Ethanol Vs Methanol Research Paper

Alcohol based fuels are used as alternatives to fuels that come entirely from non-renewable resources. The most common of these are ethanol and methanol. These two substances have a few similarities, but also significant differences. The similarities are so few that they can be listed concisely; just appearance and smell are similar for these two chemicals. If an individual were presented with samples of each of these chemicals, they would have to ignite it or consume it in order to tell the difference. If igniting these chemicals it can be seen that methanol burns hotter due to the white flame compared to the blue flame of ethanol. Additionally, due to the toxic nature of methanol if it is consumed it will poison the person ingesting it, but ethanol will make the consumer drunk.
Methanol can be used as an alternative fuel, looks, and smells similar to ethanol, but that’s where most similarities stop. Methanol is used a lot in research rather than readily available as a mainstream fuel due to its toxic and corrosive nature. Methanol was originally derived from wood
They both require hygroscopic conservation vents in order to prevent moisture from contaminating the fuel, and they are both dispensed from storage using blue or green hoses. Both chemicals require storage containers equipped with automatic fire suppression systems, infrared sensors as well as allow for the use of observation wells, sumps and sensor wires on the storage containers for leak protection and detection. Neither ethanol nor methanol can have electrical resistivity sensors or the use of thermal conductivity. Ethanol differs from methanol in that it is typically stored in carbon steel tanks. Meanwhile methanol is stored in tanks made of stainless steel. Additionally, methanol must have secondary containment for its storage containers due to the potential for water contamination stemming from its water