Ethanol Fuel on Rotax?

[Turbo_Boss]

Hey guys, I am just curious......... Do you know if it posible to use ETHANOL fuel on Rotax 2 cycle engines?

 

Or have any of you has try it?

 

Here in my country, is going to beguin to sell it at around US$1.50 a gallon.

 

Isaac

 

 

[ozzietriker]

Hi Turbo,

 

It is not recommended to use any fuel that has been blended with ethanol as per the manufacturer's recommendations, having said that I know a guy who has used it in his 582cc without any ill effects. In the USA most people have no choice but to use Avgas 100LL in their aircraft as motor vehicle fuels have been blended down with ethanol.

 

cheers

 

Dennis

 

 

[Turbo_Boss]

Hi Turbo,It is not recommended to use any fuel that has been blended with ethanol as per the manufacturer's recommendations, having said that I know a guy who has used it in his 582cc without any ill effects. In the USA most people have no choice but to use Avgas 100LL in their aircraft as motor vehicle fuels have been blended down with ethanol.

 

cheers

 

Dennis

When you blend gasoline with ethanol and use it on a car, do you know if you get the same, more or lower mileage?

 

Thx,

 

Isaac

 

 

[newairly]

The energy content of ethanol is lower per unit volume that petroleum so you would expect a significant increase in fuel consumption. About 2% increase at 10%ethanol. eg E10

 

However the only time I have tried it, on a long trip in NW NSW using ordinary unleaded one way and E10 back, I seemed to get better economy with E10. That was in a 2000 Magna wagon. The overall fuel consumption was about 8.5l/100km.

 

Ethanol is an oxygenate and supposedly helps reduce some emissions so maybe it can promote more efficient combustion.

 

However I would not use it (E10) in a Rotax because some fuel system components may be incompatable.

 

Have a look at the article "the good, the bad, and the ugly of oxygenated fuels" on this web site which also has a wealth of other useful info about Rotax

 

http://www.800-airwolf.com/articles.htm

 

Phil

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Ask the Brazilians they have been using ethanol for years either blended or neat.

 

for some disscussions yuo can go thru the archieves of www.ultraflightradio.com and download a podcast or two covering ethanol use in Rotax engines.

 

your engine may be ok with ethanol. but it can cause a few problems within the fuel system itself if it is not cleaned out proerly before using ethanol.

 

this is covered in the podcasts.

 

Ozzie

 

 

[Guest airsick]

Newairly is right, the energy content of ethanol is lower. In general it contains around 68 per cent of the energy of unleaded for any given amount. This means that 1 litre of E10 will have around 97 per cent of the energy content - 0.9 * 1 + 0.1 * 0.68 = 0.968.

 

Ethanol does however have a higher octane rating so it may lead to some benefits through this side of things. This said, most modern engines have automatic variable timing so this isn't much of an issue nowadays anyway.

 

Most engines (as others have said) will run on ethanol. It brings in problems with corrosion in the fuel system though but even overcoming this there are other problems that most people don't consider.

 

On an 'energy equivalent' basis ethanol tends not to be competitive. If unleaded is $1.50 per litre then the energy equivalent price of E10 should be 96.8 per cent of this level - $1.452 per litre. Most fuel outlets discount 3 - 4 cents per litre so it isn't competitive. As the price of fuel increases the majority of retailers keep this discount constant making it even worse. For example, while at $1.50 the discount should be around 4.8c per litre at $1.60 it rises to about 5.1c per litre. Cleary fixing the discount at 3 or 4 cents isn't in our favour.

 

Furthermore, it is currently made from the same stuff we eat - mostly grains, corn, etc. We are currently in dorught and there are worldwide shortages of food so adding more demand for already scarce resrouces will result in one thing - higher prices. Thus, the preceived price advantage will come under threat and the energy equivalent pricing will look even worse.

 

There is some interesting reading on the viability of biofuels in WA here - http://www.thecie.com.au/content/publications/CIEfinalbiofuelsreportApr07.pdf

 

Most of the findings extend to other markets within Australia.

 

 

[Guest Macnoz]

Isn't fuel tank material an other consideration as I have read that ethanol "eats" most fibreglass.

 

i notice the new Jab120 is "certified" to have a % ethanol blend whereas it is "forbidden' in the likes of my J160

 

 

[Guest airsick]

I am not sure about 'eating' fibre glass although I guess this is possible. But the problem with corrosion comes from the fact that ethanol actually contains water.

 

When distilled there is around 4 - 9 per cent water remaining in the ethanol. While this can be removed it is incredibly expensive to do so and the marginal gain in performance is quite small so it gets left behind. This can lead to corrosion in parts of the fuel system not designed to transport ethanol.

 

Ethanol can also play havoc with certain plastics and rubbers such that they perish and deteriorate. My main concern would be (aside from leaks of course) that parts of this plastic and rubber may come adrift and lodge themselves elsewhere in the fuel system causing a blockage and potential fuel starvation. Perhaps this could happen to fibreglass tanks?

 

 

[BigPete]

I think that the problem is not the fibreglass tank, but the sealant they use to seal it with. This is "eaten away" by the ethanol. :ah_oh:

 

regards