Posted by Don in Missouri [172.68.58.155] on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at 11:39:15 :
The conclusion of this report is that today's gasoline goes bad in storage and ethanol is not to blame.
The research was conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to address the concern that ethanol and water phase separation could be causing problems in boats, lawn mowers and other equipment that sits with fuel onboard for extended periods or in high humidity.
Their experiments prove that the shelf life of the base gasoline is the limiting factor in fuel performance. In other words, the gasoline goes bad due to evaporation of the most volatile compounds long before the fuel can take on enough moisture to cause phase separation in conjunction with the alcohol blend.
To put this in practice for us old truck guys means we don't have to worry about E10 in our tanks, and it's not necessary to seek out ethanol free premium. That will not solve the problem of stale gasoline.
The study conclusions do not address stabilizers or additives that could prolong shelf life. The study points to evaporation of lighter hydrocarbons as the cause of fuel deterioration.
Evaporation and permeation of gas vapors through fuel tanks and hoses is so great, equipment manufacturers recommend using fuel within 3 months.
My personal take on this is that if your truck is going to sit around that much, you should do everything you can to protect your fuel quality. If you're not driving much, then you aren't consuming much and your choice of fuel does not have much impact on national security or the domestic economy. What matters most for energy security is what you burn in your daily driver-that's where you should be burning as much ethanol as possible. I can't say I follow this advice precisely, because I burn biodiesel in everything except my WD Allis Chalmers and my Carryall.
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