Gettin' rid of the Ethanol

[Rolly9]

Is anyone using autogas and removing the ethanol? I understand the procedure, but wonder about things like static grounding, etc.
Rolly9

[N941WR]

How about a hint or a link to an article on the subject?

[frankh]

I burn it in the engine..Hey I had to pay for the darned stuff I might as well get something for it!....

But you can load the gas up with water..more than the Etoh will dissolve and then drain it off.

Good luck cus I naver have nor never intend to!

Frank

[Frank Smidler]

Originally Posted by frankh

I burn it in the engine..Hey I had to pay for the darned stuff I might as well get something for it!

Frank, have you seen any negative affect? I would like to know how many are burning 10% ethanol auto fuel in their airplanes and if you have seen any negative affect. In Indiana it is impossible to find gas without ethanol locally (we are in corn country).

[frankh]

Originally Posted by Frank Smidler

Frank, have you seen any negative affect? I would like to know how many are burning 10% ethanol auto fuel in their airplanes and if you have seen any negative affect. In Indiana it is impossible to find gas without ethanol locally (we are in corn country).

I built my fuel system to be able to handle ethanol, both from a material compatibility point of view and to avoid vapour lock..The fuel pumps are basically in the wingroots and I don't have a mechanical pump. You can find a description of my system by searching on "frankh"

The seals in the system have to be made from Viton or preferably flourosilicone. I have no ideal what the diaphram in the mech pump is made from.

Having said all that no, no problems whatsoever..I have not tried going to high altitude (>14k) as of yet with E10.

The only noticable difference is it will not lean out quite so far..e.g when running LOP at 24sq I get 7gph on straight mogas but 7.5 on an E10 mix..But that is still safely on the lean side.

Frank

[N1593Y]

This has been answered before on several threads about ethanol but it bears repeating. Don't even think about doing this. What you have left after pouring water into the gasoline to separate the ethanol from the gas is ethanol with water and some gas and other stuff which you can't just pour down the drain and you have some unidentifiable fuel with some ethanol still in it. How much ethanol? You won't be able to tell accurately. But the most important thing is you will have some kind of unrecognizable fuel, called BOB.

E10 auto gasoline is NOT made with gasoline to which ethanol has been added. It is made with BOB (Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending) which among other chemical changes to finished gasoline has about 3 AKI (AntiKnock Index) points less than the finished product. But it was probably never legal finished product to start with.

This is what the Director of the Division of Air Resources, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said in his comments on the E15 waiver:

"E10 is not simply ethanol added to finished gasoline. Since most gasoline at retail contains ethanol, the industry factors the addition of ethanol into the formulation of the petroleum-based portion of the final blend. The chemical properties of ethanol and its dilution impact allow refiners to produce a petroleum-based blendstock which when combined with a specified amount of ethanol (or other oxygenate) results in a final blend with the desired legal and market properties. The petroleum-based blendstock, in most cases, would not qualify as gasoline or be legal to sell as gasoline. For RFG this blendstock is RBOB. For conventional gasoline it is CBOB, and for California RFG it is CaRBOB.?

What you have left after trying to remove the ethanol from E10 is not gasoline meeting ASTM D4814 specification, so unless you are willing to state that your homebuilt works just fine on BOB, it would not be a legal fuel for your aircraft.

If you want more information about this problem see www.e0pc.com and especially the link to a fuels forum that Kent Misegades, Todd Petersen and I gave at AirVenture 09.

Regards -- Dean

[smokyray]

Check with your local fuel distributor, mine will sell larger quantities of Mogas minus the ethanol. (500 gallons) With the large airboat population here though, I can buy 100LL at three local gas stations at a significant discount. The pump has a disclaimer: For Off Road Use Only!
No worries!

Smokey
HR2

[Geico266]

Originally Posted by smokyray

The pump has a disclaimer: For Off Road Use Only!
No worries!

Smokey
HR2

What happens if you have a forced landing and use a road?

I guess you have to file paperwork and pay the tax for the 1,000' of road you used.

You are right about the distributors selling ethonal free fuel. I use 92 octane, have for years.

[mahlon_r]

If you remove the ethanol, would you not end up with less octane rating? Running fuel with less octane, then you should have, could be bad for da motor....
Good Luck,
Mahlon
"The opinions and information provided in this and all of my posts are hopefully helpful to you. Please use the information provided responsibly and at your own risk."