Methanol Fuel Low-Level and High-Level Blend Strategies - Essay Example

Name: Instructor’s name: Institution: Course: Date: TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE Production 2 Storage 3 Chemical properties of methanol fuel 4 Environmental/ emissions properties of methanol fuel 4 Performance and efficiency of methanol fuel 6 Implementation of methanol fuel 7 Cost analysis 7 References 9 Production Methanol (CH3OH) is known as the ideal liquid form hydrogen source for fuel cells because it easier to produce hydrogen from methanol which has one carbon molecule. Methanol is a fuel and the potential future applications of methanol include its use as hydrogen carrier for fuel cell technology applications and turbine fuel for electric power generation. Methanol is a raw material for petrochemical production and currently it is being considered as liquid fuel (Corder et. al, 1998, p. 469). Methanol is produce by the reaction of carbon monoxide and hydrogen under high pressure. The carbon monoxide and hydrogen are produced from methane (Corder et. al, 1998, p. 469). Originally, methanol was produced by destructive distillation of wood, but currently, methanol is produced from fossils such as coal, oil products and natural gas, however, methanol from coal is increasing where natural gas is not available (Aasberg- Petersen, 2004, p. 2). Methanol is produced in large scale using various technologies such as synthesis gas preparation (reformation), methanol synthesis, methanol purification and utilities (Aasberg- Petersen, 2004, p.3). Other technologies that can be used to produce methanol are fixed bed technology and slurry technology. Fixed bed technology involves production of methanol by the process of hydrogenation of carbon oxides. This process is catalyzed by Cu/Zn Al catalyst (Hamelinck and Faaij, 2001, p. 9). During production, heat is released and it has to be removed in order for the system to maintain optimum catalyst life and reaction rate. Methanol is also produced from methane gas which is a natural gas. It is produced through a series of three reactions and these include Steam reforming: Ni/800 0C CH4 + H2O CO + H2 Water shift reaction Ni/ 800 0C CO + H2O CO2 + H2 Synthesis 2H2 + CO CH3OH (Adapted from Packer, 2002, p. 1). Storage Methanol is a highly flammable and toxic substance, therefore, caution should be exercised during handling and storage. Methanol should be stored in a cool, dry place and away from direct sunlight and moisture. Methanol is also highly volatile and thus the storage tanks for ethanol should have an inert gas pad with a floating internal roof to minimize vapors. Due to its highly flammable nature, ethanol should not be stored near oxidizing agents such as bromine, chlorine, hydrogen peroxide and sodium hypochlorite (Butler, 2011, p. 1). Methanol can cause damage to the storage materials through corrosion; therefore, there are acceptable materials that can be used to construct storage tanks for methanol. The acceptable materials include stainless steel, mild steel, vulcanized natural rubber and high density vulcanized polythene (Butler, 2011, p. 2). Chemical properties of methanol fuel Methanol is the simplest of all alcohols and it is also referred to as methyl alcohol. At room temperature, methanol is a clear, colorless liquid. Methanol has got chemical properties and these include boiling point of 64.7 0C, melting point of -97.8 0C and a molecular weight of 32.04. Methanol has a specific gravity of 0.7915 at 4 0C and solubility property involve its miscibility with water, alcohols, ketones, esters, benzene and halogenated hydrocarbons (Kavet and Nauss, 1990, p. 22). Methanol is an easily ignited hydrocarbon and its vapor explodes on ignition. Methanol is also a toxin and ingestion of a small amount of methanol can cause irreversible blindness and death (Medina, 2008, p. 5). Environmental/ emission properties of methanol The use of methanol produced from coal is widely used in Asian countries such as China. Methanol production is believed to some countries with domestic alternative to imported oil, thus reduce conventional automotive emissions. However, when methanol is used in automobiles it can lead to degradation of plastic or rubber components in the fuel systems (Yang and Jackson, 2012, p. 881). When methanol is blended with gasoline as fuel, it lowers the automotive emissions. This is because the carbon monoxide and the total hydrocarbon emissions from burning methanol gasoline blend are significantly lower than the emissions from gasoline