>Peter, > >Racers blend oil with their alcohol, making it less than desireable >as a component for manufacturing biodiesel. > >If the alcohol in question is purchased before anything is added, it >should be fine. > >The racers probably get their alcohol in bulk. If you can find out >where the bulk plant is located, you should be able to get the >methanol for about the same price as a gallon of gasoline. > >Todd Swearingen
That young feller Todd is a mine of useful information! Now why would they go and put oil in it? Would it have anything to do with this below? If it's factual, it's a bit of an eye-opener, puts a bit of a damper on the idea that it's no bad thing to have a bit of excess methanol in your biodiesel if you don't wash it because it's great fuel anyway, racers use it after all. >"But some cars run entirely on another fluid. Methanol is the only >fuel that the Indy car will drink. As we said before, the internals >of the engine have a lot to do with the fuel it burns and this is >true in spades here. The pure methol alcohol is highly corrosive to >some metals. It can turn aluminum into a white powdery mess that >resembles baking soda in very short order. Plus it mixes very well >with water so anything steel will rust overnight. The internals of >the entire fuel system has to be Teflon and stainless steel and even >the fuel bladder in the car has to be made from a special compound, >the valve seats have to be brass. > >*The corrosion problem means that none is left in the engine >overnight -- even the cylinder walls if steel, have to be fogged >with oil so they won't rust for even the shortest of storage time*. > >Sounds like pretty bad stuff with a lot of negatives. Oh yeah, I >almost forgot it only has about half the heat energy of gasoline so >a regular race car that would get 4 miles to the gallon of gas goes >only 2 miles on methanol that's not quite a full lap of the >Indianapolis Race Track of 2.5 miles. " > >"So why even consider this stuff as a race fuel? Well remember the >octane thing and its tie to performance, well methanol has an >incredibly high natural octane in its pure form." > >http://www.racerchicks.com/auto/q_and_a/fueracel.html Best Keith >----- Original Message ----- > From: Cooke, Peter > To: 'biofuel@yahoogroups.com' > Sent: Friday, April 19, 2002 8:45 AM > Subject: [biofuel] racecar methanol > > > Hi, I'm new to the list serve. > Question about methanol... > I can get some 99% pure for 7$/ gallon however some folks using it for > racecars inthe area can sell it cheaper-like 3$/gal. I'm wondering if there > are additives in the fuel for race cars I should be wary of and if they will > negatively affect the reaction when I'm mixing w/ the grease? > Thanks, PC ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/k6cvND/n97DAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
