Effect of Retention Period on Stability of Ethanol Blended Motor Gasoline Blends in Various Storage Vessels

Current study presents an experimental analysis on the retention behavior of ethanol-blended motor gasoline stored in vessels made of stainless steel, aluminum, glass, and epoxy-coated material. A novel approach has been applied to ascertain the stability of different prepared blends. A comparison was done among neat motor gasoline, 12%, 15% and 20% ethanol blended motor gasoline with respect to time. The selection of percentage of ethanol blending was done as per the available fuel standards. During the initial stage of the study, various test parameters of both neat motor gasoline & ethanol blended motor gasoline blends were checked. The selected test parameter was density, distillation, total sulphur, water content, ethanol content, corrosiveness to copper, solvent washed gum content including visual appearance and colour. Petroleum products testing procedures were followed during the study. Further, all the samples in respective containers were retained and all the tests were re-conducted at an interval of 60, 90 and 120 days of retention and all the tests were performed within a period of (±3) days. These studies revealed that ethanol blended motor gasoline retained up to period of 120 days, were found stable up to 120 days with respect to the tests conducted. Concluding objective of this work was to ascertain that after 120 days of retention period, EBMG blends are meeting the required specifications and fit for further use.