posted 03-16-2009 12:09 PM ET (US)        

BP moving to all-E10 in Florida; Marathon will pitch recreational ethanol-free blend

"BP marketers have been able to lift both E10 and conventional blends of gasoline on Florida’s west coast, but that will end next month, when branded and unbranded jobbers are routed to the Marathon terminal. While Marathon will continue to provide conventional gasoline, that privilege will only be for Marathon’s branded jobbers, sources say.

"BP’s move was foreshadowed a few weeks ago when the major told jobbers that an expansion project to create an ethanol hub at Tampa had been pushed back by budget constraints. BP distributors will start pulling E10 from Marathon’s Tampa terminal on April 28, and no gasoline or diesel liftings from the BP facility will be allowed after May 4.The news doesn’t have much impact on service stations, but may cut into sales to marinas and other commercial customers who want to avoid ethanol for as long as possible.

"Meanwhile, Marathon appears intent on capturing some of that anti-ethanol blend business. It plans to promote a new “recreational gasoline” that will not contain ethanol, clearly targeting Florida’s boating business. There is an aversion to E10 on the water, and some marketers have hauled conventional gasoline hundreds of miles to the Keys in order to supply high-margin boating accounts. The “recreational” grade will only be available to branded Marathon jobbers at Tampa and Port Everglades racks. It will have an octane number of 91 and will be the only conventional fuel Marathon sells in Florida. It’s not known if the company will market the recreational blend in other Gulf Coast markets."

Good and bad news: good in as conventional gasoline is available for marinas, bad in that only Marathon branded jobbers have access to it.

posted 03-16-2009 01:30 PM ET (US)            

Another observation, the conventional fuel is a 91 octane. Most motors are tuned for 87 octane.

posted 03-20-2009 01:37 PM ET (US)            

Stopped by and my mechanic predictably commenting on seeing lots of ethanol related problems including blown engines from lean fuel due to line clogs.

posted 03-23-2009 09:43 AM ET (US)            

Your local Yamaha dude doesn't know what he is talking about.

posted 03-23-2009 10:14 AM ET (US)            

My boat came with a rebuilt Johnson and the rebuilder's paperwork mandated high test gas or the one-year warranty (now expired) would be voided.

posted 03-23-2009 11:00 AM ET (US)            

Telephone: (850) 877-5178
Fax: (850) 877-5864
E-mail: fpma@fpma.org
President & CEO / Association Executive: Jim Smith
PMAA Director: Bill McKnight
Website: www.fpma.org

I would try here.

posted 03-23-2009 11:41 AM ET (US)            

John, maybe you can shed some light on this.

posted 03-23-2009 12:11 PM ET (US)            

Page 1-11:

Recommended gasoline: Regular unleaded, with a minimum octane rating of 86 (Pump Octane Number) = (R+M)/2

If knocking or pinging occurs, use a difference brand or premium unleaded fuel. Do not use leaded fuel, it will cause damage to the oxygen sensor.

Regarding Gasohol:

Two types, ethanol and methanol; ethanol not to exceed 10%, and minimum octane ratings. Methanol not recommended.

posted 03-23-2009 12:20 PM ET (US)         

quote:

---

Modern fuel loses it's octane VERY quickly.

---

Source please.

posted 03-23-2009 12:26 PM ET (US)            

GASOLINE RECOMMENDATIONS

Any leaded or unleaded (lead-free) gasoline, with a minimum posted pump octane rating of 86 (research octane number 90) is satisfactory for use in these model outboards.

While the use of the preceding grades of gasolines are acceptable, for optimum performance we recommend the use of premium (super) unleaded gasoline.

However, gasolines containing alcohol, either methyl alcohol, (methanol) or ethyl (ethanol) may cause increased:

- Corrosion of metal parts.

- Deterioration of elastomer and plastic parts.

- Fuel permeation through flexible fuel lines.

- Wear and damage of internal engine parts.

- Starting and operating difficulties.

posted 03-23-2009 12:38 PM ET (US)            

We got two different blends, both are conventional gasoline. We have winter gasoline, approx time we are switched over is during the first two weeks of October. Since we are below 65 degrees or so in the Winter, the refiner can put in more butane to increase octane. When it's warm out, this butane evaporates and you lose octane. So we have a summer blend, {switch first two weeks of May}, and you do not have the butane to lose and that fuel will keep it's octane better.

John

posted 03-23-2009 03:07 PM ET (US)            

In a word.... Uhh.. (let me pick one carefully... consult dictionary...... yes, this is the right one:

Bullshit

;-)

Sorry for the plain language, but this is simply not true.

The higher the octane, the harder it is to get the fuel to burn. The advantage to high octane fuel is that it is *less sensitive*. That allows higher compression ratios to be used without detonation, which is a fancy way of saying that in a high compression engine, or one run at very high manifold pressures, that high octane gas is helping prevent your gasoline engine from trying to become a Diesel.

There is a real misconception that high octane fuel is somehow 'more powerful'. That's just nonsense.

Is it unnecessary to run a higher octane than the engine requires? Yes. Will it harm the engine? No way.

Read what follows, clipped from the following Wikipedia Article:

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

++++++++++++++++++++++

Higher octane ratings correlate to higher activation energies. Activation energy is the amount of energy necessary to start a chemical reaction. Since higher octane fuels have higher activation energies, it is less likely that a given compression will cause detonation.

It might seem odd that fuels with higher octane ratings are used in more powerful engines, since such fuels 'explode' less easily. However, an explosion is not desired in an internal combustion engine. An explosion will cause the pressure in the cylinder to rise far beyond the cylinder's design limits, before the force of the expanding gases can be absorbed by the piston traveling downward. This actually reduces power output, because much of the energy of combustion is absorbed as strain and heat in parts of the engine, rather than being converted to torque at the crankshaft.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Dave

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