Man Makes Ethanol-Free Petrol At Home: Here's How It's Done [Video]
The Government of India recently achieved its goal of 20 percent ethanol blending in petrol. Now, as we have understood in the last few months, more ethanol in petrol has started causing major issues to the engines, fuel lines, and fuel pumps of older vehicles that are not E20 compliant. Recently, an owner of a Maruti Suzuki 800 hatchback showed the process of how he makes 0 percent ethanol fuel at home for his older car and bikes.
This video, showing the process of how ethanol-free petrol can be made at home, has been shared on YouTube by Ajay Kaith on his channel. It starts off with the YouTuber mentioning that, as his Maruti 800 and other older bikes are non-E20 compliant, he has to make ethanol-free petrol at home.
Following this, he mentions that he is going to the petrol pump to buy around 40 litres of petrol so that he can have enough to make 0 percent ethanol petrol at home. He then brings eight 5-litre containers in which he carries 40 litres of E20 blended petrol, after which he shows the apparatus used for this process.
In the video, he highlights that he had to buy a separation funnel for around Rs 2,800–3,000. He then shows the funnel. For those who may not have seen a separation funnel, it is a spherical container with a tap underneath, and it is used to separate two liquids of different densities.
Next, the vlogger explains the ethanol separation process. He highlights that, as ethanol is hygroscopic in nature, when water with pressure is added to the petrol in the separation funnel, it mixes with the ethanol. The water mixed with ethanol is then removed using the tap.
He also mentions that to make sure the complete ethanol separation takes place, he adds water with force. He adds water twice to the petrol to ensure that no ethanol is left behind. After this, he recollects the freshly prepared ethanol-free petrol. He adds that he does this to make sure his older vehicles are not filled with E20, as it damages the fuel lines.
From the video, the main thing to note is that although this method is very simple, it is also extremely time-consuming. Not everyone in India has a lot of free time at their disposal. In the example, the person was making around 1 litre of ethanol-free petrol, and it was taking a lot of time. So, it is safe to say that not everyone can repeat this at home.
Additionally, not all states and petrol pumps allow the sale of large quantities of petrol in containers. There is a huge safety risk involved, and if anything goes wrong during the procurement of petrol or during the separation process, things can turn fatal as well. So, it is advised that people should not try to make ethanol-free fuel at home.
If you are someone who wants to buy petrol without ethanol, then you can pay a slight premium and buy XP100 E0 fuel from Indian Oil Corporation for Rs 180 per litre. Apart from this, you can also opt for HP Power 100, which is priced at around Rs 160 per litre across the country. JioBP’s standard petrol is also an alternative, as it is only blended with 10 percent ethanol.