gas is methane, which is a relatively unreactive hydrocarbon. Natural gas as delivered through the pipeline system also contains hydrocarbons such as ethane and propane; and other gases such as nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and water vapour.
CNG Characteristics:
Zero Sulphur
Low particulate emissions (NOx)
No evaporative emissions
Less CO2 per GJ of fuel than petrol fuels
High Octane: RON 120-130
Higher Calorific value than gasoline
Commercial expansion
Over 600,000 vehicles worldwide
CNG is most popular in European countries like Italy, Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France, Belarus and Sweden.
LPG Characteristics:
Low Sulphur
Octane: RON 100
Lower emissions than gasoline
Low NOx
2.5 million Cars in Europe run on LPG
Italy, Poland, Netherlands, Czech Republic, and France are the countries where LPG is a popular fuel
Globally: 1% of the vehicles run on LPG, LPG is now a days becoming popular in India also
LPG vehicles reduce harmful pollutants by 80-95% when compared to gasoline.
Note: For equivalent range of distance to be covered, the CNG has an additional fuel volume capacity of nearly 4.3 times than diesel.
P-Series
P-Series fuel is a unique blend of natural gas liquids (pentanes plus), ethanol, and the biomass-derived co-solvent methyltetrahydrofuran (MeTHF). P-Series fuels are clear, colorless, 89-93 octane, liquid blends that are formulated to be used in flexible fuel vehicles (FFV's). P-Series are designed to be used alone or freely mixed with gasoline in any proportion inside the FFV's gas tank. These fuels are not currently being produced in large quantities and are not widely used.
Biodiesel
What is biodiesel?
Biodiesel (fatty acid alkyl esters) is a cleaner burning diesel replacement fuel made from natural, renewable sources such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats. Just like petroleum diesel, biodiesel operates in compression-ignition engines.
Biodiesel fuel can be made from new or used vegetable oils and animal fats, which are nontoxic, biodegradable, renewable resources. Fats and oils are chemically reacted with an alcohol (methanol is the usual choice) to produce chemical compounds known as fatty acid methyl esters. Biodiesel is the name given to these esters when they're intended for use as fuel. Mostly soya bean is used in its production and glycerol is obtained as a by product.
Biodiesel in Internal Combustion Engines
The cetane number of biodiesel is around 47-49 whereas for ordinary diesel it is around 42-44. Hence, biodiesel has better anti-knocking qualities.
There a numerous number of advantages as well as drawbacks of using Biodiesel as a fuel in IC Engines. Basically speaking of the advantages obtained is as follows:-
Biodiesel has the same vehicular performance as diesel in mild temperature, and actually performs better than diesel in cold temperatures.
Current engines do not require any modifications to use biodiesel as opposed to diesel.
Their environmental benefits include lesser emissions of carbondioxide. In fact neat biodiesel (100% biodiesel) reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than 75% over petroleum diesel, they are completely renewable.
Helps conserve natural resources: for every unit of energy needed to produce biodiesel, an additional 3.24 units are created.
But using blends of biodiesel would lower the CO2 by only 15% unlike B100 where the emissions are reduced by a staggering 75%.
It has also been detected from various tests that use of biodiesel would advance the injection timing by 4degress of Crank Angle (CA), using pure blends of biodiesel B100 whereas the advance of injection is only 1 CA while using other blends of biodiesel and diesel. Hence, biodiesel results in obtaining higher peak pressures and thus a higher power output. This was concluded after a number tests were conducted on a 4-stroke, single cylinder, air cooled and 4hp diesel engine. Comparisons of injection timing and duration were performed for diesel fuel and a range of biodiesel blends (B20 to B100). The fuel injector on a 4-stroke, single-cylinder, four horsepower, air-cooled, direct injection diesel engine was positioned in a spray chamber while the engine was motored and fuel was delivered to the injector by the fuel pump on the engine. Spray visualization and quantification of injection timing were performed in the spray chamber using an engine videoscope, light attenuation from a He-Ne laser and fuel line pressure, and were synchronized to crank shaft position.
Biodiesel fuels are widely known to yield an increase in NOx emissions in many diesel engines. It has been suggested that the increase in NOx is due to injection timing differences caused by the low compressibility of biodiesel.
For biodiesel the Nett Heat of Combustion is 37.2MJ/kg whereas for diesel it is 42.91MJ/kg.
Ethanol (C2H5OH)
What is Ethanol?
Ethanol is an alcohol-based alternative fuel produced by fermenting and distilling starch crops that have been converted into simple sugars. Feedstock for this fuel includes corn, barley, and wheat. Ethanol can also be produced from "cellulosic biomass" such as trees and grasses and is called bioethanol. Ethanol is most commonly used to increase octane and improve the emissions quality of gasoline.
