Wednesday, October 27, 2010
last one!
So it turns out my blog is already wayyyyyyy too long, so I'm going to go ahead and close it out now. I hope the information included in here has been informative for you, and at least I got myself a blog opened, and can add things into it as I go. I plan on running my car at Pinks All Out November 19/20/21 in Phoenix, the furthest I will have traveled to date to do some racing. Pinks All Out from Denver airs next weekend, November 7th I believe. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope this helps you make a decision to think about change over your race car to an ethanol blend.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
no real update
so it turns out I've been citing things incorrectly, and this paper is mostly about citing, so I'll be making a few edits soon so it's in a turn-inable shape. I've decided that when I'm president, I'm going to totally change the MLA and APA versions of citations to be easy, and not as stupid.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
As promised... Biodiesel
Turns out, according to my "writing at RRCC" manual thingy I had to shell out $75 for, I'm not citing my sources correctly. Please forgive me as I figure out the correct MLA way to cite websources. Edits will occur.
Before we get started on biodiesel, I'm going to go ahead and define it:
Biodiesel: a fuel made primarily from oily plants (such as the soybean or oil palm) and to a lesser extent from other oily sources (such as waste cooking fat from restaurant deep-frying). Biodiesel, which has found greatest acceptance in Europe, is used in diesel engines and usually blended with petroleum diesel fuel in various percentages (see also renewable energy).
"biodiesel." . (hey I did one correctly)
And next, so you understand how this fuel can be used in a diesel engine, a little class on diesel combustion. The diesel engine was invented by Rudolf Diesel, and he achieved his patent for the engine in 1898. His first prototype was "green" way before its time, and ran off of peanut oil. The greatest difference between a gasoline internal combustion engine and a diesel internal combustion engine is the source of ignition. Where a gasoline engine has spark plugs to ignite the fuel/air mixture, a diesel relies solely on compression to ignite the air/fuel mixture. Rudolf Diesel knew that if you got any liquid, except for water, hot enough and under enough pressure, it would ignite. Although some diesel engines have "glow plugs" to aid in cold starting, they are not, in fact, spark plugs, and the mixture does ignite by compression still. Why is this important in the operation of a diesel with bio fuels? It's simply because a diesel engine can ignite any oily substance still in its combustion process. At the time the engine was invented, it was an astounding 70% more efficient than the standard at the time, the steam engine.
In the last 3 years, all diesel fuel sold has been reduced to an "ultra low sulfur diesel" (ULSD) , an attempt to keep the soot that a diesel exhaust expends in check. The problem with this system is that the refining properties to diesel fuel have made it as expensive as premium unleaded, as well as striped much-needed lubricant from the fuel. The latest diesel engines have combated this problem by using different types of pumps and injectors, but for my 1991.5 Dodge, this is an impossibility. To offset the now low lubrication fuel from destroying my injection pump, I began adding a quart of non-detergent SAE 30 motor oil to my fuel. Yes, I put a quart of oil in with each fill up. I get some strange looks when I do this, but the non-detergent oil is exactly only that... oil. The oil strands do not get broken down by the fuel, and since there are no detergents, the oil does not reduce what lubricant lubricant properties the fuel does still have. I have yet to have an issue, although the black smoke "sooty" exhaust that I lost with the swtich to ULSD has come back (I don't mind). So why the want for biodiesel if I've come up with an alternative? Well, basically because of the first three letters in the word. Bio. I'd prefer not having to put another refined fossil fuel into my tank to gain the lubrication I desire. Since biodiesel is made from oils, it adds back the lubrication that was lost, and then some. With that fact, and the fact that biodiesel is cleaner, more powerful, and environmentally friendly, I'm sold.
Biodiesel can be made out of many different oils that occur in nature or as byproducts. The latest innovation has been making algae to press and make an oil that can be processed and made into fuel. However, like the definition above states, it can be made by anything that's oily. There's many homebuilt kits a person can get to produce biodiesel in their garage made from an old hot water heater and a few storage containers.
