JaxDad wrote:
whemme wrote:
So you should see only a 3.3% mileage increase using ethanol free fuel - not 23%. If you are seeing a 23% increase you are somehow creating extra energy and you should patent your process.
All of that can be explained in one word, “adulteration”.
Energy content is calculated based on lab calculations, sort of like the amount of horsepower a vehicle is stated to produce, based on perfect conditions in a test cell.
Ethanol is a gift from heaven for gas station owners. Ever wonder why a huge percentage of gas station owners come from just one region of the world? Or why they happily pay seemingly ridiculous prices to buy those stations?
Ethanol. Anyone can buy it, no questions asked. When’s it’s blended into gas it sells for the same price as gasoline which is about $0.50 more than ethanol. Unfortunately it’s very hygroscopic, it likes water so much it will absorb it right out of the air. Water has a very low energy content.
The bottom line is that fuel, spiked with water-laden ethanol, can easily reduce mileage by 30% in fuel-hungry vehicles like motorhomes.
Well the misinformation never ends. I agree that ethanol is hydroscopic but in order for it to absorb any significant water it would have to be exposed to the outside atmosphere in order to absorb it. 10% ethanol gas is stored in under found tanks with limited exposure to moisture. Also if it were possible for the ethanol to absorb enough water to reduce the mpg range of the fuel by 30%, since the fuel only contained 10% ethanol to begin with, mathematically the only energy remaining to propel the vehicle is coming from the gas and no energy coming from the ethanol content.
And finally if the water laden fuel actually is reducing the mileage by 30%, it will affect all vehicles using it equally not just fuel hungry motorhomes.
