What is the difference between ethanol and petroleum?
Why our cars/boats won’t run on ethanol?
I know the sources of petroleum and ethanol.
Say I have 1 gallon of ethanol, can I just pour them into my car, and expect my car to run? If not, why? Since that oil is depleting fast, shouldn’t we concern about "what’s" next?
February 5th, 2010 at 7:03 am
Basically, the explosion of ethanol can’t produce enough vapor pressure to power up the standard engines.
Ethanol fueled engines already exist (Most cars in Brazil run on ethanol). However, since gasoline (which is a byproduct of petroleum) is cheaper to produce than ethanol, most cars are built to run on gasoline.
Petroleum or crude oil already exists under the ground and only needs to be pumped, while ethanol is usually obtained from the fermentation of plants, usually sugar cane, which require time to grow and ferment, space, farmers and irrigation.
February 5th, 2010 at 7:03 am
Petroleum is a generalised name for crude oil, natural gas and condensate, that can be found in earth by drilling. Ethanol is basically alcohol.
February 5th, 2010 at 7:03 am
Ethanol is a single compound, an alcohol. It is manufactured.
Petroleum is a mixture of organ compounds that is separated in to a variety of materials, like tar, asphalt, heating oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosine.
For your second question, Ethanol has to be manufactured, mostly from corn, and if you manufactured enough ethanol to run autos etc, it would use up so much corn that a lot of people would starve to death.
Wikipedia:
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a somewhat potent psychoactive drug, best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages and in modern thermometers. Ethanol is one of the oldest recreational drugs. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as alcohol or spirits.
Ethanol is a straight-chain alcohol, and its molecular formula is C2H5OH. Its empirical formula is C2H6O. An alternative notation is CH3–CH2–OH, which indicates that the carbon of a methyl group (CH3–) is attached to the carbon of a methylene group (–CH2–), which is attached to the oxygen of a hydroxyl group (–OH). It is a constitutional isomer of dimethyl ether. Ethanol is often abbreviated as EtOH, using the common organic chemistry notation of representing the ethyl group (C2H5) with Et.
Petroleum (L. petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit. "rock oil") or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, and other organic compounds, that is found in geologic formations beneath the earth’s surface.
The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in 1546 by the German mineralogist Georg Bauer, also known as Georgius Agricola.
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February 5th, 2010 at 9:55 am
You cannot buy a gallon of ethanol to put into your car, so the question is theoretical. All cars since 1981 have been designed to run on up to 10% ethanol, or E10, you will find that in the owner’s manual, and some even recommend it due to cleaner-burning properties. Over 80% of all gasoline sold in the US today is E10.
There is also another blend available at 2,200 gas stations across the country known as E85, which is 85% ethanol, 15% gasoline. This is for flex-fuel vehicles only. There are approximately 8+ million of these on the roads today. Visit the website to find a station, or check to see if your car is compatible.