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Author Topic:   Checking for ethanol in gasoline

dino54904 posted 05-03-2006 10:32 PM ET (US)
I learned some stuff about ethanol additives that I thought was worth sharing. In Wisconsin ( a big corn growing state) a lot of gas stations have stickers on their pumps telling you that the gas contains 10% ethanol. This is a marketing thing to show you that the station is environmentally and agriculturally friendly. I mistakenly thought that if the pump had no sticker it did not contain ethanol. WRONG. I was also told last summer that premium grades of gas did not contain ethanol. WRONG AGAIN. When asking the station attendent about ethanol in the gas I often got a blank stare.
I found a test for ethanol on an aviation web site. Some aircraft engines can be modified to burn automotive fuels but people who own fly these airplanes have a lot of the same concerns we do...except their engine failures are a bit more inconvenient. With this test a person can tell if the gas that is currently in their tank is blended and if their usual filling station is selling blended fuel.
Here it is...
1) On a test tube, graduated cylinder or a simple olive bottle make a permanent line about 2" from the bottom of the container.
2) Fill the container with water to this line, then fill the container the rest of the way with the gasoline you are testing.
3) Agitate the container...then let it stand a few minutes.
4) Ethanol mixes with water and the two will separate out together. Therefore after mixing the water and the gasoline, if the water level appears to have risen above your permanent mark then the fuel contains ethanol. It won't raise much so your measure of water and your sight-line will be important.
Hope this is helpful.
Dino
highanddry posted 05-04-2006 04:21 AM ET (US)
I have used this method many times, for aircraft, as stated. It works rather decent. J

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Author	Topic: Checking for ethanol in gasoline
dino54904	posted 05-03-2006 10:32 PM ET (US) I learned some stuff about ethanol additives that I thought was worth sharing. In Wisconsin ( a big corn growing state) a lot of gas stations have stickers on their pumps telling you that the gas contains 10% ethanol. This is a marketing thing to show you that the station is environmentally and agriculturally friendly. I mistakenly thought that if the pump had no sticker it did not contain ethanol. WRONG. I was also told last summer that premium grades of gas did not contain ethanol. WRONG AGAIN. When asking the station attendent about ethanol in the gas I often got a blank stare. I found a test for ethanol on an aviation web site. Some aircraft engines can be modified to burn automotive fuels but people who own fly these airplanes have a lot of the same concerns we do...except their engine failures are a bit more inconvenient. With this test a person can tell if the gas that is currently in their tank is blended and if their usual filling station is selling blended fuel. Here it is... 1) On a test tube, graduated cylinder or a simple olive bottle make a permanent line about 2" from the bottom of the container. 2) Fill the container with water to this line, then fill the container the rest of the way with the gasoline you are testing. 3) Agitate the container...then let it stand a few minutes. 4) Ethanol mixes with water and the two will separate out together. Therefore after mixing the water and the gasoline, if the water level appears to have risen above your permanent mark then the fuel contains ethanol. It won't raise much so your measure of water and your sight-line will be important. Hope this is helpful. Dino
highanddry	posted 05-04-2006 04:21 AM ET (US) I have used this method many times, for aircraft, as stated. It works rather decent. J