alone (Yang and Jackson, 2012, p. 882). There is much effort being put all over the world to reduce environmental pollution that is caused by soot from burning carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. The depletion of fossil fuels and also environmental considerations has resulted to investigations on renewable fuels such as ethanol, hydrogen, biodiesel and methanol. The renewable fuel such as methanol from coal, natural gas and biomass can be blended in other fuels used in engine combustion so as to reduce petroleum derived fuel costs and environmental harm (Ciniviz et. al, 2011, p. 3189). When methanol is released to the environment, it rapidly breaks down to other compounds which are miscible in water and also act as food to some bacteria. As a result, methanol is often employed in various industrial applications such as waste water treatment to aid in the removal of nitrogen form the effluent streams (Moschell, 2012, p. 1). Due the increase in demand for methanol as fuel, it is expected that there will be an increase in production, transportation, storage and use of methanol. This can provide a potential for accidental releases to the environment. Methanol is ranked the third among the chemicals released to the environment by industries. Methanol is primarily released to the atmosphere but 20% of its emissions are directed to the soil, groundwater or surface water (Pirnie, 1999, p. 3). NOx and SO2 are emissions that are harmful to the environment; however, methanol has been used to reduce these emissions. Methanol is used in reducing the emissions because it has no sulfur and also has lower flame temperature and no fuel bound nitrogen (Hain et. al, 2012, p. 2). Performance and efficiency of methanol fuel Compared to hydrogen, methanol as a non fossil fuel for fuel cells ahs got various advantages. Some of these advantages include methanol is easy to store and transport, has a low cost and has a high energy density of 6100Wh/kg at 25 0C. These advantages, therefore, make direct methanol fuel cells to be more suitable for powering small portable devices such as laptops, telecommunications and other portable electronic devices (Liu et. al, 2006, p. 61). Liquid fuels have a better volumetric density than gaseous fuels. Alcohol fuels such as methanol have performance and safety advantages compared with gasoline (Nichols, 2003, p. 97). Nichols (2003, p. 98) compared two alcohol fuels and these were methanol and ethanol. From the comparison it was evident that the performance and emissions of both ethanol and methanol in engines were similar. However, ethanol does not have flame visibility like methanol and this is because ethanol has got two carbon molecules and result in the production of more soot than methanol. The economics of the two alcohols were also compared and the economics of methanol were more favorable than those of ethanol making methanol a better choice for replacement of petroleum based fuel. Natural gas to methanol process is about 70 percent efficient in terms of energy. This is not better than oil to gasoline efficiency, however, analyst argue that the economics of methanol makes it to be more efficient in performance. The energy content of methanol is less than that of gasoline, thus there is a prediction of higher fuel consumption in the use of a blend of methanol and gasoline than just using gasoline on its own. The blend of methanol and gasoline burns more satisfactorily and this quality together with the anti- knock and cooler qualities makes an efficient engine operation (Cassady, 1998, p. 59). Implementations of methanol fuel Petroleum products are increasingly becoming costly and scarce and the production of other alternative fuels. As the number of automobiles increases, the demand for gasoline and diesel will increase and the cost will also increase. Attention has focused on development of low coat fuel such as alcohols and in this case methanol is the most investigated as the best fuel to blend in petroleum fuels (Elamaran et. al, 2012, p. 111). Direct methanol fuel cell directly converts the chemical energy stored in methanol to electricity. This is because methanol has various advantages and these include a simple structure, easy storage and handling and a high specific energy of the liquid fuel. This provides a way for the implementation direct methanol fuel cell to compete with battery technology in powering of portable electronic devices (Zhao et. al, 2010, p. 3451). To introduce methanol significantly into the market, both methanol vehicles