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I bought a tester from Amazon to find out what percentage alcohol is in the gasoline here. I am in South America, by the way. I tested Esso gas, their "5000" (2nd to the best in octane rating) and found that it had 15% alcohol, whereas I think most gas in the States is around 10%. So then I reseached about ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol) and came up with the following info. As gasoline everywhere gets higher percentages of alcohol this info will be handy for all of us, especially if we ride older motorcycles.
Alcohol-fuel
The energy per unit volume of ethanol is 66% that of gasoline.
Ethanol by itself has a 113 octane rating.
For maximum use of ethanol's benefits, a higher compression ratio should be used. In general, ethanol-only engines are tuned to give slightly better power and torque output than gasoline-powered engines. Ethanol's higher octane rating allows an increase of an engine's compression ratio for increased thermal efficiency. In one study, complex engine controls and increased exhaust gas recirculation allowed a compression ratio of 19.5 with fuels ranging from neat ethanol to E50. Thermal efficiency up to approximately that for a diesel was achieved. This would result in the fuel economy of a neat ethanol vehicle to be about the same as one burning gasoline.
Ethanol is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water vapor directly from the atmosphere. Because absorbed water dilutes the fuel value of the ethanol (although it suppresses engine knock) and may cause phase separation of ethanol-gasoline blends, containers of ethanol fuels must be kept tightly sealed. Mechanics also have seen increased cases of damage to small engines, in particular, the carburetor, attributable to the increased water retention by ethanol in fuel.
In many countries cars are mandated to run on mixtures of ethanol. All Brazilian light-duty vehicles are built to operate for an ethanol blend of up to 25% (E25), and since 1993 a federal law requires mixtures between 22% and 25% ethanol, with 25% required as of mid July 2011. In the United States all light-duty vehicles are built to operate normally with an ethanol blend of 10% (E10). At the end of 2010 over 90 percent of all gasoline sold in the U.S. was blended with ethanol. In January 2011 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a waiver to authorize up to 15% of ethanol blended with gasoline (E15) to be sold only for cars and light pickup trucks with a model year of 2001 or newer. Other countries have adopted their own requirements.
All mainstream manufacturers of power equipment, motorcycles, snowmobiles and outboard motors permit the use of gasoline blended with up to 10% ethanol (E10) in their products.
Alcohol is corrosive and can degrade plastic, rubber or even metal parts in the fuel system that weren't engineered to use alcohol-bearing fuel.
Highly tuned two-stroke engines will run leaner (and consequently hotter) on the lower Btu/gallon alcohol mix, potentially leading to melted pistons and scuffed cylinder walls if not jetted richer.
Can E15 Gasoline Really Damage Your Engine?
Automakers have filed a lawsuit against the EPA's decision to make E15 (gasoline with 15 percent alcohol) legal for all cars after 2007. They argue that, among other problems, the blend could damage the engine. Wait, moonshiners used to run their cars on 190-proof hooch. Can ethanol really do damage to an engine? Yes. Here's how...
read the rest of this article at http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/a6244/e15-gasoline-damage-engine/
the following statements at http://www.turbofast.com.au/racefuel2.html were mostly about converting to 100% ethanol:
Owing to the use of alcohol a higher compression ratio can be used with this fuel as compared with petrol, another consideration is the type of plug used which will be a hotter type than used before with petrol.
Due to the different rate of burning of alcohol compared to petrol the ignition setting will have to be changed. It will have to be advanced and the amount necessary will depend on the shape of the cylinder head and general design.
One final point to consider. If you change over to alcohol from petrol where you were using a mineral oil, it is not necessary to change over to a castor based oil. For modern engines, the present type additive mineral oils offer a higher performance level than the additive castor based oils, and under controlled conditions the light viscosity oils have an advantage where the warm up time is limited.
http://www.classicinlines.com/Ethanol.asp says about 10% alcohol gasoline (E10):
"Don't be surprised if you need to replace the float needle valve every six to 12 months. Frequency depends on kit quality and material used."
Ethanol-proof fuel hose is available here:
http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=90170
Alcohol-fuel
The energy per unit volume of ethanol is 66% that of gasoline.
Ethanol by itself has a 113 octane rating.
For maximum use of ethanol's benefits, a higher compression ratio should be used. In general, ethanol-only engines are tuned to give slightly better power and torque output than gasoline-powered engines. Ethanol's higher octane rating allows an increase of an engine's compression ratio for increased thermal efficiency. In one study, complex engine controls and increased exhaust gas recirculation allowed a compression ratio of 19.5 with fuels ranging from neat ethanol to E50. Thermal efficiency up to approximately that for a diesel was achieved. This would result in the fuel economy of a neat ethanol vehicle to be about the same as one burning gasoline.
Ethanol is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water vapor directly from the atmosphere. Because absorbed water dilutes the fuel value of the ethanol (although it suppresses engine knock) and may cause phase separation of ethanol-gasoline blends, containers of ethanol fuels must be kept tightly sealed. Mechanics also have seen increased cases of damage to small engines, in particular, the carburetor, attributable to the increased water retention by ethanol in fuel.
In many countries cars are mandated to run on mixtures of ethanol. All Brazilian light-duty vehicles are built to operate for an ethanol blend of up to 25% (E25), and since 1993 a federal law requires mixtures between 22% and 25% ethanol, with 25% required as of mid July 2011. In the United States all light-duty vehicles are built to operate normally with an ethanol blend of 10% (E10). At the end of 2010 over 90 percent of all gasoline sold in the U.S. was blended with ethanol. In January 2011 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a waiver to authorize up to 15% of ethanol blended with gasoline (E15) to be sold only for cars and light pickup trucks with a model year of 2001 or newer. Other countries have adopted their own requirements.
All mainstream manufacturers of power equipment, motorcycles, snowmobiles and outboard motors permit the use of gasoline blended with up to 10% ethanol (E10) in their products.
Alcohol is corrosive and can degrade plastic, rubber or even metal parts in the fuel system that weren't engineered to use alcohol-bearing fuel.
Highly tuned two-stroke engines will run leaner (and consequently hotter) on the lower Btu/gallon alcohol mix, potentially leading to melted pistons and scuffed cylinder walls if not jetted richer.
Can E15 Gasoline Really Damage Your Engine?
Automakers have filed a lawsuit against the EPA's decision to make E15 (gasoline with 15 percent alcohol) legal for all cars after 2007. They argue that, among other problems, the blend could damage the engine. Wait, moonshiners used to run their cars on 190-proof hooch. Can ethanol really do damage to an engine? Yes. Here's how...
read the rest of this article at http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/a6244/e15-gasoline-damage-engine/
the following statements at http://www.turbofast.com.au/racefuel2.html were mostly about converting to 100% ethanol:
Owing to the use of alcohol a higher compression ratio can be used with this fuel as compared with petrol, another consideration is the type of plug used which will be a hotter type than used before with petrol.
Due to the different rate of burning of alcohol compared to petrol the ignition setting will have to be changed. It will have to be advanced and the amount necessary will depend on the shape of the cylinder head and general design.
One final point to consider. If you change over to alcohol from petrol where you were using a mineral oil, it is not necessary to change over to a castor based oil. For modern engines, the present type additive mineral oils offer a higher performance level than the additive castor based oils, and under controlled conditions the light viscosity oils have an advantage where the warm up time is limited.
http://www.classicinlines.com/Ethanol.asp says about 10% alcohol gasoline (E10):
"Don't be surprised if you need to replace the float needle valve every six to 12 months. Frequency depends on kit quality and material used."
Ethanol-proof fuel hose is available here:
http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=90170
