Does ethanol spoil, i.e., go bad?

Question

A friend of mine told me that ethanol spoils so it can't be stored long term. I can't see how this is true.

Answer 1

yes and it rots your tank if you leave it in too long ,

see what moonshine does to your stomach

its almost the same thing

Answer 2

Ethanol is very hydrophylic, so it tends to pick up water during long term storage, this is not exactly the same as spoiling as the ethanol is still there, just diluted.  Certain bacteria do feed on ethanol converting it to acetic acid (this in fact is how vinegar is made), but I don't know if they can survive in high purity ethanol.

Kelvin, fuel grade ethanol is 95% purity, not 99%  it also contains a denaturent, usually a small quantity of gasoline.

Answer 3

Ethanol in the pure, will absorb water and deterioate after 6 months to a year. but can be easily fixed, by just recooking the Ethanol.

E85 is made up of 85% ethanol and 15% gas.  E85, is 105 octane, highly corrosive, burns hotter and creates a bigger explosion in the engine than gas does.    

However, cars that have the FLEXFUEL plates on them and the yellow gas caps are specially designed for the E85.  All FlexFuel Vehicles, have Stainless Steel tanks, fuel lines, cylinders.  the E85 will not corrode the stainless steel.

I drive an 07 commander with the flexfuel 4.7L v8.  I use the E85 i get about the same mileage as i would with gas only lose about 1-2 mpg.  However most stations near me price the E85 at 30-80 cents per gallon cheaper than regular gas.

Alternative Fuels is the only way for this country to go.  if you buy a hybrid you still buy regular gas.  Hybrid technology wont be worth a d**n, when this world runs out of oil.  We need to start now looking at alternative fuels.

for a list of E85 stations in North America: www.E85refueling.com

Also, there are tax credits available in most states if you can prove that you buy the E85.

Answer 4

It doesn't "spoil" exactly... it just absorbs water.... as it gets below 99% pure alcohol it becomes less useful as a motor fuel. Ethanol, for that reason, can't be transported by pipeline... any exposure to the atmosphere allows it to absorb water... but it can be stored indefinitely  in air tight containers... so it doesn't "spoil".

Answer 5

Ethanol is corrosive. It won't spoil, it will slowly eat away its surroundings and become something else. That is why fuels that are just short of mass production like butanol are much better choices.

Answer 6

the fact that ethanol absorbs water is not all bad -- if use

regular gas you tank will by heating and cooling will make a certain amount of water -- by using ethanol (10%) it will absorb this water and you do not have the freezing problem you have in cold weather.  the water is not the problem with pipe lines - there is just not enough ethonol to cost effect use in pipelines.

one of the problems right not with any mixture of ethanol the price -- compared to the mpg -- it may be a few cents cheaper but you do not get the mpg.   this will be correct in time as vehicles are made better and the cost of mfg goes down.