Agricultural alcohol in automotive fuel: Nebraska GASOHOL

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1973

OSTI ID:7352090

Scheller, W A

Pure grain alcohol has a high octane number (of the order of 106). When blended with gasoline of lower octane it will naturally improve the octane number; e.g., up to a concentration of 25 percent grain alcohol, the octane increases linearly with alcohol content. For gasoline with octane number 91.0, a grain alcohol concentration of 10 percent causes an octane increase of approximately 3 numbers; and at 25 percent the increase is approximately 8 numbers. Data also show that the power output and the specific fuel consumption, in general, increase with increasing alcohol content at compression ratios of 8:1 or less; at 9:1 the detrimental effect of pre-ignition comes into play. The history of programs of alcohol-fuel usage in Nebraska is traced briefly, including legislation passed to enhance the usage. As used in this report, GASOHOL means a mixture of 10 percent agriculturally derived ethyl alcohol and 90 percent gasoline. It is pointed out that there are at least three factors important to the economic future of GASOHOL: (1) the price of gasoline; (2) the price of grain; and (3) the value of by-products from the alcohol manufacturing process.

• Research Organization: Nebraska Univ., Lincoln (USA). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
• OSTI ID: 7352090
• Report Number(s): CONF-7310124-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
090222* -- Alcohol Fuels-- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass-- (1976-1989)
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
295000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Hydrogen & Synthetic Fuels
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
330800 -- Emission Control-- Alternative Fuels
ALCOHOLS
AUTOMOTIVE FUELS
DISPERSIONS
ETHANOL
FUELS
GASOHOL PROGRAM
GASOLINE
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
MIDWEST REGION
MIXTURES
NEBRASKA
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
SYNTHETIC FUELS
USA