TurnKeyServiceTech

Drivers jumping on the latest gas-saving bandwagon may be in for a shock when they see fuel-economy estimates for the newest darlings of Detroit: E85 ethanol flex-fuel vehicles. Run a new V6 Chevrolet Impala on good-old gasoline, and it’ll get 21 miles per gallon in the city, 31 on the highway, according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates. Burn E85 — a blend of 85 percent of the alcohol-based fuel ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, which American automakers flaunt as their latest alternative-energy idea — and the Impala’s EPA numbers shrivel to 16 mpg city, 23 highway.

There are some vehicles that can run on E85, 100 percent gasoline, or a combination of the two. Run a two wheel-drive V8 Ford F150 on regular unleaded gas, and the EPA says it’ll get 14 mpg city, 19 mpg highway. Run it on E85 ethanol, and it gets 11 mpg city, 14 mpg highway. In other words, fill up on environmentally friendly E85 ethanol, and you’ll get fewer miles per gallon than you would on gasoline.

Sound depressing? Not if you believe that what’s bad for the E85 ethanol user is good for America’s fuel strategy. After all, a mile driven on E85 ethanol fuel is a mile not driven on conventional gasoline. And that, according to proponents of E85 ethanol, can help America end its dependence on foreign oil.

Joining these E85 ethanol boosters are General Motors and Ford, which have mounted massive new E85 ethanol support programs. Spurred by public and private efforts to pump up E85 ethanol demand, ethanol producers themselves are pouring billions of dollars into building new refineries.

As with any alternative-fuel idea, however, the E85 ethanol story is one of tradeoffs. It pits, for example, E85 ethanol’s ability to lower air pollution because it burns cleaner than gasoline against the potential environmental costs involved in ethanol production.

Their are some tradeoffs in E85 ethanol fuel economy, but are there compromises in convenience and vehicle performance?

• E85 Ethanol Flex Fuel

About one-third of all gasoline sold in the United States contains some ethanol, typically in a ratio of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol. E85 gets its name from the way it inverts that formula, at 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent conventional gasoline. Only a fraction of the cars and trucks on the road are “flex fuel” vehicles: those that can run on conventional gasoline or E85 ethanol fuel. You’ll learn why that number is growing, and how you can determine whether your next new car or truck — or maybe the one you already own — is an E85 ethanol flex-fuel vehicle.

• How Does E85 Ethanol Affect You

E85 ethanol flex-fuel vehicles have some special technology in them. The automakers say running a flex-fuel vehicle on E85 has no effect on performance.

Teaching high school Auto Shop can be both difficult and rewarding. Having classes that go from teaching how to change oil and what the simplest tools are to the newest most advanced cars can be difficult. Its so easy to talk over the beginners heads and that is hard not to do over the counter also. Then you have the kids that eat it up and you hope not to bore. Testing is how we measure how well we teach and so far I need a little work.

Tom Henry Turn Key Service Tech

Ford Designing a Laser Ignition System

Ford is teaming up with the University of Liverpool to design a laser ignition system for automotive engines. According to the university’s web site, a fiber-optic cable will shoot the laser beam to a focusing lens that would create an intense pinprick of light. As fuel is injected into the engine, the laser is fired and produces enough heat to ignite the fuel.

University researchers claim that the new technology is more reliable and efficient than current spark plug technology.  Although the laser will need to fire more than 50 times per second at 3000 rpm, it will require less power than current spark plugs. The lasers can also reflect back from inside the cylinders to relay information based on fuel type used and the level of ignition, enabling the control unit to readjust the quantities of air and fuel for optimum performance.

The lasers can be focused and split into multiple beams to give multiple ignition points, which give a far better chance of ignition and can really improve the performance of the engine when it is cold; a time when around 80 per cent of the exhaust emissions are produced and the engine is at is least efficient. The laser also produces more stable combustion so you need to put less fuel into the cylinder.

Ford said that it plans to implement the new technology into its top of the range vehicles within the next few years, and then make the laser ignition system available for its remaining models sometime thereafter.

Other advantages of laser ignition include:

§                     Choice of ignition location and potential variation within a cylinder.   

§                     Non-invasive, there are no electrodes which can disturb the cylinder geometry and can quench a propagating flame kernel.

§                     Possibility of varying ignition energy for engine control. 

§                     Multiple ignition positions in a cylinder.

§                     Lower ignition energies needed for combustion.

§                     More stable combustion and increased engine performance.

§                     Reduced tailpipe emissions.

§                     Combustion of leaner air-fuel mixtures.

§                     Shorter ignition delays and faster combustion duration.