×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

MTBE concerns

MTBE concerns

MTBE concerns

(OP)
1) Is the MTBE addition to gasoline producing exhaust emissions which are harmful to the health (including cancer)? I am not talking about gasoline in contact with the skin, just wondering if the MTBE causes levels of any unhealthy gases or particulates in the atmosphere. I live in the Phoenix area, and the air can get very smoggy.

2) Does the MTBE addition (I think it is about 10%) cause a drop in fuel economy?

RE: MTBE concerns

1) Oxygenates including MTBE are added to gasoline in air quality non-attainment areas in an effort to reduce ground-level ozone precursers produced by automobile emissions.  Ozone is unhealthy to breathe, especially for people with asthma or emphasema (sp?), so the intent is to reduce air pollution and not increase it.  The effectiveness of MTBE at this is a topic still debated.

2) Proponents say any drop in fuel economy is negligible.  Oxygenates have lower calorific content than the gasoline they replace (see previous posts in the forum) so that would tend to increase fuel consumption.  MTBE is also an octane enhancer, so if the ignition controller advanced the timing it could counteract this somewhat.  My own experience has left me believing I get poorer fuel economy with oxygenated gasoline.

RE: MTBE concerns

(OP)
drwebb,
Thanks for the info. I recalled a Federal Gov't ban on MTBE some years ago, and was trying to get some opinions.

RE: MTBE concerns

Here in California, the regulatory agencies have the environmental industry chasing MTBE in groundwater all over the state.  Although it isn’t known if MTBE actually is carcinogenic (MTBE is listed as a SUSPECTED carcinogen), preliminary clean up standards have been established.  So in all reality millions of dollars are being spent to clean up something that is perceived as potentially being a problem.  We are currently being asked to analyze for other oxygenates, but as of yet aren’t being asked to remediate them.  Now, as far as MTBE in air and emissions, I have yet to hear of anything.

RE: MTBE concerns

This may not be very high on consideration but the smell is enough to make many people sick.
Also there are people that are easily driven into serious Bronchial problems from the vapors.
I know this first hand.
N.J. made MTBE manditory and PA. tried it some years ago. Now neither uses it although the additives they put in the gas now is sometimes just as bad from the health stand point.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources