Fuel Economy: Acetone vs. Gasoline

Starting with the organic chelated iron, the product of combustion would be iron oxides. So a combustion-engined vehicle would be trailing a cloud of rust-coloured smoke, which would fail most nation's emission tests (certainly the UK's MoT test). It would also clog up any catalytic converter fitted to the vehicle's exhaust, leading to an increase in incompletely-combusted organics, resulting in smells and particulates. So it is a non-starter.

The underlying problem is that the planet is running out of stored combustibles. The Unites States in particular has been used to infinities for far too long, and to discover, shock horror probe, that the resources it has used with debatable amounts of abandon bordering on addiction (according to G.W. Bush) will dwindle in the future is a conundrum that some find difficult to accept.

There seems to be an underlying assumption that the principal way forward is to maintain reliance on the infernal combustion engine, and to find fuel solutions that fit it. Given that the planet's energy expenditure is going to need to slide from fossil-stored energy reserves towards immediate energy income in the future, that assumption may be invalid.

As far as "iron coming out the tailpipe" and "clogging catalytic converters", the amount of chelated iron needed is less than 1 gram / 10 gallon. Most of this is the organic (i.e burnable) chelating agent which comprises more than 90% of the mass.

To treat all the fuel the US consumes in one year would only amount to 15000 tonns which sounds like allot, but it is not compared to the 400 Million tons of gasoline we consume each year. Production of this compound should well be within the production capabilities of the US.

The Iron oxides that are produced burning one 10 gallon tank would amount to about 150 mg which is a pitance. Most of this eventually ends up in the oil as "nanoparticles" which do not have the abrasive qualities you might envision with other oxides. This is because the particals of iron are on the atomic scale to begin with using the organic chelating agent as a vehicle to hold the substance in perfect collodal suspension in the gas. It is a highly vaporizable substance when disolved in gasoline (or deisel fuel).

On the other issue with acetone. In 1990's US production, treating all the gas today with 3 oz/10gal mixture would only require 1/3 of our production we used back in 1990. So given this fact, it doesn't seem unreasonable that the cost savings in fuel economy of >18% would more than offset the 33% increase in acetone production.

Furthermore, while acetone is a substance that disolves plastic and rubber compounds to some extent, in the dilution ratio of 0.25% in gasoline, there is probably less effect than the other lighter hydrocarbons like benzene and others.

I still say the fuel economy savings of >100 billion dollars a year is worth the effort in this case. But it only works if it actually becomes mandated to be part of our fuel.

And we are talking about lowering the amount of fuel needed to run our vehicles so the actual savings in the amount of imported oil would be significant. This would help lower prices as well.

There's still an underlying assumption that imports can come from somewhere else.

What if that assumption were invalid?

Do we really want acetone in our drinking water supply? Didn't we just go through a previous oil industry scam to use their waste products to produce an additive, MTBE, for our fuel. I think the general public is much more amenable to the idea of a rapidly bio-degradable ethanol in our water supply than much more resistant acetone.

What is the difference in air pollution levels in Taiwan vs US?

Acetone is considered to be a hazardous substance by some people. Maybe not as toxic as MBTA which used to be used as a fuel addditive, but still a fairly agressive solvent. Plus, it is not produced from "renewable" resources like alcohol can be.

Regarding the use of ethyl alcohol (ethanol) for fuel, since the chemical energy is less per pound, you will require proportionally more of it. It is energy that causes an automobile to travel, not gasoline or ethanol or methanol, etc.

As far as concerns over the use of corn for ethanol production, why not (1.) use industrially produced ethanol or better (2.) remove the tariffs on ethanol imported to the US which is the only thing preventing more ethanol from being implemented as fuel. South America has mucho ethanol for sale, but it would create political issues with farmers and those who grow corn since they couldnot maximize their profits if the tariffs on alcohols made outside the USA were lifted. The technical solutions to the provision of ethanol or other alcohol usage in gasoline are not driving the issue, it is strictly politics, and until the political issues are removed we are not likely to have much happen on the alternative energy front.

ethyl alcohol ..... (ethanol)?????

