Ethanol vs methanol as gasoline supplement Research Paper

Ethanol vs methanol as gasoline supplement - Research Paper Example The saturated hydrocarbons are the major components of gasoline mainly alkenes like 2-methyl-2-butene, alkanes like isooctane and cycloalkanes. In addition it also contains oxygenators which are pre used hydrocarbons that contain oxygen and are good substitutes for aromatics besides reducing the smog forming properties of exhaust gases. They include ethanol, methanol, methyl tertiary butyl ether and tertiary amyl methyl ether. Gasoline contains octane enhancers, aromatics like benzene, and blending agents to make high quality gasoline by adding preservatives. Methanol is used as safe way of storing energy. It is yielded by recycling carbon dioxide gas from its toxic state to inexhaustible carbon source. It is also environmental friendly due to its reductive conversion from carbon dioxide. It can also be converted to di-methyl ether which possesses a high calorific value and is an excellent diesel and house hold gas substitute. In addition methanol and related oxygenates can be made f rom carbon dioxide through aqueous electro-catalytic reduction without prior electrolysis of water to yield hydrogen leading to formation of oxygenated fuels through electrolytic conversion of water and carbon dioxide. ... When used as a fuel the engine of the motor vehicle must be designed to run on high alcohol levels (Dewick, Green and Miozzo 134). Also fuels containing ethanol release less energy compared to non-alcoholic fuels. Being an excellent solvent it dissolves fuel system parts, rubbers, plastic, fiber glass and to some extent aluminum. In addition the rubber that is used to in the fuel system parts shrink, swell or loose strength when exposed to ethanol reformulated gasoline. Methanol can be used as alternative fuel in small petrol engines having an advantage over gasoline because it is liquid under atmospheric pressure and also its energy density is about half of that of gasoline (Liu and Zhang 56). The distribution of methanol uses the same infrastructure as for distributing gasoline. The vehicles that are to use methanol needed to be installed with direct methanol fuel cells in contrast to hydrogen consuming devices which require liquid fuel to deliver power to run the automobiles. Use of methanol as fuel is eco-friendly hence posing intrinsic advantages to the environment than using gasoline as it enables efficiency of the engine, greater power density and it is cost effective (Liu and Zhang 55). DISCUSSION Ethanol is hygroscopic and an excellent solvent. Ethanol is added at gasoline pumps after the gas has been produced and delivered at the major gas refinery because of the risk of water contamination when traveling through the pipelines. Studies have shown that 10% ethanol gasoline dissolves 50 times more water than the conventional non-alcohol gasoline. Water dissolves in an ethanol blended fuel leading to the occurrence of phase separation (Miller and Spoolman 420-425). Phase separation of gasoline occurs because too much water is absorbed