03/16/2025
๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ?
๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต?
Tis the season of the rampant post about ethanol content.
while I actually went as far as researching this topic in depth and recording a video, during the end phase of that I stumbled across a video that perfectly summarized what I was going to say anyways.
While I will link that video and some research papers, I figured id go over a few important details that those of you whole just want to scroll and not watch a video, can benefit from.
Ethanol (e100) is less energy dense and scale's linearly, that is why various ethanol blends require various additional fuel volume to reach the same burn energy.
๐ข๐ฐ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด (Chemical advantage)
Ethanol has a NON-liner increase in octane rating, e50 when blended with CARBOB (87 octane) you have around the highest octane at around 103. after e50, you have very little notable increase in octane.
๐๐๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ก๐๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง (thermal advantage)
Ethanol (e100) has a higher LHOV than gasoline. this scales linearly with different blends. LHOV refers to the heat (energy) used in phase change from a liquid to a gas. this is why ethanol blends commonly are associated with "cooling properties". This property also becomes more prevalent when you factory in the additional fuel volume needed for the correct burn, so with higher e content you have even more "cooling" as you are injecting more fuel with a higher LHOV. lower in cylinder temps, reduce the possibility for a knock event to occur.
๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง (opinionated but based on science)
If you have an engine that can operate with just the added benefits of higher octane, e50 or higher would be perfectly adequate and suitable. there *could* be some additional power on higher blends due to some other properties of ethanol like frame front propagation in regards to cylinder pressure as well as the oxygen intensity.
If you have an engine on the raged edge of these general octane ratings and/or a scenario where you have less than desirable charge air temps, it would be best to go after the highest ethanol content from a ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ฒ perspective.
Note that LHOV increase is even more advantageous with DI engines VS PI engines.
Let the comment frenzy and arguments begin!
more science related posts to come, as well as developments ive made in regards to motorsports wiring and product solutions. I know I have been pretty quiet on here, but i promise you that is not from a lack of effort, alot of things going on in the background, and alot of very good things to come.
sited sources
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275258412_Heat_of_Vaporization_Measurements_for_Ethanol_Blends_Up_To_50_Volume_Percent_in_Several_Hydrocarbon_Blendstocks_and_Implications_for_Knock_in_SI_Engines
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255220158_Investigation_of_Knock_Limited_Compression_Ratio_of_Ethanol_Gasoline_Blends
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283426007_Effects_of_ethanol_blends_on_gasoline_engine_performance_and_exhaust_emissions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_DQPLihXfo
Ethanol has less energy than gasoline, but it can make so much more horsepower!Is ethanol bad for your car's engine? https://youtu.be/ATGSBi1kBl0Subscribe to...
