Acetone as a fuel additive?

[C1ay]

Here's an interesting article I ran across...

Acetone In Fuel Said to Increase Mileage

Readily-available chemical added to gas tank in small proportion improves the fuel's ability to vaporize completely by reducing the surface tension that inhibits vaporization of some fuel droplets.

by Louis LaPointe

 

Acetone (CH3COCH3) is a product that can be purchased inexpensively in most locations around the world, such as in the common hardware, auto parts, or drug store. Added to the fuel tank in tiny amounts, acetone aids in the vaporization of the gasoline or diesel, increasing fuel efficiency, engine longevity, and performance -- as well as reducing hydrocarbon emissions.

 

How it Works

 

Complete vaporization of fuel is far from perfect in today's cars and trucks. A certain amount of residual fuel in most engines remains liquid in the hot chamber. In order to be fully combusted, the fuel must be fully vaporized.

 

Surface tension presents an obstacle to vaporization. For instance the energy barrier from surface tension can sometimes force water to reach 300 degrees Fahrenheit before it vaporizes. Similarly with gasoline.

 

Acetone drastically reduces the surface tension. Most fuel molecules are sluggish with respect to their natural frequency. Acetone has an inherent molecular vibration that "stirs up" the fuel molecules, to break the surface tension. This results in a more complete vaporization with other factors remaining the same. More complete vaporization means less wasted fuel, hence the increased gas mileage from the increased thermal efficiency.

 

That excess fuel was formerly wasted past the rings or sent out the tailpipe but when mixed with acetone it gets burned, though the engine still thinks it is running straight gas.

 

Acetone allows gasoline to behave more like the ideal automotive fuel which is PROPANE. The degree of improved mileage depends on how much unburned fuel you are presently wasting. You might gain 15 to 35-percent better economy from the use of acetone. Sometimes even more.

 

More....

Thoughts anyone?

[CraigD]

Thoughts anyone?

15-35% increase in fuel economy sounds easy enough to test, but only if the instructions are a bit more exact than “added to the fuel tank in tiny amounts”.

[C1ay]

15-35% increase in fuel economy sounds easy enough to test, but only if the instructions are a bit more exact than “added to the fuel tank in tiny amounts”.

If you read the linked article you will see that it specifies 1-3 oz per 10 gallons.

[UncleAl]

Acetone will chew up your elastomers on prolonged contact - seals, gaskets, rubber hoses. One sincerely doubts a trace addition of acetone will make any difference at all in fuel injectors Do you think any gasoline company could stare at "15-35% increase in fuel economy" and not jump on it for the publicity alone?

[C1ay]

Acetone will chew up your elastomers on prolonged contact - seals, gaskets, rubber hoses.

How much effect do you think it will have at the maximum recommended mixture of 2.3 thousandths of a percent?

[HydrogenBond]

Acetone is an excellent solvent and new gasket material would be needed. If one spills it on the plastic skirt of their car it will craze or crack it.

[CraigD]

Acetone will chew up your elastomers on prolonged contact - seals, gaskets, rubber hoses. One sincerely doubts a trace addition of acetone will make any difference at all in fuel injectors Do you think any gasoline company could stare at "15-35% increase in fuel economy" and not jump on it for the publicity alone?

Of course, I'm skeptical of the claim, which reminds me of the carburetor/throttle body widgets one occasionally sees advertised that make similar claims.

 

Just to be fair and unassuming (one might even say credulous and foolish), I was thinking of trying this in a 1992 Cavalier I have cluttering my driveway. I’ve been thinking for some time of scrapping its engine and using it as a hobby electric car, so having its few non-metal fuel line and other parts eaten up by acetone-gasoline wouldn’t be too big a loss.

[C1ay]

Acetone is an excellent solvent and new gasket material would be needed. If one spills in one the plastic skirt of their car it will craze or crack it.

It just doesn't seem to me that 2 to 6 tablespoons of acetone to 10 gallons of gasoline is going to be that agressive. It's only 1 to 3 parts to 1,280.

[UncleAl]

It isn't matter of one-time contact. It is a matter of continuous exposure to fresh solvent. A polar absorptive material - automotive nitrile rubber gaskets, for instance - will continuously extract acetone from the nonpolar fuel feed. The elastomer parts will soften, swell, and fragment.

 

Automotive synlubes are a mixture of poly(alpha-olefin) base stock plus polyester, about 80:20, to carefully balance solvation of elastomer gaskets, seals, and lines they contact. Everytime some idiot Enviro-whiner fuel pogrom is emplaced, cars burst into flame throughout the nation as their plumbing leaks. This is good for business, from the evening news to Detroit.

 

If you meet an Enviro-whiner on the road, kill him - for he is certainly aiming for you after he compassionately cleans out your wallet.

[Odin]

I dont think so. There are two main reasons why

 

1.Acetone boils at 140 degrees...it wouldnt be able to be vapourized into a carborator

 

2.Acetone is a byproduct of incomplete combustion.It cannot used as an additive in combustion because it is a byproduct of incombustion

 

It is the same with anything of the sort. CO is the byproduct of incomplete combustion.Urea is the incomplete combustion of hydrazine within the small intestines.

The small intestines make alot of fancy indole and phenethylamine structures

[Dupuhini]

Due to legal reasons , I was forced to remove this message...

[Pyrotex]

How much effect do you think it will have at the maximum recommended mixture of 2.3 thousandths of a percent?

Woops. :naughty:

 

There are 128 ounces per gallon.

1 oz in 10 gallons is slightly less than 8 hundreths of one percent.

That's one part in 1,280, or 0.0000781 or 0.00781%, to be exact.

 

The combustion products of acetone are toxic and messy.

At normal air pressure and oxygen partial pressure, acetone is difficult to burn and will not burn completely, but produces a nasty black particulate residue.

[C1ay]

Woops.

 

There are 128 ounces per gallon.

1 oz in 10 gallons is slightly less than 8 hundreths of one percent.

That's one part in 1,280, or 0.0000781 or 0.00781%, to be exact..

 

It looks like we agree on the 1 part in 1280. Isn't that 7 in the 0.00781% in the 1000ths place? It looks to me like 7.81 thousandths of 1 percent instead of hundreths.

 

PYROTEX: You are correct. My bad. Rough day at work.

[FredinL]

Howdy. I ran a 97 Sebring convertible with a Mitsubishi engine, from 67,000 km to 312,000 km, using 1.5 oz acetone to a full tank of regular gas (60 liters I think) for 16 years. I would run the tank almost empty, then fill up and add the acetone. My mechanic said it would melt the hoses, melt the injectors, dissolve wire insulation, ruin cylinder walls, kill my O2 sensor, and many other bad things. NOTHING bad ever happened, car passed emission tests with lower than average pollutant counts, no gasket ever failed, gas tank never leaked. I live in northern Ontario, where it is winter for 5 months a year, and -40 is what we call a Tuesday. So for all you "armchair experts" or science wizbangs, you better consider what you think and what you say before you try to win a contest again reality. Your words are (very) cheap. My 312K kilometers (193K miles!) are proof. Why not try opening your mind to facts, instead of repeating inaccurate dogma?

PS: I sold the Sebring, and the buyer drove that car for another 4 years before she sold it on to someone else. Still going strong!

[FredinL]

Forgot! Also improved my gas mileage by about 7% on highway trips, so you can use your sliderules to work out the cost/benefit ratio. I changed plugs for same at 175K km, never had to service injectors. Regular oil changes every 10K km, changed fuel filter @ 175K, changed radiator at 145K (metal shard from truck hauling/dispersing scrap on highway).