Topic: Methanol Anyone?

[troppo]

G`day guys
Looking for any knowledge on methanol, was given a 20 litre drum of the stuff the other day. The guy that gave it to me said it would give my esky a real boost when i sank the boot in, he said he thinks its about 2 years old as its leftovers from his sprint car before he had a bad crash. As the esky is off the road for a fairly major rebuild i cant use it in that, so my questions are.....
Does this stuff die over time?
Would using it in a standard 750 be good or bad?
Would the grin factor be worth the damage this may do?
Thanks in advance
Troppo

[Tower]

If its the methanol fuel blend I'm thinking of...you could use it but only with some major changes to your carbs.

1.  Methanol runs HOT really HOT, so that air cooling may be a problem
2.  The fuel : air mixture for this stuff is way up there.  So much so, that you'd need twice the carb size to make it work right.
3.  Aluminum and methanol means quick wear...not just engine , but carbs and petcock, lines etc.  Not a problem if you tear down your engine every 1000miles.

Thermal efficiency is much higher with methanol, so there would definitely be a power boost.  But then, why not go all the way and use nitro fuel.  Any of the nitroparafins carry their own oxygen, so that should boost power even more.

Edit: It actually lasts much better than pure gasoline, but evaporates just as quickly or more so.  There are other ingredients in the mixture such as acetone, that keep it stable - and more corrosive.

[Gamma]

I have used it in model aircraft engines with nitro.  It is also hygroscopic I believe, (absorbs water easily).

Not a good idea to put it in your pride and joy.  Try AVPIN it's much more livelier.

[troppo]

Thanks guys
I was thinking about having a try but now i know i wont. The esky still has the old cast iron 2litre in it (mild work done) big weber etc.
Would this be any good as a fuel mixer, as in petrol/methanol 50/50 or 25/75 for a boost in the fun factor?
Hate to see this stuff go to waste
Cheers
Troppo

[Tower]

You could probably get away with a 10% mix, as long as you didn`t use a fuel that already had 10% - 15% ethanol in it.  Otherwise, a 5% mix would be about max. (20:1)

[754]

If you use a low mix like even 50%, your stock rods will turn into pretzels..

 not something you casually put into a motor..

[TwoTired]

I don't know what an "esky" is.

A Methanol and Internal combustion engine primer.

Methanol has less energy content per volume than gasoline.  To achieve the same power you have to use about 1.75 times as much of it ( or more) as gasoline.
Because of this, carbs jetted to use gasoline, must have much larger metering orifices for it to run properly, and no real power gain.
Methanol combusts at a much lower temperature than gasoline.  As such, it has a higher octane rating.  Adding to gas, therefore boosts your octane rating. (You can advance your spark for small power boost.)  Engines running straight Methanol can be built with much higher compression ratios, and make a lot more more power per displacement of the engine, with little fear of pre-ignition or detonation.  Endurance races will need a larger fuel tank than gas fueled ones.

If your engine is running rich or you have adaptive carburetion/fuel injection, you can add about 10% methanol to your gas.  This will lean out your burn some and allow your engine to pollute less.  It won't improve your mileage any, though.  Well, it will improve your gas mileage, but not your overall fuel consumption.

Methanol is very hygroscopic (absorbs water).  This is a storage problem if it has been exposed to humidity in the atmosphere.  Water in the fuel does not add energy to the burn, and lowers power output when running on straight methanol.  It won't matter if you are just diluting gas, due to the low dilution rate.   If properly stored, in a non-corrosive container, high purity methanol remains stable for many many years.

Methanol with water in it forms a corrosive chemical that erodes aluminum in the fuel system.  Water itself also leads to corrosion.

Some types of rubber seals that survive well with gasoline exposure, deteriorate with exposure to Methanol.  They "dry out", shrink, and begin to leak.   Accelerator pump diaphragms get brittle and crack.  Replacement becomes necessary.

Exhaust temps using methanol are lower.  Exhaust systems corrode faster as the gases contain alkali and more water vapor, and the temps are lower, reducing the ability to rid the exhaust of water by vaporization.  Both alkali and water advance exhaust system corrosion. Using stainless steel helps.

This enough?

Cheers,

[754]

escort

[Tower]

Methanol is unlike gasoline in several ways...

Although it offers increased thermal efficiency (increased power) from its high vapourisation and octane, its low energy content compared to gasoline means more methanol has to be burned.

Corrosiveness comes from several areas... Methanol itself is corrosive, but in combustion it creates acid products, and third its hygroscopic, so it retains water which is also corrosive.  Some of this is overcome by adding other chemicals to the methanol, such as ketones and salts.  And by adding chemicals to the oil - in order to neutralize the acids.

It evaporates quickly and absorbs water quickly, so it has to stored in airtight containers and must be locked down when the vehicle fuel tank is not in use - meaning pressurized fuel injection is arguably a better option than carburation.

If you think breathing gasoline fumes is bad...methanol is worse.  It kills you faster....no waiting for the cancer to set in.