<VV> methanol vs. ethanol

[FrankCB at aol.com]

Well, since we don't have carbon dioxide, carbon  monoxide and hydrogen 
easily and readily available, the  vast bulk of methanol is made today starting 
with natural gas (what  our friend Ulli calls "erd gas" or "earth gas").  
The natural gas after  purification is reacted catalytically at high temp. 
with steam to form the  carbon oxides and hydrogen which are then further 
processed to make the  methanol.  Many years ago I worked for a company that 
designed and  built these plants (among others) and even spent 3 months in 
Japan (1962 if  memory serves me) on the construction and startup of one of them.
    Incidentally, this same process is used to make our  commercial 
hydrogen.  Also in the 60s I started up a hydrogen plant from  natural gas in 
California where the hydrogen was used to make rocket fuel.
    Natural gas is not only a great fuel, but also an  excellent feedstock 
for all kinds of chemicals.  We now know we have enough  in our own country 
to completely sever our dependence on fuels imported at  great expense from 
people who despise us.  All we have to do is to convince  our obfuscatory 
leaders in Washington to allow us to do so.
    But that's another fight which I hope is resolved  in a few weeks.
Frank "chemical engineer" Burkhard
Boonton, NJ
 
 
In a message dated 10/18/2012 9:11:37 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
patiomatt at aol.com writes:

Since JR  explained the properties of ETHANOL


Here's Wikipedia's   description of Methanol


"Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol,  wood alcohol, wood naphtha or 
wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula  CH3OH (often abbreviated MeOH). 
Methanol acquired the name "wood alcohol"  because it was once produced 
chiefly as a byproduct of the destructive  distillation of wood. Modern methanol 
is produced in a catalytic industrial  process directly from carbon 
monoxide, carbon dioxide, and  hydrogen.
Methanol is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile,  colorless, 
flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but  slightly sweeter 
than, ethanol (drinking alcohol).[4] At room temperature, it  is a polar 
liquid, and is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a  denaturant for 
ethanol. It is also used for producing biodiesel via  transesterification 
reaction.
Methanol is produced naturally in the  anaerobic metabolism of many 
varieties of bacteria, and is ubiquitous in small  amounts in the environment. As a 
result, there is a small fraction of methanol  vapor in the atmosphere. 
Over the course of several days, atmospheric methanol  is oxidized with the 
help of sunlight to carbon dioxide and water.
Methanol  burns in oxygen (including open air), forming carbon dioxide and  
water:"





Matt Nall
Charleston,  Oregon
http://tinyurl.com/The-Patio
http://tinyurl.com/Matts-Tech-Pages







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