THE EFFECT OF ETHANOL ON FUEL TANK CORROSION RATE

Abstract

In recent decades, the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel for S.I. engines has become a popular issue. This is not only due to availability and oil prices, but also to address concerns about the increase in greenhouse gas effects. However, ethanol is corrosive in a fuel tank made of metal, because it contains soluble chloride ions. Therefore, this paper presents the results of an investigation of the fuel tank corrosion rate made of metal Fe_U_100 due to the use of pure ethanol. The test was performed by PGS-120T potentiostat with the addition of NaCl in ethanol in concentrations of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% while the estimated corrosion rate on pure ethanol was done by regression. The estimation of the fuel tank corrosion rate through the exponential regression for the use of pure ethanol is 4,116 mpy. Then, from the assessment metrics, the fuel tank made of Fe_U_100 has corrosion resistance in the excellent category. This means no fuel tank modification or replacement is required for pure ethanol applications in S.I. engine.