Methanol

[icemachine]

There's a reason Methanol is known as Wood Alcohol

[davemk7]

well i'm asking about methonol / ethanol myths (?) i heard somewhere that brazil uses methonol / ethanol fuel for years, as they have no real oil supplies?

[mountainstar]

Brazil has oil.

[blueflagger]

Brazil has been using ethanol for years. I believe they make it from sugar cane. They are trying to reduce their reliance on foreign oil and are talking about the possibility of exporting ethanol to the US.

All is not sunshine and light in the world of ethanol however. It does pollute - though it throws out different pollutants than petrol. It takes more energy to make than petrol and doesn't offer as much power as petrol.

Methanol is also much cheaper to produce, slightly cleaner, and more readily available than ethanol. However, ethanol does offer more power per gallon.

I think it will be a while before the racing world changes its habits.

[icemachine]

The problem with Alcohol fuels, is they readily absorb water, which is not good for your typical ICE.

[mmciau]

Originally Posted by icemachine

There's a reason Methanol is known as Wood Alcohol

One process for obtaining methanol was the 'passing of steam over charcoal"

Hence the "wood alcohol" reference

IIRC, Ethanol can come from any living plant that will ferment.

Mike McInerney

[cptkablamo]

How did I know it would be an Australian raising this thread...if V8 Supercars don't use it, it must be wrong...

Methonol is easier to put out too...plus there are plenty of safety requirements and procedures so in the case of this situation, it can be put out easily and quickly...Champ Cars have proven its safety and performance and thier ability to deal with the consequences in the event of this unpleasent situation...there is no need to jump to rash conclusions...

[Splatz the Cow]

But Tony Cochrane said....

[JimW]

Who he?

[racerkeke]

The methanol used now seems to have fewer additives than in the past. I remember the early Molson Indys, and how, on the stations closest to the track (downwind), our eyes would burn and tear and we'd get a smell/taste in the backs of our throats like formaldehyde. We kept wet bandannas nearby to wipe our faces and eyes. That fuel was used for some years but we don't get the effects anymore so I believe they've either made the engines more efficient or they've changed the mix. Geez, I can still smell it in my head. It'll probably kill me in the long run.

I remember the fire training for the first race, too -- up at a firehall in Scarborough. They put methanol in a big pan and lit it. Same sort of faint rainbow effect we saw on TV from Surfer's, but what we were told to look for were the heat shimmers above and the blackening of whatever the fire was on (eg. car bodywork). Grab a broom on your way to the car and lead with that -- it'll burn before you do. And have the second response guy running with the waterbucket.

Now we have water extinguishers (including Cold Fire) as well as buckets. Still have the rags for turbo fires altho I haven't seen one of those in years. I guess we're used to how methanol works now. I think it's safer than some of the exotic gasoline mixes they used to use (maybe still do) in F1.

keke

[JimW]

Originally Posted by racerkeke

The I remember the fire training for the first race, too -- up at a firehall in Scarborough. They put methanol in a big pan and lit it. Same sort of faint rainbow effect we saw on TV from Surfer's, but what we were told to look for were the heat shimmers above and the blackening of whatever the fire was on (eg. car bodywork). Grab a broom on your way to the car and lead with that -- it'll burn before you do. And have the second response guy running with the waterbucket.

Better still - be the second response guy. That way when the first response starts burning you will know that they picked up a fire resistant broom.

Regards

Jim

[Leighton Irwin]

After running Methanol for several years we received a memo from our supplier telling us of the dangers to humans! Different tack. Not a problem today with modern fuel cells but Methanol does attack aluminium and pure rubber. We had rad drain petcocks on the bottom of our Webers to drain the fuel. We also added Castrol R (lovely smell) or synthetic oil to lube the cylinder walls and methanol will clean all lubricant from the bores. Regular oil does not mix with Meth. In cold weather we ran some acetone to make starting easier and usually had to spray gas (petrol) into the carbs or later the injectors. And yes the fumes from Methanol are pretty awful.To the marshalls: try working on the @#$*& things with engine running!

[R59]

I understand the the fumes of Methanol do include formaldahyde.

Ethanol has an equivalent octane rating of 102, compared to regular unleaded gas at 95, and Shell V-Power at 99. Methanol, depending on the blend, is often 105-108. But Ethanol burns better, and therefore you don't need as much as you do Methanol, so I'm told.

We have people here in the UK using E85 which is 85% Bio-Ethanol, 15% unleaded mix, and has a 102 octane rating.

Ethanol is just like Methanol for washing the bores and polluting the oil.

It is the way forward.

I'm sure that in time, there will be synthetic gasolines made from non-fossil components, but right now, it should be Ethanol.

I like the idea of adding Castrol R..... mmmmmm bacon....

Rob.

[macdaddy]

Off-topic, yet somewhat on...

For safety's sake, they should mandate that the cars can not be dropped from the jacks until after the refuelling hose has been completely disengaged. Perhaps both hoses (fuel and pressurized air) should be incorporated into the same outfit?