Ethanol creating mower problems

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- Cutting the grass is always a chore, but some of you may have found using your lawn mower is even more of a challenge lately. It turns out your grass cutter could have a gas problem. The extra ethanol that has been added to fuel over the past few years has caused some major issues for folks with vehicles and machinery, like lawnmowers.

Hughes Waren mows his lawn about once every two weeks, but says cutting the grass lately has become a huge hassle.

“It’s been stalling out, not performing at the highest level as it has been in previous years,” said Waren. “I didn't know what to attribute it to.”

James Lewis, a small engine repairman in Wilmington says the problem is in the fuel.

“Fuel isn't what it used to be,” said Lewis. “It's not exactly what it used to be five years ago with all of the additives they put in it.”

Lewis says the extra ethanol can be very damaging to lawn mowers, causing the carburetor to rust faster and making the engine harder to start.

“The ethanol that is in the fuel will sit into the fuel tank and sit into the carburetor and it's caused big problems, whereas two years ago they could sit for five to six months,” said Lewis. “Now we need to get everyone to run their outdoor equipment every two to three months.”

Lewis says business has been booming. He says this year alone his mechanics have replaced more than 200 carburetors on lawnmowers because of ethanol. He advises folks to run their outdoor equipment at least every two months or completely clean the fuel out of after it's been sitting for a while. He says there are some products you can buy that help to counter act the ethanol, which can be found at most small engine repair shops.

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How To Build Fractional Distillation - News


Ethanol creating mower problems
Ethanol creating mower problems

Ethanol is usually produced by fermenting the sugars in plant materials and then using fractional distillation to separate the ethanol released in the fermenting process from the other materials. This introduces another variable, as the ethanol that




Fractional Distillation of Hydrocarbons | Pyrolytic Breakdown of ...

Fractional distillation differs from distillation only in that it separates a mixture into a number of different parts, called fractions. A tall column is fitted above the mixture, with several condensers coming off at different heights. The column is hot at the bottom and cool at the top. Substances with high boiling points condense at the bottom and substances with low boiling points condense at the top. Like distillation, fractional distillation works because the different substances in the mixture have different boiling points.

The diagram above summarizes the main fractions from crude oil and their uses, and the trends in properties. Note that the gases condense at the top of the column, the liquids in the middle and the solids stay at the bottom.

The main fractions include refinery gases, gasoline (petrol), naphtha, kerosene, diesel oil, fuel oil, and a residue that contains bitumen. These fractions are mainly used as fuels, although they do have other uses too.

Hydrocarbons with small molecules make better fuels than hydrocarbons with large molecules because they are volatile, flow easily and are easily ignited.


How To Build Fractional Distillation - Bookshelf

The Electrical engineer

The Electrical engineer

How to Make a Distilling-tube. A piece of soft glass tubing, about 7in. long and fin. wide, ... Fractional Distillation of Alcohol and Water. Experiment 30. ...

Electrical engineer, an illustrated record and review of electrical progress

Electrical engineer, an illustrated record and review of electrical progress

How to Make a Distilling-tube. A piece of soft glass tubing, about "in. long and $in. wide ... Fractional Distillation of Alcoliol and Water. Experiment 30. ...

Experimental Organic Chemistry, A Miniscale and Microscale Approach

Experimental Organic Chemistry, A Miniscale and Microscale Approach

2.14 FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION See video on Fractional Distillation w The technique of ... Attach the distillation column and make sure that it is vertical ...

Fractional distillation

Fractional distillation

Thus, no amount of fractionation with the most perfect apparatus would make it ... Mendeleeff, A paper, without title, on the fractional distillation of ...

Understanding Science, Upper Primary

Understanding Science, Upper Primary

Fractional Distillation At an oil refinery, crude oil is separated into the parts (or fractions) that make it up by a process called fractional distillation ...

Casual Information Directory


Animation of a fractional distillation plant >> grappa ...
We are the region's premier provider of healthcare for children, infants through ... Animation of a fractional distillation plant: the such basis will ironically have to be ...

How to Troubleshoot Distillation | eHow.co.uk
How to Troubleshoot Distillation. Distillation is a process of separating a mixture of liquids due to their volatility, or tendency to vaporize. ...

Fractional Distillation Techniques | eHow.com
Fractional distillation is a technique for separating mixtures of elements and compounds that have similar or identical chemical properties but different ...

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Fractional distillation is used to separate out components of different boiling points within a solution. This method is frequently used to separate ...

fractional distillation of ideal mixtures of liquids
Explains how the fractional distillation of an ideal mixture of liquids is related to its phase diagram.