Methanol cars: the most suitable way to develop?

The concept of using alcohol (methanol and ethanol) as fuel is as old as the internal combustion engine. At the end of the 19th century, early models of internal combustion engines developed by Nicholas Otto et al. were actually designed to be driven by alcohol and later replaced by cheaper and more readily available oil.

In today's climate and energy problems, alcohol fuels have once again become popular. Compared to the important sugarcane-producing region of Brazil and the developed agricultural industry of the United States, fuel ethanol may not be suitable for China's tight agricultural land. However, as a product that can be obtained through coal chemical industry, methanol fuel can completely stand out in the coal-rich China.

Methanol is a low-carbon, high-oxygen content fuel that does not require too much air for combustion and helps reduce carbon and nitrogen oxide emissions. At the same time, the use of methanol does not need to make too many changes to existing automobile manufacturing systems and fuel delivery and storage systems, and it does not require much investment costs. Therefore, methanol can be said to be an alternative fuel that is very suitable for development. Nobel Prize-winning scientist George Olah even believes that the "methanol economy" is the most important solution to the oil and gas era.

However, the promotion of methanol fuel has not been smooth - it is expected that the release of the national standard for low-proportion methanol gasoline (M15) before the end of 2010 will be postponed, while the methanol fuel for pure methanol fuel (M100) will be delayed. Although the standard has been released, the methanol fuel and methanol car have been poorly on the market. So, what doubts do people have about this alternative fuel? If these doubts can be eliminated, how can industrialization be promoted?

The problem is not a problem. There are many alternatives to the more clean alternatives to traditional automotive fuels – methanol, ethanol, biofuels, or natural gas. So, what are the reasons for choosing methanol?

According to Wei Anli, Deputy Secretary General of the Internal Combustion Engine Industry Association, there are several basic principles for the choice of alternative fuels. First, we must ensure that raw materials are self-sufficient. Second, technology must improve after using alternative fuels. Third, the use of alternative fuels should not destroy existing industrial systems as much as possible. Wei Anli believes that the use of methanol as a fuel can precisely meet these principles.

Methanol is a coal-based fuel that can be produced by means of coal chemical industry. This is a very good choice for China, where more coal is less gas and agricultural land is tight. Moreover, the production of methanol from coal is also in line with the characteristics of China's coal resources. Nearly 40% of China’s coal resources are high-sulfur coals, ie sulfur content exceeds 1%. These coals cannot be used directly for power generation, but they can be used directly for methanol production. According to Rong Huikang, former deputy chief engineer of FAW Group, some of the current coal-to-methanol projects can even recover 70% of carbon dioxide emissions, and produce urea, acetic acid and other products to achieve multi-generation.

The use of methanol fuel requires only minor changes to the internal combustion engine manufacturing system. The process modifications to production and assembly are also very simple, and have a high degree of versatility with traditional automotive production systems. If only a small amount of methanol is blended into gasoline, blending into a low proportion of methanol gasoline can be used without even having to make any changes to existing cars.

The biggest doubts about methanol fuels focus on the two major issues of toxicity and emissions. However, in Wei Anli's view, people actually worry about this. In response to the toxic problem, he pointed out that Capital Medical University had conducted comparative experiments as early as 20 years ago, and it has also been evaluated by relevant agencies internationally. As a result, the toxicity level of methanol is the same as that of gasoline. Although methanol is toxic and cannot be used for drinking, the same is true for gasoline. Therefore, the question of methanol toxicity is just a "customary approach" for everyone. This issue has not been discussed in the industry.

"The reason is very simple. We do not need to discuss non-problem issues." Wei Anli told Energy magazine.

In his book, George Ola also elaborated on the toxicity of methanol. He pointed out that when the service station replenish the car with methanol fuel, people are only exposed to low doses of methanol. By breathing, only 2 to 3 milligrams of methanol enter the body. But in fact, methanol actually exists in all aspects of people's lives. For example, the aspartame, which is an artificial sweetener widely used in low-heat foods and soft drinks, will be partially converted to methanol during digestion. Drinking 350 milliliters of soda, it is possible to produce 20 milligrams of methanol through the digestive system, much higher than the human intake at the time of methanol refill. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), adults can maintain their health even when they consume 500 mg of methanol per day.

In terms of emissions, methanol, as an alternative fuel, could have reduced the emissions of carbon dioxide, etc., but it also has the problem of containing highly toxic formaldehyde, a carcinogen. Methanol is the parent material from which formaldehyde is refined, and it may also produce formaldehyde through incomplete combustion. So is this a tricky problem? Wei Anli once conducted comparative experiments as an expert on related issues and proposed the concept of “zero tolerance”. "Formaldehyde has not been set as an emission target by international organizations because its emissions are negligible. Then, as far as methanol fuel is concerned, it is enough to do less formaldehyde emission than gasoline," he said. According to the Carcinogenic Degree Comparison Test conducted by the U.S. Methanol Research Institute, the total carcinogenic emission of methanol is actually only 20% of that of gasoline and diesel.

M100 or M15

Although methanol fuels have not yet been widely promoted, there are some different ideas about how people use them. Methanol can not only be used as a vehicle fuel alone, but also can be blended with gasoline and diesel in a certain volume ratio to form a new type of clean fuel. Methanol gasoline products are divided according to the amount of methanol added to gasoline. For example, a mixture prepared by adding 15% methanol to gasoline is referred to as "M15 methanol gasoline," while adding 85% methanol is formulated as "M85 methanol gasoline," and pure methanol fuel is referred to as "M100 methanol. fuel".