This setup, and others like it, can make fuel at around $1.25/gallon, assuming you get free oil. Problem with this is when fuel was over $5/gallon 2 years or so ago, these got popular, and restaurants that used to give away oil, now started charging. I believe, from what I've heard, one can still produce biodiesel in one of these processors for under $2/gallon, but it's not instant, and it's messy. (Biodiesel, par 4)
So if it's so cheap to produce, why doesn't everyone do it? Well, it's a matter of supply and demand. There's only so much waste oil around, and the brewing process is not quick and its not clean. Enter the commercial biodiesel plant. These plants began studding the midwest when farmers were looking for other ways to get rid of biowaste, so why not burn it? Shortly after, Congress got wind of this phenomenon and as part of the "JOBS" act, added a tax credit for retail diesel pumps that began mixing biodiesel into regular diesel at a percentage equal to 2% but not more than 98%, and thus B2, B20(most common), and B98 began springing up at truck stops all over the country, the number corresponding percentage of bio to diesel. This was made possible by several biodiesel co-ops that produced biodiesel for legal dispensaries nationwide. The bio component (a mixture of waste oil and actual bio components) are mostly farm waste and algae farms that worked with fish farms in the midwest. Unfortunately in 2010, congress did not re-instate this credit, and the B2/B20/and B98 pumps disappeared in favor of pure ULSD again.
Another option? Greasecar! If a biodiesel savvy person had a source for waste oil, and decided not to go through the hassle of producing biofuel from it, they could purchase a kit to run the waste oil straight into the injection pump of their car/truck and run on the oil for another inexpensive fuel alternative, as well as a more environmentally conscious choice. Although there are at least a dozen companies doing these conversions, the folks at greasecar have taken their operation to new heights. The system turns a vehicle into a two tank system, one for diesel to warm up the engine, and the other for either waste or straight (unused) vegetable oil (WVO, SVO). Heat is key with this type of system as the saturated fats in the vegetable oil fats begin to coagulate at around 40 degrees F. As long as the oil stays above that level, it flows as a liquid, and can be burned in a diesel engine. (Greasecar, par 2)
This picture is from a Volkswagen turbo diesel injection (TDI) installation. All of the red lines are the oil lines. The idea with the system is great, but the drawbacks are many. If the engine is shut off while it's running on oil, the lines, injectors, pumps, etc. will all eventually become gummed up with saturated fat... which is not easy or pleasant to clean up. The system is pretty much only a summer use system for this reason; even if the engine is properly warmed up and properly shut down, the amount of energy it would take to heat a 30 gallon coagulated tank of oil in it to a flowing temperature would be outrageous. Although the heat from the engine and coolant would eventually do it, it would likely take 2-3 hours before it was safe to use. (Greasecar, par 1)
So what's the moral of the story? Bring back the tax credit, and the blends will begin appearing again, and I'll start buying it again!
Before we get started on biodiesel, I'm going to go ahead and define it:
Biodiesel: a fuel made primarily from oily plants (such as the soybean or oil palm) and to a lesser extent from other oily sources (such as waste cooking fat from restaurant deep-frying). Biodiesel, which has found greatest acceptance in Europe, is used in diesel engines and usually blended with petroleum diesel fuel in various percentages (see also renewable energy).
"biodiesel." . (hey I did one correctly)
And next, so you understand how this fuel can be used in a diesel engine, a little class on diesel combustion. The diesel engine was invented by Rudolf Diesel, and he achieved his patent for the engine in 1898. His first prototype was "green" way before its time, and ran off of peanut oil. The greatest difference between a gasoline internal combustion engine and a diesel internal combustion engine is the source of ignition. Where a gasoline engine has spark plugs to ignite the fuel/air mixture, a diesel relies solely on compression to ignite the air/fuel mixture. Rudolf Diesel knew that if you got any liquid, except for water, hot enough and under enough pressure, it would ignite. Although some diesel engines have "glow plugs" to aid in cold starting, they are not, in fact, spark plugs, and the mixture does ignite by compression still. Why is this important in the operation of a diesel with bio fuels? It's simply because a diesel engine can ignite any oily substance still in its combustion process. At the time the engine was invented, it was an astounding 70% more efficient than the standard at the time, the steam engine.
In the last 3 years, all diesel fuel sold has been reduced to an "ultra low sulfur diesel" (ULSD) , an attempt to keep the soot that a diesel exhaust expends in check. The problem with this system is that the refining properties to diesel fuel have made it as expensive as premium unleaded, as well as striped much-needed lubricant from the fuel. The latest diesel engines have combated this problem by using different types of pumps and injectors, but for my 1991.5 Dodge, this is an impossibility. To offset the now low lubrication fuel from destroying my injection pump, I began adding a quart of non-detergent SAE 30 motor oil to my fuel. Yes, I put a quart of oil in with each fill up. I get some strange looks when I do this, but the non-detergent oil is exactly only that... oil. The oil strands do not get broken down by the fuel, and since there are no detergents, the oil does not reduce what lubricant lubricant properties the fuel does still have. I have yet to have an issue, although the black smoke "sooty" exhaust that I lost with the swtich to ULSD has come back (I don't mind). So why the want for biodiesel if I've come up with an alternative? Well, basically because of the first three letters in the word. Bio. I'd prefer not having to put another refined fossil fuel into my tank to gain the lubrication I desire. Since biodiesel is made from oils, it adds back the lubrication that was lost, and then some. With that fact, and the fact that biodiesel is cleaner, more powerful, and environmentally friendly, I'm sold.
