Methanol storage

The main problems of methanol storage relate to its ability to mix with water and the need to make it difficult to accidentally - or even deliberately - consume it. 

Because methanol mixes so readily with water, it will actually draw water out of the atmosphere, and if left unsealed a sample of methanol will steadily become a mixture of methanol and water. Such a mixture is quite corrosive, and tanks made from materials such as ordinary steel must not be used for methanol. Stainless steel can be used, as can glass. Methanol is a good solvent, and so great care is needed when using plastic bottles, as not all are suitable. Methanol can also attack rubber, so gasket materials must be chosen with care. 

Large-scale storage of methanol requires very special measures to be taken in terms of venting and fire safety, but these are beyond the scope of this book. 

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V-03 Horizontal Methanol Storage Tank. 20,000 gal, 11 ft diameter, 3 1 ft long,... 

Size a methanol storage tank for a plant producing 10,000,000 lb of product. From the scope and unit ratio material balance, the following information is obtained 0.3 lb of methanol is required for each pound of product a 15-day storage capacity is specified for methanol and the plant will operate 8,300 hours per year. 

Mueller Associates, Methanol Storage and Handling Factskeet, May 1987. 

Dipping solution II Dissolve 10 mg fuchsin in 100 ml methanol. Spray solution I Dissolve 1 g lead(IV) acetate in 100 ml toluene Spray solution 11 Dissolve 50 mg fuchsin in 100 ml methanol. Storage ... 

V-03 Horizontal Methanol Storage Tank. 76 m3, 3.35 m diameter, 9.5 m long, carbon steel, 1.8 kg/cm2, no insulation... 

One of the uses for methanol is to clear methane hydrate from high pressure gas mains and gas processing equipment. To guard against explosive mixtures in the vapour space of methanol storage vessels, methane is used for blanketing creating a vapour space which is too rich to explode. The methanol from such a system contains methane in solution. 

Properties M.w. 134.08 Monohydrate wh. cryst. hygroscopic sol. in water, alcohol, methanol Storage Hygroscopic keep well closed Uses In pectin... 

A Coal Gasification-Combined-Cycle Power Plant with Methanol Storage. Palo Alto, California Electric Power Research Institute, February 1990. GS/ER 6665. 

Large-scale methanol storage usually uses cylindrical tanks similar to those used for petroleum products. A floating-roof design is usually the choice. If a fixed-roof tank is used, an inert gas pad must be used to prevent the possible formation of an c q)losive mixture above the liquid. Tanks in a tank farm are usually enclosed by dikes and protected by water cannons and fire-extinguishing systems. 

There are other effluents besides refining column bottoms from the manufacture of methanol. Effluents include steam system blowdown, surface water contaminated with oil, reformer flue gas, and the methanol storage tank vent. 

In recent years, much more attention has been directed at methanol discharge to the atmosphere. This has resulted in improved schemes for capturing methanol vapor emissions from the atmospheric methanol storage tanks. Frequently the tank vent is scrubbed to absorb the methanol vapors, or the vapors are recompressed and the methanol condensed and returned to storage. 

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