Mixing Alcohols
A trademarked ethanol cocktail called Ecalene™ may offer the potential to solve some of the issues relating to pure ethanol use. Power Energy Fuels in Colorado claims that Ecalene™ is “Ethanol Plus” because it has higher mixed alcohols which act as a binding agent in fuel blending, has higher octane than ethanol, is its own denaturant, has higher btu’s than ethanol with high octane that will increase mileage and performance – all according to their website. Certainly sounds promising. Power Energy has the patents on the product, they are working with NREL and have two patents on the process. Here’s another link that gives some more info about Ecalene.
I found out about Ecalene™ through a comment from Power Energy president Gene Jackson who wrote asking why I don’t “promote mixed alcohols?” Well, that would be because I didn’t know about it. Now I do – but I would ask you why YOU don’t promote it? The media is eating up anything that has to do with ethanol right now but if you do a news search for Ecalene there’s nothing. Send out a press release, for goodness sake!
3 Comments
Gary Dikkers
Thanks for posting this — I had not heard of Ecalene.
Intriguing possibilities if it can be made directly from coal and natural gas.
1. Since the vast coal deposits in Wyoming and Montana are this countries energy future — at least until we learn how to make fusion energy a working reality — Ecalene made from coal could be the true domestic fuel we desperately need.
2. Making Ecelene from natural gas also raises an interesting possibility: Perhaps it would be efficient and make sense to make Ecalene directly from natural gas, rather than using foreign natural gas to make fertilizer to import into the U.S., and then using that fertilizer and diesel fuel made from imported oil to grow corn, and then using more natural gas to mill and distill the corn into ethanol.
Power Energy’s website also says they can make Ecalene from anything containing carbon. I wonder if that includes converting oil shale and tar sands directly to Ecalene?
Gene Jackson
Yes we can make ecalene out of tar sands or oil shale. Natural gas is also a good feedstock. Sewage sludge, MSW, RDF etc. and etc.
Thanks
Gene Jackson
Yes, Ecalene is the fuel of the immediate future – first from the beetle kill trees in the Rocky Mountains and then to trash, coal and other biomass.
Posted Gene Jackson
Comments RSS feed —