Renergie receives gop-ahead for vehicle testing of low-cost hydrous ethanol in the US

In Florida, hydrous ethanol producer Renergie moved closer to market with an agreement to conduct a 15 month, sixty vehicle test program with hydrous ethanol in blends of  E10, E20, E30, and E85 to investigate vehicle performance and emissions. Hydrous ethanol, used throughout Brazil but not previously in the United States, allows for the elimination of the drying stage that creates anhydrous ethanol, used in the US. The energy savings from elimination of the dehydration process is estimated at between 10 and 45 percent with a resulting four percent volume increase. Other benefits include improved mileage, cleaner engines and reduction in emissions.

Hydrous Ethanol
Preliminary tests conducted in Europe have proven that the use of hydrous ethanol, which eliminates the need for the hydrous-to-anhydrous dehydration processing step, results in an energy savings of between ten percent and forty-five percent during processing, a four percent product volume increase, higher mileage per gallon, a cleaner engine interior, and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Variable Blending Pump
In the U.S., the primary method for blending ethanol into gasoline is splash blending. The ethanol is “splashed” into the gasoline either in a tanker truck or sometimes into a storage tank of a retail station. Renergie believes the inaccuracy and manipulation of splash blending may be eliminated by precisely blending the ethanol and unleaded gasoline at the point of consumption, i.e., the point where the consumer puts E10, E20, E30 or E85 into his or her vehicle. A variable blending pump would ensure the consumer that E10 means the fuel entering the fuel tank of the consumer’s vehicle is 10 percent ethanol (rather than the current arbitrary range of 4 percent ethanol to at least 24% ethanol that the splash blending method provides) and 90% gasoline.

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