Ethanol
And Biodiesel Fuels
(36-4)
Today,
when we pull in to a gas station to refuel our RV, we
often see stickers on the pump indicating that the fuel
contains a percentage of ethanol or “biodiesel.”
Here’s why this is the wave of the future.
With
the price of gasoline costing $1 per litre or more this
year, RV’ers are considering shorter trips. Demand
for gasoline is actually more prone to wild swings than
demand for crude oil. This is because only a few countries
have the ability to refine crude oil for use as gasoline.
The refining process adds an extra layer of time and
cost to gasoline inventories and production. The international
perspective of the petroleum industry is very complex
– for example, oil-producing countries like Iran,
which pumps out more crude than 80% of the rest of the
world’s producers, must re-import their own crude
as gasoline because of limited refining capability.
The use of non-petroleum additives in the gasoline formulation
has a number of advantages for the modern motorist.
To better understand why RV’ers should take a
serious look at the new blended fuels, you have to step
back to discover how these fuels address your needs.
First of all, what are Ethanol and Biodiesel fuels?
Ethanol (which is also called ethyl alcohol or grain
alcohol, is an alcohol-based alternative fuel that is
blended with gasoline to produce a fuel with a higher
octane rating and fewer harmful emissions than unblended
gasoline. Ethanol is produced by fermenting and distilling
grains such as corn, barley and wheat. Another form
of ethanol, called bioethanol, can be made from many
types of trees and grasses, although the process is
more difficult.
Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative fuel produced
from a variety of renewable agricultural resources,
such as soybeans and canola, animal fats, and recycled
cooking oils. It can be burned in any standard, unmodified
diesel engine either in pure form (BD100) or, depending
on outside air temperatures, in a blend of any proportion
with petroleum diesel. The most popular types of vegetable
oils used in biodiesel fuel are soybean and rapeseed
oil.
While biodiesel is not regular vegetable oil and is
not safe to swallow, it is biodegradable, so it is much
less harmful to the environment if spilled. Biodiesel
is made through a process called transesterification.
This process makes vegetable oil and animal fat into
esterified oil (which has the glycerin removed), which
can be used as diesel fuel, or mixed with regular diesel
fuel. The rising cost of soybean and other oils, which
account for the bulk of biodiesel fuel stock, has led
to the push to use cheap and plentiful animal fats.
Tyson Foods has announced that it is partnering with
Conoco to produce biodiesel fuel from chicken fats.
Biodiesel seamlessly integrates with current engine
technology and fueling infrastructure. In fact, it is
the first clean fuel that does not require fleet operators
to purchase new vehicles or construct new facilities.
Pure biodiesel is fully biodegradable, non-toxic to
plants, animals and humans, and essentially free of
sulphur and other aromatics. In Toronto, many street
buses are running on biodiesel fuel stored in large
tanks at the Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC).
The use of this cleaner alternative to regular diesel
fuel is growing throughout Canada. In places like Montreal,
river ferries now operate on biodiesel fuel.
Gasoline blended with ethanol is also becoming more
common throughout North America. One gallon of pure
ethanol contains about 66 percent as much energy as
a gallon of gasoline. A gallon of E85, a common blend
of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, contains
about 71 percent as much energy as a gallon of unblended
gasoline. Drivers who use E85 can expect about 15 percent
less fuel economy than they would get with gasoline.
Other performance factors such as power, acceleration,
and cruising speed are essentially equivalent in vehicles
burning E85 and conventional fuels.
Most ethanol fuel sold at service stations today is
a blend of 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline that sometimes
is used to increase octane and improve emissions quality,
but are not considered alternative fuels. When the percentage
of ethanol increases to 20%, then modifications need
to be made to the engine and fuel system. E85, a blend
of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, is used
in flexible fuel vehicles, which are offered by most
major auto manufacturers. Flexible fuel vehicles can
run on gasoline, E85, or any combination of the two.
Although at this time, this fuel is not readily available
at many service stations. My friend, Gary Sowerby, drove
a General Motors E85 Yukon across Canada with cellulose
ethanol fuel provided by Iogen.
