greenie Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Living here in Maryland, safely (?!?) within the “ ozone transport zone”- we are forced to buy fuel with 10% ethanol. So I drive several miles outside the country to southern PA to but ethanol-free gas. It works well in my antique cars, my lawnmower, chain saw, snow blower, etc. Now I see a local gas station has fuel with isobutanol instead of ethanol. The EPA accepts it as an “oxygenation agent”. Without starting a political discussion, is this a suitable replacement for my fuel buying trips to PA? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryankazmer Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Chemistry, no politics. Think of isobutanol as a less volatile, less solvating version of ethanol. If your rubber parts are attacked by ethanol, they are likely to still be attacked by isobutanol, but less quickly. Same alcohol function, but dragging around a bigger hydrocarbon tail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Not familiar with isobutanol but I always wonder about oxygenated fuels. I'm old enough to remember the MTBE fiasco where the cure was exponentially worse than the disease. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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