Well here's the MSDS and NIOSH documents if you want to see them side by side.
When I see something that has admissible ppm limits 1/5 of the other, I wonder which is better for me.

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0397.html

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0262.html

https://srmors.nist.gov/msds/877-MSD...8398ea6d237973

https://srmors.nist.gov/msds/3016-MS...8398ea6d237973

This started with a discussion about why someone might see a large fuel mileage drop with 10 percent ethanol added fuel.
Let's keep it on topic instead of ranting, ok?

 

An engine is working at it's best efficiency when timing is adjusted so combustion is just on the verge of precombustion, or pinging. As a very rough rule of thumb, for every 1 degree of timing advance without preignition will equal 1 MPG. Modern engines monitor the combustion process (mostly through the ping sensor and the O2 sensor) and constantly adjust the mixture and timing to try to achieve that "edge of pinging" state for the best efficiency. More octane will allow more timing, which equals more efficiency, everything else being equal.

Here's a good article on timing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignition_timing

But, it doesn't always work that way. The computer may not allow enough timing to take advantage of the octane of the fuel, in which case the extra octane (and cost) is wasted. Ethanol has less energy than gasoline, so a little more is required to make the same power (you lean into the throttle a little more for the same speed. Ethanol also causes the mixture to lean out a little, so the injectors need to squirt a little more fuel each time they fire off.

 

Ethanol does add a higher octane rating than gas, they just blend it with gas with a lower octane rating so you stay about the same but most of the time with a 10% blend the octane is higher.

The computer in you car can do it. The only difference between a "normal" car and an E85 car is the seals are made out of another material and the computer has a larger map to allow for more fuel and air going into the engine. A "normal" car can't adjust enough to allow for proper combustion of E85.

 

Even an E85 capable car is a compromise. If the engine was optimized for E85 (instead of being capable of gasoline, E85 or any combination in bewteen) you'd get roughly 20% better fuel economy.

 

Ding, ding, ding, ding.... We have a winner!

So the fuel system seals in most cars on the road today can't handle the additional alcohol.

And ethanol has less potential energy on a gallon to gallon basis anyhow.
And the refiners (or whomever) are blending it to come up with similar octane ratings to the 'carp' they call gas nowadays.
Meaning the ecu can't take advantage of it's higher intrinsic octane #, regardless of whether the injectors would be able compensate for the additional fuel needed.

My mileage stinks, so I don't notice too much of a difference, but if someone were getting 10 times my mileage (say 60 mpg, and it's not too far off) they'd see a huge difference in their mileage.

I wonder if someone were to chart their regular 'gas' mileage (in a computer controlled vehicle) and then add say, a gallon of acetone to a tank. Would they see a mileage increase due to the engine managment compensating for it?

Thanks for everyone's input!

 

http://alternativefuels.about.com/od...rces/a/gge.htm
I had a better chart but I guess I lost it, but there you go Methanol is equivalent to
two(2) gallons of regular gasoline in energy!! It isn't close to ethanol it has totally
different burn charecteristics and it actually will help cool the burn while being able
to lean the mixture out. Henry Ford actually grew hemp to use in making Methanol
to prove that it was a viable fuel and a viable producing crop, But of course the big
oil companies were getting the drilling and refining plants really up to scale and you
couldn't beat the price and eventual availability. The only reason the are supposed
still working on the cellulose alcohol is that the corn fermenting cartels have so much
money, space, research time and infrastructure involved in it that switching over to
cellulose would most likely bankrupt several of the companies or cause a pretty big
hit.
Octane is a measure of the fuels resistance to burning, it is NOT a measure of the
amount of "energy" it contains that would be for most instances of comparison on
paper BTU's.
If you want to do an experiment you can try the acetone if you want but also get
a gallon of HEET (methanol) and you could try ISO HEET (isopropanal alcohol) of \
course they are both safe for any 4-stroke motor and rubber. Just to be a fair
experiment You should use say a 5 gallon auxillary tank that way you can be sure
that the parameters and mixture is the same for all the fuel additives tested.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/8426/ If you are in the market for
a computer scan tool here is a nice one that you can leave connected all the time
and keep track of you MPG as you drive and you can even see other parameters of
the motor while it is in operation, which the GPH feature is really nice and is more of
a real world thing to know while you are actually driving since a slight change in how
you are driving (od, downshift or finding the tailwind) will reduce it. Also the intake
air temp feature is nice to see and you could tell if your "cold air intake" really was
making a difference!! The ability to know when you are in open or closed loop can also
save you gas since not letting the motor get to temp will hurt you mpg alot. If you
can when running errands you should head to the one that is the farthest from your
house first to allow your engine to get to running temp, Doing that alone will save
you gas in the long run, not to mention save wear and tear on your motor since a
motor that is too cool will be running richer and carboning up your top end!!

 

Sorry, but you're reading the chart wrong. You've got it backwards.

Gasoline (regular): 114,100 BTU/gallon
Methanol (M100): 56,800 BTU/gallon

The "GGE" number means it actually takes 2.01 gallons of Methanol to equal the energy content found in 1 gallon of Gasoline.

 

I run a methanol injection system on my truck. I have SEEN my throttle body frost over after a quarter mile run. That whole latent heat of vaporization thing remember.

 

well Im lost now but thanks for the input! i dont get all this chemistry stuff. Yeah i didnt think it would make that big of a difference but this is also a man who sees no point in taking a perfectly good truck and plowing through a mud hole!

 

I don't care if it has as much energy as gas or not, just get us some fuel of our own. Grow it, make it, whatever and let it be cheaper than 4.00 a gallon. It doesn't matter what the poloticans are telling us, we need our own fuel supply if it gets 10 miles to the gallon. I'm sick of being held hostage by opec. It cost me 37.00 to fill up the fusion yesterday and it still had between 1/4 and 1/2 a tank. The worst part is the money is going to our enemies. Grow some fuel, punch holes all over alaska and the gulf coast, filter the oil from the sand, whatever. In the 70's when they were building the alaska pipeline, they said there was enough oil in the alaskan slopes to last this country 200 years, where is it? I sometimes wonder if were not setting on our oil as we use everyone else's oil up. They also say there's more oil in the sand in canada and the U.S than there is in the whole middle east, lets figure out how to distract it. This is getting crazy, peoples monthly fuel bills are more than thier car payments, not to mention people that heat thier homes on fuel oil, 3 grand this winter so far. I would rather have fuel rationed than pay these prices. A working man has trouble surviving, food and everything is going up. Let me be the first to scream "UNCLE", I've had enough. That rant felt good hee hee.