Ethanol can be blended with gasoline to create E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. This is most common blend of ethanol and also the most effective.
Ethanol is perhaps the most widely used alternate fuel presently in the world.
Properties of Ethanol in comparison with gasoline
Density
(kg/l) Viscosity
(mm2/ s) Calorific Value
(MJ/Kg) Flash Point
( oC) Octane Number
(RON) Equivalence
Petrol or Gasoline 0.76 0.6 42.7 <21 92/91 1
Ethanol 0.79 1.5 26.8 <21 116/129 0.65
From the above data it can be inferred that due to higher RON ethanol has better anti-knocking qualities than regular gasoline. And from the column Equivalence we can see that for 1litre of gasoline one would require only 0.65litres of ethanol.
Mainly ethanol is used in SI engines than CI engines. It is being mainly used as a racing fuel owing to its higher RON, higher power outputs and reduced emissions. It is mainly used as a fuel in racing cars and in countries like Brazil it is being used as a fuel for transportation vehicles. The elaborate reason is as follows:-
HORSEPOWER: Following various tests it has been observed that ethanol has an ability to deliver higher power outputs as the nett energy released per cycle. This is because of the presence of oxygen which results in better combustion of the charge. But ethanol must be used at higher fuel-air ratios because of low energy per unit volume value.
For example, if gasoline is run at its preferred max power air fuel mixture of 12.5/1, it will release approximately 19,000 BTU's of energy, where ethanol run at its preferred power stoichiometric of 6.5/1 will release approximately 24,400 BTU's. By comparison, methanol releases slightly more, about 27,650 BTU's. The more ethanol there is in gasoline, the more powerful it is as a motor fuel. But Methanol is more toxic and corrosive than ethanol.
Typically, one can expect at least 5% more horsepower at the rear wheels of a vehicle running on E-85 than running the vehicle on gasoline alone.
Note: 1 BTU = 1059.67J = 1.059KJ.
INCREASED ENGINE LIFE: Ethanol has a very high MON octane rating, allowing engine builders to run higher compression ratios without fears of destructive detonation. It also has a very high Latent Heat of Vaporization, so the engine is cooled far better than one running on gasoline. This lowers bottom end and oiling system temperatures substantially.
REDUCED EMISSIONS: Although reducing emissions usually will not directly affect the on-track performance of a race car, engine parts like pistons and valves tend to stay cleaner. More importantly, there are serious health concerns with many of the octane boosting additives that must be added to gasoline in order make them more compatible with higher compression engines. Ethanol fumes are also non-toxic.
BURNING RATE: It is the speed at which a fuel burns and releases its heat energy. At higher RPM's there is less time for fuel to burn, so racing fuels tend to work better if they have a rapid burning rate. If a fuel can be almost completely burned by the time the crankshaft is 20 degrees after TDC (Top Dead Center) on the engine power stroke, peak horsepower and engine efficiency are realized.
Fuel Octane (R+M/2) Octane (MON) Burning Rate (ms @ stoich. mixture) Latent Heat (BTU/gal) Energy Value BTU/Lb Power Stoichio-metric Nett Energy MJ/kg
Pure Ethanol 113 102 .39 396 13,160 6.5/1 3.00
Pure Methanol N/A 103 .43 503 10,260 5/1 3.08
Pump Gasoline 86-93 80-90 .34 150 18,700-19,100 12.5/1 2.92
E-85 103-109 99-100 .38 359 (approx) 14,021 (approx) 7.4/1 2.99
Where,
BTU/gal – British Thermal Units/ Gallon; BTU/lb – British Thermal Units/ Pound
RON: Research Octane Number, MON: Motor Octane Number
Octane Number of fuel = (RON+MON)/2
British Thermal Units are the standard measuring units.
We know that ethanol and methanol have same chemical properties but methanol is not preferred for the following reasons:-
ETHANOL IS LESS CORROSIVE: Ethanol is less corrosive to most fuel delivery system components than methanol. This is due in part to the higher oxygen content of methanol. However, certain materials that may be used as sealers or glue in methanol-compatible fuel cells may not be compatible with ethanol. There are solutions to this problem that are being developed for the IRL (Indy Racing League) series that will be running pure ethanol in the 2007 season.
