Corrosion
concerns with ethanol in motor fuel - an update
What is the QinetiQ
report?
QinetiQ was commissioned by the DfT to review the ethanol
in motor fuel and their report was released in early February
2011 which was reported on the V8 website.
See the QinetiQ
report on ethanol in fuel.
More
What is the FBHVC?
The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs(FBHVC) is a
grouping of almost 500 Clubs and Museums together with some
1500 Trade and Individual Supporters. The aim of the FBHVC is
to uphold the freedom to use old vehicles on the roads without
any undue restriction and to support its member organisations
in whatever way it can. FBHVC
website
Corrosion
inhibitor additive coming for petrol with added biofuel
More
Our recent NEWS item on the biofuels report on
23rd December 2011. More
Biofuel
additives may be available soon containing corrosion inhibitor,
stability improver and biocide products. More
Damaging
effects of bio fuels on classic cars
More
What is NACE?
NACE International is the leader in the corrosion engineering
and science community, and is recognized around the world as
the premier authority for corrosion control solutions. More
Posted: 071111
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Notes
from a recent FBHVC meeting on ethanol in petrol
and the concerns for classic car enthusiasts. |
Brief
background
The FBHVC has been aware of the concerns over the
effects of ethanol in petrol for classic and vintage
car enthusiasts and it has ensured those concerns
have been expressed to the UK Government and to
the consultants QinetiQ undertaking the review for
the DfT. The FBHVC responded to their letters and
communications and was involved in the DfT Stakeholder
Meetings where FBHVC members' complaints were presented
and the 'nothing much to worry about' stance was
questioned so the nature of concerns and threats
to FBHVC members were established. The Federation
also supplied QinetiQ with information used in their
influential ethanol report which contributed to
some reconsideration in the QinetiQ report of the
proposed introduction 10% ethanol by DfT and identified
the risk of corrosion. In earlier NEWS reports we
have identified three areas of concern - corrosion,
compatibility and combustion. A number of corrosion
inhibiting additives have been developed by commercial
suppliers so the FBHVC decided to take the practical
step of commissioning independent additive tests
which would lead to an endorsement scheme of those
additives shown to be providing worthwhile protection.
A conference held by the FBHVC on the concerns over
ethanol in motor fuels was held in October 2011
- a brief report follows.
Brief report on the FBHVC corrosion inhibitor
additives test programme
Using bio-ethanol can lead to acidic corrosion.
Ethanol in storage tends to degrade and the pH falls.
The pH should be ideally about pH7 (low pH is acid,
high pH is alkaline). Special additives are needed
to protect against acid formation in storage (falling
pH). Fuel-grade ethanol is usually treated at source
but there is no guarantee that this will happen,
so ideally an aftermarket treatment should be used
which can be added to the petrol during refuelling
a classic or vintage car and will protect the fuel
system. Potential additives are available; the technology
is from the USA where their use is mandatory. So
the FBHVC proposed a test and endorsement policy.
Earlier this year the FBHVC decided to take the
practical step of commissioning independent additive
tests which would lead to an endorsement scheme
of those additives shown to be providing worthwhile
protection. The test protocol uses an accelerated
aging method where one week storage is equivalent
to one month in the real world and therefore 13
weeks storage is equivalent to 12 months in the
real world. An industry-recognised corrosion test
takes place every two weeks to monitor the additive
performance and a high performance level will be
required to obtain the FBHVC endorsement of an additive.
The test is done using the NACE protocol with polished
steel probes and a visual inspection to rate the
probes used for each additive. For comparison the
base fuel has no additive. The high standard must
be maintained over 13 weeks (equivalent to 12 months).
Tests started in early July 2011 with the aim of
completing them by mid-October and announcing the
results at the AGM. However, part-way through the
13 week test sequence contamination in the test
bath was found to have influenced results and the
tests were abandoned, the equipment stripped and
cleaned and the programme restarted late in September.
The results will now be ready at the end of 2011.
This does mean enhanced confidence in the data and
the additive performance assessment and hence any
FBHVC endorsement of an additive submitted for test
by a commercial supplier.
It was stressed at the conference that no endorsement
has been made by FBHVC of any inhibitor product
at this stage. It was noted that marketing and promotional
material circulated in the week prior to the conference
by a company did place the FBHVC logo close to the
promotional material so that there were concerns
that proximity might lead some readers to believe
the product being marketed was endorsed by the FBHVC.
Not so - this was made very clear. |
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