Biodiesel can be made out of many different oils that occur in nature or as byproducts. The latest innovation has been making algae to press and make an oil that can be processed and made into fuel. However, like the definition above states, it can be made by anything that's oily. There's many homebuilt kits a person can get to produce biodiesel in their garage made from an old hot water heater and a few storage containers.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Biodiesel.org |
So if it's so cheap to produce, why doesn't everyone do it? Well, it's a matter of supply and demand. There's only so much waste oil around, and the brewing process is not quick and its not clean. Enter the commercial biodiesel plant. These plants began studding the midwest when farmers were looking for other ways to get rid of biowaste, so why not burn it? Shortly after, Congress got wind of this phenomenon and as part of the "JOBS" act, added a tax credit for retail diesel pumps that began mixing biodiesel into regular diesel at a percentage equal to 2% but not more than 98%, and thus B2, B20(most common), and B98 began springing up at truck stops all over the country, the number corresponding percentage of bio to diesel. This was made possible by several biodiesel co-ops that produced biodiesel for legal dispensaries nationwide. The bio component (a mixture of waste oil and actual bio components) are mostly farm waste and algae farms that worked with fish farms in the midwest. Unfortunately in 2010, congress did not re-instate this credit, and the B2/B20/and B98 pumps disappeared in favor of pure ULSD again.
 | |
| Biodiesel production facility in Washington State | Photo courtesy United States Department of Energy |
Another option? Greasecar! If a biodiesel savvy person had a source for waste oil, and decided not to go through the hassle of producing biofuel from it, they could purchase a kit to run the waste oil straight into the injection pump of their car/truck and run on the oil for another inexpensive fuel alternative, as well as a more environmentally conscious choice. Although there are at least a dozen companies doing these conversions, the folks at greasecar have taken their operation to new heights. The system turns a vehicle into a two tank system, one for diesel to warm up the engine, and the other for either waste or straight (unused) vegetable oil (WVO, SVO). Heat is key with this type of system as the saturated fats in the vegetable oil fats begin to coagulate at around 40 degrees F. As long as the oil stays above that level, it flows as a liquid, and can be burned in a diesel engine. (Greasecar, par 2)
 |
| Photo courtesy of Greasecar INC |
So what's the moral of the story? Bring back the tax credit, and the blends will begin appearing again, and I'll start buying it again!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
E85 viability as a road fuel and a race fuel
Ethanol, mixed with unleaded fuel at an 85/15 ratio (respectively), is E85 fuel. In the early 2000's, flexible fuel vehicles began rolling off of the assembly line from Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Motors LLC. GM followed suit closely behind, and E85 was on its way to being a viable fuel source. These new vehicles tout electronic fuel injection systems that work in somewhat differing fashions to allow any ethanol blend from E10 (standard pump fuel from 2001 on, 10% ethanol, 90% unleaded gasoline) to E85, and maintain a reasonable stoich air fuel ratio. For gasoline, perfect combustion occurs at 14.3:1 air to fuel ratio as measured by an oxygen sensor in the exhaust. For E85, perfect combustion occurs at ~9.6:1 air to fuel ratio. (race on E85, par 1) The electronic fuel injection systems in these cars are able to "tweak" the fuel injector dwell rate (the time the injector is open relative to crankshaft rotation) to add the additional fuel needed for the ethanol combustion. Ford and Chrysler use a set of four oxygen sensors to accomplish these adjustments, and GM uses oxygen sensors as well as an inline ethanol content tester in the fuel line, allowing the GM cars to adjust more quickly to the E10-E85 mixture, and more precisely meter the fuel into the engine. Add to that the amazing increase in E85 pumps springing up around the country, and the fuel becomes even more of a viable fuel source.
