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Misty Blue · 11-19-2007, 06:50 PM

ITD

Ecomomy in ethanol depends on how you make it. Let's start out with different fuels.

We pump crude from the ground and process (crack) it by heating it and distilling off the different fuels within the product. The heaviest are the lubricants followed by the fuels. The heaviest of these is known as #3 or bunker "C". It's the smelly stuff that was used for years in ships and power plants. It has the most energy of all at about 140,000 BTU per gallon.

As the fuels lighten up (Diesel 130K, K-1 120K, gas 112K, propane 110k) the available energy decreases.

Ethanol has about 85,000 BTU per gallon so if you blend E-10 (10% ethanol) you take that 114,000 gasoline replace 10% of it with 85K fuel and in the end up with a product with 111,100 BTUs per gallon for a net loss in energy availabilityof about 2.5%-3%. Since you are in a hurry to get up to the Lake you step on the gas a bit more and use more fuel! Energy decisions should be made by engineers not congress!

Now, how much energy does it take to make ethanol? That depends on what you make it out of!

In Brazil (as I recall) 40 percent of their fuel is ethanol. They make it out of sugar cane. They are lousy with the stuff. It is only good for cattle fodder and rum and the ethanol made from cane will produce more energy than it takes to produce it.

In the US ethanol is made from corn. We simply do not have enough of it (as of now) to supply what would be needed to supply 10% of the automobile fuel in the country. Unlike sugar cane corn is a vital part of our food chain. It is used for animal feed to stock the meat counters across the country and for many, many other human food products. This will clearly impact the price of food at the counter and the poor will be the most effected by it. Again, congress.

Now let's bring this home to the Lake. Boat engines work harder than automobile engines. You car uses 20 horse power to cruise up I-93. Your Sea Ray uses about 200 HP to stay on plane. That's why it get's 2.5 MPG!

E-10 fuel runs hotter, much hotter, than gasoline. This will affect your engins cooling system and is far worse if you have a 2 cycle engines. Now here comes the real killer for boats.

For years we have bought gasoline with the required octane rating to prevent pre-ignition (engine knock). Engine knock will wreck your engine in short time. When we worried about water in our fuel we added dry gas (alcohol) to the gas to absorb the water and burn it with the fuel.

In ethenol blends the octane rating is maintained by the ethenol in the fuel. If it comes in contact with water it will disaasociate from the fuel as it absorbs the water. This will lower the octane rating of the fuel with possible severe engine damage. According to Boat/US one gallon of water in a 100 gallon tank of E-10 (that's 1%) will drop the rating of 87 octane fuel to 84 and 91 octane to 87.

Since we all have one...

I think that ethanol is a waste to manufacture, a waste to burn, will cost money, will wreck your boat and starve the poor...Nice job Washington, you've done it again!

11-19-2007, 06:50 PM	#14
Misty Blue Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 658 Thanks: 121 Thanked 283 Times in 98 Posts	Not too good to be true! ITD Ecomomy in ethanol depends on how you make it. Let's start out with different fuels. We pump crude from the ground and process (crack) it by heating it and distilling off the different fuels within the product. The heaviest are the lubricants followed by the fuels. The heaviest of these is known as #3 or bunker "C". It's the smelly stuff that was used for years in ships and power plants. It has the most energy of all at about 140,000 BTU per gallon. As the fuels lighten up (Diesel 130K, K-1 120K, gas 112K, propane 110k) the available energy decreases. Ethanol has about 85,000 BTU per gallon so if you blend E-10 (10% ethanol) you take that 114,000 gasoline replace 10% of it with 85K fuel and in the end up with a product with 111,100 BTUs per gallon for a net loss in energy availabilityof about 2.5%-3%. Since you are in a hurry to get up to the Lake you step on the gas a bit more and use more fuel! Energy decisions should be made by engineers not congress! Now, how much energy does it take to make ethanol? That depends on what you make it out of! In Brazil (as I recall) 40 percent of their fuel is ethanol. They make it out of sugar cane. They are lousy with the stuff. It is only good for cattle fodder and rum and the ethanol made from cane will produce more energy than it takes to produce it. In the US ethanol is made from corn. We simply do not have enough of it (as of now) to supply what would be needed to supply 10% of the automobile fuel in the country. Unlike sugar cane corn is a vital part of our food chain. It is used for animal feed to stock the meat counters across the country and for many, many other human food products. This will clearly impact the price of food at the counter and the poor will be the most effected by it. Again, congress. Now let's bring this home to the Lake. Boat engines work harder than automobile engines. You car uses 20 horse power to cruise up I-93. Your Sea Ray uses about 200 HP to stay on plane. That's why it get's 2.5 MPG! E-10 fuel runs hotter, much hotter, than gasoline. This will affect your engins cooling system and is far worse if you have a 2 cycle engines. Now here comes the real killer for boats. For years we have bought gasoline with the required octane rating to prevent pre-ignition (engine knock). Engine knock will wreck your engine in short time. When we worried about water in our fuel we added dry gas (alcohol) to the gas to absorb the water and burn it with the fuel. In ethenol blends the octane rating is maintained by the ethenol in the fuel. If it comes in contact with water it will disaasociate from the fuel as it absorbs the water. This will lower the octane rating of the fuel with possible severe engine damage. According to Boat/US one gallon of water in a 100 gallon tank of E-10 (that's 1%) will drop the rating of 87 octane fuel to 84 and 91 octane to 87. Since we all have one... I think that ethanol is a waste to manufacture, a waste to burn, will cost money, will wreck your boat and starve the poor...Nice job Washington, you've done it again!