Acetone Blended Gasoline and Diesel

[Manateeman]

Well it’s always fun to start a new thread so here we go.
I read a report in which gasoline was blended with acetone and this improved the performance of the engine. It was published in Science Direct. Sorry, I don’t know how to post the link. But it was from Engineering Science and Technology vol 19.
issue 3 Sept 2016.
The authors state quite a few improvements using this fuel blend. Comments?
The manatee crew.

[rslifkin]

The idea of adding acetone, xylene, tolulene, or other solvents to gasoline isn't totally new. I just dug up the article you referenced though and that's the first bit of real science (as opposed to anecdotal stuff or people just wanting an octane booster) I've seen.

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by Manateeman

Well it’s always fun to start a new thread so here we go.
I read a report in which gasoline was blended with acetone and this improved the performance of the engine. It was published in Science Direct. Sorry, I don’t know how to post the link. But it was from Engineering Science and Technology vol 19.
issue 3 Sept 2016.
The authors state quite a few improvements using this fuel blend. Comments?
The manatee crew.

Define "performance"?

[Ded reckoner]

Acetone is an amazingly effective solvent. So, it always needs to be handled carefully. Unlike benzene, another good solvent, acetone isn't genotoxic or carcinogenic.

Besides impact to fuel lines, elastomeric seals, and some plastic components, I would think the concern would be whether engine damage is caused from combustion, or otherwise, by corrosion. Significant changes were made to automobile internal combustion engines when ethanol was mandated into gasoline; it's unclear whether what was done for ethanol would be sufficient for acetone.

[AKA-None]

Yeap and when I added acetone to high octane fuel in a drag bike it went much faster in both speed and time to next rebuild

[Chris31415]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Yeap and when I added acetone to high octane fuel in a drag bike it went much faster in both speed and time to next rebuild

That’s what I would fear. Reminds me of a quote: “The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” -Lao Tzu

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by Chris31415

That’s what I would fear. Reminds me of a quote: “The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” -Lao Tzu

Burned valves melted pistons

But fast while it lasted

[Searles]

A verry old bush trick ,adding acetone to verry old 44gallon drums of diesel at about 100 to 1 claimed to make for easier starting and better running in older diesels ,never tried it my self ,but it should work .⛵️⚓️

[Manateeman]

Would someone please post the article so members can just click on it.
Thank you. Mark

[skipmac]

For what it's worth, gasoline is a witch's brew of all sorts of hydrocarbons including significant percentages of xylene and toluene. The mix will vary depending on the seasons and what's available (usually meaning cheapest) for the blend.

Don't think acetone is part of the normal blend and not being a chemist have no idea what the addition specifically does.

[thesaltytar]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...20hydrocarbons.

Here is the article.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by skipmac

For what it's worth, gasoline is a witch's brew of all sorts of hydrocarbons including significant percentages of xylene and toluene. The mix will vary depending on the seasons and what's available (usually meaning cheapest) for the blend.

Don't think acetone is part of the normal blend and not being a chemist have no idea what the addition specifically does.

Well in gasoline
Raises the combustion temp rapidly
Raises the pressure rapidly

Similar to the effect you get from injecting nitrous oxide but in a slightly different manner

I would bring out my chemistry notes but my darling bride assumed I no longer needed them and recycled them last week without telling me as she incorrectly assumed they were old notes from school and therefore worthless

Sigh

[thesaltytar]

I'm not a chemical engineer. I do work with engines but they play only a moderate role in my day to day job, which is spent working around many other ship systems. I do have some impressions and see some items worth noting.

Before proceeding I do want to say that a lot of click bait articles (not this one) promise great gains in fuel economy if you engage in some form of technomancy, and invariably you can determine the veracity of these click bait articles by their flagrant violation of the laws of conservation. I think there are actually six such laws but the upshot is... Energy cannot be created or destroyed. Greatly simplified, everything has a calorific value and you can convert from calories to BTUs to horsepower and back again but you don't get free horsepower by using that "one simple trick gas stations HATE!" [emoji849]

That being said! Interesting article, thank you for sharing, here are my takeaways:

Health: "...acetone in the atmosphere can cause serious health problems in the central nervous system, kidneys, reproductive system, liver, skin and others. Repeated exposure to acetone may cause organ damages. Recently, the level of acetone in water and air is reported to be about 20 parts per million (ppm) and 13 to 20 ppm, respectively, and such levels should be minimized."

Practicality: "...acetone can also dissolve in water to form emulsion, which causes corrosions of metals. Consequently, the engine fuel system as well as gasoline must be completely free of water, otherwise corrosions will happen quickly to the fuel line, leading to wide-ranging reform in the fuel system, and perhaps worst of so if corrosion/damage occurred while driving. Add to that, the acetone is an effectual corrosive to rubber and plastic; when the acetone comes into contact with any rubber/plastic fuel system components, they will be dissolved away, which leads to extensive repairs/replace/damage of such components. Thus, fuel system must not contain any rubber or plastic components whether there is water in the system/fuel or not. As a recommendation, the fuel system components must be made of high quality metals before using acetone in the engine, otherwise there will be serious problems that cannot be remedied."

I will not be making a habit of using this as an additive but it's interesting to know acetone has these properties. Under controlled conditions I can see this being leveraged for beneficial value, but I believe due to the above issues it will probably remain impractical for the majority of road vehicles without very controlled design and operating conditions.

Again, not an expert, just my impression. Maybe someone can contribute something more?

[skipperpete]

Ahh yes, I remember well the gadget that went in the diesel supply line that somehow lowered fuel consumption and had a warning on the housing “ warranty void if case is opened”. I had to open a few of em to clear fuel blockages and there was just a magnet inside the case.

[thesaltytar]

We had one on our workboat.... It was called Algae-X and it was a brass housing with a magnet inside. There was this study that supported how it magnetically charged the fuel to reduce algae (...paid for by Algae-X, no joke).

...nevermind how it's also technically not algae that grows in fuel...