Gasohol

On Sun, 3 Jun 2007 12:37:37 -0400, "Morgans"
wrote:

But, it is _very_ difficult (it takes some expensive chemistry tricks) to
get all of the water distilled out of alcohol, in other words, stronger than
around 98% alcohol.

I think that's correct. When I was a student in England years ago, we
used to buy a liquor known as Polish White Spirits, which was 180
proof or 90 percent. The local wisdom (university students) held that
anything stronger would promptly dilute itself back to 180 proof from
water in the air (this was England, remember, very humid).

Google tells me that one can buy 190 proof (95 percent) "Everclear"
grain alcochol in British stores today.

Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

(Proof = the concentration of alcohol at which gunpowder soaked with
it will still explode, or rather flash up. It was therefore called
"proof", which later became 100 proof. It just happened to be 50
percent alcohol, so 200 proof is 100 percent.

(More student wisdom.)

(Wiki tells me that 100 proof is actually 49.28 percent alcohol BY
WEIGHT. By volume, it's less, so the student wisdom is a bit shaky.)

Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942
forthcoming from HarperCollins www.flyingtigersbook.com

On Mon, 04 Jun 2007 04:43:05 -0700, Denny wrote:

denny - who is old enough to see the wool over his eyes\\

Denny, you won't see much with the wool over your eyes. For example,
you evidently don't see the difference between gasoline (in economic
terms, a commodity) and whiskey (a franchise).

Do you drink much gasoline in the course of a week?

Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942
forthcoming from HarperCollins www.flyingtigersbook.com

The reagent is a light purple color and when it is introduced into a sample
of fuel with alcohol it turns the sample purple. A chart is included to
determine the percentage of alcohol. The kits were put together by a "B.B.
Travis Co." PO Box 287 Lodi CA 95241 and are supposedly Patent Pending.

I haven't found any sign of a BB Travis Company but my searching skills
aren't the best.

I have a small amount of the reagent left and would provide it as a sample
to someone who could analyze it.

Paul Anton
N1431A
KPLU


" What is the color of the unreacted reagent? Water clear? I'll as the
chair
of the chem department what it is and maybe buy a gallon or two and sell
it by the vial for only a thousand percent markup {;-)

I'm in training to run a pharmaceutical company

Jim

"Tri-Pacer" wrote:

The reagent is a light purple color and when it is introduced into a
sample of fuel with alcohol it turns the sample purple. A chart is
included to determine the percentage of alcohol. The kits were put
together by a "B.B. Travis Co." PO Box 287 Lodi CA 95241 and are
supposedly Patent Pending.

I haven't found any sign of a BB Travis Company but my searching
skills aren't the best.

I called the Lodi Post Office, they handle that zip as well, but can't
give any alternate contact info over the phone...

Post Office - Lodi
(209) 369-2351
120 S School ST
Lodi, CA 95240

Looking through the people and not businesses, I find:

B Travis
(209) 366-1559
Lodi, CA 95240

I left a message on the machine...

On Sun, 3 Jun 2007, Morgans wrote:

I have seen pictures of fuel line swollen to the size of sausages, and
who knows what the other rubber parts (O-rings, fuel bladders, if you
have them) would look like, and how much alcohol it would take to get it
to swell.

I'm no expert on the matter, but it's my understanding that that sort of
damage is done by methanol, as used in the early gasohol, but not by the
ethanol that's used in more recent times. Is that incorrect?

-Dan

On Jun 5, 3:13 pm, "Tri-Pacer" wrote:
The reagent is a light purple color and when it is introduced into a sample
of fuel with alcohol it turns the sample purple. A chart is included to
determine the percentage of alcohol. The kits were put together by
a "B.B.TravisCo." PO Box 287 Lodi CA 95241 and are supposedly Patent Pending.

I haven't found any sign of a BBTravis Company but my searching skills
aren't the best.

I sure would like to know what the reagent is that was used.

The reagent appears to be methylrosaniline chloride.

See U.S. Pat. 5,229,295 issued to Basil B. Travis of Lodi, CA.

A colorimetric test for alcohols (any alcohol) comprises
0.1% gentian violet dye in mineral oil suspension which
when shaken with fuel causes the fuel to become purple
when there is at least 1% alcohol present. The purple color
is proportional to the alcohol concentration in the range 1%
to 5% where the percentage of alcohol may be estimated
by the intensity of the purple color.
snip
As it is perhaps well known, gentian violet dye is chemically
methylrosaniline chloride and has been used as both a
bacteriological and histological stain ...

I've heard that too, but it doesn't really matter since either invalidate
the STC and nobody is pursuing a STC to distinguish between them.

'Tis a true bummer.

mike

"Dan Youngquist" wrote in message
hell.org...
On Sun, 3 Jun 2007, Morgans wrote:

I have seen pictures of fuel line swollen to the size of sausages, and
who knows what the other rubber parts (O-rings, fuel bladders, if you
have them) would look like, and how much alcohol it would take to get it
to swell.

I'm no expert on the matter, but it's my understanding that that sort of
damage is done by methanol, as used in the early gasohol, but not by the
ethanol that's used in more recent times. Is that incorrect?

-Dan

"Dan Youngquist" wrote in message

I'm no expert on the matter, but it's my understanding that that sort of
damage is done by methanol, as used in the early gasohol, but not by the
ethanol that's used in more recent times. Is that incorrect?

I don't know about that.

I did think I understood that the problem with gasohol for airplanes was
incompatibility with some rubber parts of the fuel system.
--
Jim in NC

The reagent appears to be methylrosaniline chloride.

See U.S. Pat. 5,229,295 issued to Basil B. Travis of Lodi, CA.

A colorimetric test for alcohols (any alcohol) comprises
0.1% gentian violet dye in mineral oil suspension which
when shaken with fuel causes the fuel to become purple
when there is at least 1% alcohol present. The purple color
is proportional to the alcohol concentration in the range 1%
to 5% where the percentage of alcohol may be estimated
by the intensity of the purple color.
snip
As it is perhaps well known, gentian violet dye is chemically
methylrosaniline chloride and has been used as both a
bacteriological and histological stain ...


Wow we're getting somewhere.

I wonder why he quit packaging it and selling the stuff.

Paul
N1431A
KPLU

Probably because the water test with a graduated tube was a lot easier,
cheaper and probably more accurate.

When we first got the ethanol here, I was filling my plane from cans that I
had for awhile before I noticed the ethanol sticker. (I always looked, too)
I dumped 5 gallons into a partial tank before I checked just to make sure.
It came up exactly 10%, which is what the pump label says (no more than
10%). I shook up the plane to mix the gas and took a sample. That came up as
3%. I siphoned it all into my car. Fortunately, I hadn't started the plane
with it.

mike

"Tri-Pacer" wrote in message
. ..

The reagent appears to be methylrosaniline chloride.

See U.S. Pat. 5,229,295 issued to Basil B. Travis of Lodi, CA.

A colorimetric test for alcohols (any alcohol) comprises
0.1% gentian violet dye in mineral oil suspension which
when shaken with fuel causes the fuel to become purple
when there is at least 1% alcohol present. The purple color
is proportional to the alcohol concentration in the range 1%
to 5% where the percentage of alcohol may be estimated
by the intensity of the purple color.
snip
As it is perhaps well known, gentian violet dye is chemically
methylrosaniline chloride and has been used as both a
bacteriological and histological stain ...


Wow we're getting somewhere.

I wonder why he quit packaging it and selling the stuff.

Paul
N1431A
KPLU