E for Environment - How Ethanol Provides Eco-Friendly Fuel Solutions

The grain-based, chemical compound, ethanol, is often used as a biological additive to gasoline. It can be derived from many agricultural sources. In the United States, corn is the basic ingredient; however in Brazil, where the world's largest quantities are produced, ethanol is made from sugarcane. All vehicles can run on ethanol products, whereby the ethanol is combined with petroleum in various ratios. However, only certain dilutions of the alcohol are recommended for certain vehicles. When ethanol is present in larger quantities, the vehicles must be specially adapted to be able to run as efficiently as they should.

How it is Made

Most ethanol in the United States is made using a dry mill process. First, the grain is ground into meal, which is a fine powder. This process is called, "Milling." Next comes liquefaction, whereby the meal is mixed with an enzyme called alpha-amylase and water. The mixture is turned into a liquid and heated to remove bacteria. In the next phase, gluco-amylase is added. This allows the mixture to be fermented.

Once yeast is added, the mixture will begin to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide and is called 'beer'. The process of distilling the beer helps to remove the alcohol in the beer from any solids that are mixed in with it. Finally, all water is removed in the dehydration process. This leaves the alcohol with an extremely high concentration of about 200-proof. Up until this process, the ethanol alcohol is relatively safe for human consumption, although it would have to be diluted.

In order to make ethanol appropriate for use as a fuel, it must be rendered unfit for human consumption through the addition of gasoline. This process is called denaturing, which is the final step in production. Afterwards, the two main by-products, which are carbon dioxide and distiller's grain, are often sold to other industries and used for products such as a livestock feed that is highly nutritious.

As a fuel source, ethanol is considered to be a great alternative to pure petroleum-based fuels. It is a high octane, clean-burning oxygenate, which means that it will burn more cleanly than regular gasoline. It will also burn more completely. Because it is grain-based, ethanol is considered to be a renewable fuel source, which can be grown as needed.

Most vehicle manufacturers will guarantee a car's performance when using a gasoline product that contains ten percent ethanol. This type of gasoline is commonly known as E10. However, although there are other concentrations, such as the E85, which contains 85 percent ethanol and fifteen percent gasoline, most vehicles would need to be modified to use it.

The use of ethanol in the car is considered to be very beneficial. It is gentler on the car's system and is known for making the car drive more smoothly and efficiently. Ethanol will also contribute to the longer life of the car, as the parts tend to last longer than those in a car that always uses regular gasoline because the wear and tear caused by ethanol is not as bad as with standard gasoline. Because of this, ethanol is now becoming the official fuel for the IndyCar® Series of the well-known Indy Racing League.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol