New Acetylene/ethanol clean burning fuel system demonstrated at Missouri renewable energy conference

AFuels Technologies, LLC, demonstrated a new dual fuel clean burning technology at the "Advancing Renewables in the Midwest" conference in Columbia, Missouri yesterday. Joseph Wulff, director of research for Afuels, described a simple retrofit for internal combustion engines that injects both Acetylene gas and ethanol into internal combustion engines, achieving 50% or better efficiency and emmissions clean enough for indoor applications. The system also extends engine life.
Present at the conference were an indoor floor cleaning machine, a golf cart, and a Saturn car, all running on the new technology. It would cost between $1000 and $1700 to retrofit an existing car to run on this system. Presently this involves installing acetylene tanks that occupy most of the trunk space. Future development, however, could result in compact on board fuel cells that produce acetylene gas as needed by applying water to calcium carbide rods.

The production of fuel for this system can use any biomass feedstock, including many waste streams not currently utilized. The system looks promising. Ongoing research will give a better idea of the costs and energy balance of such a system. Initial efforts are directed toward small scale electric power generation and indoor applications.
Mr. Wulff sees this system as a great opportunity for ethanol producers. They could locate one of these dual fuel electric generation facilities next to an ethanol refinery and make use of the ethanol without transportation costs.
Check back at Energy Answers as we follow developments in this new technology. -- Jeffrey Goettemoeller
New alternative fuel source for the combustion engine.:
"Fuels' patented dual-fuel process has exhibited a burning capability at least ten times cleaner than that of existing fossil fuels, well below the targeted emission standards outlined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency proposed regulations for the year 2007. Remarkably, this rate has been attained without the utilization of catalytic converters or other emission scrubbing systems. From an environmental standpoint, AFuels' acetylene-based dual-fuel process addresses established Clean Air Act 'criteria contaminants' by burning with little to no Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), Sulfur Oxide (SOx) or Non-Methane Hydrocarbon (NMHC) emissions."