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Posted by Timberwoof on July 1, 2008, 8:22 pm
>
> > Has anyone tried this? My brother swears he gets 20% better mileage
> > in his 1990 Econoline van.
>
> Is he that gullible about other things too??
> Have you heard of the "placebo effect" ??
>
> Acetone is a powerful solvent. I wouldn't trust it in or around systems not
> designed for it. If you think ethanol is hard on soft parts (rubber), try
> pouring a small bit of acetone into a Styrofoam cup and see what happens.
Gasoline does all that.
> Acetone is the major ingredient in nail polish remover.
>
> Acetone is also highly volatile; more so than gas. I would expect it to
> LOWER the octane rating.
Yes, it would. The OP said it made his engine ping.
> And then there is the question of what the final product IS when mixed with
> gasoline and ethanol.......????
Gasoline, ethanol, and acetone, mixed together. :-)
Ethanol is ethane with an OH stuck on the end, CH3CH2OH.
Acetone is propane with an O stuck in the middle, CH3COCH3.
"Gasoline" is a mixture of bunches of different molecules, mostly longer
cousins of the methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, hexane,
heptane, octane thing. Woah! Octane? Yep: CH3 (CH2)6 CH3
Gasoline is less than 100 "Octane" because it has lighter stuff in it,
which self-ignites more readily. So acetone lowers the octane rating of
a gasoline; IOW, makes it more likely to ping.
> OH, and what is the per gallon cost of Acetone. I'm betting it is more than
> $4 per gallon.
Especially when it is perfumed as nail-polish remover.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetone#Automotive_fuel_additive
--
Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com>
faq: http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle/faq.shtml
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