Teflon, copper, confusion?

[Tuco]

I work in the file industry and am attending a fule tank safy class and one section of our envromental quality and safety handbook tells us to replace all aluminum, rubber, COPPER and TEFLON parts on out tanks if we plan on using any ethonl products over 30%. Well the rubber and aluminum came as no surprise but it also says that copper and Teflon parts will be consumed by the alchol! Did I miss something?

[heartcut]

Copper is very slowly consumed if there's sulphur compounds in the ethanol. The only thing I can think of for teflon is that it cold flows and might not make a reliable seal in some types of joints. The material compatability guides I've looked at rated PTFE/PFA good for all concentrations at above 100degC.

[King Of Hearts]

I'm using teflon gaskets 1/32 thick, I figure I already ate enough from my frying pans anyway.

[Husker]

I work in the file industry and am attending a fule tank safy class and one section of our envromental quality and safety handbook tells us to replace all aluminum, rubber, COPPER and TEFLON parts on out tanks if we plan on using any ethonl products over 30%. Well the rubber and aluminum came as no surprise but it also says that copper and Teflon parts will be consumed by the alchol! Did I miss something?

Teflon is INERT. There is almost no solvent that will cause it problems (there are a few, but they are known), certainly NOT ethanol. Copper is not affected by ethanol. It 'is' slightly affected by the acidic environment within the boilers we use.

NOTE, one thing that may come into play, is we are not simply talking about ethanol. For drink making, that is mostly what we are talking about, but for fuel, not so much.


What they MAY mean on replacing, is if you have been running dyno fuel for a while, it IS very dirty. Shit builds up in ALL parts of the fuel system. Ethanol (in high strength), will wash that shit and any other varnish, off, and will cause particulate to now gum up the system. This 'may' be the reason for their statements, that simply all parts of the fuel system should be replaced in a legacy system.

H.