Local supplier of Methanol

[Rheghead]

Does anyone know where I could buy a drum of methanol locally or anywhere for that matter. A quantity of about 25 gallon would be ideal.

[zapper]

Pray tell , why on earth would you want to purcase such a dangerous chemical, have you got hydrates in your plumbing or something. Don't think you will be able to purcase this easily.

Try Caithness Chemicals although because of COSH & Government guidelines i doubt if you will get any.

[Rheghead]

Well it is for a renewable energy project that I am dabbling in. I want to make biodiesel which requires bulk use of methanol or wood alcohol. One litre of methanol will yield just over 5 litres of biodiesel. If I can buy it cheap enough then it will be worthwhile making my own diesel at home.

[fred]

Well it is for a renewable energy project that I am dabbling in. I want to make biodiesel which requires bulk use of methanol or wood alcohol. One litre of methanol will yield just over 5 litres of biodiesel. If I can buy it cheap enough then it will be worthwhile making my own diesel at home.

You need a license to buy methanol.

If you have a word with the chap at Caithness Chemicals he might be allowed to mix it with the caustic soda for you and sell you the mixture. It's not a job you really want to be doing yourself anyway, very easy to kill yourself and to do the job right you should do a titration test first.

[Rheghead]

Thanks Fred, I didn't know that you need a license to buy methanol, it doesn't say that on all the websites. :confused I bought a small amount from the chemist in town and it cost £26 for 2.5litres!! Not viable as it would only make 12 litres of diesel.

I think I will try Caithness chemicals, though as an industrial chemist myself, I am used to mixing bulk chemicals, especially caustic soda, nasty stuff I know but I will only be mixing 10 litres at the most, just enough to fill up the car.

The biodiesel websites say you can make it for about 30p a litre, but to be honest they don't tell you where to get the methanol, that seems to be the only stumbling block to being immune to the caithness fuel cartel. :lol:

[Riffman]

Don't forget Gordy Broon will be after you for teh tax you are saving....

[fred]

Thanks Fred, I didn't know that you need a license to buy methanol, it doesn't say that on all the websites. :confused I bought a small amount from the chemist in town and it cost £26 for 2.5litres!! Not viable as it would only make 12 litres of diesel.

I think I will try Caithness chemicals, though as an industrial chemist myself, I am used to mixing bulk chemicals, especially caustic soda, nasty stuff I know but I will only be mixing 10 litres at the most, just enough to fill up the car.

The biodiesel websites say you can make it for about 30p a litre, but to be honest they don't tell you where to get the methanol, that seems to be the only stumbling block to being immune to the caithness fuel cartel. :lol:

You can make it for 30p a litre but then you have to pay tax on it if you intend to use it on a public road. If you are stopped by the Excise men, and you will be when you smell like a chip shop, you need accurate records of milage, diesel made and duty paid or you can lose your car and get a very hefty fine as well.

[DrSzin]

Well it is for a renewable energy project that I am dabbling in. I want to make biodiesel which requires bulk use of methanol or wood alcohol. One litre of methanol will yield just over 5 litres of biodiesel. If I can buy it cheap enough then it will be worthwhile making my own diesel at home.
Hey Rheggers, can I ask a dumb question here?

As far as I can make out, industrial methanol is usually produced from natural gas (http://www.methanex.com/products/whatismethanol.html) (see also here (http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/meth_made.html)), so it's a fossil fuel and therefore the energy it produces isn't renewable. Is there any hope of obtaining methanol in bulk quantites from renewable sources instead?

Ok, what I wrote above was probably misleading. Having read your post properly and done a little further searching I see that methanol isn't the major ingredient in biodiesel. (http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/bio_made.html)

Good luck with the project! And don't blow yourself up! Let us know how you get on. :D

[The Pepsi Challenge]

Rheghead, you're not planning on building a time machine from a De Lorean, are you? If so, I'll meet you at the car park at Thurso Harbour with a camcorder and a radiation suit. There's a few things I want to sort out from 1977.

[mareng]

Well it is for a renewable energy project that I am dabbling in. I want to make biodiesel which requires bulk use of methanol or wood alcohol. One litre of methanol will yield just over 5 litres of biodiesel. If I can buy it cheap enough then it will be worthwhile making my own diesel at home.

Yeah - right! Sounds more like moonshine production - c'm'ere - let me smell your breath! :lol:

[mareng]

Rheghead, you're not planning on building a time machine from a De Lorean, are you? If so, I'll meet you at the car park at Thurso Harbour with a camcorder and a radiation suit. There's a few things I want to sort out from 1977.

You're too late - I sorted it all out next week.

Oh - Don't have any children! :evil

[Rheghead]

Well it is for a renewable energy project that I am dabbling in. I want to make biodiesel which requires bulk use of methanol or wood alcohol. One litre of methanol will yield just over 5 litres of biodiesel. If I can buy it cheap enough then it will be worthwhile making my own diesel at home.
Hey Rheggers, can I ask a dumb question here?

As far as I can make out, industrial methanol is usually produced from natural gas (http://www.methanex.com/products/whatismethanol.html) (see also here (http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/meth_made.html)), so it's a fossil fuel and therefore the energy it produces isn't renewable. Is there any hope of obtaining methanol in bulk quantites from renewable sources instead?

Ok, what I wrote above was probably misleading. Having read your post properly and done a little further searching I see that methanol isn't the major ingredient in biodiesel. (http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/bio_made.html)

Good luck with the project! And don't blow yourself up! Let us know how you get on. :D

I take your point about methanol being made from fossil fuel sources, but I will be using 1 litre of fossil derived solvent to yield 5 litres of diesel so on the balance of carbon emissions it is favorable to ordinary diesel. And I believe it is made commercially on a much smaller scale from from distillation of wood under pressure. I have been in contact with other biodiesel producers now and have a supplier that will supply it in handy 25 litre containers at £1 a litre :D And free delivery on orders over £50. I intend to pay the tax on it, so I will be within the law.....honest :roll:

[Zael]

I know a couple of people who have looked into this and then been thwarted by suppliers, proper info etc.

