The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 107
The report is titled, "Sulfate Salts in Gasoline
and Ethanol Fuels – Historical Perspective
and Analysis of Available Data." It was published in September 2017 and can be found at
https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy17osti/69001.pdf.
Here's the thing, as I often say during my public speaking appearances, all liquids are corrosive, and one of the most corrosive liquids in
the world is water. Water is so corrosive that if
metals aren't treated or cared for, it could
cause our largest aircraft carriers and biggest
passenger jets to fall apart. Yet, we drink water, we wash in water, we even bathe newborn babies in water. But because
the corrosive characteristics of water can be overcome with appropriate materials, babies can go about 60 or 70 years before they start to corrode (yes,
you're supposed to laugh at this point).
Gasoline is corrosive, too. Inhibitors are added to gasoline to reduce corrosion.
Many, many people think that non-ethanol gasoline is some kind of benign fluid
gently caressing engine components and protecting the metal and rubber parts
in some kind of an ongoing mechanical love ballet.
Hah! Gasoline is a toxic, caustic, corrosive liquid.
Unbeknownst to most people, especially those ethanol-bashers who wouldn't want to learn any real
facts, prior to the invention of leaded-gasoline, ethanol was considered the best substance to put in
your vehicle's engine during long periods of inactivity. That's right, it was recommended to fill your vehicle's fuel tank and fuel system with ethanol fuel. In
his 1919 maintenance manual for the Ford Model T
(the world's number one selling automobile for almost two decades), Victor Page wrote, "Denatured
alcohol (ethanol fuel) is without doubt the best substance to use as it does not have any destructive
action on the metals and rubber hose, will not form
deposits of foreign matter, and has no electrolytic
effect." No literature of the period was ever published to refute that recommendation.
