Posted by Dave in CA [108.162.215.73] on Thursday, February 23, 2017 at 11:28:06 :
In Reply to: Re: E10 Gas and Octane Rating posted by Matt Wilson [108.162.237.163] on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 at 13:39:46 :
Alcohol is hygroscopic and will get together with any water in the gasoline. The alcohol and water mix is more dense and will settle at the bottom. If you add a clear tube and ball valve (I prefer the metal ones that are gas, oil, water compatible) to a 5 gallon gasoline container, you have a setup that allows you to remove the ethanol. The attached article will explain further. It happens to be a motorcycle article, since I was having the most trouble with the tiny motorcycle carbs at the time. Removing the ethanol lowers the octane slightly, but if you start with a higher grade than you need, the result should work for you. If you need the octane, an easy way is to add about as much volume of race gas, (e.g. 110 octane) from the local hot rod shop, as you removed ethanol. An earlier post said that even higher concentrations of ethanol than the current 10%, say 20-40%, would be ideal for power. I disagree, since a gallon of ethanol contains only 2/3 the energy as gasoline. And, even if it did have the same energy, the deterioration of the elastomeric/rubber components and corrosion in the fuel system, caused by the ethanol would be reason enough to avoid it. I would rather have the octane rating achieved without alcohol, and there are several ways to do this. In conclusion, one of the only things I have found that differs from the article, and others like it, is that I have found that I can do a more complete job of removing all the alcohol by doing the process 3 times, rather than just once. But, since distilled water is not too expensive, I don't mind.
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