Posted: 10/15/2007 11:37:37 PM EDT
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Is there a possibility that in the future we could run our current gasoline engines on another fuel? How about now? Is there anything available for current use? It's probably a dumb question, but it is a concern. |
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Well there is ethanol, but it requires some mods to the engine. Other than that, nothing that I know of. Never underestimate the power of science and human ingenuity. Hell, I probably wouldn't have a problem changing my engine if it ran on something better with at least equal performance. ETA: I guess United Nuclear sells some system to convert a car to run on hydrogen... |
| cars made today will not run on strait ethanol which is why it is mixed with 15% gas. the best alternative out there is bio-diesel but i wonder how long it will remain a under used commodity. with gas prices getting ready to go up again people will start looking for other ways to fuel there cars. i would buy an old diesel just to commute with if i had the space to treat the oil to convert it to bio-diesel. |
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Liquid fuel can be made from coal. The process yields a very high quality diesel fuel, and naptha. Naptha + ethanol = a form of gasoline. Hitler ran his war machine on it, including aircraft engines which require a very high octane gasoline. the technology is 70 plus years old, and IIRC invented by DuPont.. Ops |
... True, however Big Oil will never allow their profit-machine to be marginalized |
I think this is false. IIRC it's mixed with gas so it's poisonous. There is little difference between E85 and E100 in the way the engine handles it. -JTP |
Of course if "Big Oil" were smart they would invest in something other than gas to diversify their market and make even more money... That's why I don't believe that shit about them buying up new technology and shelving it. It would make more business sense to develop and sell it. |
Ethanol is poisonous. So is gas. Drinking straight ethanol will kill you as fast as gas. |
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In general if it is spark based ignition you can make it run on ethanol or methanol. In general you need to increase the fueling by about 40%. On a carburetor this can be done by installing different jets, or in dire times drilling the jets out for an increase in cross section of the jet ( not just diameter ). In a fuel injected vehicle unless its rated to run on E85 your going to have to reprogram the computer yourself ( or maybe find injectors that are approx 40% larger in a pinch ). Since alcohol acts like it is 100+ octane you can increase timing and compression ratio accordingly. I think a two stroke ( spark based ) engine can be run on an alcohol and vegetable oil mix, though I have no idea on the proportions. Same goes for timing and compression ratio as above. You could also convert just about any spark based engine to run on woodgas. This was done in WWII and is rather crude...but if you really have to make something run to get some work done or get somewhere its an option. It would also be an option for generators and other stationary power applications. Compression ignition engines are very flexable in what they can use for fuel. In general you either have to convert the fuel ( biodiesel ) or convert the engine ( WVO/SVO ). As far as I know a compression based engine ( diesels ) will run on.... -Diesel....duh -Kerosene ( need to add lubricant ) -JP series military fuels -BioDiesel -Jet A ( lubricant may be needed ) -Straight Vegetable oil ( oil may need to be heated ) -Waste Vegetable oil ( oil needs to be filtered, de-watered, and heated ) -Motor oil ( needs to be non-synthetic and heated ) -ATF -Heating oil ( Needs to be heated ) Feel free to add to the list if you know of more...I am probably forgetting some. |
| in the UK we just had the duty dropped on veg oil and now the supermarkets have put up the price ( robbing scum )hock.gif |
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I have been wondering about how this woodgas works. I have found that a sealed container of charcoal can produce a gas which does light. Unfortunately it takes awhile of heating to get there. Till then it produces gases which don't like. The gas that does light only went for about 4 minutes off of 2 pieces of charcoal. Not certain if that would be fuel efficient. Maybe it needs to be heated up in advance to drive off the exess gases. O well its been done and it works I just need to figure it out. As for the big oil companies, I don't see them holding technology back. Any big break through they control they could use to make money themselves. The Arab countries on the other hand have a big incentive to keep us dependant on oil. They control a lot of resources in America so they could be cheating. |
| Woodgas powered most of Europe and Australia throughout WWII. I am knocking around setting up a small woodgas rig to run a stationary engine and then use that to power a number of different devices. Of course it is project 972 on the list so it is a while off. There are several good books on it available. The is one available online that FEMA did to power a tractor in the event of a petroleum emergency. |
Heating oil is #2 diesel fuel with a dye added. It's the same fuel. Ops |
My great uncle built a wood gas set-up that powered a 1948 Ford tractor around 1982. He would take it to fairs in S. Ohio and plow fields and run a PTO log splitter to split wood. It took a little finess to get it up and running, but once running it was a piece of cake. |
4 parts Ethanol + 5 parts Water is basically vodka. I'm living, breathing, walking proof the Ethanol won't kill you. Methanol is poisonous. -JTP |
Most gasoline engines can burn ethanol mixed with gas, and regular ethanol, provided you find a way to distill with enough purity. If you use high levels of ethanol, the materials in contact with the fuel may disintegrate/fail, etc. Ethanol is a solvent. I've also heard that small gas engines could possibly operate on coleman fuel, which is unconfirmed. Maybe someone here has tried it. ETA ethanol sold from a pump is denatured per BATF rules with a denaturant, usually gasoline. |