Methanol automobiles using

Methanol is used as an automobile fuel and in the preparation of formaldehyde, a starting material for certain plastics. 

Methanol is used as antifreeze and is also added to ethanol as a denatu-rant. Similarly, ethylene glycol is used as an antifreeze, especially in automobiles. Both compounds themselves are not toxic, but following ingestion they are metabolised rapidly by alcohol dehydrogenase to metabolites (formic acid and oxalic acid) which are potentially lethal. Fomepizole (4-methylp5Tazone) inhibits alcohol dehydrogenase and is used clinically to treat methanol and ethylene glycol toxicity. 

Another possible fuel is methanol, which is produced from natural gas, coal, or biomass. Studies indicate that the amount of principal pollutants in automobiles is lowered when methanol is used instead of gasoline, but methanol is more corrosive and extensive engine modifications must be made. Other fuels that show promise are hydrogen, methane (natural gas), and propane however, storage and delivery of these fuels, which are gases at room temperature, are more difficult and other significant technical problems also must be solved. 

Methanol is used as a solvent in automobile windshield washer fluid and as a cosolvent in various formulations for paint and varnish removers. It is also used as a process solvent in chemical processes for extraction, washing, crystallization, and precipitation. For example, methanol is used as an "antisolvent" for precipitation of polyphenylene oxide after its polymerization. It should be pointed out here that there have been active studies in using the extracts of agricultural plants in medicine. Methanol is often used for the extraction. Methanol extracts of some plants show antibacterial activities [4045]. This provides a potential use of methanol in traditional medicine. 

Chromates are used to inhibit metal corrosion in recirculating water systems. When methanol was extensively used as an antifree2e, chromates could be successfully used as a corrosion inhibitor for cooling systems in locomotive diesels and automobiles (185). 

As a constituent of synthesis gas, hydrogen is a precursor for ammonia, methanol, Oxo alcohols, and hydrocarbons from Fischer Tropsch processes. The direct use of hydrogen as a clean fuel for automobiles and buses is currently being evaluated compared to fuel cell vehicles that use hydrocarbon fuels which are converted through on-board reformers to a hydrogen-rich gas. Direct use of H2 provides greater efficiency and environmental benefits. ... 

The most recent innovation in this field is scanning tunnelling microscopy, which has the capability of atomic resolution. In the work reported here two surface reactions are examined using this technique. These reactions are of relevance to automobile catalysis (CO oxidation on Rh) and methanol oxidation/synthesis on Cu. It is proposed that active sites are imaged in these reactions and that these active sites can indeed be extremely dilute on the surface. 

Carbon dioxide gas is used to make urea (used as a fertiliser and in automobile systems and medicine), methanol, inorganic and organic carbonates, polyurethanes and sodium salicylate. Carbon dioxide is combined with epoxides to create plastics and polymers. 

Methanol is a clean-burning liquid that can be used to power electricity-generating turbines as well as a fuel for automobiles and other vehicles. It can also be a valuable feedstock for a variety of chemicals (e.g., in the manufacture of acetic... 

Methanol, which is also known as wood alcohol, is a colorless and odorless liquid alcohol fuel that can be made from biomass, natural gas, or coal. It is the simplest alcohol chemically and it may be used as an automobile fuel in its pure form (Ml 00), as a gasoline blend of typically 85% methane to 15% unleaded gasoline (M85). It is also used as a feedstock for reformulated gasoline. M100 or pure methanol may be used as a substitute for diesel. In M85, the gasoline is added to color the flame of burning fuel for safety reasons and to improve starting in cold weather. 

One of the considerations regarding the use of methanol as a fuel is that it emits higher amounts of formaldehyde, which is a contributor to ozone formation and a suspected carcinogen, compared to gasoline. Proponents of methanol dispute this, saying that one-third of the formaldehyde from vehicle emissions actually comes from the tailpipe, with the other two-thirds forming photochemically, once the emissions have escaped. They state that pure methanol vehicles produce only one tenth as much of the hydrocarbons that are photochemically converted to formaldehyde as do gasoline automobiles. 

Technological changes in the manufacture of power sources are required if they are to run on alternative fuels. The development of alternative fuels depends on automotive manufacturers making alternative fuel engines available while fuel suppliers produce and distribute fuels for these vehicles. Flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), which are also known as variable fuel vehicles, (VFVs) are designed to use several fuels. Most of the major automobile manufacturers have developed FFV prototypes and many of these use ethanol or methanol as well as gasoline. 

These other forest resources - unutilized trees from intensive forest management and the residue today left in the forest - could, if pressed to their maximum availability, contribute around 1 EJ to the energy supply. To do this will, however, require extensive end use product markets since the end use requirement of heat production in the forest industry will already be essentially satisfied by the industries own residue. The conversion problem is therefore the transformation of biomass to energy intermediates such as electricity for transmission elsewhere, automobile fuels such as the much discussed methanol option, or into energy intensive tonnage chemicals such as ammonia and ethylene. 

Not mentioned in the table is the direct use of methanol as fuel for automobiles. It is added in small amounts to gasoline, sometimes as a blend with other alcohols such as f-butyl alcohol, to increase octane ratings and lower the price of the gasoline. Experimentation is even being done on vehicles that bum pure methanol. This fuel use is usually captive but a good estimate is that it may account for almost 10% of the methanol produced. 

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