Re: [Phys-L] weather, school, and cars

["Dan L. MacIsaac" <danmacisaac@gmail.com>]

HEET (gas line antifreeze) is just methanol.  Years past, gas tanks _always_ had some water in the bottom (condensation is a big factor, as is discount gas) which in cold weather could freeze and stop intake lines up.  Pour in the alcohol and the water would get adsorbed up and run through the system (eliminated) without freezing.  Car would run much better in winter.

Nowadays, ’cause political corruption means corn farmers in Iowa vote first for presidents who make us put corn ethanol in most all gasoline, we’ve basically put HEET in all gas, eating our seals and reducing our mileage, driving down GoldEagle stock.  Still, there is that Sta-bil stuff they sell me for winter storing my lawnmower and my prized m/c.
http://www.goldeagle.com/about/ 

Real winter dangers for school districts are bus reliability — breakdowns and accidents stranding kids in buses with nonfunctioning heaters.  Particularly for buses operated by individual, private (non fleet contracted) operators where lack of economies of scale usually means poor maintenance.   Not to mention collisions and slide-offs to the buses themselves due to weather and a poorly able winter driving public.  Alaska, Canada and the Nordic countries cope just fine but it’s not economic to prepare for in most of the lower 48.  Think enough snowplows, or block heaters and chains for your car etc .

Dan M, who gets better mileage from Cdn gasoline these days (esp w/the exchange)…

Dan MacIsaac, Associate Professor of Physics, SUNY-Buffalo State College
462SciBldg BSC, 1300 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo NY 14222 USA 1-716-878-3802
<macisadl@buffalostate.edu>  <http://PhysicsEd.BuffaloState.edu>
Physics Graduate Coordinator & NSF Investigator for ISEP (MSP) and Noyce

On Jan 27, 2014, at 10:39 PM, Paul Lulai <plulai@stanthony.k12.mn.us> wrote:

> The air temp, pre-wind chill for tomorrow morning was -19 degrees F when I last checked.  With wind chill, it will be likely be -40 deg F (my guess, haven't checked weather). Frostbite in 5 minutes. Schools open themselves up to legal issues. Nothing to do with heating.  More bodies in the building helps heat the building (some). Additionally, most buses use diesel.  There are often challenges starting the busses in the extreme cold.  The gasoline gels up. There are anti-gelling agents specifically for diesel fuel (different from HEET).
>
> When I was a kid we always used HEET in our gasoline during the winter time.  More important when the tank ran low. More vapors in the tank to freeze.  Now the lower octanes have a 10% ethanol additive.  I have been of the believe that this additive should take care of the anti-icing needs of the fuel and fuel tank.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Phys-l [mailto:phys-l-bounces@phys-l.org] On Behalf Of Anthony Lapinski
> Sent: Monday, January 27, 2014 9:11 PM
> To: phys-l@phys-l.org
> Subject: [Phys-L] weather, school, and cars
>
> I've been talking with a friend in Chicago, and he's mentioned about schools being closed due to the very cold weather there. I asked specifically the reasons for the closings, and he could not really tell me. I also searched online for some explanations. Does anyone know? Too expensive to heat the buildings? Health risk for kids waiting outside for buses? Buses malfunctioning?
>
> He also mentioned that many stores are out of HEET. As I understand it, HEET is a sort of gasoline antifreeze that contains alcohol which prevents the carburetor from icing. Is this additive really necessary since gasoline, depending on the type, generally freezes at a very low temperature (-72 °C)? And does this depend on how full the gas tank is?
>
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