Is Ethanol Gasoline Harmful to Cars?

[McSimon]

Using ethanol gasoline has both disadvantages and advantages. More detailed information is as follows: 1. Disadvantages: Ethanol gasoline for cars has many shortcomings in terms of combustion value, power performance, and corrosion resistance: 1. The heat value of ethanol is 60% of that of conventional gasoline. According to relevant reports, if a car uses gasoline mixed with 10% ethanol without any modifications, the engine's fuel consumption will increase by 5%. 2. Ethanol has a high latent heat of vaporization, and its evaporation temperature under the theoretical air-fuel ratio is higher than that of conventional gasoline. This affects the formation of the air-fuel mixture and the combustion speed, leading to a decrease in the car's power performance, fuel economy, and cold-start performance, which is detrimental to the car's acceleration. 3. Ethanol produces acetic acid during combustion, which has a corrosive effect on car metals, especially copper. Relevant tests show that when the ethanol content in gasoline is between 0% and 10%, there is basically no corrosion to metals. However, when the ethanol content exceeds 15%, effective corrosion inhibitors must be added. 4. Ethanol is an excellent solvent and can cause slight corrosion, swelling, softening, or cracking to the car's sealing rubber and other synthetic non-metallic materials. 5. Ethanol is prone to absorbing water. When the water content in ethanol gasoline exceeds the standard, it is easy to undergo phase separation. 2. Advantages: 1. High octane number and good anti-knock performance. 2. The oxygen content of ethanol is as high as 34.7%. When gasoline contains 10% ethanol, the oxygen content can reach 35%. 3. The use of ethanol gasoline can effectively reduce car exhaust emissions and improve the energy structure. Domestic studies show that E15 ethanol gasoline (with 15% ethanol content in gasoline) reduces hydrocarbon emissions by 16.2% and carbon monoxide emissions by 30% compared to pure unleaded gasoline. 4. The production of fuel ethanol has abundant resources and mature technology. When the ethanol content in gasoline is less than 10%, ethanol gasoline can be used directly without major modifications to the existing car engine.