NORTHBROOK, Ill. -- Underwriters Laboratories (UL) announced yesterday that it is ready to test gaskets and seals for use with concentrated ethanol-blended fuels such as E85. Previously, it had no standards for E85 (85% ethanol) dispensing equipment and has since 2006 been conducting research to establish requirements leading to UL certification.
[For more on this effort, see the May issue of CSP magazine.]
The research tested various materials with ethanol-blended fuels to assess the effects of those fuels on the materials. There [image-nocss] were some gasket and seal materials formulated for use with E85 that can perform acceptably, UL said in a press release, and some that deteriorated significantly. The research involved materials used in the manufacture of seals and gaskets, not actual seals and gaskets, said John Drengenberg, UL's manager of consumer affairs.
UL said it is on schedule to be ready for certification testing of a full E85 dispenser by the end of 2007.
[The announcement] is an indication that we are certainly committed to this and are on target, Drengenberg said. This is a very important part of the overall process, this gasket and seal testing. There's forward progress.
Ron Lamberty, vice president and director of market development for the American Coalition for Ethanol, said seals and gaskets are critical in preventing leaks, the one problem all parties agree is most important to guard against. He said any retailers who have been waiting for UL approval might move a step closer. Wal-Mart, BP and Shell each told CSP in early 2007 that the lack of UL certification for E85 equipment is a factor in their decision-making on whether to sell or expand the sale of E85.
It's a positive step, Lamberty told CSP Daily News. It would have been nice if it happened six months ago or a year ago, but it's better late than never. There is some demand sitting out there, some fairly large groups of dispenser installers that are ready to put something in as soon as they've got some kind of specification. My hope is it doesn't become an overly restrictive standard; people have been using non-UL-listed pumps for over a decade now without any incident.
The U.S. government has mandated an increase in alternative fuels supply, infrastructure and use. Corn-based ethanol has been sold commercially as a fuel since the mid-1990s and is the dominant liquid in discussions of the viability of reducing dependency on foreign oil and improving the environment. President Bush has set a goal to increase alternative fuel consumption to 35 billion gallons per year by 2017. (Four billion gallons of ethanol were used in 2005, mostly in the form of E10.)
Building a safe and reliable biofuels infrastructure is an essential step toward meeting the President's goal of displacing 20% of gasoline consumption within the decade by commercializing cost-effective biofuels nationwide, said U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy Andy Karsner. Expanding the use of clean and abundant homegrown fuels will decrease our reliance on imported oil, increase our energy security and benefit our environment.
UL is an independent, not-for-profit product safety certification organization based in Northbrook, Ill. It has been testing products and writing standards for safety for over a century. UL evaluates more than 19,000 types of products, components, materials and systems annually with 21 billion UL Marks appearing on 71,000 manufacturers' products each year.
UL has partnered with DOE to implement an intensive research program intended to advance public knowledge about the long-term effects of ethanol-blended fuels on components of E85 dispensers and the subsequent effects on safety. For more information on this partnership, click here.
For more information on UL's E85 safety testing initiatives, click here.
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