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Re: [ST] Several questions - FUEL



On Tuesday 30 May 2006 00:20, BrettWilson21@xxxxxxx wrote:
> Perhaps someone here can shed some light on the technology used

LOL. Placebo technology. If this stuff was any use, manufacturers would be 
queueing up to licence it to put it in their vehicles as standard. Or the 
fuel companies would be doing it at the pump. Most of the websites for 
products like these make claims which are utterly ridiculous.

http://www.fitchcatalyst.com.au/FAQs.asp

"Q. How does the catalyst work?
A. All hydrocarbon fuels contain gums and resins which cause the fuel 
molecules of petrol and Diesel fuel to conglomerate in clusters."

As a chemistry major, all I can say is "LOL, clusters, what horses**t".
Even assuming that high-quality fuel contains that much gums and resins*, 
petrol is a highly volatile liquid, it's molecules aren't "clustering" 
because it's way above its melting point.
Diesel does form waxes at low temperatures, so the composition of the fuel is 
varied at the refinery for winter use.

"These clusters are too large to bum completely in the extremely short time 
that the burning fuel is in the combustion chamber."

Rubbish.

"Therefore, these unburned molecules enter the exhaust stream as a smoky gas 
and do not contribute any power to the operation of the engine."

If they don't burn, how do they enter they exhaust as a SMOKY gas?
Given that strict limits for unburnt hydrocarbons apply in many areas, aren't 
the manufacturers (and fuel companies) already addressing the issue of 
incomplete combustion?

"The Catalyst dissolves these gums and resins so that these clusters of 
molecules do not form, allowing all the fuel to be used for power."

LOL. A catalyst, by definition, can't "dissolve" anything. Even if it did, 
where do the "dissolved" "resins" go? Why don't you have to fish out this 
"catalyst" and empty it, in that case? If a significant power gain was so 
easily found, why don't all racers use it?

"The theory is verified by the fact that the catalyst fuel consistently 
produces exhaust emissions reductions of 50% or more in both hydrocarbons and 
carbon monoxide, thus indicating more complete combustion."

I would LOVE to see independent proof of this.
When the "how it works" is hand-waving pseudo-scientific horsesh*t, you know 
the product is snake oil.


Eoin

'04 ST955i


*The stuff that builds up in carb bowls when a bike is laid up for a long time 
is the small bit left when everything else in the fuel evaporates - and it 
takes very little of a deposit in a jet to make a bike run badly. I can't see 
how this stuff, when dissolved in liquid fuel in normal use, can have a 
significant effect on combustion - if it did it would be refined out.



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