Adding White Spirit to Petrol?

[Gompo]

I've heard doing the above can lower emissions slightly and generally be good for an engine?

Any views? For me personally it would be on a twin carbed Pinto, if that makes any difference..

Cheers, Greg.

[Pigeon]

I know someone who ran his MZ on neat white spirit for a while without damage...

[apache]

I think you could run an MZ on fermented cabbage and it'd work

[Gompo]

Anyone else?

Cheers, Greg.

[stevieturbo]

Sounds like a very strange thing to do.

[MR2Mike]

I think the argument here would be...if it really made an improvement, why aren't the petrol companies doing it already? Improving emissions is exactly the kind of thing they like to be seen doing.

[GreenV8S]

I seem to remember that people running diesel engines on cooking oil add something as a thinner - I think it was white spirit? Maybe that's where the idea came from.

[MR2Mike]

That was to prevent "waxing" of the diesel in the winter. Not needed now (at least in this country) as all modern diesel fuel has anti-waxing additives that work ok down to the temperatures we typicaly see in the UK.

[Gompo]

I think I heard it from people saying that some fuel additives smelt very similar to White Spirit, and was meant to be good as a 'cleaner'.

Thought I better ask you lot as there's not a lot you havent heard about.

[love machine]

I have run petrol engines on allsorts and white spirit is not good, it gives a light brown smoke but runs allright, from what I remember it has a lowish octane and stinks. It's a terpene and I suppose is viable, I've added it to veg oil in a diesel.

If you want to run something that isn't petrol start looking at toluene/xylene tainted thinners. That's the ticket.

If anyone has any fuel related questions, I'm right up for having a discuss, I've done allsorts and have loads of ideas as a chemist and engine tinkerer

[234sapphire]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum.
I'm considering experimenting with a petrol/bio-ethanol fuel mix and I've read that there can be good gains in power and a reduction in emissions. In some countries an 85% ethanol fuel can be bought but I'm unsure if it would cause damage to the seals etc in a conventional fuel system. I believe it is also more viscous and can cause cold start problems.
Paul andrews

[love machine]

I reckon the best thing for bio-ethanol is to drink it with your mates!

IMO, ethanol requires massive jets, has a crappy calorific value and is basically pants. I would perhaps consider running ethanol with a nitro compound to give it a kick if you had a cheap source of ethanol. I believe these can be quite fun. Picric acid would be a good one to try and I expect it dissolves quite well in ethanol. It's also quite easy to make

[Pigeon]

Hmm, I'd have thought picric acid might make the octane rating really shit

[spool]

Some diesel engines does like a half pint of 2-stroke oil in the fueltank to run smoother.
In cold norway it can get -40 celsius below (thats -104 F for the uk numers)
The nordics also have some 3 different types of dieselfuel depending on temp and use.
The Volvo R6 (a armytruck) is said to be able to run on liquid butter quite fine.)

[correlejco]

Spool: minus 40 Celsius = minus 40 Fahrenheit. Work it out.

[scuffham]

love machine said:

I reckon the best thing for bio-ethanol is to drink it with your mates! IMO, ethanol requires massive jets, has a crappy calorific value and is basically pants. I would perhaps consider running ethanol with a nitro compound to give it a kick if you had a cheap source of ethanol. I believe these can be quite fun. Picric acid would be a good one to try and I expect it dissolves quite well in ethanol. It's also quite easy to make

interestingly, the SAAB turbo has a higher power output on 85% enthanol fuel than on 100% petrol....

[eliot]

234sapphire said:

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I'm considering experimenting with a petrol/bio-ethanol fuel mix and I've read that there can be good gains in power and a reduction in emissions. In some countries an 85% ethanol fuel can be bought but I'm unsure if it would cause damage to the seals etc in a conventional fuel system. I believe it is also more viscous and can cause cold start problems. Paul andrews

Its called e85 over in the states. Gains are from the fact that its a much higher octane.
www.megasquirt.info/flexfuel.htm

or google "e85"

Eliot.

[leorest]

I've heard of adding IPA to fuel but, that was because it absorbs water in the tank and, I assume, allows it to go into solution with the fuel so that it can be pumped through the engine and finally out the exhaust.

White Spirit is a new one on me but that doesn’t mean it's no good!

My take on it is that if you want better fuel, pay a little more and buy the premium stuff (or even Optimax) where the boffins have made sure everything is compatible. The potential for costly damage is enormous (tank seals, sender unit, pump, fuel lines, carb internals/efi injectors, explosive fire ball when it springs a leak etc. etc..)

There is a temptation to think that fuel is expensive but by volume it is one of the cheapest chemicals around (economies of scale). Unless you're liberating the white spirit from work then your cocktail is most likely to be more expensive that buying the highest grade fuel from a motorway service station.

Interesting discussion though
Leo

[busa_rush]

Veggie oil is 42p a litre in Sainsbury's, add a splash of white spirit, shaken, not stirred, makes me happy