Pure ‘homemade’ gasoline is illegal and can destroy your engine

Videos of influencers who teach how to make “pure” gasoline at home became popular on the internet after the last increase in the percentage of ethanol in gasoline from 30% to 32%. But the practice encouraged in these contents is dangerous, both for your health and for your car’s engine, as well as illegal.

This procedure is done in the videos by adding water to the fuel. It mixes only with alcohol, leaving the gasoline separate and, supposedly, “pure”.

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Gasoline sold in Brazil has had ethanol added since 1982. This fuel replaced tetraethyl lead as an antiknock agent and also serves to increase octane. Currently, gasoline destined for vehicles has ethanol added throughout the world. Tetraethyl lead is highly toxic to human health and the environment.

The risk of “pure” gasoline

The formulation of Brazilian gasoline is made to receive the addition of anhydrous ethanol. Removing this substance leaves a low-octane fuel.

“Pure gasoline or gasoline with lower ethanol levels need to be produced so that the final octane meets the specification. The processes to produce these gasolines are more expensive and complex”, explains Rogério Gonçalves, director of Fuels at the Brazilian Association of Automotive Engineering (AEA),

Using this low-octane gasoline and no ethanol in your car’s engine is harmful. The lack of antiknock agent results in pre-ignition, which is combustion occurring before the correct time. This fuel will also make the engine “hit the pin” and can puncture the piston head. In modern engines, the risk is higher due to the high compression ratio or the use of the turbo.

The importance of blending ethanol in gasoline

Ethanol has the important function of being the anti-knocking agent of gasoline. Gonçalves also explains that vegetable fuel serves to raise the octane content. The specialist reinforces that the cars sold in Brazil are developed to work with gasoline that contains ethanol in the mixture. This is true even for models that are not flex.

Handling gasoline to remove ethanol is dangerous

These experiments to remove ethanol from gasoline are not only dangerous for your car’s engine. Rogério Gonçalves warns about the risks:

Gasoline is toxic, flammable, and gives off vapors that are flammable and can cause explosions. In addition, the question remains as to how the ethanol/water mixture is disposed of during these “artisanal” procedures that have been publicized.”

Storing fuel at home is illegal

According to Law 9.605/98, it is illegal to store and distribute gasoline and other toxic substances. To be able to do this, it is necessary to have an infrastructure that follows the standards of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP).