Fuel Ethanol Standards, Testing and Blending
In countries that produces and use fuel grade ethanol, the quality of the product is regulated by standards set by regulating agencies of the country or the region. For example, European Union fuel ethanol standard is prFN 1536 and in the United States ASTM D 4806 is used as the standard. These standards were originally formulated for ethanol produced from first generation technologies using corn, sugarcane, and other sugar/starch-containing raw materials. However, these standards and tests are equally applicable to cel — lulosic ethanol as well. In the United States, occupational safety and health issues or concerns in using ethanol are addressed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). These health — and safety-related data for fuel ethanol can be found in the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) of fuel grade ethanol. The use of ethanol as a blend with gasoline in internal combustion engine vehicles and performance in the use of these ethanol blends will also be discussed in this chapter.
Non-denatured ethanol can be consumed as a beverage, therefore its usage in the United States is regulated by the Alcohol and
Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the U. S. Treasury Department (TTB). Consequently, a suitable denaturant must be added to render the product unfit for beverage use. The formula designed for fuel use of ethanol is CDA 20, and according to this regulation it is required to add a minimum of 2 gallons of denaturant to every 100 gallons of ethanol. The denaturant added for ethanol destined for use as a fuel is unleaded gasoline. In addition to this a corrosion inhibitor is also added to ethanol. The corrosion inhibitor provides protection to storage tanks, piping, pumps, dispensers and the engine. These additives are added at dosage rate 13-30 PTBE (pounds per thousand barrels ethanol). This provides 2-3 PTBE of corrosion inhibitor in the final 10% ethanol and gasoline blend (E10). Some common corrosion inhibitors that are shown to be effective for ethanol-blended gasoline are given in Table 16.1.