You'll notice above I said that injectors must be open longer to run higher levels of ethanol. This is one of the drawbacks to running E85. The fuel usage for an apples to apples vehicle, one running E10 (standard pump unleaded) and another running E85 will be greater by approximately 30% for the E85 vehicle. What this means is the entire fuel system has to be able to flow at least 30% more in comparison to the E10 counterparts. This does translate into an approximately 30% decrease in fuel economy while using E85, the main argument against utilizing E85 in everyday vehicles. Although E85 is cheaper by the gallon (~$2.15-$2.50/gallon in Denver metro), the additional fuel required does not make Ethanol a cheaper alternative to gasoline unless gasoline soars to above $4.00/gallon with no change in E85 pricing. The reason for this is that a gallon of ethanol contains approx. 80,000 BTUs. A gallon of unleaded regular contains about 119,000 BTUs. The lower amount of potential energy effects the overall fuel economy. (Ethanol par 4)
So if you look purely at BTU's, one might come to the conclusion that E85 would make less power than gasoline. On paper it may look this way, but we are comparing a gallon to a gallon. Once you add the additional fuel supply required for E85, the benefits start to shine in a high performance application. In fact, the Indianapolis Racing League (IRL) has switched all Indy cars to 100% ethanol for these extremely high performance machines. (http://www.ethanol.org/index.php?id=50 E85) has been given an octane rating of 105, although with its lower combustion chamber temperatures, it is as resistant to pre-ignition and detonation as 110 octane leaded racing fuel (~$7.50-$9.00/gallon). Because of these facts, and the fact that ethanol itself is a bio-fuel, capable of being produced, refined, and utilized all in this country, as well as the relative ease of finding the fuel, I chose to use E85 this year in my racecar, a 1970 firebird with a 468 cubic inch big block Chevrolet with Brodix heads and a converted 1150 cubic feet per minute holley "dominator" carburetor that I had converted by Mark Sullens E85 Carburetors out of Kansas City, MO. (Mark Sullens E85, par 1)
Mark Sullens did an awesome job on my carburetor. When the unit is sent to him, he gave me a form to fill out to ensure my carburetor would be set up perfectly for my application. I couldn't be happier with the conversion that I paid for.
Throughout the year, I spent time learning the new fuel as well as a new car, new fuel pump, and new ignition. I chased a few problems for the first month or so, but once I got some fine tuning completed, and a wideband oxygen sensor, I got the car figured out. The air to fuel ratios have been perfect, and when I wasn't having to tune the car at the track, I started winning some races, and finished 25th in points in Pro ET at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, CO, and 12th in points in PRO ET at Douglas Motorsports Park, Douglas, WY, and earned a spot at the ET division finals in Topeka, KS.
For my "scholarly" journal, I chose to use an article posted in SAE international based on a direct injection/port fuel injection flex fuel setup used in the Ford Motor Company's "ecoboost" engines. This setup uses a port fuel injected engine for E10 fuels, just like the "normal" port fuel injected engines of modern day, but the differences start there. The "ecoboost" engine uses a direct injection setup for e85, that is, the E85 blend is injected into the combustion chamber much like many newer diesel engines, as opposed to the port injection it uses for the e10 blend that injects the fuel on top of the intake valve. By utilizing this dual setup, the "ecoboost" engine was able to bridge the fuel economy gap between e10 and e85, bringing the economy within 10%, yet the engine was able to produce almost 50% more horsepower by direct injecting the e85 blend, and adjusting the fuel and spark curves to best burn the available ethanol in the combustion chamber.
This new technology, and the new usage of multiple injection systems for different blends of fuels, in my opinion, is absolutely the future of ethanol blended fuels. (Stein, House, and Leone par 2).
