Posted on 07/30/2006 10:04:42 PM PDT by GeronL
This sounds a bit more like Smokey Yunick's "Hot Air Engine", which was turbocharged. Exhaust heat is the only reasonable method of accomplishing this, and with that much heat, much of the legendary detonation resistance of methanol and thus most of its benefits will be lost. The most influential factor on preignition/detonation is the temperature of the intake air, not the fuel or compression ratio.
The corrosiveness of the methanol will only be accelerated at higher temperatures.
To get that kind of reactivity, you've got to heat the methanol a lot hotter than the vaporization point. Methanol boils at 65 degrees C. I am certain that a heater/vaporizer using exhaust heat can be designed that will get the methanol (plus whatever water is "tagging along" with it) into the vapor phase, but well below any "pre-ignition/detonation" point.
"The corrosiveness of the methanol will only be accelerated at higher temperatures."
WRONG. You keep talking like methanol was some kind of horrifically corrosive chemical--it isn't. Water is FAR more corrosive than methanol (and in fact, it is probably the condensing water that is doing most, if not all, of the damage, anyway). As long as the methanol and water are in the vapor phase, NO corrosion will occur. You've got to have a LIQUID phase to get corrosion, because the corrosion is fundamentally an electrochemical process--and that requires a liquid capable of ionic conductivity.
I have enjoyed keeping this thread alive, and we've had an excellent conversation after we overcame insulting each others' experience and intelligence. However, it's time for you to get into the garage and try some of your theories with equipment designed to your specs. So far this year, "we" have put over 1,500 miles on a car that only uses a squirt of gasoline for cold starts under both racing and low speed track packing conditions, which are very similar to city driving. The carburetor has lasted for three seasons with simple gasket/diaphragm/power valve replacement at the beginning. (This is absolutely NOT possible if running a zinc/brass carburetor such as a Holley, regardless of the coating, and there is no way on this earth to cram enough fuel through a single float carb like a Quadrajet(junk), but I digress.) We redo the fuel pump at the beginning of the season and....well....right about now. It has been almost two seasons since it leaned out (poo occurs after all) and tossed a few titanium exhaust valves into the headers in the form of molten blobs, and almost ten years since "we" torched a block or head between the cylinders.
Switching to a Ford with fewer head bolts than a Chevy along with eliminating the paired exhausts in the center of the head helps the head gasket to blow before a piston, head or block melts. On gasoline, five percent lean makes it splutter or ping while five percent rich kills about 20% of the power. On methanol, five percent rich makes it run a bit too cold but does not hurt power, while five percent lean is a good way to make a self propelled fireworks display. Back in the day, "we" detonated a methanol engine so badly that we found pieces of cylinder wall laying up in the plenum of the intake manifold.
Getting a bit into your field, the molecular structure of methanol is NOT really ideal for burning under pressure due to its rather long structure and that Hydroxide stuck up in the middle of it. None of what "we" do every weekend would be possible if it were not for the latent heat of vaporization pulling heat from the inlet stream. Adiabatic flame temperatures are down a bit due to the mass of fuel required for stoichometric mixtures, but that is akin to a band aid on a limb amputation.
I think we would all appreciate someone with your education and experience applying their abilities to figuring out how to produce CLEAN methanol via a catylitic reaction using biomass as a feedstock with minimal external energy input, much different from heat distillation of wood chips. Figure out how to get it delivered to the corner gas station at thirty cents a gallon, and then it will be economically feasible to achieve full employment for grease monkeys and parts changers who think they are mechanics while reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
BUMP to a great article
I thought it was good, a little weird on some details (like sucking exhaust fumes) but pretty good.
This is the article I was looking for!!!
BUMP
BUMP
BTTT
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.