Re: 20 hp merc. 2 cyc. greyish oily substance coming out of exhaust
That's what the EPA wanted out of our waterways. It's unburned oil and gas. As much as 30% passes straight from the intake ports out the exhaust ports at low RPMs.
Not to worry, What these socalled experts don`t tell you is this!
C%P:
To begin with lets break this down into its constituents, oil and
microorganisms. Oil is an energy source to us humans but we do not view it
as a food. What is a food ?. Well we consider food things like sugars etc.
but the difference between these compounds and crude oil is basically non-
existent, they both are energy and carbon rich. Just because we can not use
crude oil (remember we can use other oils such as olive oil as energy
sources) we dismiss it as not a food. So what is crude oil ? Well it’s a
very complicated mix of a wide variety of carbon compounds from cyclic and
polycyclic hydrocarbons (benzene, napthalenes etc.) to straight chained
aliphatic compounds such as heptane and octane. To us its toxic, to a number
of microorganisms its just like candy. So how can microorganisms use it and
we can't? Well it all breaks down to diversity, evolution and biochemistry.
Microorganisms are a very diverse group. Animals and plants are nearly
identical to one another when you compare how different microorganisms are.
They have been on this planet for over 3 billion years, we as humans only 1
million. They have adapted (evolved) to use all the available nutrients they
can and some individual species (Pseudomonas) can use up to 1000 different
carbon compounds. What do they do with the oil ? Well basically they eat it
just like you eat cereal. They use enzymes to break it up (metabolize it)
using O2 turning it into CO2 and more microorganisms. It’s the initial
enzymes that are special. They break down the petroleum substituents into
smaller molecules that can enter central metabolism. Central metabolism then
routes these chemicals to make energy, and materials for new cells (this is
just the same as you). Three years ago I was lucky to meet one of the people
who used microorganisms to clean up the Exxon Valdez spill. The beaches
treated with microorganisms were cleaned much more effectively and faster
than the ones they used detergents etc on. What they were actually doing was
merely enhancing the natural process. Ever think where that oil goes over
the years. Well the microorganisms eat it. Try it some time. Take some old
oil (0.1 ml) and add 100ml of tap water to it. Leave it open to the air and
watch what happens, shake it about once or twice a week. Give it a few
weeks, microorganisms will grow probably pseudomonas and fungi. So to
conclude they metabolize oil just like a food to carbon dioxide and new cell
material (more microorganisms), they are naturally present everywhere but
some have been genetically modified by industry to be better at doing it,
and they can do this because of the enzymes they produce.
Ever wonder why we do not have black tire dust all over our highways? Same thing, Microorganism's