What is the question? It appears you are questioning ethyl alcohol alternatively being termed ethanol, which is correct.

Where does acetone come from anyway?

And if you were to add it to gas, at what percentages and what changes happen in power output.

Yes i do know the adding of alhahol does drop mileage, and quite a bit also.

Kinda. There are some engine types that produce more power with less fuel, must emissions are significantly worse. Wankel engine comes to mind

As for the comments with Acetone, there are already fuel additives that use acetone. Some of which we have banned from our auto part stores due to the contents eating the bottles, and pooling on the rest of the products and shelving. Chevron with Techron comes to mind. Yes people swear by it, And it does work great on older cars, But newer cars, with plastic fuel tanks, fuel pumps and such, we see alot of damage if the car sat for a week or two.

Acetone when diluted in other fuels (especially at 0.25%) while still having the ability to weaken some materials, is greatly diminished.

If a bottle of acetone dissolves in 2 weeks on the shelf at >50% concentration, it may not dissolve at all at <1% concentration. It's not necessarily a direct linear relationship. It depends on the "corrosiveness" (probably not the right term) of the main constituents (in this case regular gasoline)

I've used acetone on older vehicles and a 2006 model....never any problems but greater horsepower and gas mileage. Always

I have read your message with interest and as I am not a chemical engineer - offer the following for consideration and enlightenment.

Gasoline in the natural refined state consists mainly Naphtha – which has a very quick burning rate. In order to make it burn slower (explosion duration in the cylinder) the old process is/was to add lead oxide. As lead is a known poison, someone discovered that MTBE was more readily and economically available and it was used as an octane enhancer until the side effects were discovered . The next trend was the addition of ethanol alcohol as an octane enhancer (in present use) - more modern refineries use Hydrotreating which injects hydrogen gas at high pressure and temperature and passed through a catalytic reaction to increase the RON #. The gasoline is then further enhanced with propriety additives and colorants before being marketed.

The use of octane enhancers is not to increase the vapor pressure but rather to decrease it - otherwise your gasoline would evaporate out your tank quicker.

Good point about octane enhancers. I didn't know that.

Since the acetone seems to work well on current Gasahol mixutures.....it could be that it would flop with pure gasoline (i.e. pre-combustion knocking and pinging) ?

So maybe there is a better mixture of alcohol (less) and acetone.....that gives you the best of both.

Still I would like to try pure gas and acetone. I think I can do it on an experimental basis by first putting about 1/2 gallon of water in a 5 gallon container and adding about 4 gallons of Gasahol (standard these days in most areas). Then shaking very well and waiting for things to settle. The alcohol would end up mainly in the water and the gas would float. Then I could pour off the gas into another container and then add 0.25% acetone. I could then wait till my car is about out of fuel and then put this mixture in the tank and see how it performs.

Of course, mabye i'll get terrible knocking and pinging.........but in that case I could aways add the appropriate amount of alcohol back in.......or just fill up the rest of my 12 gallon tank with gasahol.

It would be an interesting experiment.

THanks for the octane discussion !

I'm not sure where you got your information, but modern cars burn more than 97% of the fuel. If the combustion was less complete, the catalytic converter would overheat and melt. So, neither of your suggestions would increase mileage to any great extent.

Tests have shown that acetone does not increase gas mileage. The chelated iron would also have little effect, and would ruin the catalytic converter.

Tad

Completely in favor and amazed for the figures, if they are true.

Do you have a link where I can get more info on that?

Is the mixture simple, I mean, can I do it at home?

One more question: do you know how to improve diesel combustion the same way? Diesel engines are a lot more efficient, so I would focus research on those engines.

OldBeaver

No I do not agree so does this link Methanol is commonly used see link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_additive