A vehicle can not use a 20% blend without certain modifications
to the fuel system. At the very least the fuel lines
will need to be replaced since ethanol is corrosive
and will degrade them from the inside to the point where
fuel pressure will cause the line to rupture. Also,
the electric fuel pumps will need to be modified to
resist ethanol "dry rot".
A Canadian company, Iogen uses a process to produce
ethanol from cellulose , the non-food portion of agricultural
residues such as cereal straws and corn stalks. The
lignin in the cellulose ethanol can be used to generate
electricity to operate the production plant. Cellulose
ethanol is a renewable, advanced biofuel that can be
used in today’s cars. It is one of the most cost
effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
gasoline use in road transport, and in this regard can
deliver benefits similar to improved vehicle efficiency.
Cellulose ethanol biorefineries will strengthen local
economies by creating thousands of jobs, while making
agriculture a more sustainable industry. Recent reports
from the U.S. Department of Energy/Department of Agriculture
state that there is enough biomass feedstock for cellulose
ethanol production in the U.S. to displace approximately
40% of current U.S. gasoline consumption.
Dr. Jason Hill, of the University of Minnesota, said
that “The environmental benefits of producing
biofuels from diverse prairie biomass are striking.
Producing and using ethanol from diverse prairie biomass
can actually reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere. This is because a diverse prairie removes
more carbon dioxide from the air and stores it in the
soil. This, along with the nitrogen added to the soil
by native legumes, actually restores fertility to degraded
farmlands, and a prairie also provides wildlife habitat
and reduces soil erosion and pollution of waterways
with pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers”.
Ethanol production supports farmers and helps the economy,
and because ethanol is produced domestically, from domestically
grown crops, it reduces dependence on foreign oil and
increases the nation’s energy independence. Many
Canadian farmers that I have talked to about ethanol
fuel express disappointment that Canadian fuel distributors
who splash blend ethanol with regular gasoline are buying
their corn stock from US farmers, who are subsidized
by their government. I was told that UCO’s ethanol
plant in Tiverton, in Western Ontario, buys corn from
US farmers at $50 a ton less than Canadian farmers can
grow it. It is then splash blended at the Sunoco refinery
in London, ON. US federal corn subsidies totaled $37.3
billion last year. That's more than twice the amount
spent on wheat subsidies, three times the amount spent
on soybeans, and 70 times the amount spent on tobacco.
In the USA, President Bush has set high goals for the
production of ethanol fuel from corn. This has helped
push up the price of corn on the market with an increase
in the cost of many food products that depend on corn.
In Mexico, even the cost of tortillas has gone up. Since
the farmer can make more money growing corn to be used
to produce ethanol, he is not growing other crops, like
wheat and grains. To produce the quantity of corn that
Bush¡¯s goals call for, no other crop but corn could
be grown by American farmers. So where will we get the
food?
Adapting to Bio-Fuels
Modifications to most diesel engines are not needed
when using the 20% or less blends of biodiesel fuel.
If the engine was built since 1994, few if any changes
will need to be made for running up to 100% biodiesel.
Not many stations in Canada are offering biodiesel now,
but it may be available in your area. Biodiesel shows
a great deal of promise to help in solving some of our
most pressing needs. Biodiesel fuel reduces smoke and
soot in exhaust by 31%, carbon monoxide by 21% and hydrocarbons
by 47% when used in a 20% blend with petroleum diesel
fuel and a catalytic converter. If you can utilize biodiesel,
do a little research and give biodiesel a chance.
Are there any problems with the new fuels? In the RV
industry, we have found some fuel problems because of
the way an RV is used. Since the alcohol in ethanol
gasoline blends is hydroscopic (it absorbs water) and
is heavier than the gasoline, in long term storage conditions,
the alcohol tends to separate from the fuel and goes
to the bottom of the tank next to the fuel pump. The
RV engine was not designed to run on 100% alcohol. If
the RV is being stored for the winter season, it is
best to use up as much of the fuel as possible rather
than topping the tank up as when we were using gasoline.
