I read somewhere recently that adding 3-4 ounces of Acetone per 10 gals. of either gasoline or diesel fuel will vastly improve the burnability of the fuel. Has anyone else heard of this or are there any fuel chemists with an opinion out there?

 

i would NOT do this,

 

You go ahead and do it then tell us how it went !

 

Yes, as a matter of fact, it does help it burn better.
The fuel along with your seals, pump, fuel line, etc.....
Then it will burn your wallet with the repairs.

I'd stay far away from that stuff, use it on your decals instead.

 

I tried it on my two Audi gassers and could tell immediatly the difference. No more power when it's floored, but a lot less throttle required to maintian speed. The percentage mixed in with the fuel is so slight IMO the jury's still out on whether it harms the seals. I just filled the cars up two days ago, when they run out I'll see if the mileage is indeed any better. I'm going on a trip tomorrow and will try it in the truck then.

 

Dosn't Stanadyne or Diesel Kleen do the same thing while lubricating instead of drying out?

 

Acetone is a MAJOR degreaser. Don't believe it? Stick your hands in it and watch them dry up and crack. I wouldn't try it on a diesel for sure.

 

Remember we're only talking about 3oz per 10 gallons of fuel. If you want to spike your diesel the margin goes down to about 1.75 oz per 10 gallons of fuel. Very small percentage.

 

i'm no chemist, but i'm wondering... does the acetone act as an oxidizer...? also... since acetone is a degreaser... how does that effect the way your fuel lubricates the injectors... i now it is a very small percentage of acetone... but injectors are designed to work with a specific liquid that has specific properties at high pressure and heat values... and acetone has many opposing properties when compared to diesel fuel...

 

From what I have read, the acetone acts to break up the surface tension of the fuel. In the same way that addition of a small amount of soap will break the surface tension of water. You know those little water strider bugs that run around on top of ponds? Add some dish soap to the water and they will all sink because the water has lost it's surface tension.
Acetone has the same effect on fuel, from what I understand, and that is what helps it vaporize quicker. It sure made a difference in the way my two Audi's run. Pretty surprising and all it takes is 1/3 of a cup per ten gallons of fuel for gas and slightly more than half of that for diesel: about 1/5th or so per 10 gallons.

 

id be more worried about the long term effects on the gaskets and orings. seems like were replacin fuel lines and reoringing parts on my dads sprint car every couple races from the alcohol drying things out real bad. how well is the acetone mixing with the diesel? is it eventually seperating back out. and the evaporation rate of the acetone, wonder how much of that actually makes it all the way in to be burned before the evaporation. i know guys are running water/meth injection, and the methonal is causing a whole bunch of other problems. i just run water only in mine, know too many guys blowing head gaskets and burnin valves and pistons with the methonal.

 

BBJake and others. This is one of the articles that convinced me to try it. Remember the amount required to do the job is slightly more than trace amounts mixed in with the fuel. Use too much and it has the opposite effect from desired.
http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/additive.htm

 

This is what I like about this forum. Thank you Kwik for the very interesting article on fuel and acetone. It appears to be quite safe and this is clearly documented. I am in the business of transferring cargoes such as fuels here in Houston and am not a chemist but know a lot of them so I am going to do some further research. I would like to add that diesel is really almost naturally occurring portion of crude and requires and gets very little refining and that aromatics such as acetone, xylenes, toluene and benzene occur naturally in crude and are still present in varying quantities in diesel fuel.

 

Thanks for the article Kwik. Vey intereresting. However the following statement caused me a little concern: "Most diesel fuel is oily and a tiny amount of acetone has zero effect on injectors--in case that is a worry. Any such problems would have shown up after nearly five decades. In the past we have added the Torco two-cycle GP7 smokeless synthetic gasoline additive to diesel fuel to make the fuel even more slippery--or the red MPZ Engine Assembly Lube from Torco International in with the acetone." If the DMK has zero effect on the injectors, why the additives?

 

Sorry Kwik, I dont buy it, especially when I see quotes like Big Oil is evil, etc, in a suppoesedly technical article.

I also don't buy these types of statements:

"Please do not think there is just one thing to do for great mileage. A number of things must be done and these are outlined in other SmartGas articles. The right spark plugs are NGK. The right oil is Torco. The right thermostat is 195. The right oil filter is Baldwin, etc"

I see a nice graph surrounded by a bunch of fluff.

I also enjoy the fine "scientific" statements from this link:

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

I especially like #'s 1,4,6,7,8,9.

Yeah, don't bother with those higher API rated oils...Instead use motorcyle oil!!

Let's not even mention that every article is by the same author.