Fuel Heater project (Kumaran)

[thirsty]

Hello again,
I want to correct something said earlier. I misread the section where fuel heaters are listed in the EPA report. They are listed as not showing any gains in mileage improvement. However, the EPA only tested commercial units and we know just how shonky most of these products actually are. When you look at the performance of commercial hydroxy booster cells and other fuel saving devices it’s hard to have much faith in what you can buy. This brings up some other issues.

Here is an awesome article on acetone and other fuel additives.
http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/additive.htm
He is claiming 20-35% gains when using acetone as an additive.

Quoting from the link:
"BTU content and the degree of vaporization mostly determine MPG."

He states that fuel heaters will increase mileage. I think the mechanism is through quicker vaporization under pressure. IF you where to heat the fuel to near the temperature of vaporization then under cylinder compression the fuel would be mostly vapor just prior to combustion. This would result in a more complete and efficient combustion and in turn better MPG.

I want to talk about the additives the oil companies put into pump petrol and the effects they have on vaporization. Sorry if this is getting off-topic. I am still learning about all this so don't take what I say too seriously. I am trying to use logic and my limited knowledge of chemistry and cars to work it out. As I said earlier, the stats from engineering toolbox say that the flash point of gasoline is low enough for it to form a combustible gas at room temperature. The old school vapor carbs people have experimented with should work with this figure in mind. When people go to test them however they clog up because of additives in the fuel, but have the oil companies also changed the composition of the fuel to manipulate the ignition temperatures and boiling points? The range of boiling points is from 100-400 degrees F, there is a range and not an exact figure because gasoline is a mixture of many hydrocarbons with different properties. For example, by increasing the proportions of hydrocarbons with high boiling points the temperature and pressure at which full vaporization (a necessary precursor to complete combustion) occurs will be higher and the combustion process could be slower or incomplete. The variables in combustion, like ignition temp, flame propagation, excess heat, etc, are dependent on the composition of the fuel and the available oxygen. The way I see it the composition of pump gas could be manipulated to give poor mileage no matter what the fuel air mixture or compression ratio was. Food for thought.

After reading his article I can see acetone working in conjunction with a fuel heater as long as you can stay under the boiling point of acetone (134 degrees F). The acetone will not ignite unless exposed to a flame or subjected to 869 degrees F.

I have an old double bubbler I can setup as a vapor bubble torch. Do you think a small air compressor for pumping tyres would have a steady enough air-flow to work?

[freddyflatfoot]

palic, There is already a topic on fuel additives, might I suggest you post any comments there? Cheers, Rob

[freddyflatfoot]

sorry palic, I should have said thirsty!

[thirsty]

Rob,
I didn't realise there was an active thread discussing acetone as an additive. I remember reading that thread a while ago and the discussion was about napthalene. If I had been more attentive I would have posted there. I was talking about things in terms of fuel heaters as well so I hope it isn't a big deal for anyone.

[freddyflatfoot]

No probs thirsty!
I've just come back to OU after being way for a bit. Been testing acetone myself for the last few weeks, Rob

[coffeyw]

As I understand the issues surrounding the burning of gasoline, (as Thirsty explained) the many different hydrocarbons with their different properties is the reason for why gasoline burns so slowly. This slow burn is the reason for retarding the ignition timing, and actually causes our engines to run hotter and less efficiently. A fuel that is more homogeneous like hydrogen, butane, or even acetone, will burn more quickly, not only because of it's chemical composition, but also because it isn't a mixture of chemicals requiring different parameters in order to burn correctly. When you use one pure flammable chemical mixed in correct proportion with "air", you can optimise every aspect of the combustion process for the qualities of that particular fuel. And because that fuel isn't a mixture, there will be no "Regular", "Plus", and "Premium" grades for it at the pump. Also, because the burn is quicker, the engine runs cooler, and the power conversion process will be more efficient.

As I understand the theory of the vapor carburetors, water vapor is required to be mixed 50/50 with the gasoline vapors. Hot iron (500 deg F) is the catalyst that makes the water and gasoline vapors combine in an endothermic reaction that produces methane(120 octane) and methanol(99 octane).

I have read that some people have managed to bypass the gasoline additive problem by pre-heating the gasoline before spraying it into an evaporation chamber. What doesn't evaporate collects at the bottom of the chamber and is then pumped to the carburetor to be disposed of with all the additives it contains. What gasoline does evaporate is free of the clogging additives and can be run through the catalytic process without any problems.

