[Stoves] Methanol stove fuel. was Re: [Gasification]Methanoltoxicity?

[Thomas Reed]

Dear All:

Please let us be very aware of the toxicity of methanol, but please let 
us not overly stress the toxicity of methanol.  As we leave the oil 
based economy for an alcohol based economy, we will need to use both 
alcohols as liquid fuels.  Ethanol can't handle the job alone because it 
requires sugar or starch (and maybe even cellulose, but don't hold your 
breath.

Yes methanol is toxic and if you drink 100-300 ml you will die and less 
can make you go blind.  And yes, it smells innocuous so, it needs an 
oderant to identify it.  And yes, the flame is invisible - so is that 
from ethanol, and so both need an illuminant to signal their use. 

When ethanol was first distributed in France as an industrial solvent 
about 1900, 10% methanol was added as a denaturant.  After 10 years they 
discovered that while the Parisians found it foul tasting, the country 
people were still drinking it and so they had to find better denaturants. 

Carbon monoxide is even more deadly - odorless and three breaths can 
kill.  But it was universally distributed with hydrogen from 1800-1940 
when the methane pipelines were developed. 

Fuels are not to be confused with beverages, and should be so labeled.  
That doesn't prevent methanol from being an excellent, high octane fuel, 
used in preference to gasoline at the race track.  Methanol has already 
been widely distributed as both a gasoline additive (M-10) and as a 
gasoline substitute (M-85). 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

There seems to be a battle shaping up between the promoters of ethanol 
and the advocates of methanol.  As we leave the cheap oil era we will 
need both to replace gasoline. 

Yours truly, 

TOM REED         THE BIOMASS ENERGY FOUNDATION
Dean Still wrote:
> Wikipedia says:
>
> A methanol flame is almost colorless. Care should be exercised around
> burning methanol to avoid burning oneself on the almost invisible fire.
>
> Because of its poisonous properties, methanol is frequently used as a
> denaturant additive for ethanol manufactured for industrial uses- this
> addition of a poison economically exempts industrial ethanol from the rather
> significant 'liquor' taxes that would otherwise be levied as it is the
> essence of all potable adult beverages. Methanol is often called wood
> alcohol because it was once produced chiefly as a byproduct of the
> destructive distillation of wood. It is now produced synthetically by a
> multi-step process. In short, natural gas and steam are reformed in a
> furnace to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide; then, hydrogen and carbon
> monoxide gases react under pressure in the presence of a catalyst. The
> reforming step is endothermic and the synthesis step is exothermic.
>
> Health and safety
> Methanol...is toxic by its breakdown (toxication) by the enzyme alcohol
> dehydrogenase in the liver by forming formic acid and formaldehyde which
> cause blindness by destruction of the optic nerve. [2] Methanol ingestion
> can also be fatal due to its CNS depressant properties in the same manner as
> ethanol poisoning. It enters the body by ingestion, inhalation, or
> absorption through the skin. Fetal tissue will not tolerate methanol.
> Dangerous doses will build up if a person is regularly exposed to vapors or
> handles liquid without skin protection. If methanol has been ingested, a
> doctor should be contacted immediately. The usual fatal dose: 100-125 mL (4
> fl oz). Toxic effects take hours to start, and effective antidotes can often
> prevent permanent damage.
>
> Best,
>
> Dean
>
>
>
>
>
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