Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Methanol and Ethanol Sourcing

jarodduesing - 13-3-2022 at 04:59

Hello everyone! Just wanted to share that local racetracks usually have bulk Methanol as a fuel. They also occasionally have pure ethanol as well.

crow6283 - 13-3-2022 at 07:27

Nitromethane as well!

Rainwater - 13-3-2022 at 16:30

Depends on your location, but e85 is what they sell around here. It is a blended product. 85% ethonol 15% premium gas.
It also contains anti gelling agents, phase separation inhibitors, algaecide, and a denaturing agent

The big 2 algaecides used here in the south are 4-(2-nitrobutyl) morpholine and Poly[oxy-1,2-ethanediyl(dimethyliminio)-1,2-ethane
diyl(dimethyliminio)-1,2-ethanediyl dichloride.

Very toxic but can be removed by exposure to uv and cloride.
Edit: Safety fact. Never mix chlorine into fuel. These same compounds are used in swimming pools

Everything else is usually in very small concentrations and easy remove with distillation, except for the denaturing agents.

Each refinery is using something different, so you can't easily remove it. Thank your government for requiring that the denaturing agent have a boiling point close to ethonal or a >10% azeotrope with it.

Solvent extraction works aswell

[Edited on 14-3-2022 by Rainwater]

Fantasma4500 - 15-3-2022 at 07:52

farmers can get you diethyl ether as they typically dump that into tractors for racing competitions

if you want pure ethanol, esterify it and then fractionally distill it. obviously you wanna do this in bulk