Vehicles alcohol fuel

Alcohol fuel vehicles Alcoholic beverages Alcoholic fermentation Alcoholic proof Alcoholism... 

For these reasons, CEC and DOE concluded that the only cost-effective method of getting alcohol fueled vehicles would be from original equipment manufacturers (OEM). Vehicles produced on the assembly line would have lower unit costs. The OEM could design and ensure the success and durabihty of the emission control equipment. 

Fuel Flexible Vehicles. Using dedicated alcohol fuel vehicles pointed to the importance of a wide distribution of fueling stations. Methanol-fueled vehicles require refueling more often than gasoline vehicles. 

Only a small portion of motor fuel needs could be satisfied if truly large-scale alcohol—gasoline blending or fuel switching occurred via transition to fuel-flexible vehicles and ultimately to neat alcohol-fueled vehicles (132). 

Development of an Integrated Reformer/Fuel Cell Power System for Petroleum and Alcohol-Fueled Vehicles, Part I - Brassboard Demonstration," W. Mitchell, Epyx, Pg. 230, Fuel Cell Seminar Abstracts, Courtesy Associates, Inc., November 1998. 

Alobile Source Division, Alcohol-Fueled Vehicle Fleet Test, 9th Interim Report 2SRB /A1S-89-09, California Air Resources Board, El Alonte, Calif., Nov. 1989. 

Owing to its properties, methanol is not recommended for aircraft or marine fuel uses. Methanol caimot be used in conventional diesel-powered vehicles without modifications to the fuel system and engine. Simple methanol—diesel blends are not possible because of insolubiUty. Heavy-duty diesel engines have been adapted to use neat methanol by many U.S. manufacturers, and several are being used in field demonstrations (82) (see Alcohol fuels). 

Direct fuel appHcations of methanol have not grown as anticipated (see Alcohol fuels). It is used in small quantities in California and other locations, primarily for fleet vehicle operation. Large-scale use of methanol as a direct fuel is not anticipated until after the year 2000. Methanol continues to be utilised in the production of gasoline by the Mobil methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) process in New Zealand. A variant of this process has also been proposed to produce olefins from methanol. 

Periodically Congress has permitted the use of tax credits as a direct reduction from income taxes. Examples are tax credits for installing energy conservation devices, use of alcohol fuels and electric vehicles, development of orphan drugs, creation of low-income housing, and some research expenditures. Tax credits have been used historically to stimulate capital investment in the United States. Such deductions are more valuable than depreciation because they represent direct deductions from the tax bill after taxes are computed on income. 

In recent decades, direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) have been extensively studied and considered as possible power sources for portable electronic devices and vehicles in the near future. The application of methanol is limited due to its high volatility and toxicity, although it is relatively easily oxidized to CO2 and protons. So other short chain organic chemicals especially ethanol, ethylene glycol, propanol, and dimethyl... 

Very fine filters are recommended for ethanol dispensers to ensure that waterborne solids do not contaminate vehicle filters or fuel injectors. Dispensing hoses delivering ethanol and other alcohol fuels to vehicles may be green or blue in color to signify their compatibility with alcohol fuels. Also, blending ethanol with conventional fuels helps to minimize compatibility problems with existing fuel system components. 

When ethanol is used in a standard spark ignition or compression ignition engine designed to bum conventional hydrocarbon-based fuels, ethanol performance varies substantially if no engine modifications are made, and it becomes difficult to rate the value of ethanol as an effective fuel. Consequently, flexible fueled vehicles (FFVs) or variable fueled vehicles (VFVs) have been developed to operate on either gasoline or alcohol-based fuels. These vehicles are equipped with on-board sensors and controls to adjust the spark advance and the fuel injector timing to help correct for the differences in fuel performance. 

Because CNG is primarily methane, it is expected to have relatively low reactivity, with the small amounts of reactive impurities such as small olefins and alkanes being responsible for most of its reactivity (see Table 16.14). Emissions of CO are smaller than from gasoline-powered vehicles, while the effect on NOx emissions is not clear (National Research Council, 1991). As seen in Tables 16.10 and 16.11, CNG shows the highest promise for low-reactivity exhaust emissions, and this appears to be the case for its use in real vehicles (Gabele, 1995). Figure 16.40, for example, shows the estimated ozone production per mile traveled for a vehicle fueled on CNG compared to vehicles fueled on reformulated gasoline (RFG) or the alcohol fuels M85 or E85 (vide infra). These measurements and estimates based on them include the contributions from both exhaust (including CO) and evaporative emissions (Black et al., 1998). Clearly, the reactivity of the CNG-powered vehicle emissions was substantially smaller than for the other vehicle-fuel combinations. 

Table 16.14 shows the VOC composition of the combination of exhaust and evaporative emissions measured on a limited number of vehicles. Similar data have been reported by Gabele (1995). The increased aldehydes associated with the use of alcohol fuels is evident. 

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