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API PUBL 4261 Document Information:
Title
Alcohols and Ethers a Technical Assessment of Their Application as Fuels and Fuel Components
American Petroleum Institute
Publication Date:
Jun 1, 2001
Scope:
GENERAL
In 1971 the American Petroleum Institute (API) studied the feasibility
of blending ethanol with
gasoline to augment domestic fuel supplies for transportation. After
the first Arab oil embargo in
1974, interest in using alcohols as fuels expanded to include
methanol, not only as a
transportation fuel, but also as a fuel for stationary power sources.
In response to that expanded
interest, the API published an updated technical assessment in 1976.
Since 1976, many changes have occurred in the use of petroleum and
non-petroleum fuels, both neat
and in blends with hydrocarbon components. The earlier objective of
augmenting domestic energy
sources was joined by two additiional objectives: a) to produce high
octane gasoline without the
use of lead alkyls, and b) to reduce the contribution of motor
vehicles and stationary sources to
air pollution. In response to the expanded use of oxygenates, API
published a second updated
technical assessment in 1988. Today, federal law requires that
oxygenates be blended with gasoline
in the wintertime in certain areas and be a part of reformulated
gasoline in specified areas of the
United States.
The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 expanded the interest in alcohols
and ethers. The Clean Air
Act Amendments of 1990 mandated the use of oxygenates to reduce
wintertime carbon monoxide
emissions in carbon monoxide nonattainment areas. It also required
oxygenates in reformulated
gasoline (RFG) which is mandated for use in extreme and severe ozone
nonattainment areas and other
ozone nonattainment areas which opt to require reformulated gasoline.
Nonattainment areas are those
areas not meeting the statutory federal standards for ambient carbon
monoxide (carbon monoxide
nonattainment areas) and ozone (ozone nonattainment areas).
New policy issues regarding oxygenates are expected in the future. An
important objective of this
publication is to provide an updated and expanded technical assessment
suitable as a foundation for
policy discussion.
The transportation fuels industry has been shaped by six important
events since the issuing of the
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977: a) the increased use of alcohols as
blending components, b) the
appearance of marketplace concerns resulting from the misuse of
alcohols as blending components, c)
the implementation of federal environmental regulations covering the
composition of motor fuels, d)
the onset of federal regulations requiring the use of oxygenates, e)
the use of several different
ethers as fuel components, and f) the ban on MTBE in California by
2002. In the future, the
registration of fuels and fuel additives and the required toxicology
testing may affect motor fuel
composition and the use of oxygenates.
This technical assessment, therefore, has been expanded to include a
review of the oxygenate
regulations and the technical literature that has been published
between 1988 and 1999. This
publication summarizes information on producing and applying alcohols
and ethers as fuels and fuel
components. The alcohols and ethers that are considered include a)
methanol, ethanol, isopropyl
alcohol (IPA), tertiary-butyl alcohol (TBA), methyl tertiary-butyl
ether (MTBE), tertiary-amyl
methyl ether (TAME), ethyl tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE), and
diisopropyl ether (DIPE) as fuel
components; b) methanol and ethanol (both neat and mixed with low
levels of hydrocarbons) as
transportation fuels; and c) methanol in stationary power sources.
This publication assesses the
technical advantages and disadvantages of alcohols and ethers with
respect to hydrocarbon fuels.
The analysis also addresses the following factors: a) the costs
associated with producing alcohols
and ethers, b) distribution, storage, and are protection and safety
concerns, and c) health and
environmental concerns.
REFERENCES
1. American Petroleum Institute Committee for Air and Water
Conservation, "Use of Alcohol in Motor
Gasoline - A Review," API Report No. 4082, August 1971.
2. American Petroleum Institute Alcohol Fuels Task Force, "Alcohols -
A Technical Assessment of
Their Application as Fuels," API Report No. 4261, July 1976.
3. American Petroleum Institute Alcohol Fuels Task Force, "Alcohols
and Ethers - A Technical
Assessment of Their Application as Fuels and Fuel Components," API
Report No. 4261, July 1988.
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