I'm running E85 and love it!
There is no E85 in China yet, so it frustrates me every time I go back during school holidays.
Can I make my own E85 from 99.7% anhydrous ethanol that is popular in factories?
Actually, since it comes as 99.7% anhydrous ethanol, can I burn that directly without mixing with gasoline?
If not, what will the problem be?
If I should mix it with at least some gasoline, what mix should I go with? E98?

 

I'm just a new guy, and I'm sure there's someone more qualified to answer this than me but...

The primary concern with running ethanol in any combustion engine is compression. If you run E10 (like much of the US) you can have a relatively "normal" compression ratio. As you move up to E85, if you want to make the most out of it, you need a tune, and as I'm sure you've realized... a higher performance oriented engine will make better use of the power available.

You need the higher compression because the ethanol is in a sense... not as "power packed" as gasoline. If gasoline produces (I don't have exact figures in front of me, so these are arbitrary) 100 units of power for one gallon, E85 will produce roughly 87 units of power for one gallon, and E100 would be roughly 61 units of power for one gallon. (power is really a bad term for this... maybe combustibility?) The reason that cars can make more power is because of the higher compression.

ANYWAY... to answer your question with the HUGE caveat that I have no idea what I'm really talking about... Running E100 seems to be simply a case of getting your compression high enough to make use of it, and a tune that will utilize it.

To my understanding, the reason "we" are using E85 instead of E100 is simply drivability. Ethanol is less than awesome in cold temps, and you won't be able to tune your average econobox to run E100 with the same efficiency that it can run gasoline or E85?

Maybe...?

 

ProPilot04, what in the world are you talking about? He already runs e85 in his car.

zcchenCT9A, why does it matter that there is no e85 in China? You're location states you as in California. Do you have an evo in China too?

 

Right... but he was inquiring about making E85 from E100(ish). I was insinuating that I don't really think he would need to do this, rather just tune the car to run E100...

 

Interesting bit of info, makes sense in theory. If all else fails just get tuned on Diesel TS.

 

 

lol?

 

Why would you tell him to get tuned on diesel?

 

It was a joke that's why I said, "lol?"..

 

OP. You should have posted this in the Alternative Fuel Forum. A few Gurus hang out there. JiminTucson is one of the more informed gents

 

Thanks for the response guys..
Yea, my EVO is in the US and is tuned on E85, that is why I love E85 so much
So I also travel back to China and do own a car back home.. I want to turbo charge that car too..
And I just think E85 or Exx (>85) is such a good type of fuel! I know for sure there is no fuel with high ethanol content in China, so I searched on websites selling industrial materials and found the 99.7% anhydrous ethanol to be cheap! cheaper the gasoline per unit weight (or volume). So I think I should mix some E85.. But then I was thinking, hell, why don't I just burn that E99.7? I am not sure if it is a problem if that 0.3% is something neither gasoline nor ethanol. I do know for a fact that people run E98, so the worst case is that I mix my own E98 in China..

But the final question is that : is the 99.7% anhydrous ethanol the correct type of ethanol to be used to mix with gasoline and make E98 or E85? or is there any other kind of ethanol should be used?

 

yes, you can make your own e85 by mixing pure ethanol with gasoline. you should consider what you are doing though, and take the proper safety precautions.