Methanol injectors..

Michael D. Porter mdporter at rt66.com
Mon Feb 17 06:25:57 GMT 1997


Seth Allen wrote:
> 
> On Fri, 14 Feb 1997, Michael D. Porter wrote:
> >
> > Seth Allen wrote:

> Methanol buses, huh? where do (did) busues run on methanol?

"Did" is the operative word. <g>  Detroit Diesel started selling meth
engines around 1989.  The company I work for builds transit buses, and
we did meth buses for Phoenix, Denver and Southern California in 1989,
and then another 350 for Southern California in 1992.  To my knowledge,
every one of them has been converted, or is in the process of being
converted, to other fuels.  We also built a few ethanol buses for
Peoria, IL, in 1992, and those are still going, without noticeable
problems. 
 
> Thanks for the input, I can get a reasonably priced 40 psi (2.8 bar)
> methanol proof (so they say) fuel pump, and I can fabricate stainless
> plumbing.  I am not too worried about accelerated wear, as the methanol
> injection is only under elevated boost levels (above 6 psig or 0.4 bar).
> And 1800cc VW engines are cheap and easily found, if wear becomes a huge
> issue.

Seems to me that the engines are easily found, but the expensive parts
you'd have to install to make the engine withstand boost aren't that
cheap, even if you were to use VW diesel crank and rods.
 
> My main reason for choosing methanol is the latent heat of vaporization.
> I suppose ethanol is probably similar in this respect, but I believe that
> ethanol has a lower octane equivalence number.

Don't have the alcohols book handy, but latent heat of vaporization is
probably not remarkably different.  The octane equivalence is probably
not much different, either, in comparison to gasoline.  Don't quote me,
but I thought that eth was in the neighborhood of 108, and meth about
115-118. I don't have a fuels handbook at hand, and I've probably killed
a few brain cells since I last looked at one. <g>

The other consideration is that methanol is a handling problem...
whether you drink it, splash it on your skin, or inhale vapors, it's
poisonous. Blindness is a real problem if you're careless with it.  Fire
is another problem--it burns with virtually no visible flame, so a fire
can be in full progress before you notice anything visible. In these
regards, it's definitely not for the faint of heart. <g>

> Based on your input, i
> will consider ethanol with an additive.  Or perhaps a methanol/ gasoline
> blend.

Meth/gas could be a problem, depending upon the blend... not sure what
kind of ratio is required for phase separation. At any rate, it might be
worth scaring up either a copy of Perry's or a fuels guide and comparing
methanol and ethanol, just for kicks.
Cheers, Seth.

-- 
My other Triumph doesn't run, either....




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