Has anyone read thie recent article claiming that adding 2 -3 Oz. of Acetone per 10 gallons of gas can effect a 20 - 30% increase in Mileage? The author claims that the acetome reduces the surface tension of gasoline and makes it vaporize more efficiently. He also claims that if the same amount is added to diesel fuel, it eliminates the sooty exhaust under load.

[img]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Mike%20Romanovich.HOME-18ZYPDP9T8/My%20Documents/Acetone%20as%20a%20Fuel%20Additive_files/acetone.jpg[/img]

Here is the article.


http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/additive.htm

 

I've experimented using Acetone. It did seem to make a difference, but I did not really do a very thorough experiment. After I used my first galon of Acetone, I kinda slacked off on the test. I plan to redo the experiment this summer.

 

Acetone is a ketone and has an octane rating of 150. Now before you think you can really pop the octane in your tank, remember that you are only adding ounces, not gallons. A maximum of 6 oz per ten gallons mix will work great as a fuel injection system cleaner and positive results can be had by using it as such. Some of the fuel injector cleaners are a mixture of acetone and others like stoddard solvent. Problem is though, it is also a great plasticizer. That means that if you have a plastic gas tank, and most of todays tanks are plastic, it is eating away at the tank. It won't kill the tank over nite and occasional use won't hurt but I would not suggest constant use.

 

here is a post i ran accross about this subject last week it might answer some of your questions

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hlight=acetone

 

Well, it seems worth a test. Acetone isn't that exspensive. But the author of the pages I read, Louis la Pointe, doesn't seem to have alot of his facts straight. I don't see a few ounces having that big of an effect on ten gallons or more. Modern gasoline doesn't have a vapourization problem. He seems to think that 'big oil' and the car companies are collabarating to keep fuel mileage down. Folks, it is not happening. I would agree that the oil companies don't want you to get good mileage, they would sell less. But the car makers are under constant pressure and get fined by the gov't when they don't have a high enough corporate fuel economy rating. If they knew how to get better mileage they would be doing it, or at least doing enough to get the FEDS off their backs about C.A.F.E requirements. La Pointe also foams at the mouth about alcohol being blended with gasoline, as if the oil firms want this. Oil companies HATE alcohol, it is a threat to them and they know it. La Pointe claims that ethanol blended gasoline hurts mileage by as much as half. Says he has tested it. But most of the gasoline that is sold ( around my locale ) has 10% ethanol in it. And if ethanol has 2/3rds the btus of gasoline in it, and you only have 10% of it in there, you only lose 1/3 of 10% of the total heat available in the fuel. How is that going to cause a 25-50% loss in fuel economy ? It won't. I would like to see some more testing of acetone, because I myself have noticed a large variation in fuel economy between fuels purcahsed in differant areas. But my experience has been the opposite of his- I get better mileage with ethanol blended fuels. Is that due to the way I tune my engine ? my driving style ? does my engine have a higher compression ratio than his ? Acetone might be worth some inexspensive testing, but most of what laPointe claims is, IMO, pure BS. DF, @ his Dad's house

 

If your engine runs fine on an octane rating of 87 it means that, using a higher octane rated fuel will not increase power. You are just wasting your money by paying more for higher octane gasoline.

I'm assuming that acetone increases the octane rating of gasoline. If your engine is running fine before using acetone then the increase in octane from using acetone won't add power except .....

If the fuel injectors are plugged acetone will clean it out, thus you will gain more power, but people make the mistake of thinking the power increase is from the increased octane rating, but it may be happening because of clean injectors. Once the injectors are clean, you can stop using acetone until they plug up again. (At least that's how I see it).

A new engine may be rated at octane 87. As the engine gets older, deposits stick to the combustion chamber ... which means the compression ratio increases, which means the fuel needs a higher octane rating to prevent pre-ignition. So, if you use acetone, which increases the octane rating of the fuel, you will get more power, because the higher octane will elliminate the pre-ignition. You can have the same effect by using a higher octane gasoline. If you do the math, I think you will find out that it is far more expensive to use an octane additive like acetone than it is to buy a higher octane gasoline.

 

I used to mix acetone with my racing fuel (nitromethane, oil and methanol). It was used as an oxidizer and was mixed at about 2 oz / gallon. I have since learned that it also may have a property of lowering the surface tension of gasolene, and that is where the supposed benefit is coming from. Better atomization of the fuel as it is injected!

I don't think its octane rating is of any merit as an additive for most street vehicles. I'm thinking about trying it in my trail rig, mostly to improve my throttle response, since now I like to go about 1MPH on the trails, not 140MPH.

Tim

 

Join the club. It's amazing what a few little grey hairs will do.