Buschur Racing ethanol content testing, mind blown.
Jun 26, 2014, 07:52 AM
#1
Buschur Racing ethanol content testing, mind blown.
Alright…….long story, I'll make it as short as possible and try to get all the information in this I can.
We have drums of purchased E98 here at the shop. After putting some in a few cars with flex fuel sensors the ethanol content was coming up way short of the expected E98 reading. I assumed that the ethanol had taken on water from condensation and that was the problem.
I did a lot of Google searching to find out what happens when water is introduced to ethanol and how it effects the reading on the meter…….I found nothing.
I decided to build a test fixture for transferring fuel from the drums to the cans/cars and then we would know as it was pumped what the ethanol content was.
Now as a side note, before you watch the video. I became interested in ethanol back around 2004 and applied for Small Ethanol Plant Permit and have been making ethanol at home through a Reflux Still I also built. I was hoping this new test device I built was going to shorten the process of testing that ethanol. I was wrong. In the video I tested some E90 I produced and in the video I verified the E90 (other 10% in my ethanol is water) with a hydrometer before the testing, also in the video.
I'll skip forward to answer some of the obvious questions.
The Ethanol Content Analyzer after talking with Zeitronix, does NOT test ETHANOL content. It actually test for GASOLINE content in the flex fuel sensor and then the ECA does the math for us telling us what the percentage of ethanol is or I think more accurately, what percentage of what is going through the flex fuel sensor is NOT gasoline. You will understand that more after watching the video.
Enjoy.
We have drums of purchased E98 here at the shop. After putting some in a few cars with flex fuel sensors the ethanol content was coming up way short of the expected E98 reading. I assumed that the ethanol had taken on water from condensation and that was the problem.
I did a lot of Google searching to find out what happens when water is introduced to ethanol and how it effects the reading on the meter…….I found nothing.
I decided to build a test fixture for transferring fuel from the drums to the cans/cars and then we would know as it was pumped what the ethanol content was.
Now as a side note, before you watch the video. I became interested in ethanol back around 2004 and applied for Small Ethanol Plant Permit and have been making ethanol at home through a Reflux Still I also built. I was hoping this new test device I built was going to shorten the process of testing that ethanol. I was wrong. In the video I tested some E90 I produced and in the video I verified the E90 (other 10% in my ethanol is water) with a hydrometer before the testing, also in the video.
I'll skip forward to answer some of the obvious questions.
The Ethanol Content Analyzer after talking with Zeitronix, does NOT test ETHANOL content. It actually test for GASOLINE content in the flex fuel sensor and then the ECA does the math for us telling us what the percentage of ethanol is or I think more accurately, what percentage of what is going through the flex fuel sensor is NOT gasoline. You will understand that more after watching the video.
Enjoy.
Last edited by David Buschur; Jun 26, 2014 at 01:22 PM.
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Jun 26, 2014, 11:26 AM
#11
Thanks for conducting this test; it is very interesting. Every time I fill up I test my e85 to make sure its actually on par. I was traveling one time and tested the fuel at a random station and it came out to like e50. Glad I tested it with my little test tube thingy.
David- Im a little confused though with your findings. I understand that the sensor tests for presence of gas not ethanol and then draws its conclusions from that. What I dont get though is when you tested 100% water it came out to e100 because it didnt find any gasoline thus the rest was assumed to be ethanol. OK that makes sense. However when you tested your brewed ethanol which you know to be 90% with the other 10% being water right now it came out to 0% ethanol. How could that be? Why wouldnt it also show it to be e100 like the water sample since there is 0% gasoline in it?
David- Im a little confused though with your findings. I understand that the sensor tests for presence of gas not ethanol and then draws its conclusions from that. What I dont get though is when you tested 100% water it came out to e100 because it didnt find any gasoline thus the rest was assumed to be ethanol. OK that makes sense. However when you tested your brewed ethanol which you know to be 90% with the other 10% being water right now it came out to 0% ethanol. How could that be? Why wouldnt it also show it to be e100 like the water sample since there is 0% gasoline in it?
Jun 26, 2014, 11:31 AM
#12
Thanks for conducting this test; it is very interesting. Every time I fill up I test my e85 to make sure its actually on par. I was traveling one time and tested the fuel at a random station and it came out to like e50. Glad I tested it with my little test tube thingy.
David- Im a little confused though with your findings. I understand that the sensor tests for presence of gas not ethanol and then draws its conclusions from that. What I dont get though is when you tested 100% water it came out to e100 because it didnt find any gasoline thus the rest was assumed to be ethanol. OK that makes sense. However when you tested your brewed ethanol which you know to be 90% with the other 10% being water right now it came out to 0% ethanol. How could that be? Why wouldnt it also show it to be e100 like the water sample since there is 0% gasoline in it?
David- Im a little confused though with your findings. I understand that the sensor tests for presence of gas not ethanol and then draws its conclusions from that. What I dont get though is when you tested 100% water it came out to e100 because it didnt find any gasoline thus the rest was assumed to be ethanol. OK that makes sense. However when you tested your brewed ethanol which you know to be 90% with the other 10% being water right now it came out to 0% ethanol. How could that be? Why wouldnt it also show it to be e100 like the water sample since there is 0% gasoline in it?
Jun 26, 2014, 12:21 PM
#14
Just wanted to make sure I wasn't being dense. As I think about it, Im not sure it really matters that it shows 100% when testing water because realistically it should never be subjected to those conditions in the first place.
I guess the question remains though, will it pick up on the presence of water assuming the fuel is contaminated?
I want to say yes since as you add water to the sample the amount of ethanol is staying the same thus its % relative to the gasoline and now the water would go down. Is that a fair assumption?
Jun 26, 2014, 01:08 PM
#15
Just wanted to make sure I wasn't being dense. As I think about it, Im not sure it really matters that it shows 100% when testing water because realistically it should never be subjected to those conditions in the first place.
I guess the question remains though, will it pick up on the presence of water assuming the fuel is contaminated?
I want to say yes since as you add water to the sample the amount of ethanol is staying the same thus its % relative to the gasoline and now the water would go down. Is that a fair assumption?