<VV> methanol vs. ethanol

[Ron]

So where do we put the natural gas in our Corvairs?
RonH

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <FrankCB at aol.com>
To: <patiomatt at aol.com>; <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 7:17 PM
Subject: Re: <VV> methanol vs. ethanol


> Well, since we don't have carbon dioxide, carbon  monoxide and hydrogen
> easily and readily available, the  vast bulk of methanol is made today 
> starting
> with natural gas (what  our friend Ulli calls "erd gas" or "earth gas").
> The natural gas after  purification is reacted catalytically at high temp.
> with steam to form the  carbon oxides and hydrogen which are then further
> processed to make the  methanol.  Many years ago I worked for a company 
> that
> designed and  built these plants (among others) and even spent 3 months in
> Japan (1962 if  memory serves me) on the construction and startup of one 
> of them.
>    Incidentally, this same process is used to make our  commercial
> hydrogen.  Also in the 60s I started up a hydrogen plant from  natural gas 
> in
> California where the hydrogen was used to make rocket fuel.
>    Natural gas is not only a great fuel, but also an  excellent feedstock
> for all kinds of chemicals.  We now know we have enough  in our own 
> country
> to completely sever our dependence on fuels imported at  great expense 
> from
> people who despise us.  All we have to do is to convince  our obfuscatory
> leaders in Washington to allow us to do so.
>    But that's another fight which I hope is resolved  in a few weeks.
> Frank "chemical engineer" Burkhard
> Boonton, NJ
>
>
> In a message dated 10/18/2012 9:11:37 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> patiomatt at aol.com writes:
>
> Since JR  explained the properties of ETHANOL
>
>
> Here's Wikipedia's   description of Methanol
>
>
> "Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol,  wood alcohol, wood naphtha or
> wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula  CH3OH (often abbreviated 
> MeOH).
> Methanol acquired the name "wood alcohol"  because it was once produced
> chiefly as a byproduct of the destructive  distillation of wood. Modern 
> methanol
> is produced in a catalytic industrial  process directly from carbon
> monoxide, carbon dioxide, and  hydrogen.
> Methanol is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile,  colorless,
> flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but  slightly 
> sweeter
> than, ethanol (drinking alcohol).[4] At room temperature, it  is a polar
> liquid, and is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a  denaturant 
> for
> ethanol. It is also used for producing biodiesel via  transesterification
> reaction.
> Methanol is produced naturally in the  anaerobic metabolism of many
> varieties of bacteria, and is ubiquitous in small  amounts in the 
> environment. As a
> result, there is a small fraction of methanol  vapor in the atmosphere.
> Over the course of several days, atmospheric methanol  is oxidized with 
> the
> help of sunlight to carbon dioxide and water.
> Methanol  burns in oxygen (including open air), forming carbon dioxide and
> water:"
>
>
>
>
>
> Matt Nall
> Charleston,  Oregon
> http://tinyurl.com/The-Patio
> http://tinyurl.com/Matts-Tech-Pages
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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