ETHANOL

Ethanol

Ethanol

Introduction

With the increasing uncertainty in the international fuel market, it has become vital to search of the gasoline substitutes. When talking about alternate fuel for transportation vehicles, Ethanol is the most viable option. Ethanol is an alcohol, not an oil-based fuel, as it has the same molecular structure as found in alcoholic beverages. Unlike gasoline, ethanol contains additional oxygen molecule that boosts fuel combustion process that help in reducing air pollution. Ethanol or ethyl alcohol obtains made from starch and sugar found in plants. United States obtains more than 90% of its ethanol from corn. Corn converts into ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol

To use ethanol as a transport fuel, it commonly blends with gasoline. In United States, 25% of the vehicle fuels are ethanol blended. Millions of consumers in US are using E10, a blend of ten percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline, across the country. As any vehicle that is gasoline powered can run on E10 without any alteration in its engine, 90% of the ethanol produced in US formulates E10. E10, however, is not considered as fuel alternate but a fuel additive. There are various vehicles specially designed to support higher percentage of ethanol as their fuel. Flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) are designed to support any blend of ethanol and gasoline up to 85% of ethanol. There is a small but emergent market for E85 fuel (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) for use in flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs). E85 is considered as an alternative fuel. Ethanol is also used to formulate a blend with diesel fuel, known as “E-Diesel”, and as are placement for leaded aviation gasoline in small aircraft.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Ethanol

Using ethanol as vehicle fuel has several advantages and disadvantages. One merit of ethanol is its environment friendliness. Ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline. As this ...