Methanol

Methanol 

Methanol is clear, colorless, flammable liquid with a characteristic odor. It is a clean energy source, as well as a raw material for some of the everyday items we use.

Applications

Methanol is a common laboratory solvent. It is especially useful for HPLC, UV/VIS spectroscopy, and LCMS due to its low UV cutoff.

Feedstock

The largest use of methanol by far is in making other chemicals. About 40% of methanol is converted to formaldehyde, and from there into products as diverse as plastics, plywood, paints, explosives, and permanent press textiles.
Other chemical derivatives of methanol include dimethyl ether, which has replaced chlorofluorocarbons as an aerosol spray propellant, and acetic acid. Dimethyl ether, or "DME" also can be blended with liquified petroleum gas (LPG) for home heating and cooking, and can be used as a diesel replacement transportation fuel.

Fuel for vehicles

Main article: Methanol fuel
Methanol is used on a limited basis to fuel internal combustion engines. Pure methanol is required by rule to be used in Champcars, Monster Trucks, USAC sprint cars (as well as midgets, modifieds, etc.), and other dirt track series such as World of Outlaws, and Motorcycle Speedway. Methanol is also used, as the primary fuel ingredient since the late 1940s, in the powerplants for radio control, control line andfree flight airplanes (as methanol is required in the "glow-plug" engines that primarily power them), cars and trucks, from such an engine's use of a platinum filament glow plug being able to ignite the methanol vapor through a catalytic reaction. Drag racers and mud racers also use methanol as their primary fuel source. Methanol is required with a supercharged engine in a Top Alcohol Dragster and, until the end of the 2006 season, all vehicles in the Indianapolis 500 had to run methanol. Mud racers have mixed methanol with gasoline and nitrous oxide to produce more power than gasoline and nitrous oxide alone.

One of the drawbacks of methanol as a fuel is its corrosivity to some metals, including aluminium. Methanol, although a weak acid, attacks the oxide coating that normally protects the aluminium from corrosion:

The resulting methoxide salts are soluble in methanol, resulting in clean aluminium surface, which is readily oxidized by some dissolved oxygen. Also the methanol can act as an oxidizer:


This reciprocal process effectively fuels corrosion until either the metal is eaten away or the concentration of CH3OH is negligible. Concerns with methanol's corrosivity have been addressed by using methanol compatible materials, and fuel additives that serve as corrosion inhibitors.
When produced from wood or other organic materials, the resulting organic methanol (bio alcohol) has been suggested as renewable alternative to petroleum-based hydrocarbons. Low levels of methanol can be used in existing vehicles, with the use of proper cosolvents and corrosion inhibitors. The European Fuel Quality Directive allows up to 3% methanol with an equal amount of cosolvent to be blending in gasoline sold in Europe. Today, China uses more than one billion gallons of methanol per year as a transportation fuel in both low level blends used in existing vehicles, and as high level blends in vehicles designed to accommodate the use of methanol fuels.

Other applications

• Methanol is a traditional denaturant for ethanol, thus giving the term methylated spirit.[3]
• Methanol is also used as a solvent, and as an antifreeze in pipelines and wind shield washer fluid.
• In some waste water treatment plants, a small amount of methanol is added to waste water to provide a food source of carbon for the denitrifying bacteria, which convert nitrates to nitrogen to reduce the denitrification of sensitive aquifers.
• During World War II, methanol was used as a fuel in several German military rocket designs, under name M-Stoff, and in a mixture as C-Stoff.
• Methanol was used as an automobile coolant antifreeze in the early 1900s.[4]
• Methanol is used as a denaturing agent in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
• Direct-methanol fuel cells are unique in their low temperature, atmospheric pressure operation, allowing them to be miniaturized to an unprecedented degree. This, combined with the relatively easy and safe storage and handling of methanol may open the possibility of fuel cell-powered consumer electronics, such as for laptop computers and mobile phones.[5]
• Methanol is also a widely used fuel in camping and boating stoves. Methanol burns well in an unpressurized burner, so alcohol stoves are often very simple, sometimes little more than a cup to hold fuel. This lack of complexity makes them a favorite of hikers who spend extended time in the wilderness.
  

Methanol is mixed with water and injected into high performance diesel engines for an increase of power and a decrease in exhaust gas temperature. This is called water methanol injection.

Methanol Content	% by wt. min.	99.85
Density at 20oC	gm / cc min.	0.792
	gm / cc max.	0.795
Water	% by wt. max.
Distillation by range at 760 mm of Hg	max. (64.5oC to 65.5oC)	1oC
Colour	Hazen max.	15
Residue on evaporation	ppm max.	10
Acidity as Formic Acid	ppm max.	30
Acetone (Aldehyde/Ketone)	Miscible in all proportions without development of turbidity
Carbonisable matter	Apha max	50
Permagnate Test	Passes Test
Sulphur total	ppm max.	10