ETHANOL IS NON-TOXIC: Ethanol is really grain alcohol-the kind present in all alcoholic beverages. In order to be legally transported, it must contain a "denaturing agent" (poison) which is usually ordinary gasoline. By comparison, methanol (wood alcohol) is toxic and is harmful or fatal if swallowed. When blended with gasoline, methanol releases formaldehyde in passenger cars until the catalytic converter warms up. This is the reason why automobile manufacturers do not recommend more than 5% of methanol (by concentration) in their cars. However, all car manufacturers have approved ethanol-enhanced gasoline, up to 85% ethanol content in "Flexible Fuel Vehicles"
Note: Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFV’s) are the vehicles which are designed to run on gasoline or a blend of up to 85% ethanol (E85). Except for a few engine and fuel system modifications, they are identical to gasoline-only models. The manufacturers include the lights of automotive giants like General Motors (GM), Honda and Toyota etc.
No fuel is completely perfect and so is Ethanol, it has the following disadvantages: -
•Invisible flame which can cause safety problems and fires.
•It gives higher unregulated emissions of acetaldehyde and ethane.
•Lower Flash point: Higher explosion risks than gasoline.
Petrol and Diesel are obtained from the crude oil after a pain sticking extraction process. Petrol and Diesel are generally fossil fuels, these are non-renewable. The main producers are generally called as OPEC nations. However, it has been concluded in a recently conducted survey that the oil wells in the Gulf region would run dry by the year 2016. The present stocks would last till 2050 at the maximum.
The research into alternate fuel sources started way back in the 1980’s. After more than two and a half decades of extensive research and development, today we have fuel sources that can be used as substitutes for conventional fuels. These fuels are easy to manufacture and are easily renewable too.
Their main advantages lie in their ability to enhance engine performance and at the same time curtail the exhaust gases content thus, limiting the NOx and COx emissions. Another added advantage of alternate fuels is the lower sulphur content in the fuel in relative comparison with conventional diesel and petrol. This reduces the wear of the engine components due to acidic action of sulphur and corrosion.
Methanol (CH3OH)
Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, can be used as an alternative fuel in flexible fuel vehicles that run on M85 (a blend of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline). However, it is not commonly used because automakers are no longer supplying methanol-powered vehicles.
Methanol is predominantly produced by steam reforming of natural gas to create a synthesis gas (combination of CO and H2), which is then fed into a reactor vessel in the presence of a catalyst to produce methanol and water vapor. Although a variety of feedstocks other than natural gas can and have been used, today's economics favor natural gas.
Methanol can be used to make methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), an oxygenate which is blended with gasoline to enhance octane and create cleaner burning fuel. MTBE production and use has declined because it has been found to contaminate ground water.
The main benefits of methanol include the following:
I)Lower emissions, higher performance and lower risk of flammability than gasoline.
II)Can be manufactured from a variety of sources such as carbon-based feedstock such as natural gas, coal, and biomass.
III)In addition, methanol can easily be made into hydrogen. In the future this could well be used to produce hydrogen for use in fuel cell electric vehicles.
But the black mark in methanol is the high production of formaldehyde emissions.
Methanol and Ethanol have the same chemical properties.
Natural Gas (incl. CNG and LPG):-
Natural gas is domestically produced and readily available to end-users through the utility infrastructure. It is also clean burning and produces significantly fewer harmful emissions than reformulated gasoline or diesel when used in natural gas vehicles.
Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons—mainly methane (CH4)—and is produced either from gas wells or in conjunction with crude oil production. Natural gas is consumed in the residential, commercial, industrial, and utility markets.
The interest in natural gas as an alternative fuel stems mainly from its clean burning qualities, its domestic resource base, and its commercial availability to end users. Because of the gaseous nature of this fuel, it must be stored onboard a vehicle in either a compressed gaseous state (CNG) or in a liquefied state (LNG) or Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
The main constituent of natural gas is methane, which is a relatively unreactive hydrocarbon. Natural gas as delivered through the pipeline system also contains hydrocarbons such as ethane and propane; and other gases such as nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and water vapour.
CNG Characteristics:
Zero Sulphur
Low particulate emissions (NOx)
No evaporative emissions
Less CO2 per GJ of fuel than petrol fuels
High Octane: RON 120-130
Higher Calorific value than gasoline
Commercial expansion
Over 600,000 vehicles worldwide
CNG is most popular in European countries like Italy, Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France, Belarus and Sweden.
LPG Characteristics:
Low Sulphur
Octane: RON 100
Lower emissions than gasoline
Low NOx
2.5 million Cars in Europe run on LPG
Italy, Poland, Netherlands, Czech Republic, and France are the countries where LPG is a popular fuel
Globally: 1% of the vehicles run on LPG, LPG is now a days becoming popular in India also
LPG vehicles reduce harmful pollutants by 80-95% when compared to gasoline.
