I have been asked to manufacture a fuel tank from composite material that will hold E85 gasoline without dissolving or leaching. I suggested using Blown High density Polythene instead. The customer has come back and said that for a one or two off proposition the price for a blown tank is too high.
I told him I would see what I could do without promising anything.
In order to track down a resin I need to narrow the field somewhat. It would appear that Polyesters are out and that any Vinylester that uses hardeners with phthalates is out.
Even some of the epoxies are suspect, I am currently searching DGEBA and NOVOLAC epoxies. but most of these only show resistance to gasoline containing alchohol. Also would a polyester fabric liner help in a situation like this?
Does anybody have any pointers or suggestions?
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor

Have you looked at online source information such as

http://www.ch601.org/resources/fiberglass%20parts/...

and various chemical resistance information sites.

Your question can only be answered by the manufacturer, and only in regards to a specific resin formulation. While certain types of resins will have more probability of working well than others, there is a tremendous range of properties for each type. This is particularly true of thermosets compared to thermoplastics. For your application you need to contact resin suppliers and get them to recommend products that have been tested in your application.

Cloa,
The site you have linked me to is the Zenith home builders site and the tank he is building is for fuel without alchohol. Part of the problem is that Vinylester resins such as the one he is using, work quite well for unleaded or leaded gasoline. Adding alchohol leaches out the plastiziser used in the hardener. This ends up gumming up carburetters and plating on cylinder valves.

Composite Pro,
As usual you are quite correct, however there seems to be a reluctance on the part of some resin manufacturers to say anything, other than that their product is resistant to the gasoline alchohol mix.
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor

Well I have some responses from some resin manufacturers today who are recommending a 50:50 blend of Bis A epoxy and cycloaliphatic epoxy.

I will try this and see what the results are.
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor