Engines ran on ethanol before they ran on gasoline. The Model T had a lever where the modern turn signal is that advanced or backed off the timing, and a knob on the dash that richened or leaned the carb, you richen the carb and advance the timing to run ethanol, back it all down to run gasoline, and the gasoline overheated often because most of its energy goes to waste heat, so it needs larger radiators. Prior to 1920 when the Volstead Act took effect, most vehicles ran ethanol fuel. The whole reason for prohibition being funded by Rockefeller was he owned Standard Oil, and ethanol was his competitor for the toxic waste left over after refining kerosene and diesel from crude. He called it gasoline, and prohibition left his waste problem as the only thing to run cars on. Water in ethanol is no big deal It doesn't hurt anything until you get to where there is more than 2 gallons of water in 10 gallons of ethanol. its not going to be absorbing that from the atmosphere. Water simply lowers the proof, and you have to get down to 120 proof before it doesn't want to run in an engine. It starts making less power at 160 proof, which is 80% ethanol 20% water. Water in gasoline IS a BIG problem, and it can cause all sorts of issues, like rusting out the tank and being picked up by the pump and fed to the engine. Adding ethanol, methanol, or isopropyl to your gasoline that has a water contamination problem will solve said problem by allowing you to burn the water since it bonds to alcohol in such a way its very difficult to separate them. You know.. Dry Gas does that. As for compression... Ethanol will handle diesel compression ratios without an issue, adding gasoline to it lowers the compression you can run because gasoline always has an issue with igniting on its own. Ethanol doesn't want to run on the diesel cycle of ignition from heat and pressure, but gasoline will. Ethanol wants the spark, once it gets it the burn is fast and efficient, providing more power than gasoline with less waste heat. Here is the fun part. When you crank up the compression over 12:1 with iron heads, ethanol will get the same or slightly better mileage than the same engine would on pump gas with compression commensurate with the octane rating. Along with compression and mileage will come more power. The drivability is far better than gasoline as well. Squeezing the air/fuel charge more results in getting more work from it, and since you can go to 26:1 with straight ethanol, you can make diesel power and get better mileage as well. Tetraethyl lead came about because oil companies REALLY do not want people to know how much better ethanol runs compared to gasoline. Since its easy to produce ethanol, its just vodka after all, anyone can power their vehicles themselves. If you have to buy something that is only made in a handful of locations around the world, they can control the supply and thus the price of it. They needed something to make it more difficult for gasoline to ignite on its own (ping/knock), and some things that come from crude are VERY resistant to ignition, like toluene. Used as paint thinner it can raise octane. However, you really do not want to see what a lot of it does to rubber hoses, gaskets, and accel pump diaphragms. Once you smell toluene, you will recognize the aroma... Tetraethyl lead also makes it more difficult for ignition, while it didn't harm fuel system parts, it does tend to harm humans, animals, and anything else living that has an adverse reaction to lead. That is why they banned it, because lead is harmful to damn near every living thing, and they were spewing it into the air we breathe. There just might be a link between Alzheimer's and TEL, but good luck getting anyone to take that case on, they might have a failed fishing trip in remote Arkansas.. if ya get what I mean. Direct injection is a bandaid for the poor quality of gasoline, injecting the fuel into the chamber at the last possible time before the spark allows more compression and ignition timing. Gasoline doesn't have enough time to decide to go pop while the piston is still headed up to TDC. The whole point of direct injection is to raise compression ratios to get more power and mileage from the engine. The funny thing to me is we can make the same power, get better mileage, from smaller engines, running 20:1 compression, heating the air and fuel before it goes into the intake ports so it vaporizes instantly, and make the fuel ourselves from a wide variety of starch and sugar sources. What is more complex and expensive? Fuel injection with 22,000 psi dumping into the cylinder a few degrees before ignition? Or a 60psi system that heats the fuel in the rails with coolant temps to 200F and will take LOTS of compression? Oh yeah, and because ethanol burns clean, leaving nothing behind, your engine and oil stays clean. No thick carbon deposits clogging the valves nor need for catalytic converters... since the only emissions are Co2 and H2O. Oil changes come out clear, looking the same as it did going in. No carbon wearing on surfaces means the engine will last indefinitely. That reminds me, I just found my small test stills after my kid moved them a few years ago, so I can make a run of distilled water to show how it works. When you see how simple it is to produce your own fuel, and that you can make it for a lot less money than buying gasoline (especially race gas) you might never concern yourself with sneaking up to the octane limit with pump gas ever again. I know I don't, I just make lots of compression and enjoy the ludicrous power I get from it.
Amazing! I take my hat off! I kid you not, this knowledge was totally new to me. Well never been a tuner guy, I've just swapped engines instead, and not particularly many of those eighter. So, knowledge is one thing, but in my opinion you presented it so well too. Are/were you a mechanics teacher or something? I hope you're doingng good, and I hope to catch your next live 😊
I loved this presentation. I would however not blame the lead but the government, their poor management of the cities, necessitating people to leave them. I am less convinced the lead in cars was a problem as much as the geiography of, say, LA where the air gets trapped from the sea against the San Gabs. This problem remains today. Nevertheless, the environmental problem was for the most part fabricated to get where we are today.
Power is relative. The Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am made 180. hp. That's it. Other 'muscle car' engines were mated to frames that flexed a lot, had horrible suspension, had horrible handling and worse brakes. Sure made you think you were going fast. Today you can get 200 hp from a small 4 cylinder easily. It doesn't 'feel' as fast because the car handles and stops indefinitely better. Yes, of course you could make big power out of big engines with some work.
This was a fantastic presentation.
We should nominate this TH-cam for a best of year of videos that we actually want to watch award.
Da da DAwR!!!
Awesome video! Awesome information explained in a great way! One of your best!👍
Engines ran on ethanol before they ran on gasoline. The Model T had a lever where the modern turn signal is that advanced or backed off the timing, and a knob on the dash that richened or leaned the carb, you richen the carb and advance the timing to run ethanol, back it all down to run gasoline, and the gasoline overheated often because most of its energy goes to waste heat, so it needs larger radiators.
Prior to 1920 when the Volstead Act took effect, most vehicles ran ethanol fuel. The whole reason for prohibition being funded by Rockefeller was he owned Standard Oil, and ethanol was his competitor for the toxic waste left over after refining kerosene and diesel from crude. He called it gasoline, and prohibition left his waste problem as the only thing to run cars on.
Water in ethanol is no big deal It doesn't hurt anything until you get to where there is more than 2 gallons of water in 10 gallons of ethanol. its not going to be absorbing that from the atmosphere. Water simply lowers the proof, and you have to get down to 120 proof before it doesn't want to run in an engine. It starts making less power at 160 proof, which is 80% ethanol 20% water.
Water in gasoline IS a BIG problem, and it can cause all sorts of issues, like rusting out the tank and being picked up by the pump and fed to the engine. Adding ethanol, methanol, or isopropyl to your gasoline that has a water contamination problem will solve said problem by allowing you to burn the water since it bonds to alcohol in such a way its very difficult to separate them. You know.. Dry Gas does that.
As for compression... Ethanol will handle diesel compression ratios without an issue, adding gasoline to it lowers the compression you can run because gasoline always has an issue with igniting on its own. Ethanol doesn't want to run on the diesel cycle of ignition from heat and pressure, but gasoline will. Ethanol wants the spark, once it gets it the burn is fast and efficient, providing more power than gasoline with less waste heat.
Here is the fun part. When you crank up the compression over 12:1 with iron heads, ethanol will get the same or slightly better mileage than the same engine would on pump gas with compression commensurate with the octane rating. Along with compression and mileage will come more power. The drivability is far better than gasoline as well. Squeezing the air/fuel charge more results in getting more work from it, and since you can go to 26:1 with straight ethanol, you can make diesel power and get better mileage as well.