and infrastructure have to be deployed simultaneously. Recently, methanol has received less attention than ethanol especially in the United States. The failure of methanol as a substantial transportation fuel can be attributed to factors such as introduction of methanol in a period of rapid falling petroleum prices and also there is no strong advocacy of methanol unlike ethanol as a transportation fuel as it has been displaced by ethanol (Bromberg and Cheng, 2010, p. 9) Cost analysis Fuel is major cost but it varies with the type of fuel used. Other tangible costs such as engine replacement, infrastructure and maintenance cost also vary with the fuel type used. Estimates of total costs are required for a comprehensive comparison of fuel alternatives (Ahouissoussi and Wetzstein, 2002, p. 3). In the current market, methanol has two avenues to pursue. The two avenues include low level blend strategy and the high level blend strategy. The most significant difference between the two strategies is the pricing. In the low level blend strategy, methanol would replace gasoline and ethanol on a volumetric basis, therefore, this scenario results in methanol to be priced competitively on wholesale volumetric basis with gasoline and ethanol (Sheehy, 2010, p. 3). Factors that influence the settled price of methanol are based on other factors unique to each blend strategy. The factors are such as infrastructure and vehicle availability (Sheehy, 2010, p. 4). Methanol has got a low production cost because it is cheaper to produce methanol compared to other alternative fuels. The reason why the production cost of methanol is cheaper is because it is produced form readily available material such as natural gas, coal and biomass (Zhao et. al, 2010, p. 3452). References Aasberg- Petersen, K., Nielsen, C/ S., DDybkjoer, I. and Perregaard, J. 2004. Large scale production form natural gas. Haldor Topsoe Ahouissoussi, N. B. C. and Wetszstein, M. E. 2002. A comparative cost analysis of bio- diesel, compressed natural gas, methanol and diesel for transit bus systems. Athens: University of Georgia Bromberg, L. and Cheng, W. K. 2010. Methanol as an alternative transportation fuel in the US: Options for sustainable and/ or energy secure transportation. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of technology. Butler, B. 2011. Methanol storage. Methanol journal Cassady, P. E. 1998. The use of methanol as a motor vehicle fuel. mathematical sciences Ciniviz, M., Kose, H., Canli, E. and Solmaz, O. 2011. An experimental investigation on effects on methanol blended diesel fuels to engine performance and emissions of diesel engine. Scientific research and essays, Vol. 6, no. 15, pp. 3189- 3199 Corder, R. E., Johnson, E. R., Vega, J. L., Clausen, E. C. and Gaddy, J. L. 1998. Biological production of methanol from methane. Arkansas: University of Arkansas Elamaran, T., Ganesh, S. N. and raj, V. 2012. Implementation of methanol as fuel in SI engine for the measurement of formaldehyde emission. Energy trends in science Hain, Y., Chudnovsky, B., Rappoport, N., Reshef, M. and Baitel, S. 2012. Methanol as low cost alternative fuel for emission reduction in gas turbines. Advancing sustainable energy implementation Hamelinck, C. N. and Faaij, A. P. C. 2001. Future prospects for production of methanol and hydrogen from biomass. Copernicus Institute Kavet, R. and Nauss, K. M. 1990. The toxicity of inhaled methanol vapor. Toxicology, Vol. 21, no. 1 Liu, J. G., Zhao, T. S., Liang, Z. X. and Chen, R. 2006. Effects of membrane thickness on the performance and efficiency of passive direct methanol fuel cells. Journal of power sources, Vol. 153, pp. 61- 67 Medina, E. 2008. Methanol safe handling manual. Methanol institute Moschell, P. 2012. Environmental impact. Methanol institute Nichols, R. J. 2003. The methanol story: A sustainable fuel for the future. Journal of scientific and industrial research, Vol. 62, pp. 97- 105 Packer, J. 2002. The production of methanol and gasoline. Energy- D- methane Pirnie, M. 1999. Evaluation of the fate and transport of methanol in the environment. Malcolm Pirnie Sheehy, P. 2010. Methanol fuel blending and materials compatibility report. Methanol institute Yang, C. and Jackson, R. 2012. China’s growing methanol economy and its implications for energy and the environment. Energy policy, Vol. 41, pp. 878- 884 Zhao, T. S., Yang, W. W., Chen, R. and Wu, Q. X. 2010. Towards operating direct methanol fuel cells with highly concentrated fuel. journal of power sources, Vol. 195, pp. 3451- 3462 Read More

