ALTERNATE ENERGY RESOURCES: METHANOL/ETHAN OL Terrence DeWeese John Dunning

HOW METHANOL/ETHANOL FUEL WORKS?

HOW METHANOL/ETHANOL FUEL WORKS? CONTINUED…  Ethanol is a domestically made fuel derived from plant material like, corn, sugar cane, or grasses.  13.2 billion gallons of ethanol fuel was used in the U.S. in 2013 in a number of mixtures including E10, E15, and E85 (flex fuels)  Methanol is a high octane fuel that absorbs heat from the air, which is called latent heat vaporization.  A drawback to using methanol as fuel is that its highly corrosive to some metals, like aluminum; being a weak acid the methanol attacks the oxide coating that protects metals from corrosion.

MACHINERY USED IN THE MAKING OF ETHANOL  The two main pieces of machinery used are the boiler and the still  The boiler boils the mixture of corn and yeast until it evaporates and enters the still  Once the evaporated corn and yeast mixture is in the still it cools down and returns to a liquid state making the Ethanol fuel

ENERGY EFFICIENCY RATIO  The energy efficiency of Ethanol made with corn is 1.24  Because of the ratio being low that shows that Ethanol is very efficient.

WHERE IS METHANOL / ETHANOL MOST LIKELY TO BE USED? Ethanol and Methanol are most used in China, Western Europe, and the US. Based on these trends we can predict future ethanol/methanol use to be highest in the previously mentioned countries. Also as developing countries become more developed they may decide to invest in alternative energy use so you can expect to see use of this fuel increase in those countries as well.

PROBLEMS WITH ETHANOL AND METHANOL  People argue ethanol and other plant-based fuels require too much farmland to make them realistic or sustainable.  Also in some cases (not all) producing ethanol can require using more energy to make it than it produces.  These issues can be mitigated by using a “closed-loop” system.  Under the closed-loop system at the Mead plant, manure will fall through metal slats in the cattle pens and be collected. Methane from the manure will be trapped instead of being allowed to drift into the atmosphere, and then used to generate power for the plant.  Methanol can be produced from animal waste that is simply a by product of a process already common, this allows nothing, not even poop to go to waste.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES  Disadvantages:  Uses unsustainable amount of land to create ethanol (not methanol if from manure)  Net energy is higher, but not significantly higher.  Not all vehicles can use “flex fuels”  Advantages:  Renewable  Less green house emissions when burning it  Overall use is better for environment  Cheaper