Petron CEO, Ramon S. Ang, urged the government to come up with clearer specifications for the bioethanol being blended with gasoline at the pumps.
He also said that the current mixture of 10% bioethanol (E10) possesses a threat to car engines because the water content in them could cause the car parts in the engines to corrode. Specifically the parts that the ethanol blended fuel is going to pass through, like the gas tank, fuel pump, carburetor or fuel injectors.
According to Petron its because the government did not specify the need for a dehydrator to remove the water content from the ethanol that causes the engine parts to corrode from the water mixed in with the bioethanol. They also said that the DOE is currently looking into this alarm they raised.
Ethanol is known to be hygroscopic, so if you leave it out in the open it will absorb the water from the air. That is also the main reason why in bioethanol production they usually mix in right away the fuel with the bioethanol to prevent it from absorbing any moisture from the atmosphere.
This same question, on whether E10 was safe for cars, was raised in the past but it was more on whether the ethyl alcohol itself would corrode the fuel system. The best answer to that question is to ask the manufacturer if your car is indeed bioethanol ready.
With regards to the above question however, water in the fuel line is definitely bad for the engine.
[source]
Category: Bioethanol, Biofuel, Petron
