A Good Alternative Fuel For Gasoline Kelly Veenstra 6 th Hour

Methanol

How It Works

Methanol can be used to make methyl tertiary- butyl ether (MTBE), an oxygenate that is blended with gasoline MTBE production and use has been declined in recent years, because it has been found to contaminate ground water Methanol is methane with one hydrogen molecule replaced by a hydroxyl radical (OH) Produced by steam reforming natural gas to create a synthesis gas, which is then fed into a reactor vessel in the presence of a catalyst.

Methanol is similar to Ethanol as it is a potent fuel with an octane rating of 100 that allows for higher compression and greater efficiency than gasoline. Both types of fuel are not volatile enough to start a cold engine easily, but when Methanol burns, it does so with a dangerous, invisible flame. Blending gasoline with methanol to create M85 solves both problems. Methanol is also extremely corrosive, and requires special materials for storage and delivery. Addition, Methanol has only 51 percent of the BTU content of gasoline by volume, which means its miles per gallon ratio is worse than Ethanol. any potential increase in efficiency from methanol's high octane is negated by the need for FFV's to remain drive able on 100 percent gasoline The lower energy content and the higher cost ratio in building methanol refineries compared to ethanol distilleries have relegated Methanol and M85 to the back seat. Moreover, producing methanol from natural gas results in a net increase of CO2, hastening global warming Advantages Disadvantages

Ethanol

How It Works As A Fuel

Ethanol is a domestically produced alternative fuel that’s most commonly made from corn. It is primarily produced from starch-based crops by dry or wet mill processing Dry milling is a process that grinds corn into flour and ferments it into ethanol Wet mills separate starch, protein, and fiber in corn prior to processing these component into products, such as ethanol

Ethanol is a renewable fuel that comes from agricultural crops. It takes only six months to grow and harvest a crop such as corn which can be converted to ethanol The use of ethanol can reduce the use of gasoline. A reduction in the use of gasoline reduces some of the dependence on foreign powers for fossil fuels. Ethanol is relatively inexpensive to process Many of the crops grown for ethanol are not done so in a sustainable manner, resulting in habitat destruction and loss of valuable food supply resources. Ethanol requires significant use of land resources to grow enough crops for production. Many experts express concern this could take away from food supply. Ethanol can be more expensive than conventional gasoline on the West Coast and East Coast. Advantages Disadvantages