Acetone as gasoline additive

[PosterChild]

What with the fuel prices going up so fast, I’m hearing about people adding acetone to their gas to increase mileage. I’d guess that if there were economical additives, they’d already be added (instead of, or in addition to, the current brand name gas additives that are supposed to make the engine run smoother). Unless it damaged some engines, I guess.
Are there additives that increase mileage? What are the theories behind how they would supposedly do this?
PC

[groman]

Well, Lead for one.

[Imasquare]

I have no idea how reputable or reliable this is but here’s an article I read about this yesterday. Its the first time I ever heard about adding acetone to fuel.

http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/faq.htm

[Jeff_Lichtman]

@groman

Well, Lead for one.

Cite?

Tetraethyl lead used to be used as an octane booster, not a mileage booster. I have never heard that lead additives would improve mileage.

BTW, lead in the gas will ruin a car’s catalytic converter. It used to be that all gas sold for cars contained lead (“white” gas sold as fuel for camp stoves and the like has never contained lead). Unleaded gas for cars was introduced at the same time as catalytic converters, and eventually leaded gas was phased out entirely.

[Aestivalis]

There was a huge discussion on the Car Talk message boards about Acetone and its uses. There were several factions:

1. If it was any use, the Oil companies would be doing it already.
2. The Oil companies are suppressing this information!
3. Hi Opal!
4. I’ve tried it and it works!
5. I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work!

Anyway, read for yourself:
http://cartalk.com/board/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=269241&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

[awldune]

From another board, not my post:

I am a chemist and here is my $0.02

Acetone, a.k.a. dimethyl ketone, is a relatively polar organic solvent. MEK, a.k.a. methyl ethyl ketone, is already an additive to gasoline, and acetone likely adds no more benefit than adding more MEK.

What it does: Acetone in gasoline oxygenates the fuel to improve combustion. Note that this is the exact reason that alcohols are added to fuels in winter. Other examples of fuel oxygenation would be nitrous oxide, nitromethane, nitrobenzene, etc. It is the oxygen attached to these molecules that boosts combustion and performance.

As to the claims: Do the cars run better? Probably so, due to improved combustion. Is gas mileage better? Maybe, but the greatest improvements would be in engines that are operating well below optimum, or, the crappier running the car, the more perceived benefit.

The caveats!: Acetone will probably increase combustion temperatures, perhaps dangerously so, depending upon how much is added. A water- cooled car is much better able to eliminate excess heat.

Acetone is a polar solvent in a non-polar matrix (gasoline). Simply put, the gasket dissolving properties that ethanol has in gasoline are multiplied several times with acetone. Rubber parts designed to be in contact with gasoline will be damaged much more quickly by acetone than ethanol.

If you spill it on your car while adding it, it will damage paint, clearcoat, etc.

And that stuff about it not absorbing water is a bunch of cr*p.

Don’t put it in your Porsche unless you have a spare engine sitting around.

While this person hasn’t tried acetone in a car, what he says makes a lot of sense.

[kanicbird]

Acetone, a.k.a. dimethyl ketone, is a relatively polar organic solvent. MEK, a.k.a. methyl ethyl ketone, is already an additive to gasoline,

and

Acetone is a polar solvent in a non-polar matrix (gasoline). Simply put, the gasket dissolving properties that ethanol has in gasoline are multiplied several times with acetone. Rubber parts designed to be in contact with gasoline will be damaged much more quickly by acetone than ethanol.

Sop this guy is saying that it will disolve seals faster, but it already a gas additive? If it’s already added to gas, it would seem like it’s ok in some concentration.

[Q.E.D]

@kanicbird

Sop this guy is saying that it will disolve seals faster, but it already a gas additive? If it’s already added to gas, it would seem like it’s ok in some concentration.

No. Acetone (dimethyl ketone) is not the same as the gasoline additive, methyl ethyl ketone.

[kanicbird]

No. Acetone (dimethyl ketone) is not the same as the gasoline additive, methyl ethyl ketone.

thx

[PosterChild]

Kind of reminds me of discussions about using regular gas in engines designed for premium. I was recently in the market for a car and the Acura brochures say in one place the engine is designed for 91 octane, but lower octane gas may be used with some loss of performance while at another place it warns of engine damage if lower octane is used. The boards are full of people saying they use lower octane gas with worse performance or mileage and others saying they use lower octane gas with the same (or better) mileage.

I’d guess the acetone doesn’t do much and would be too worried about it dissolving gaskets and such to use.

PC

(Should have gotten a Prius :))

[scm1001]

@Q.E.D.

No. Acetone (dimethyl ketone) is not the same as the gasoline additive, methyl ethyl ketone.

well its ‘almost’ exactly the same, and their properties are very similar. As to whether it will dissolve seals etc more, that depends on the seals. Acetone is a poor solvent for many compounds and good for others. It will not attack natural rubber seals, but may attack certain others such as polyurethanes.