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Study Finds Certain Ethanol Blends Can Provide Better Fuel Economy Than Gasoline (???)
www.greencarcongress.com ^ | 12/05/07 | Staff

Posted on 12/05/2007 9:29:42 AM PST by Red Badger

Research findings released today indicate that mid-range ethanol blends—fuel mixtures with more ethanol than 10% (E10) but less than 85% (E85)—can in some cases provide better fuel economy than regular unleaded gasoline, even in standard, non-flex-fuel vehicles. The new study, co-sponsored by the US Department of Energy and the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), also found that mid-range ethanol blends reduce harmful tailpipe emissions.

Previous assumptions held that ethanol’s lower energy content directly correlates with lower fuel economy for drivers. Those assumptions were found to be incorrect. Instead, the new research suggests that there is an optimal blend level of ethanol and gasoline—most likely E20 or E30—at which cars will get better mileage than predicted based strictly on the fuel’s per-gallon Btu content. The optimal blend varies with the vehicle, according to the findings.

The University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) and the Minnesota Center for Automotive Research (MnCAR) conducted the research using four 2007 model vehicles: a Toyota Camry, a Ford Fusion and two Chevrolet Impalas, one flex-fuel and one non-flex-fuel.

Researchers used the EPA Highway Fuel Economy Test (HWFET) to examine a range of ethanol-gasoline blends from straight Tier 2 gasoline up to 85 percent ethanol. All of the vehicles got better mileage with ethanol blends than the ethanol’s energy content would predict, and three out of four actually traveled farther on a mid-level ethanol blend than on unleaded gasoline.

In addition to the favorable fuel economy findings, the research provides strong evidence that standard, non-flex-fuel vehicles can operate on ethanol blends beyond E10. The three non-flex-fuel vehicles tested operated on levels as high as E65 before any engine fault codes were displayed. Emissions results for the ethanol blends were favorable for nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and non-methane organic gases, showing an especially significant reduction in CO2 emissions for each vehicle’s optimal ethanol blend (E20 for the flex-fuel Chevy, E30 for the Toyota and Ford, E40 for the non-flex Chevy).

Ethanol’s energy content was not found to be a direct predictor of fuel economy. All four vehicles tested exhibited better fuel economy with the ethanol blends than the Btu-value estimates predicted.

E20 and E30 ethanol blends outperformed unleaded gasoline in fuel economy tests for certain autos. Contrary to Btu-based estimates of fuel economy for ethanol blends, three of the four vehicles tested achieved their highest fuel efficiency not on gasoline, but on an ethanol blend. Mid-level blends of ethanol E20 (20% ethanol, 80% gasoline) and E30 (30% ethanol, 70% gasoline) offered the best fuel economy in these tests.

*

E30 offered better fuel economy than gasoline (a 1% increase) in both the Toyota and the Ford. *

E20 offered better fuel economy than gasoline (a 15% increase) in the flex-fuel Chevrolet. *

The non-flex-fuel Chevrolet more closely followed the Btu-calculated trend for fuel economy, but did experience a significant improvement over the trend line with E40 (40% ethanol, 60% gasoline), indicating that this may be the optimal ethanol blend level for this vehicle.

The standard, non-flex-fuel vehicles operated well on ethanol blends beyond 10%. The Ford Fusion operated on E45, the Toyota on E65, and the non-flex-fuel Chevy on E55. No engine fault codes were displayed until these levels were surpassed.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: auto; energy; ethanol; fuel; mpg; oxygenate; pollution
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To: from occupied ga
ch3ch2oh + o2 = co2 + h2o. ch3(ch2)nch3 + o2 = co2 + h2o Same combustion products. besides you can't get any more work out of steam than the energy put into it by combustion

You get it! There "AINT NO" free ride in thermodynamics.

Until enthalpy and entropy and Gibbs free energy are shown to be false (they will not be) you can count on the following:

1. If it is beer, wine, or spirits and has a twist off cap or pop top you really should not drink that crap.

2. Good wine and whiskey has a cork in the top and good beer needs a beer can opener to get to it but the best comes out of a tap and it is not Budweiser nor any others of its ilk. If you do not like a good bitter you really should probably drink Budweiser or even worse Coors lite. I drank one of those once. God, it was vile.

3. In reference to enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy, it without any doubt shows ethanol as a fuel source in an internal combustion engine most definitely sucks big time.

4. Water is for fighting and whiskey is for drinking, however it is quite acceptable to put a very small amount of water in a good single malt.

5. If you put coke or any other mixer with single malt scotch or Irish Whiskey, St Peter has a very hot corner of hell reserved for such blasphemers as this.

6. Anything else you need to know about ethanol is not important.

101 posted on 12/05/2007 10:11:55 PM PST by cpdiii
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To: cpdiii
You get it! There "AINT NO" free ride in thermodynamics.

There are many here who don't. There are people on this site who believe that 100 mpg carbutetors exist (supressed by the oil companies of course), that ethanol is a viable energy source (ignoring the large energy requirement needed to manufacture the stuff), and that you can continue to increase the efficiency of automobile engines by engineering (folks who never heard of and who cannot comprehend the 2nd law - this would appear to be 100% of Kongress and 98% of the US voting populace), and that George Bush is a conservative (but that's a topic for another thread)

Kongress in passing its absurd CAFE requirement shows that it thinks it has the power to repeal the laws of thermodynamics. These people aren't fit to govern an ant farm let alone the USA.

102 posted on 12/06/2007 3:34:47 AM PST by from occupied ga (Your most dangerous enemy is your own government, Benito Guilinni a short man in search of a balcony)
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To: jaydubya2
"The results of this study seem to defy the laws of physics..."

Exactly. My FFV Nissan Titan states that it gets 17 mpg highway with gasoline, and 10 mpg with Ethanaol. Mileage is based on how many engine RPM's can turn the drive shaft. RPM's are based on the amount of BTU's combusted that can drive the pistons to create the motion directionally to driveshaft. The btu content per pound of gasoline is approximately and variably 18,700-19,100. Ethanol 11,700.

Is ND a corn state?

103 posted on 12/06/2007 4:03:25 AM PST by catfish1957 (In honor of my 5 Confederate ancestors whodefended their homeland during the War of Northn Agression)
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