The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 406
Would the caked-on residue affect the functionality of an engine's pistons?
Would the solid caked-on bits break off and affect the functionality of other parts
of the engine? Of course it would. This is one of the reasons why engines fail
and why mechanics have to clean out an engine. To mitigate this problem gasoline companies add "detergents" to the gasoline to help dissolve the build-up.
If gasoline was a more effective solvent it might be able to remove the residue
that burnt gasoline creates.
In an article published by GasBuddy.com on June 29, 2013; Gregg Laskoski
wrote about automakers' efforts to encourage the development of more effective gasoline detergents. Mr. Laskoski is Sr. Petroleum Analyst at GasBuddy
and, interestingly enough, had been Managing Director of Public Relations at
AAA Auto Club South. Here's are some excerpts from that article:
"The automakers formed a consortium, Top Tier Gasoline, that certifies
retailers as meeting their standard for detergent. They say it's necessary
because detergents prevent deposits of leftover material from building up
in engines and exhaust systems. The deposits are like the ash that remains in a fireplace, and their presence in your car's engine can reduce
fuel economy and performance."
"We strongly recommend Top Tier detergent gasoline to keep your engine clean,” GM fuel specialist Bill Studzinski said. “Fuel economy, emissions, and acceleration all suffer when there are deposits in an engine."
I hope you noticed that there isn't one single mention of ethanol in these two
paragraphs that attribute the deposits and residue problem to ethanol. And if
you have the opportunity to read the entire article you'll see that the word ethanol never appears anywhere in the text of the story.
Let me take you in a different direction. Imagine having a fuel that creates much
less residue and is a very effective solvent at the same time. In other words,
something that might a small mess, and then cleans up after itself...along with
cleaning up the mess left by the petroleum-based fuels. Isn't that better? How
could it not be better?
But wait, some engines do have problems with sludge, tar, gunk, goo, crap (or
whatever you want to call it) after the fuel has been switched to ethanol or an
ethanol blend. There, I said it; I admitted it.
If you could fault ethanol fuels for anything, it's that they are too efficient at
cleaning the residue and deposits. But that's like complaining that your