The acceptable materials include stainless steel, mild steel, vulcanized natural rubber and high density vulcanized polythene (Butler, 2011, p. 2). Chemical properties of methanol fuel Methanol is the simplest of all alcohols and it is also referred to as methyl alcohol. At room temperature, methanol is a clear, colorless liquid. Methanol has got chemical properties and these include boiling point of 64.7 0C, melting point of -97.8 0C and a molecular weight of 32.04. Methanol has a specific gravity of 0.

7915 at 4 0C and solubility property involve its miscibility with water, alcohols, ketones, esters, benzene and halogenated hydrocarbons (Kavet and Nauss, 1990, p. 22). Methanol is an easily ignited hydrocarbon and its vapor explodes on ignition. Methanol is also a toxin and ingestion of a small amount of methanol can cause irreversible blindness and death (Medina, 2008, p. 5). Environmental/ emission properties of methanol The use of methanol produced from coal is widely used in Asian countries such as China.

Methanol production is believed to some countries with domestic alternative to imported oil, thus reduce conventional automotive emissions. However, when methanol is used in automobiles it can lead to degradation of plastic or rubber components in the fuel systems (Yang and Jackson, 2012, p. 881). When methanol is blended with gasoline as fuel, it lowers the automotive emissions. This is because the carbon monoxide and the total hydrocarbon emissions from burning methanol gasoline blend are significantly lower than the emissions from gasoline alone (Yang and Jackson, 2012, p. 882). There is much effort being put all over the world to reduce environmental pollution that is caused by soot from burning carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.

The depletion of fossil fuels and also environmental considerations has resulted to investigations on renewable fuels such as ethanol, hydrogen, biodiesel and methanol. The renewable fuel such as methanol from coal, natural gas and biomass can be blended in other fuels used in engine combustion so as to reduce petroleum derived fuel costs and environmental harm (Ciniviz et. al, 2011, p. 3189). When methanol is released to the environment, it rapidly breaks down to other compounds which are miscible in water and also act as food to some bacteria.

As a result, methanol is often employed in various industrial applications such as waste water treatment to aid in the removal of nitrogen form the effluent streams (Moschell, 2012, p. 1). Due the increase in demand for methanol as fuel, it is expected that there will be an increase in production, transportation, storage and use of methanol. This can provide a potential for accidental releases to the environment. Methanol is ranked the third among the chemicals released to the environment by industries.

Methanol is primarily released to the atmosphere but 20% of its emissions are directed to the soil, groundwater or surface water (Pirnie, 1999, p. 3). NOx and SO2 are emissions that are harmful to the environment; however, methanol has been used to reduce these emissions. Methanol is used in reducing the emissions because it has no sulfur and also has lower flame temperature and no fuel bound nitrogen (Hain et. al, 2012, p. 2). Performance and efficiency of methanol fuel Compared to hydrogen, methanol as a non fossil fuel for fuel cells ahs got various advantages.

Some of these advantages include methanol is easy to store and transport, has a low cost and has a high energy density of 6100Wh/kg at 25 0C. These advantages, therefore, make direct methanol fuel cells to be more suitable for powering small portable devices such as laptops, telecommunications and other portable electronic devices (Liu et. al, 2006, p. 61). Liquid fuels have a better volumetric density than gaseous fuels. Alcohol fuels such as methanol have performance and safety advantages compared with gasoline (Nichols, 2003, p. 97). Nichols (2003, p. 98) compared two alcohol fuels and these were methanol and ethanol.

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