Researchers identify possible catalyst for converting methane to methanol at room temperature

phys.org ^ | August 18, 2016 | by Bob Yirka

[Fido969]

Good news for us old farts!

[Paladin2]

Meth = bad. We need Methane to ethane to ethanol. Mix in peat moss and smoke and you’ll be good to go.

[SandRat]

You beat me to it. Does this include Fraternity Pledge Farts?

[Gadsden1st]

Does that mean we could strap on some device to a cow’s butt that would store methanol that could be released “on tap”?

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

This would be a tremendous advance in fuels if it could be achieved.

[beethovenfan]

A catalytic converter for cows !

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Unfortunately, researchers have found it difficult going due to the unreactive nature of methane.

Unreactive? Oh, I beg to differ!

After being fed cheese snacks, my dog can produce copious amounts of methane. You should see the reactions of anyone in the room at the time.

[my right]

so that’s how the cow jumped over the moon.

[libstripper]

But Fraternity Pledge Farts sually get burned by the pledges doing time honored experiments to see if they will burn, a practice often resulting in burned under pants and singed posteriors, a phenomenon I personally observed many years ago.

[dennisw]

IIRC a gallon of gasoline is equal to two gallons of methanol in how far it can power an automobile.

[Organic Panic]

[wildbill]

I think my uncle Dwayne qualifies as a room temperature containment structure when he is on his bean and beer diet—so possibly my family’s energy problems are solved if we can get him to stand still next to the converter.

[norwaypinesavage]

"a gallon of gasoline is equal to two gallons of methanol"

That's about right. The big advantage that I see for this is that the methane that's currently being flared at remote oil wells can be converted to methane and hauled away in trucks. This could make methane a whole lot cheaper than it is now, which is distilling it from "corn squeezin's".

[Nebr FAL owner]

NO Methanol is poison . It is wood alcohol you drink that you go blind & die which is not a good thing for a person to do.

[dennisw]

Thanks. So an automobile’s methanol fuel tank has to filled more often. This guy has been talking up methanol from all sources to be used for transportation. Robert Zubrin. I liked what he said but with low oil/gasoline prices no one will listen.

from 2011>>>
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/284560/methanol-wins-robert-zubrin
First, I ran the car on 100 percent methanol. This required replacing the fuel-pump seal made of Viton, which is not methanol compatible, with one made of Buna-N, which is. The new part cost 41 cents, retail. In order to take proper advantage of methanol’s very high octane rating (about 109), I advanced the timing appropriately. This dramatically improved the motor efficiency and allowed the ordinarily sedate sedan to perform with a significantly more sporty spirit. As measured on the dyno, horsepower increased 10 percent. With these modifications complete, I took my Cobalt out for a road test. The result: 24.6 miles per gallon.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/284560/methanol-wins-robert-zubrin

These results should not be too surprising. Methanol contains about half the energy content of gasoline, but its high octane allows it to be burned more efficiently, and thus obtain two-thirds of the mileage. The fact that the Cobalt could easily be made to use it should be no shock either: While not a flex-fuel car, the Cobalt uses the same E-37 computer and the same engine as GM’s HHR, which is a flex-fuel car. In fact, all GM cars sold in the U.S. for the past five years use either the E-37 (for small cars) or the equally flex-fuel-capable E-38 (for larger cars), and so all are capable of flex-fuel operation provided they are programmed correctly. The same is true at Ford, whose cars, whether flex-fuel or not, indiscriminately use the same “black oak,” “green oak,” or “silver oak” computers. Without question, the same must be the case for European and Japanese cars as well, since all are sold in Brazil, where flex-fuel capability is mandatory.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/284560/methanol-wins-robert-zubrin

[King Moonracer]

Gives me an idea for a future Olympic sport.

[norwaypinesavage]

There's a lot more to converting a fleet of cars over to 100% methanol than just the fuel pump seal. A manufacturer must design its cars for all possible environments. That means starting, running, heating, and air conditioning from -40 degrees to over 200 degrees F under the hood. They have to run in 100 percent humidity to zero humidity. A big problem with ethanol is its affinity for water - it will attract and absorb water from the air. This means internal corrosion of steel fuel lines and other steel parts in the fuel system. Water can plug fuel filters and corrode sensors. This is just the start.

Let's see what Mr. Zurbin thinks after 200,000 miles.

[dennisw]

Very good refutation! I never took any of that into account. A methanol automobile can be built, its just that its more complicated than swapping out a few parts as Zubrin thinks.

[norwaypinesavage]

"A methanol automobile can be built, its just that its more complicated than swapping out a few parts"

You nailed it! Indy 500 cars do quite well on alcohol. Just don't count on them for much more than 500 miles, and don't plan on taking one to the grocery store in the next blizzard.