I also understand there is a in theory that, with the use of a little hydroxy, it may be possible to ignite an extremely lean fuel mixture. The general idea is to give the engine all the air it can it can take. You throttle the engine by restricting the amount of fuel it takes in. This means (except for the method of ignition) the engine runs similar to a diesel. Having a full charge of air, but a miniscule amount of fuel, means more complete burning of the fuel, lower combustion temperatures (which means less NOx emmissions), and a cooler running engine.

Thought some of you might be interested is this link:


At the bottom of the page they state:
MAKE YOUR OWN OCTANE BOOST
How to make your own octane booster (this is the basic formula of one of the popular octane booster products). To make eight 16 ounce bottles (128 oz = 1 gal):

100 oz of toulene for octane boost
25 oz of mineral spirits (cleaning agent)
3 oz of transmission fluid (lubricating agent)

This product is advertised as "octane booster with cleaning agent *and* lubricating agent!". Diesel fuel or kerosene can be substituted for mineral spirits and light turbine oil can be substituted for transmission fluid. Color can be added with petroleum dyes.

Although it's more expensive, I might substitute "Marvel Mystery Oil" for the mineral spirits and transmission fluid.
Here's an article on Marvle Mystery Oil and it's use in aircraft engines:

Hey!! Apparently, they're still using tetra-ethyl lead in aircraft fuel!!

You can use Marvel Mystery Oil in your crankcase as well, although I wouldn't advise doing this with an engine that's been using QuakerState or Castrol (high ash oils) for a long time. If you do, you're liable to clean all the gunk out of your worn out rings and will start burning a lot of oil. Otherwise, I can attest to the fact that a pint added to the crankcase oil 100 or so miles before an oil change will clean up your engine and all the gunk comes out with the old oil. Watch your oil pressure if you do this, because even if you have taken care to change your oil at manufacturer recomended intervals, you may still have so much gunk wash loose that it can clog your oil filter. If your oil filter does clog, the oil will start bypassing the filter, so you'll see a noticeable drop in your oil pressure reading until the oil filter has been changed.

I know a man who has been using Marvel Mystery Oil for years. He bought a brand new Oldsmobile in 1985 and still had it six years ago (2001) when I last saw him. At that time, the car had over half a million miles on it. I know the man to be honest to a fault, so when he said the engine hadn't been worked on other than to change anti-freeze, oil, sparkplugs, sparkplug wires, distributor cap, and rotor button, I had to believe him. I asked him what he had been doing to make his engine last so long. He said he changed his oil every 10,000 miles, and used Slick50, Marvel Mystery Oil, and lots of Prayer. I'll leave it up to you to decide which ingredient has been most effective in preserving his engine.

coffeyw

[zipster]

thirsty
You had a question about the inline heater for a lpg system. The heater is needed because the propane is stored in a liquid form in the tank at 312 psi. The heat is needed to prevent the system from freezing up when the liquid is converted into a gas. The heater uses the engines coolant to prevent freeze up.
The bottle heater used in nitrous systems is used to heat the bottle and bring up bottle pressure. After a couple of runs at the track the bottle gets very cold, the pressure drops and the nitrous/fuel mix goes rich, to much fuel thus you loose power. The bottle warmer keeps the mix consistant.

[kumaran]

[coffeyw]

[freddyflatfoot]

Just a quick one for coffeyw, from my reading of acetone, it is actually a slower burning fuel, meaning that you should get a more complete combustion, due to the flame front lasting longer?
Just a thought from Lou's website,
http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/
cheers,
Rob

[coffeyw]

Rob,

I can fully agree with what you're presenting here. I have no argument with the fact that different chemicals burn at different rates, or that acetone has a slower burn rate.
Actually, what I was trying to say was:
a single chemical in perfect mixture with an oxidizer will burn faster than a mixture of chemicals (with similar burn rates) in perfect mixture with an oxidizer. I can't remember where I found that info, but it came from an explosives expert. What I gleaned from the guy's info was, a mixture of flammable chemicals burns more slowly than the sum of it parts.

Thanks for the feedback!
coffeyw

[kumaran]

[freddyflatfoot]

[kumaran]

[kumaran]