... or maybe it should be labeled, "Why we don't use methanol in gasoline anymore"...
There is another thread on this site,
Ethanol in Gasoline, where I touched upon how
methanol should be used in gasoline because it doesn't form an azeotrope with water, thus it doesn't bring water into the gas tank. There is one HUGE reason why gasoline manufactures stopped putting methanol in gas. Aluminum is that reason.
You see, aluminum forms an oxide on it's surface which prevents further oxidation. It protects the rest of itself by having this outside "coating" of oxidation. If one uses methanol in the presence of this oxide, it is eaten away and the bare metal is exposed, oxidizing again to protect itself. If this cycle is repeated enough times, the metal is completely eaten away. There is a way to combat this, but it is expensive and I doubt that very many manufactures would agree to change.
Iron. Iron sleeves, heads, and valves would allow the methanol to pass by without molesting the aluminum in the normal way. But iron is heavy, it also has a different thermal expansion than aluminum, making it extremely difficult to use the two in an engine without having the connection weaken over time.
I am not sure about titanium. I am pretty sure that it doesn't react with methanol in the way aluminum does, but titanium is brittle, and expensive as hell. An alloy containing titanium and steel perhaps?
If we were able to make an engine able to burn methylated gasoline, without the worry of additional wear, we would have a solution to using corn (food) as a source of diluting gas, and be able to rid ourselves of wood waste.
Anyone with any engine building experience in this arena?
Wikipedia Quote:
"When produced from wood or other organic materials, the resulting organic methanol (bioalcohol) 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 co-solvents and corrosion inhibitors. The European Fuel Quality Directive allows up to 3% methanol with an equal amount of co-solvent 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."