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#31
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The effects of Ethanol on...
On Sat, 6 May 2006 22:04:30 +1000, "ventus2"
wrote: They're doing it in Brazil, so effectively that Brazil is now self sufficient in fuel supply (and they don't have much indigenous oil production) and have tapped only a small portion of their production potential...I'm pretty sure we could do the same in North America. Brazil has a lot of sugar cane which yields far more alcohol than corn and lends itself well to mechanized growing and harvesting. When I stayed in Brazil for a few months building motorgliders at Aeromot and hanging out with the engineers, I was informed that auto engines there (eg. 1.4, 1.6L VW Golfs, no, nothing to do with 'thats because they are VW's') were lasting on average around 60,000km using the high blend ethanol fuel (the one that costs 1/5th the price of normal fuel). Here we'd expect current VW engines to last 150 to 200,000 miles depending on how they are driven. We all fuss and potter over our aircraft engines and always seem to have our fingers in there making sure that all is well, and more often than not they are fine for their lifespan. How many 'average' people would take the cover off their 'eco' car engine to make sure that the timing is right, check the That eco engine is far, far more complex than any standard aircraft engines I've seen. Some run very high compression (as much as 13:1 for gas) with variable cam timing, variable solid state ignition timing, and high pressure fuel injection. On some that is even timed. sparks plugs etc? More often than not, they just run. I am certainly not confident in taking the heads off a car engine to see the affects of Ethanol on the pistons/valves, yet more often than not, people seem much more at ease taking the heads off their Rotax or Jabiru engine to have a bit of a look. Yup! I guess this is a whole different topic, though eventually will we get reports in on what is happening to the insides of the engines. I've seen a few reports that said the cylinders and combustion chambers were still shiny after many miles. However I have heard nothing of fuel tanks, lines, or fuel injection systems. If those mileage life time figures hold true those engines are lasting a fraction of what we'd expect here. OTOH they may not be the same engines we are seeing, but most of today's engines (even out of Detroit or where ever they get them) seem to last a very long time with very little maintenance. My Wife's old Eagle Summit which got into the low 30 MPG range when it was in its early years still gets close to 30 with nigh onto 200,000 miles. It's had a couple of water pumps, brakes, many tires, and the heater finally gave up, but it still starts and runs well. Bio-diesel might be the way to go in many areas, but I think we are fast approaching the point were it is going to cease to be inexpensive. It's a good use for soybeans and for scrap cooking oil. There are reports of truckers getting a couple MPG improvement using the stuff compared to standard diesel and when you are only getting 6 or 7 MPG that could be substantial savings. OTOH they have to add alcohol to the stuff up here in the frozen north during winters or the stuff gels in the lines and tanks. Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair) www.rogerhalstead.com Time will tell. Chris |
#32
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The effects of Ethanol on...
Roger wrote: On Sat, 6 May 2006 22:04:30 +1000, "ventus2" wrote: They're doing it in Brazil, so effectively that Brazil is now self sufficient in fuel supply (and they don't have much indigenous oil production) and have tapped only a small portion of their production potential...I'm pretty sure we could do the same in North America. Brazil has a lot of sugar cane which yields far more alcohol than corn and lends itself well to mechanized growing and harvesting. Ther are temperate sugar canes, like sorghum. It grow OK in Ohio, don't know how the sugar content compares to tropical sugar canes. I suppose we could import our ethanol from Cuba... -- FF |
#33
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The effects of Ethanol on...
wrote Ther are temperate sugar canes, like sorghum. It grow OK in Ohio, don't know how the sugar content compares to tropical sugar canes. How about sugar beets? When I lived in Ohio, they grew a lot of it, then. (30 years ago) How would it be for making alcohol? -- Jim in NC |
#34
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The effects of Ethanol on...
Morgans wrote:
wrote Ther are temperate sugar canes, like sorghum. It grow OK in Ohio, don't know how the sugar content compares to tropical sugar canes. How about sugar beets? When I lived in Ohio, they grew a lot of it, then. (30 years ago) How would it be for making alcohol? It still cost 2x as much as gas to produce and you use 2x as much of it. In Brazil as in the USA, Ethanol is subsidized to make it feasible. They would be better off making rum from that sugarcane and trading it for gas. Tony |
#35
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The effects of Ethanol on...
On Sat, 06 May 2006 23:30:09 -0400, Roger
wrote: On Sat, 6 May 2006 17:19:35 -0400, "Morgans" wrote: ".Blueskies." wrote in message y.com... What is the power density of the ethanol? I know you have to shoot more of it through the engine to keep from running lean. How does fuel consumption compare; gph gasoleen vs gph ethanol. What weight difference is there? About 10% more needed per HP. A little less than 10% weight. With Methanol containing about half the energy per unit volume of gas I have a problem reconciling that 10% more. What am I missing? The M. Talking Ethanol, not Methanol. Different horses for different courses, as they say. Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair) www.rogerhalstead.com *** Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com *** |
#36
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The effects of Ethanol on...
On Sun, 07 May 2006 16:58:53 -0400, clare at snyder.on.ca wrote:
On Sat, 06 May 2006 23:30:09 -0400, Roger wrote: On Sat, 6 May 2006 17:19:35 -0400, "Morgans" wrote: ".Blueskies." wrote in message gy.com... What is the power density of the ethanol? I know you have to shoot more of it through the engine to keep from running lean. How does fuel consumption compare; gph gasoleen vs gph ethanol. What weight difference is there? About 10% more needed per HP. A little less than 10% weight. With Methanol containing about half the energy per unit volume of gas Change the word Methanol to Ethanol. I have a problem reconciling that 10% more. What am I missing? The M. Talking Ethanol, not Methanol. Different horses for different courses, as they say. The Methanol was a one letter typo. I knew what I meant.:-)) Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair) www.rogerhalstead.com Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair) www.rogerhalstead.com *** Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com *** |
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