BF2S Forums Ethynol Quiz

agent146 wrote:

Stormscythe wrote:

wtf is ethynol (chemically)?

a type of alcohol ?

Well, since you asked...

A hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. If there are only single bonds between the carbons, then they are alkanes. If there is a double bond, then they are called alkenes. If there is a triple bond, then it is an alkyne.

So to recap:
1 bond: -ane
2 bonds: -ene
3 bonds: -yne

As for the number of carbons, the follow a simple naming procedure:
1: meth-
2: eth-
3: prop-
4: but-
5: pent-
6: hex-
7: hept-
8: oct-


So if we take ethane, we get 2 carbon atoms that are joined by a single bond. Each carbon atom can have 4 bonds, so there are 3 hydrogen atoms attached to each carbon (ie.total forur bonds per C). It looks something like this:




In ethanol, the -ol refers to it's hydroxyl group (OH). Basically, one of the hydrogens is replaced by a hydroxyl group:





Production of Ethanol
Now the production of ethanol isn't as simple as just swapping the H for an OH... We'll deal with production of ethanol from sugar first:

1. Complex sugar is broken down into glucose by yeast action. Yeast is then used to ferment the glucose to form ethanol and carbon dioxide.

C₆H₁₂O₆ --> 2C₂H₅OH + 2CO₂

2. At about 15% ethanol, the yeast die so the mixture of ethanol and water must be distilled to purify the ethanol.

3. When complete combustion takes place, the water and carbon dioxide that is released can be used again in the formation of glucose. The cycle is carbon neutral.


The other method of ethanol production is hydration of ethylene (ethene). Ethylene is heated with dillute sulfuric acid (ie. there's sulfurinc acid and water). The double bond of the ethylene molecule is broken, thus leaving 2 free bonds (one on each carbon atom). The water molecule then splits up into H and OH. These fill up the free bonds.

This method is impractical for production of ethanol outside experimental conditions.

Bubbalo wrote:

usmarine2005 wrote:

Bubbalo wrote:

But only because the engines aren't designed for it.  If the engine is designed for it, it works just fine.

Last weekend I had a rental car that was flex fuel.  It took E-85 which I assume was ethanol.  Amazing gas mileage and no drop in performance.  Plus the gas was cheaper also.  Me like.

Wow.......something we agree on.  I think I just heard a dog meow.............

I was actually talking about harm to the engine, as I wasn't sure whether the end performance was as good.  You say it is?  Brilliant.  Now, we just need to convince people that electric cars aren't the answer.................

My next car will definitely be flex fuel....or something like it.

That's kinda of like that SAAB that runs on special fuel (forgotten its name) anyway its pretty pointless here cos no fuel stations sell the fuels it needs, (whatever it was again).