Carbon steel is susceptible to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in fuel grade ethanol (FGE). The present
study aimed at understanding if the SCC susceptibility of carbon steel was related to the impurities or
minor constituents in FGE. SCC was noted in all six FGE samples tested in two laboratories. The
characterization results gained thus suggest that the composition of the FGE varies depending on the
biomass and/or production methods. However, it is not clear yet whether the SCC could be associated to
one or several impurities or minor constituents. More efforts are needed to obtain a definite answer.
Key words: biofuel, ethanol, stress corrosion cracking, SCC, GC-MS, composition, electrochemical