Note: For equivalent range of distance to be covered, the CNG has an additional fuel volume capacity of nearly 4.3 times than diesel.
P-Series
P-Series fuel is a unique blend of natural gas liquids (pentanes plus), ethanol, and the biomass-derived co-solvent methyltetrahydrofuran (MeTHF). P-Series fuels are clear, colorless, 89-93 octane, liquid blends that are formulated to be used in flexible fuel vehicles (FFV's). P-Series are designed to be used alone or freely mixed with gasoline in any proportion inside the FFV's gas tank. These fuels are not currently being produced in large quantities and are not widely used.
Biodiesel
What is biodiesel?
Biodiesel (fatty acid alkyl esters) is a cleaner burning diesel replacement fuel made from natural, renewable sources such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats. Just like petroleum diesel, biodiesel operates in compression-ignition engines.
Biodiesel fuel can be made from new or used vegetable oils and animal fats, which are nontoxic, biodegradable, renewable resources. Fats and oils are chemically reacted with an alcohol (methanol is the usual choice) to produce chemical compounds known as fatty acid methyl esters. Biodiesel is the name given to these esters when they're intended for use as fuel. Mostly soya bean is used in its production and glycerol is obtained as a by product.
Biodiesel in Internal Combustion Engines
The cetane number of biodiesel is around 47-49 whereas for ordinary diesel it is around 42-44. Hence, biodiesel has better anti-knocking qualities.
There a numerous number of advantages as well as drawbacks of using Biodiesel as a fuel in IC Engines. Basically speaking of the advantages obtained is as follows:-
Biodiesel has the same vehicular performance as diesel in mild temperature, and actually performs better than diesel in cold temperatures.
Current engines do not require any modifications to use biodiesel as opposed to diesel.
Their environmental benefits include lesser emissions of carbondioxide. In fact neat biodiesel (100% biodiesel) reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than 75% over petroleum diesel, they are completely renewable.
Helps conserve natural resources: for every unit of energy needed to produce biodiesel, an additional 3.24 units are created.
But using blends of biodiesel would lower the CO2 by only 15% unlike B100 where the emissions are reduced by a staggering 75%.
It has also been detected from various tests that use of biodiesel would advance the injection timing by 4degress of Crank Angle (CA), using pure blends of biodiesel B100 whereas the advance of injection is only 1 CA while using other blends of biodiesel and diesel. Hence, biodiesel results in obtaining higher peak pressures and thus a higher power output. This was concluded after a number tests were conducted on a 4-stroke, single cylinder, air cooled and 4hp diesel engine. Comparisons of injection timing and duration were performed for diesel fuel and a range of biodiesel blends (B20 to B100). The fuel injector on a 4-stroke, single-cylinder, four horsepower, air-cooled, direct injection diesel engine was positioned in a spray chamber while the engine was motored and fuel was delivered to the injector by the fuel pump on the engine. Spray visualization and quantification of injection timing were performed in the spray chamber using an engine videoscope, light attenuation from a He-Ne laser and fuel line pressure, and were synchronized to crank shaft position.
Biodiesel fuels are widely known to yield an increase in NOx emissions in many diesel engines. It has been suggested that the increase in NOx is due to injection timing differences caused by the low compressibility of biodiesel.
For biodiesel the Nett Heat of Combustion is 37.2MJ/kg whereas for diesel it is 42.91MJ/kg.
Ethanol (C2H5OH)
What is Ethanol?
Ethanol is an alcohol-based alternative fuel produced by fermenting and distilling starch crops that have been converted into simple sugars. Feedstock for this fuel includes corn, barley, and wheat. Ethanol can also be produced from "cellulosic biomass" such as trees and grasses and is called bioethanol. Ethanol is most commonly used to increase octane and improve the emissions quality of gasoline.
Ethanol can be blended with gasoline to create E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. This is most common blend of ethanol and also the most effective.
Ethanol is perhaps the most widely used alternate fuel presently in the world.
Properties of Ethanol in comparison with gasoline
Density
(kg/l) Viscosity
(mm2/ s) Calorific Value
(MJ/Kg) Flash Point
( oC) Octane Number
(RON) Equivalence
Petrol or Gasoline 0.76 0.6 42.7 <21 92/91 1
Ethanol 0.79 1.5 26.8 <21 116/129 0.65
From the above data it can be inferred that due to higher RON ethanol has better anti-knocking qualities than regular gasoline. And from the column Equivalence we can see that for 1litre of gasoline one would require only 0.65litres of ethanol.