Tetraethyl lead came about because oil companies REALLY do not want people to know how much better ethanol runs compared to gasoline. Since its easy to produce ethanol, its just vodka after all, anyone can power their vehicles themselves. If you have to buy something that is only made in a handful of locations around the world, they can control the supply and thus the price of it.
They needed something to make it more difficult for gasoline to ignite on its own (ping/knock), and some things that come from crude are VERY resistant to ignition, like toluene. Used as paint thinner it can raise octane. However, you really do not want to see what a lot of it does to rubber hoses, gaskets, and accel pump diaphragms. Once you smell toluene, you will recognize the aroma...
Tetraethyl lead also makes it more difficult for ignition, while it didn't harm fuel system parts, it does tend to harm humans, animals, and anything else living that has an adverse reaction to lead. That is why they banned it, because lead is harmful to damn near every living thing, and they were spewing it into the air we breathe. There just might be a link between Alzheimer's and TEL, but good luck getting anyone to take that case on, they might have a failed fishing trip in remote Arkansas.. if ya get what I mean.
Direct injection is a bandaid for the poor quality of gasoline, injecting the fuel into the chamber at the last possible time before the spark allows more compression and ignition timing. Gasoline doesn't have enough time to decide to go pop while the piston is still headed up to TDC.
The whole point of direct injection is to raise compression ratios to get more power and mileage from the engine. The funny thing to me is we can make the same power, get better mileage, from smaller engines, running 20:1 compression, heating the air and fuel before it goes into the intake ports so it vaporizes instantly, and make the fuel ourselves from a wide variety of starch and sugar sources.
What is more complex and expensive? Fuel injection with 22,000 psi dumping into the cylinder a few degrees before ignition? Or a 60psi system that heats the fuel in the rails with coolant temps to 200F and will take LOTS of compression? Oh yeah, and because ethanol burns clean, leaving nothing behind, your engine and oil stays clean. No thick carbon deposits clogging the valves nor need for catalytic converters... since the only emissions are Co2 and H2O. Oil changes come out clear, looking the same as it did going in. No carbon wearing on surfaces means the engine will last indefinitely.
That reminds me, I just found my small test stills after my kid moved them a few years ago, so I can make a run of distilled water to show how it works. When you see how simple it is to produce your own fuel, and that you can make it for a lot less money than buying gasoline (especially race gas) you might never concern yourself with sneaking up to the octane limit with pump gas ever again. I know I don't, I just make lots of compression and enjoy the ludicrous power I get from it.
Great explanation
Amazing! I take my hat off! I kid you not, this knowledge was totally new to me. Well never been a tuner guy, I've just swapped engines instead, and not particularly many of those eighter.
So, knowledge is one thing, but in my opinion you presented it so well too. Are/were you a mechanics teacher or something?
I hope you're doingng good, and I hope to catch your next live 😊
Great Job Professor Bare Rose!
After the Pledge of Allegiance at the No Name Nationals, this video should be shown.
Thanks Dancing!
🌹
☝
I loved this presentation. I would however not blame the lead but the government, their poor management of the cities, necessitating people to leave them. I am less convinced the lead in cars was a problem as much as the geiography of, say, LA where the air gets trapped from the sea against the San Gabs. This problem remains today. Nevertheless, the environmental problem was for the most part fabricated to get where we are today.
👍👍
🥝✔️🗽
Power is relative. The Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am made 180. hp. That's it.
Other 'muscle car' engines were mated to frames that flexed a lot, had horrible suspension, had horrible handling and worse brakes. Sure made you think you were going fast.
Today you can get 200 hp from a small 4 cylinder easily. It doesn't 'feel' as fast because the car handles and stops indefinitely better.
Yes, of course you could make big power out of big engines with some work.
2nd
3rd lololololol
Boom boom 4th
Couldn't stand the models that came with A.I.R. pumps....they had a rinky dink sound that made any car sound like a complete pile.