ALCOHOL+FUEL+-+Jerry

Back to 11.1 presentations Alcohel Fuel Although Fossil fuels have been the dominant energy resource in modern world, the most industries and transport systems are still using fossil fuels as the majority. The alcohol, however, has also been used as a fuel throughout the modern history. The most commonly used are methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol. They are made up from Hydrocarbon, such as Methane, Ethane etc. with water to form methanol or ethanol... Alcohol has to be manufactured through fermentation and distillation processes. Because of the steps involved in its manufacture, alcohol has always been more expensive than gasoline to produce. But now, with dwindling crude oil supplies, the price of gasoline is skyrocketing ... and soon gasoline itself will probably have to be synthetically manufactured, at a cost far greater - since the production process is much more complicated than that of alcohol. Alcohol fuel contains oxygen where crude oil doesnt. The alcohol fuel is a non-renewable resource because during its usage, it is burnt to form carbondioxide and water. Yet the crude oil use in US today is blended with 10% of alcohol in terms to maintain the enviorment and the economic fact that the cost of production of alcohol fuel today is much cheaper than crude oil.
 * What is it? How is it made?**

The use of alcohol fuel can benificial for natural environment but the ground water can be contaminated by the alcohol-blended gasoline which is an emerging concern associated with the increase use of fuel alcohols to meet clean air quality and energy independence. However, the use of higher molecular weight fuel such as propanol and butanol has grown recently due to enviornment considerations. These higher molecular weight fuel have higher energy density, improving fuel economy, also, they have less vapour pressure resulting in decreased atmospheric pollution.
 * Natural effect**

From potential energy to Electrical, then to Kinetic energy. (People add alcohol as part of the fuel to crude oil, the engine requires electricity to use up these fuel, and then the vehicles can move to operate) The alcohol fuel is mostly used as car energy, which is a replacement for crude oil. Methanol and ethanol can both be derived from fossil fuels or from biomass. Ethanol is produced through fermentation of sugars and methanol from synthesis gas. Methanol and ethanol contain soluble and insoluble contaminants, Halide ions, which are soluble contaminants, such as chloride ions, have a large effect on the corrosivity of alcohol fuels. Halide ions increase corrosion in two ways: they chemically attack passivating oxide films on several metals causing pitting corrosion, and they increase the conductivity of the fuel. Increased electrical conductivity promotes electrical, galvanic and ordinary corrosion in the fuel system.
 * Energry transfer involved:**
 * Ethanol used as fuel**
 * Use of Methanol and Ethanol**

Propanol and Butanolare considerably less toxic and less volatile than methanol. In particular, butanol has a high flashpoint of 35 °C, which is a benefit for fire safety, but may be a difficulty for starting engines in cold weather. The concept of flash point is however not directly applicable to engines as the compression of the air in the cylinder means that the temperature is several hundred degrees Celsius before ignition takes place.
 * Use of Methanol and Ethanol**

Brazil is the largest alcohol fuel producer around the world to date, where their major method is to ferment ethanol from sugarcane. The country produces a total of 18 billion liters (4.8 billion gallons) annually, of which 3.5 billion liters are exported.
 * Use of alcohol in different countries**

Part from Brazil, China has been reported with 70% of alcohol fuel use as an independence from crude oil.

The U.S. by the end of 2007, was producing 26.9 billion liters (7 billion gallon) each year. In recent years, many states in US have mandated that all gasoline fuel has to be blended with 10% of alcohol fuel.