Mainly ethanol is used in SI engines than CI engines. It is being mainly used as a racing fuel owing to its higher RON, higher power outputs and reduced emissions. It is mainly used as a fuel in racing cars and in countries like Brazil it is being used as a fuel for transportation vehicles. The elaborate reason is as follows:-
HORSEPOWER: Following various tests it has been observed that ethanol has an ability to deliver higher power outputs as the nett energy released per cycle. This is because of the presence of oxygen which results in better combustion of the charge. But ethanol must be used at higher fuel-air ratios because of low energy per unit volume value.
For example, if gasoline is run at its preferred max power air fuel mixture of 12.5/1, it will release approximately 19,000 BTU's of energy, where ethanol run at its preferred power stoichiometric of 6.5/1 will release approximately 24,400 BTU's. By comparison, methanol releases slightly more, about 27,650 BTU's. The more ethanol there is in gasoline, the more powerful it is as a motor fuel. But Methanol is more toxic and corrosive than ethanol.
Typically, one can expect at least 5% more horsepower at the rear wheels of a vehicle running on E-85 than running the vehicle on gasoline alone.
Note: 1 BTU = 1059.67J = 1.059KJ.
INCREASED ENGINE LIFE: Ethanol has a very high MON octane rating, allowing engine builders to run higher compression ratios without fears of destructive detonation. It also has a very high Latent Heat of Vaporization, so the engine is cooled far better than one running on gasoline. This lowers bottom end and oiling system temperatures substantially.
REDUCED EMISSIONS: Although reducing emissions usually will not directly affect the on-track performance of a race car, engine parts like pistons and valves tend to stay cleaner. More importantly, there are serious health concerns with many of the octane boosting additives that must be added to gasoline in order make them more compatible with higher compression engines. Ethanol fumes are also non-toxic.
BURNING RATE: It is the speed at which a fuel burns and releases its heat energy. At higher RPM's there is less time for fuel to burn, so racing fuels tend to work better if they have a rapid burning rate. If a fuel can be almost completely burned by the time the crankshaft is 20 degrees after TDC (Top Dead Center) on the engine power stroke, peak horsepower and engine efficiency are realized.
Fuel Octane (R+M/2) Octane (MON) Burning Rate (ms @ stoich. mixture) Latent Heat (BTU/gal) Energy Value BTU/Lb Power Stoichio-metric Nett Energy MJ/kg
Pure Ethanol 113 102 .39 396 13,160 6.5/1 3.00
Pure Methanol N/A 103 .43 503 10,260 5/1 3.08
Pump Gasoline 86-93 80-90 .34 150 18,700-19,100 12.5/1 2.92
E-85 103-109 99-100 .38 359 (approx) 14,021 (approx) 7.4/1 2.99
Where,
BTU/gal – British Thermal Units/ Gallon; BTU/lb – British Thermal Units/ Pound
RON: Research Octane Number, MON: Motor Octane Number
Octane Number of fuel = (RON+MON)/2
British Thermal Units are the standard measuring units.
We know that ethanol and methanol have same chemical properties but methanol is not preferred for the following reasons:-
ETHANOL IS LESS CORROSIVE: Ethanol is less corrosive to most fuel delivery system components than methanol. This is due in part to the higher oxygen content of methanol. However, certain materials that may be used as sealers or glue in methanol-compatible fuel cells may not be compatible with ethanol. There are solutions to this problem that are being developed for the IRL (Indy Racing League) series that will be running pure ethanol in the 2007 season.
ETHANOL IS NON-TOXIC: Ethanol is really grain alcohol-the kind present in all alcoholic beverages. In order to be legally transported, it must contain a "denaturing agent" (poison) which is usually ordinary gasoline. By comparison, methanol (wood alcohol) is toxic and is harmful or fatal if swallowed. When blended with gasoline, methanol releases formaldehyde in passenger cars until the catalytic converter warms up. This is the reason why automobile manufacturers do not recommend more than 5% of methanol (by concentration) in their cars. However, all car manufacturers have approved ethanol-enhanced gasoline, up to 85% ethanol content in "Flexible Fuel Vehicles"
Note: Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFV’s) are the vehicles which are designed to run on gasoline or a blend of up to 85% ethanol (E85). Except for a few engine and fuel system modifications, they are identical to gasoline-only models. The manufacturers include the lights of automotive giants like General Motors (GM), Honda and Toyota etc.
No fuel is completely perfect and so is Ethanol, it has the following disadvantages: -
•Invisible flame which can cause safety problems and fires.
•It gives higher unregulated emissions of acetaldehyde and ethane.
•Lower Flash point: Higher explosion risks than gasoline.
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