If you get this working, any chance you could write a piece on how you did it and where you got all your equipment from, I know there will be more than just my friends that will be interested.

[iain]

can i have some meths for my bike.i always fancied drag racing,getting to work would be much more fun!!

[Whitewater]

I am told that heating oil can be used in diesels without additives. I havn't tried it myself but if I had an old diesel engine I would certainly try it out, and of course pay the tax if it worked. :roll:

[golach]

I am told that heating oil can be used in diesels without additives. I havn't tried it myself but if I had an old diesel engine I would certainly try it out, and of course pay the tax if it worked. :roll:

Whitewater I would not try this if I were you, "Heating Oil" is the same as Agricultural Derv, it should be pink and has invisible markers in it,and it has a lower rate of Excise Duty, if you should ever think of trying it and get stopped by the wonderful chaps from HM Revenue & Customs, they will take you all the road.

[Naefearjustbeer]

my heating oil isnt red? I remember getting stopped by the police near helmsdale and the excise men taking a sample of my fuel. It was the same colour as my heating oil. All they did was syphon a wee drop out of the tank then put it straight back in, No tests or anything just a quick visual. What surprised me was they asked is this a diesel car!! If I had said no would they of let me drive on?

[fred]

I am told that heating oil can be used in diesels without additives. I havn't tried it myself but if I had an old diesel engine I would certainly try it out, and of course pay the tax if it worked. :roll:

The chap I knew who ran a diesel off heating oil mixed engine oil with it to make it work,
heating oil is nearer to parafin than diesel.

You can run a diesel engine off propane gas, just pich down the fuel pipes till the engine will only run at tickover then feed the propane into the air intake through a zero preasure regulator. It still uses a little diesel but not much.

[squidge]

You can run a diesel engine off propane gas, just pich down the fuel pipes till the engine will only run at tickover then feed the propane into the air intake through a zero preasure regulator

kaboom

Everything in this thread sounds a lot like light the blue touchpaper and RUN to me :eek:

[Naefearjustbeer]

You can run a diesel engine off propane gas, just pich down the fuel pipes till the engine will only run at tickover then feed the propane into the air intake through a zero preasure regulator

kaboom

Everything in this thread sounds a lot like light the blue touchpaper and RUN to me :eek:

LOL always ask to borrow someone elses car to try it out on first

[Whitewater]

This thread is getting more interesting and is good fun, we all seem to be showing concern for Rheghead, we don't really want to see him in orbit. :eyes

I saw an article on TV about 2/3 years ago where a diesel car was being filled up and running on old/used cooking oil, it was a serious attempt at a useful method of disposal of the old oil. :lol:

[The Angel Of Death]

Wasnt there guys in wales (i think) using chip fat to run the cars worked out very cheap if i remember but it wasnt exactly legal and the chicp shop smell followed them around as well where ever they went

[garycs]

You can mix up to 25% new or used (but clean) vegoil with pump diesel for use in any diesel engine. Most users find this beneficial to the engine and injection pump because most diesels were designed before the oil companies were forced to produce Ultra Low Sulfur diesel, and the sulfur (this is the correct SI spelling before someone tells me otherwise ;) ) helped to lubricate the injection pump seals and rotor as well as the upper cylinder area. Vegoil increases the lubricity of the fuel, thus reducing wear and engine noise. It is of course illegal to do this unless you have registered with HMC&E using form EX103a and paid duty on the vegoil :( On the other hand normal roadside dip tests are designed to identify red diesel and kerosene (heating oil) not vegoil. ;)

Some engines, notably older Mercedes and VW will run on much higher percentages of vegoil with no modifications :D And Bosch injection pumps will run a 50% mix with no trouble at all. However the Lucas CAV used in most Ford diesels can shear the rotor shaft at anything over 30% vegoil :(

The process Rheghead is talking about is to take used vegoil and react it with a mixture of NaOH and methanol, this splits the triglyceride molecules of vegoil into glycerine and proper biodiesel, the process is transesterification. In some areas you can buy commercially produced biodiesel, most notably in North Yorkshire from a company called Rix Oils; this is what Rheghead would end up with; it's biggest benefit is that it is suitable for every diesel engine, being less viscose than vegoil, and gives more power with cleaner combustion than pump diesel :D However you still have to register with C&E to use it on the road.

The methanol is not used a fuel in the diesel engine, just a reactant when making biodiesel.

Take a look at this link to find out more about the process and the methods you can use www.journeytoforever.org

There were few people round Manchester caught using non-duty paid vegoil and biodiesel about a year ago, the usual punishment is £500 fine and confiscation of the vehicle until the fine is paid :( This was all part or breaking up an organised crime ring and not the results of roadside checks.

[Rheghead]

I see in this week's news that there are plans drawn up to scrap the road tax and fuel duty altogether. Instead, there will be a magic black box fitted to all cars and lorries that will track our movements and charge us by the mile. The spin from the media suggests that Scotland will fair well with this (yeah, right). This is not due for some years but there are plans for a pilot scheme in 2007, in England.

Presumably, this will scrap the need to declare biofuel tax and open the flood gates (hopefully) with biofuel technology?

What i want to know is how do you put one of these black boxes on a motorbike and/or vintage car etc.?

[The Angel Of Death]

And more to the point what will it cost us to get the said black box fitted ?

I bet its not going to be cheap either