Increasing Petrol Prices - Some Viable Alternatives


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Fuel rates are ever increasing & one of the hottest topic atleast every month in India. Can't this be changed ? Instead imposing bans on Diesel vehicles for Personal Use, Why not government take steps for alternative fuel systems which is followed worldwide!!

The Automotive India brings you exclusive alteratives instead of petrol. Yes we are talking about alcohol. Ethanol and Methanol are two types of alcohol fuels. Usage of alcohols fuels in pure form is not possible without engine modification. But ethanol can be mixed with petrol in various ratios for use in cars & bikes.

Across world, Ethanol fuel mixtures have "E" numbers which describes the percentage of ethanol in the mixture by volume. For example E10 is 10% ethanol & 90% petrol (gasoline)

E10 - Ethanol 10% Gasoline 90%

E10.jpg

E10 is generally called as gasohol which can be used in automobiles without need for any modification on the engine or fuel system. E10 blends are typically rated as 2 to 3 octane higher than regular gasoline.

E15 - Ethanol 15% Gasoline 85%

This is generally the highest ratio of ethanol to gasoline that is possible to use in vehicles recommended by auto manufacturers to run on E10 in the U.S.,though it is possible that many vehicles can handle higher mixtures without trouble.

This preliminary report found that none of the vehicles displayed a malfunction indicator light as a result of the ethanol blend used; no fuel filter plugging symptoms were observed; no cold start problems were observed at 24°C (75°F) and 10°C (50°F) laboratory conditions; and as expected, all test vehicles exhibited a loss in fuel economy proportional with the lower energy density of ethanol, for example, with E20, the average reduction in fuel economy was 7.7% when compared to the miles per gallon achieved by the gasoline only (E0) vehicles.

Usage of E Blended Fuels in various countries.

ethanol-usage.png

E20 & E25 in Brazil

E20 contains 20% ethanol and 80% gasoline, while E25 contains 25% of ethanol. These blends have been widely used in Brazil since the late seventies. As a response to the 1973 oil crisis, the Brazilian government made mandatory the blend of ethanol fuel with gasoline, fluctuating between 10% to 22% from 1976 until 1992. Due to this mandatory minimum gasoline blend, pure gasoline (E0) is no longer sold in Brazil.Since then, the government has set the percentage on the ethanol blend according to the results of the sugarcane harvest and ethanol production from sugarcane, resulting in blend variations even within the same year. By Executive Decree the mandatory blend was set at 25% of anhydrous ethanol (E25) since July 1, 2007, and this is the standard gasoline blend sold throughout Brazil today.

Similarly we have various blends like E70, E75, E85, ED95 & E100 which can be used with modification performed on engines.


Modifications to engines


Usage of ethanol blends in normal cars is restricted to lowere mixture like E5. Only reason to avoid ethanol in normal engine is because ethanol is corrosive & degrades few components in engines & fuel systems.


Ethanol-blending-engine.png

Above table shows the required adjustments to gasoline engines to cope with different blends of ethanol fuel.


In Order to use higher blends like E15, E25 we need bring in higher compression ratio than the gasoline engines which in turn helps us with greater fuel efficiency.


If Brazil, Why not India ??

Now, why not India move from E5 to E20 which will considerably reduce the cost of fuel prices. Manufacturers it's the time for newer norms & E20 vehicles in India.
 
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Now this is interesting! Good report Zinam! But these are only for petrol engines right? And any difference in performance?


Can you tell me how much will be actual increase in FE according our Indian calculations?
 
Thread Starter #3
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Thanks Dhaya!

This is also applicable for Diesel Engines too We have D series of gas for it. like D95.

This is not more about increasing fuel economy, but about decreasing fuel cost :)
 
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I have carried this ethanol by ship. We used to load in South America and discharge in California. California is the first place in the US to use the ethanol blend. Brasil was the first country to do it. The have been doing it for donkeys years. There are even cars running on 60% ethanol there.
 
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even here they have E20. my car is compatible and is used quite often but sometimes i feel that E20 reduces performance and mileage. correct me guys.
 

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