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Underwriters Laboratories (UL) says it will support the sale of 15% ethanol blends through "legacy" dispensers, as long as those pumps meet current UL standards for the sale of 87-regular gasoline. The decision by the Chicago-based standards-setting group is a major coup for marketers and ethanol suppliers, who have pushed for UL approval of higher blend sales. UL has tested pumps up to a 15% blend but until now has said it will only give its stamp of approval to dispensers cleared for 10% ethanol fuel, the current limit for non-flex fuel vehicles under the Clean Air Act.
UL says it has now gathered data as part of ongoing research into the impact of higher ethanol blends that "supports that existing dispensers can be used with ethanol blends up to 15%." Local authorities with jurisdiction are still advised to consult with the dispenser manufacturer to confirm that the dispenser is compatible with the fuel to be dispensed, UL said in a statement at presstime.
UL says that using equipment certified to UL 87 to dispense E15 should not result in critical safety concerns. But it stressed that dispensers should be "subject to regular inspection and preventative maintenance" as specified by the dispenser manufacturers for the blend being dispensed because the potential for degradation of the metals and materials - plastics, elastomers and composites - used in a dispensing system increases as the percentage of ethanol goes up.
"UL determined that there is no significant incremental risk of damage between E10 and fuels with a maximum of 15%. This conclusion was reached after careful examination of the effects of varying levels of ethanol on components," said John Drengenberg, Consumer Affairs Manager for UL.
Marketers have criticized UL in the past for the time it has taken the group to issue a decision on E15 fuels, especially given the federal mandate that requires refiners and marketers to sell 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2012. UL says it has invested more than $1 million over the last 15 years to develop requirements to test and certify dispensing systems for ethanol fuel blends up to E85.
