Methanol As Fuel
This section is about methanol fuel cells for our future. Since I have
done this
research I have never realized how important future fuels are.
Methanol is a
liquid fuel made form natural gas or renewable biomass
resources. Methanol is
the leading candidate to provide the hydrogen
necessary to power fuel cell
vehicles. The commercialization of
methanol-powered fuel cells will offer
practical, affordable, long-range
electric vehicles with zero or near zero
emissions while retaining the
convenience of a liquid fuel. By 2004 they say or
even sooner, fuel cells
operating on methanol will power a variety of cars and
buses in the U.S and
worldwide.( www.mehanol.org) Methanol is predoninantly
produced by steam
reforming of natural gas to dcreate a sythesis gas, which is
then dfed into a
reactor vessel in the presence of a catalyst to produce
methanol and water
vapor. Although a variety of feedstock’s other than natural
gas can and have
been used, today’s economics favor natural gas. Synthesis gas
refers to
combination of carbon monoxide and hydrogen while a large amount of
synthesis
gas us used to make methanol, most synthesis gas is used to make
ammonia. As
a result, most methanol plants are adjacent o or are part of ammonia
plants.
The gas fed into another reactor vessel under high temperatures
and
pressures, where monoxide and hydrogen are came in the presence of a
catalyst to
produce methanol. Finally, the reactor product is distilled to
purify and
separate the methanol from the reactor effluent.
(wwwadfc.nrel.gov.)
"(Washington, D.C., January 28) A study by the
environmental engineering firm
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. finds far fewer
environmental threats from using methanol
in fuel cell vehicles, compared to
gasoline's use for internal combustion
engines. In addition, a video
presentation on methanol and the environment
produced by the Public Interest
Video Network will be premiered at "The
Road to Fuel Cell Vehicles: A
National Forum" being held on February 4th
and 5th at the Hotel Washington in
Washington, D.C" (www.methanol.org)
Methanol will probably be transferred
from import terminals or production
facilities by barge, rail, or truck to
eventually reach retail outlets. While
the alcohol fuel is a liquid at
ambient temperatures and atmospheric pressures,
the cannot be moved easily
through the existing petroleum product market
network. "The world’s major
automakers have all announced plans for the
market introduction of fuel cell
vehicles by 2003/2004. These fuel cell vehicles
will require a source of
hydrogen fuel. As a liquid fuel rich in hydrogen,
methanol is the leading
candidate to power tomorrow’s fuel cell cars and
buses. A comprehensive needs
assessment should be performed to determine how
best to provide methanol fuel
to an emerging market for fuel cell vehicles."
(www. The American Methanol
Foundation" From the information gathered it seems
that methanol is the
number one candidate for future fuels for leading car
manufactures. It is
also nice to know that the government has plans to figure In
addition, this
assessment will attempt to forecast methanol fuel direction and
tools for
consumer education efforts regarding the use of methanol in fuel
cell
vehicles.