When regular gasoline is used, we would top up the fuel
tank before storage to prevent condensation in the tank.
When the vehicle first starts using ethanol blended
fuel, more frequent fuel filter changes will be required
as the ethanol cleans the fuel system of accumulated
garbage. Ethanol is a corrosive fuel that can eat away
at fuel lines from the inside out on older motorhomes
and tow vehicles.
Algae can grow in biodiesel fuels as well as petro diesel.
In warmer temperatures, this could be a problem. It
is a dark slime that grows in the fuel tank and fuel
lines. It may be necessary to use algicides to control
the algae, especially in hot humid climates. Since the
algae can block fuel filters, change the filters often.
In the wintertime, the wax component of diesel fuel
that is used to increase the Cetane rating tends to
clog the fuel filters. Anti-gel additives help to inhibit
the formation of wax crystals, but they're not all created
equal. Several companies have created formulas that
work well with biodiesel fuel. One way to help prevent
the wax crystals from clogging the filter is to warm
the fuel before it gets that far. The filters may be
heated with power from the 12-volt system, or warmed
with engine coolant if the engine is running. If your
unit has a Webasto type heating system, it can be used
to preheat the engine and filters before you try to
start the engine on a cold day. Some drivers have found
that cycling the glow plugs several times also helps
on cold mornings. If you are a trip back from the sunny
south and have been running on #2 fuel, be sure to fill
up with winterized #1 diesel (the more refined fuel
that has less parafin wax) before getting too far north.
On a cold morning, we have often seen a tractor-trailer
stalled in the driving lanes, waiting to be towed into
a warm garage to allow the wax clogging the fuel filter
to liquify.
Sludge tends to be a problem that is mostly limited
to older diesels that have accumulated many miles. It¡¯s
a ¡°blackish¡± substance similar to algae¡ªthough it¡¯s
not living. Sludge builds up in the fuel system over
time. Basically, it¡¯s ¡°dirt¡± that settles to the
bottom of the fuel tank. While it is generally harmless
after it has settled at the bottom of the fuel tank,
when biodiesel is added to the mix, the sludge can be
loosened and suspended in the fuel, causing the fuel
filter to clog more quickly. Biodiesel acts as a detergent
and will eventually clean out most of the sludge that
has built up in the fuel system.
Ethanol Considerations
Ethanol must be blended with gasoline. But ethanol is
hydrosopic - it absorbs water. Gasoline doesn't. Therefore,
ethanol cannot be shipped by regular petroleum pipelines.
Instead, it must be segregated from other motor fuels
and shipped by truck, rail car, or barge. Those shipping
methods are far more expensive than pipelines.
Ethanol contains about 76,000 BTUs of energy per gallon,
but producing that ethanol from corn and shipping it
to the refinery takes about 98,000 BTUs. This is a negative
gain for energy used. By comparison, a gallon of gasoline
contains about 116,000 BTUs per gallon. But the total
process of making and shipping that gallon of gas requires
only around 22,000 BTUs.
By federal mandate, the USA must use 8 billion gallons
of renewable fuels by the year 2012, up from an estimated
5 billion gallons this year. A target of 8 billion gallons
of ethanol may sound like a lot, until you realize that
America burned more than 134 billion gallons of gasoline
last year. By 2012, those 8 billion gallons might reduce
America's overall oil consumption by 0.5 percent.
For every gallon of alternative fuel that we burn, that
is a gallon of petroleum fossil fuel that we do not
have to take out of the ground or buy from a foreign
country. While a gallon of ethanol-blended gas may cost
the same as regular gasoline, it won't take you as far.
Since biodiesel is cleaner burning, emissions are greatly
reduced. To put this in perspective, biodiesel reduces
the carbon monoxide emissions by half. The Canadian
government estimates that, if 35% of gasoline in Canada
contained 10% ethanol, emissions would be reduced by
1.8 megatonnes per year (1.8 million tonnes), which
is the equivalent of removing more than 400,000 vehicles
from the road.
That certainly seems to be a strong argument in favour
of the new biofuel blends, even if they may not be quite
as convenient as traditional fuels.
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