Better Gas Mileage
I had heard this rumor about acetone increasing fuel efficiency but didn’t give it much thought. For the most part, I heard this from some less-than-trustworthy source – not in the sense that they are lying to me, but they really have no clue about what they are talking about.Along comes an article on the topic from a seemingly reliable source. Interesting, indeed, but the article is written from a chemist’s perspective based on typical scientific tests. I understand such testing has its place but I also understand that the real world is rarely experienced through the glass in a laboratory. I took the article to a group of Mercedes-Benz Master Technicians that I work with and asked them their opinion on the subject. They overwhelmingly approved of the concept of acetone as an additive. So, I tried it in my truck.
As it turns out, the article that I mentioned above does a good job with what a general person really needs to know to make use of this information, based on conversations with the techs and corroboration with other sources. It is very simple – simply add 1-3 ounces of 100% acetone to a tank of 10 gallons of fuel. For best results, use higher quality fuels. Average fuel efficiency increase is measured between 25-35%. Considering a 16 oz. bottle of acetone in my area runs about $3.00 or so, that's definitely worth my time to check it out.
How does it work? It just allows a more complete evaporation of the gasoline by reducing the fluid surface tension. That’s it. Better atomization, better burn, better efficiency.
So why isn’t this a regular additive in gasoline? Good question. There seems to be a negative response to this question from the petroleum industry and they are the ones trying really hard to make this sound like a bad idea. So far, none of their issues have been able to hold up to testing. Think about it logically: Why in the world would the petroleum industry want to put something in the gas that is going to cause you to come to the gas station a third less often? As usual, follow the money… or the greed.
What are the negative side effects? Acetone is one of the more mild volatile solvents, but it is definitely a solvent. It will eat up cheap plastics and it will also do a number on vinyl. The petrol industry uses this as a reason not to use it as an additive but think about it – gasoline also eats cheap plastic and doesn’t like vinyl. Hm… The other harmful side effect? Acetone is flammable. Duh.
Check out the article for all the science facts and draw your own conclusions. If you do decide to add acetone to your fuel tank as I have, you are doing so AT YOUR OWN RISK. I’m not advocating that this be done, I’m just experimenting. I’ll let you know what I find out in later posts.
SOURCE
posted by Bonzai @ 10:07 PM
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