At present, automakers including Anhui Chery, Shanghai Maple and FAW Group have successfully developed pure methanol fuel vehicles. In Changzhi, Shanxi, the 863 project for the M100 methanol fuel vehicle undertaken by Changzhi First Automobile Transportation Co., Ltd. also completed a demonstration of the operation of the 17.768 million kilometers of 125 methanol buses. The results show that the use of methanol as a fuel not only reduces emissions but also reduces operating costs. For M15 methanol gasoline, there are also a large number of provinces including Shanxi, Shaanxi, Guizhou, and Hebei, which are currently being promoted and applied. In Shanxi, under the impetus of companies such as Sinopec Shanxi Branch, 850 gas stations have been built to supply M15 methanol gasoline to the society. Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum has also been promoting this product through its gas station.

Then, should we first promote the use of M100 methanol fuel, automotive products, or high-proportion Methanol gasoline such as M85, or do we first promote the use of low-proportion Methanol gasoline such as M15? Wei Anli prefers the first option. "In addition to the M100, all methanol gasolines need to be added with additives to solve various problems that may arise after the methanol and gasoline are mixed. Then, if quality problems occur in the course of use, it is a matter of probing fuel, or the car and its zero. The problem with parts is that there may be headless lawsuits, and this is unacceptable for the industry. The M100 is relatively simple compared to no additives, he said.

The use of M100 methanol fuels and high proportions of methanol fuels such as M85 requires some simple modifications to conventional cars. Cars that use methanol fuel have the problem of poor cold start performance, that is, it is not easy to start normally at low temperatures. However, if a gasoline-assisted ignition device can be retrofitted and the electronic control system is slightly modified, it can be started normally and methanol can be continuously added as fuel after entering the normal state.

In addition, the role of the original rubber parts is to seal petroleum-based products, and methanol is a coal-based product, it will inevitably cause rubber aging and swelling and other issues. However, Wei Anli said that this is not difficult to solve. Methanol is produced and used in large quantities, and there are already many sealing materials for it, so all that is needed is to use these materials in methanol fuel vehicles. In addition, there is a need to make appropriate improvements to the problem of the corrosive nature of methanol and the higher engine compression ratio required.

It is precisely because the M100 methanol fuel is relatively simple, the "Car Methanol Fuel Standard" for it has already been released, but the low proportion of the M15 methanol gasoline standard is not so lucky. Ma Liang, Secretary-General of the National Committee for Alcohol Ether and Alcohol Ether Cleaning Professionals, said that there are two main reasons for the difficulty in producing M15 methanol gasoline. "First, the United States has a high percentage of methanol gasoline standards, but it has not established relevant standards for low-proportion methanol gasoline, so currently there are no ready-made standards for reference from abroad. Second, because the M15 methanol gasoline standard involves additives and other issues, It is more difficult to formulate a standard than the high proportion of methanol gasoline,” he told the Energy magazine.

Because M15 methanol gasoline needs to be used without any changes to existing vehicles, it is necessary to add appropriate additives to solve the problems of delamination and hot air resistance that occur during the use of methanol gasoline. Nowadays, the market for additives is very confusing. Each methanol-to-gasoline fuel production enterprise may have its own formula. These are actually the core technologies of the company and are inconvenient to disclose to the public. Therefore, it has brought great difficulties to the formulation of standards.

Ma Liang said that the current standards for M15 methanol gasoline may also include the development of several sub-standards including additive and methanol content monitoring methods. He also said that because M15 methanol gasoline can be used in any car, the scope of adaptation is very wide, it should also actively promote the application.

Only poor "closed door"

If M15 low-proportion methanol gasoline promotion still lacks national standards, then the pure methanol fuel used by many cars in the F1 competition has been monitored in demonstration operations in Shanxi and related standards have been introduced, but it has yet to be promoted. Application, where is the problem?

Companies such as Anhui Chery, Shanghai Huapu and FAW Group have successfully completed the research and development of methanol fuel vehicles, and even started industrialization, and the products are exported to the Middle East. The production cost of methanol is only a maximum of one thousand yuan per ton. The market selling price is more than two thousand yuan per ton. It is equivalent to 1.6 liters of methanol and one litre of gasoline. The cost of using methanol is also a lot lower than that of gasoline.

As for the social reinforcement system for methanol, Wei Anli said that it can also use the existing facilities to establish it. His proposal is to use the existing gas station idle pits (such as the abandoned 90 # gasoline) to store methanol fuel, and to raise the methanol car.

Therefore, in the case of technology, marketization, supporting systems, and other solutions, "only need the government to help one." Wei Anli said.

In Rong Huikang's view, the biggest problem of this industry lies in the approval of methanol fuel vehicles, that is, they need to be included in the product announcements to enter the market. "At present, the relevant departments have not announced to the methanol fuel vehicles, so the formation of the market requires a process," he told the Energy magazine. However, he said that relevant departments are also considering conducting pilots of methanol fuel vehicles in some areas next year.

As an alternative to petrol, as well as a clean vehicle path that competes with biofuels, electric vehicles, etc., the promotion of methanol fuel has not been smooth. However, if all the conditions are met, if the last “part of the door” is filled, will the fuel that is suitable for the characteristics of China's resources be the first mainstream alternative to clean gasoline and diesel?