The fuelblend octane rating could be only calculated on mole basis not volume or weight. Here is one example:
Molecular weight of ethanol is about
46 (2X12 + 6x1 + 1X16) Gasoline molecular weight varies, but I found
an average of 108 (
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MHMI/mmg72.html)
We have been trying to determine the octane of a mixture of E85 and
the discussion is weight or volume. The relatively close densities
of ethanol and gasoline make this difference small compared to the
difference in molecular weights.
85% ethanol on a weight basis would be 93% ethanol on mole basis
15 gr / 108 = 0.1388889 moles of gasoline
85 gr / 46 = 1.8478261 moles of ethanol
0.1388889 + 1.8478261 = 1.986715 total moles
1.8478261 / 1.986715 = .93 = 93%
Octane averaging using this 93%
106 x .93 + 87 x .07 = 104.67 Octane for E85
I hope this helps!