Next time... Biodiesel
http://www.raceone85.com/
http://www.e85fuel.com/e85-and-ethanol-blends/
http://marksullense85carburetors.com/
http://www.ethanol.org/index.php?id=50
http://saefuel.saejournals.org/content/2/1/670.abstract
 |
| (http://www.e85fuel.com/e85-and-ethanol-blends/) |
You'll notice above I said that injectors must be open longer to run higher levels of ethanol. This is one of the drawbacks to running E85. The fuel usage for an apples to apples vehicle, one running E10 (standard pump unleaded) and another running E85 will be greater by approximately 30% for the E85 vehicle. What this means is the entire fuel system has to be able to flow at least 30% more in comparison to the E10 counterparts. This does translate into an approximately 30% decrease in fuel economy while using E85, the main argument against utilizing E85 in everyday vehicles. Although E85 is cheaper by the gallon (~$2.15-$2.50/gallon in Denver metro), the additional fuel required does not make Ethanol a cheaper alternative to gasoline unless gasoline soars to above $4.00/gallon with no change in E85 pricing. The reason for this is that a gallon of ethanol contains approx. 80,000 BTUs. A gallon of unleaded regular contains about 119,000 BTUs. The lower amount of potential energy effects the overall fuel economy. (Ethanol par 4)
So if you look purely at BTU's, one might come to the conclusion that E85 would make less power than gasoline. On paper it may look this way, but we are comparing a gallon to a gallon. Once you add the additional fuel supply required for E85, the benefits start to shine in a high performance application. In fact, the Indianapolis Racing League (IRL) has switched all Indy cars to 100% ethanol for these extremely high performance machines. (http://www.ethanol.org/index.php?id=50 E85) has been given an octane rating of 105, although with its lower combustion chamber temperatures, it is as resistant to pre-ignition and detonation as 110 octane leaded racing fuel (~$7.50-$9.00/gallon). Because of these facts, and the fact that ethanol itself is a bio-fuel, capable of being produced, refined, and utilized all in this country, as well as the relative ease of finding the fuel, I chose to use E85 this year in my racecar, a 1970 firebird with a 468 cubic inch big block Chevrolet with Brodix heads and a converted 1150 cubic feet per minute holley "dominator" carburetor that I had converted by Mark Sullens E85 Carburetors out of Kansas City, MO. (Mark Sullens E85, par 1)
 |
| Photo Courtesy of Steve Wolf |
Mark Sullens did an awesome job on my carburetor. When the unit is sent to him, he gave me a form to fill out to ensure my carburetor would be set up perfectly for my application. I couldn't be happier with the conversion that I paid for.
Throughout the year, I spent time learning the new fuel as well as a new car, new fuel pump, and new ignition. I chased a few problems for the first month or so, but once I got some fine tuning completed, and a wideband oxygen sensor, I got the car figured out. The air to fuel ratios have been perfect, and when I wasn't having to tune the car at the track, I started winning some races, and finished 25th in points in Pro ET at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, CO, and 12th in points in PRO ET at Douglas Motorsports Park, Douglas, WY, and earned a spot at the ET division finals in Topeka, KS.
For my "scholarly" journal, I chose to use an article posted in SAE international based on a direct injection/port fuel injection flex fuel setup used in the Ford Motor Company's "ecoboost" engines. This setup uses a port fuel injected engine for E10 fuels, just like the "normal" port fuel injected engines of modern day, but the differences start there. The "ecoboost" engine uses a direct injection setup for e85, that is, the E85 blend is injected into the combustion chamber much like many newer diesel engines, as opposed to the port injection it uses for the e10 blend that injects the fuel on top of the intake valve. By utilizing this dual setup, the "ecoboost" engine was able to bridge the fuel economy gap between e10 and e85, bringing the economy within 10%, yet the engine was able to produce almost 50% more horsepower by direct injecting the e85 blend, and adjusting the fuel and spark curves to best burn the available ethanol in the combustion chamber.
This new technology, and the new usage of multiple injection systems for different blends of fuels, in my opinion, is absolutely the future of ethanol blended fuels. (Stein, House, and Leone par 2).
Next time... Biodiesel
http://www.raceone85.com/
http://www.e85fuel.com/e85-and-ethanol-blends/
http://marksullense85carburetors.com/
http://www.ethanol.org/index.php?id=50
http://saefuel.saejournals.org/content/2/1/670.abstract
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Assignment for School
I just received an assignment for school that has the option to blog instead of writing an essay, so I figured this would be a good start to my blogging life! My paper/blog will be about the viability, availability, and the overall benefits to utilizing as much alternative fuel sources as we can. I'll be highlighting mostly on E85 ethanol (C2H5OH) and biodiesel (from multiple sources) here in the Denver Metro area, as my 1970 Pontiac Firebird race car runs on E85, and if I could find biodiesel, my 91.5 Dodge Ram W250 Cummins Turbo Diesel truck would run a minimum of 20% mix of. I'll touch slightly on methanol (CH3OH) as fuel, and vegetable oil conversions for diesel vehicles like the ones sold commercially from www.greasecar.com and others. I'd like to start this blog by saying I'm not a tree hugger at all. I prefer the alternative sources of fuel as mainly a way to keep money in American hands, although the environmental advantages certainly do help my argument. The assignment is due Wednesday Oct 13th, so expect a few good updates until that date. If you have any questions, or want any more information about what I add to my blog, feel free to contact me on here.
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