Acetone as fuel addtive? Any real information?

This was discussed in depth in this forum recently. Do some looking in posts.
Franz

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I used "search" and it turned up no references for acetone. If you say there was discussion, I'll look. Thanks

See here:
thread71-120134
Franz

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Thanks again for the help. I had found that read through it after your first comment, but that thread did not provide any hard science on the subject. I (and many others) would really appreciate any help on the subject of thinning vegetable oil (beside heat)... acetone, kerosene, gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, MEK, ???
Cold weather is acomin' and improved "weatherizing" veggie oil could help promote a hot grass roots movement.
A fellow by the name of LaPointe is a big proponent of acetone as a fuel additive for vehicles, and so many website reference his claims.
It reminds me of the patient who asks, "Doctor, I'd like a second opinion!" The Doctor says "OK, I'll guess again."

That reminds me of a joke also, when asked about a second opinion, the doctor said, "Well, you're ugly too!"

There is no sound engineering basis for the use of acetone, and there has been no engineering study that confirms the effectiveness (!) of using acetone as a fuel supplement. Any "by the seat of your pants" testing is just that, something that passes by the seat of your pants!

Those websites that bark the holiness of using acetone, and that just an ounce in 20 gallons will double your fuel mileage have never submitted their studies for serious engineering peer review. This is something which all engineers must submit to, peer review, and each study must be repeatable in order for it to be valid.

Franz

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It sounds like you are looking for information on improving the cold flow properties of biodiesel rather than using it as a gasoline performance additive? What you need to research then is the hard science behind "Cold Flow Improvers" and "Pour Point Depressants" that you may find in SAE or fuel chemistry papers.

Diesel fuel and petroleum-based lubricant basestocks may have poor cold flow properties due to residual wax (n-parrafin) content. These waxes crystalize at low temperature forming a gelatinous network with the fluid. Specialized polymers are added to the fluid to control the shape and size of the crystals which reduces the gelling tendency.

Vegetable oils will have no wax content, and so probably won't respond well to traditional CFIs because their flow properties are due to the inherent characteristics of the esters in the fluid. This also makes them a harder cold flow problem to crack. Any low melting fluid such as acetone that is blended in will thin it, but it will probably require much more than an "additive" treat rate (i.e. >>1%) and so affect combustibility and possibly equipment hardware.

I don't know how compatible acetone is with diesel combustion, but I have seen papers suggesting the use of certain low-molecular weight ethers as diesel fuel additives (cetane improvers?), so those must be compatible to some degree and might be another option to research.

Also, consider acetone and ethers will be prepared from petroleum sources, so the more you need the less "green" the biodiesel is.

You will have to use iron O-rings with acetone. I presently don't know the predominate material used for O-rings in the auto industry but acetone is bad for most common elastomers.

Acetone also azeotropes water and acts as a dehydrating agent. The acetone water azeotropes isn't miscible with a lot of materials.

Check this out:
And specifically :
Lots of good info.

Have a nice day, Tom

I have never heard of any info about acetone in diesel service, but in Harry Ricardo's book, The High Speed Internal Combustion Engine acetone is refered to in use for supercharged aircraft engines.

Opps, I also forgt to say yes there is sound engineering for the use of acetone, in Harrys book.

PTFE "O" rings will withstand acetone, and I expect fluorocarbon elastomers will also work

Regards

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Is acetone the primary ingredient in so-called diedel stabilizing additives and cetane boosters?

My coworkers used acetone for extreme cold work. It improves cold volatility.

Acetone will decrease the cetane rating of diesel fuel. It is an octane booster for most (if not all) alaphatic hydrocarbons that are normally liquid at room temperatures.

Regards

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Mercedes Benz and Maserati also used acetone in their racing programs in the 50's