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vmelkon
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Quote: Originally posted by CaptainOfSmug  | | My question is, and it may be stupid, but how can I test the purity of this... or if my solution is even methanol?[Edited on 12-6-2012 by
CaptainOfSmug] |
Assuming you have a methanol and water mixture :
Use a combination of techniques :
#1 measure density
#2 measure melting point (if you can cool down to −98 °C) and boiling point
and check out the density and bp data tables here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol_%28data_page%29
If you want to go further, test solubility of KI in your methanol.
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Sublimatus
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This is the first thread that comes up on Google if one searches for "methanol from windshield washer fluid", so I'll deposit this here.
I'd been aware that some windshield wiper fluids contained methanol, so I hopped onto Wal-Mart's website and started poring over their MSDS. Of
course, they only report ranges or < values, and the documents were all prepared in 2006, so one can hardly rely on them to give you the correct
formulation.
I settled on the Super Tech Winter Formula Windshield Washer Fluid -20F Protection, which is reported as containing < 33% methanol by
weight.
After fractionally distilling 69.29 grams (~75 mL) of the fluid through a vigreux column (hardly necessary, honestly), two fractions were identified.
The first was 22.91 grams of methanol, BP 64.7 °C, ρ 0.760 g/mL (-3.98% difference from literature value of 0.7918, which is reasonable
considering the crappy scale and cylinder I used).
The remainder seems to be only water, plus whatever dye is used to give the blue color to the fluid.
22.91 grams of methanol from 69.29 grams is 33.06% methanol by mass (they lied! ...well, close enough  ), just as the MSDS reports.
I paid 1.88 USD for 1 gallon of this fluid. That puts the cost of this methanol at 1.29 USD per liter (plus labor and electricity). Consider that
HEET costs 5.64 USD per liter, and a cheaper listing on Google Shopping for 4 gallons of methanol comes out to 3.70 USD. Of course, the convenience
of no work up might be worth the few dollars, but if you're cheap, bored, or have no other options, this brand is reasonable as a source of methanol
if you have a Wal-Mart nearby.
Hope this is helpful to someone in the future.
[Edited on 5/14/2013 by Sublimatus]
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binaryclock01
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Hey Steve it's binaryclock using this binaryclock01 account because I forgot my pass on my main and it's not emailing me a reset for some reason.
Anyways, what are the products in CT or Rona that are 99% pure?
thanks,
bc
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binaryclock
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Got my account back, thanks woelen.. And I did find the methyl hydrate 99.9% pure in Rona today. Does anyone have an MDMS sheet on it?
http://www.rona.ca/en/methyl-hydrate
Current Project: Playing with my new Laboy advanced distillery kit!
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hyfalcon
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If you have a truck stop around you here is another source.
http://www.cmcss.net/documents/safety/msds_busmnt/Power%20Se...
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zed
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Just go on line. Look for folks advertising Biodiesel supplies.
They will be happy to sell you all of the anhydrous Methanol you could possibly want. Probably at a very friendly price.
Around here, a short drive and a few bucks, and bingo!
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DeadHead
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Not just truck stops, auto parts stores as well... http://partimages.genpt.com/partimages/716531.pdf
My NAPA store sells in gallons and quarts. 55 gal drums available by special order 
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Fantasma4500
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apart from the fact that this thread just made my day, i heard something about some at my school planning to supercool some of this windshield cleaner
stuff
~5% ethanol IIRC
told them its better to fractionally distill methylated spirits which is not more than 7% methanol
im pretty sure that i got to fractionally by distill it by accident, had something dissolved in it and boiling it away just like that could be pretty
dangerous as in the stuff burns pretty well and a ~40 m2 room.. yea you guys see the idea..
the first i didnt get anything distilled over, suddenly magically i had 70 mL
IIRC methanol has a lower BP than ethanol, therefore making it plausible that i boiled all the methanol away and only got ethanol over
i put my 70 mL of precious poison in a 0.5 litre soda bottle, poured in salt and added a big piece of folded up aluminium foil (as methanol reacts
with aluminium oxide i believe it was stated to pretty much decompose into CO2 and H2O)
so ethanol should be possible for this
if you wanna test for methanol you COULD potentially try taking a 0.5 litre bottle, fill it half with the liquid you dont know what is
then put in a long piece of aluminium foil, squeeze the bottle and put on the lid tight
any gas formed will expand the bottle, by that you can see if theres methanol in it (:
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zed
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Take me now, Lord. I've had enough.
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