Dead-ant, dead-ant, d'ant ... that is the 5 tone punchline to a joke that used to delight young children who watched too many Dragnet run-runs from old TV. These days, Sgt. Friday is probably unknown to most kids, seldom being shown anymore. For better or for worse. And the five tones are often used as the catchy ringtone in cell phones. For worse.
Formic acid (aka methanoic acid) CH2O2 is a small oxygenated molecule, similar to methanol, which had been dismissed as a practical fuel for many reasons including it 'sting' . Formic acid occurs naturally, most notably in the venom of bees and ants, which is reflected in its Latin name, formica ... which is also the name for a common polymer made from it. Acetic acid - vinegar - CH3COOH though it is less toxic is a bit less energetic. In recent years, as a carrier of hydrogen, formic acid was found to deliver better performance than methanol for fuel cells; and vinegar is not far behind. In straight combustion - these oxygenated molecules retain most of the energy of the coal precursor - despite the oxygenation. Both are interesting because they can be made from coal and water, as can methanol. Most of all - there is one dirt cheap process which can make all of these and many other oxygenated carbon fuels as a mixed fuel. However, to retain the 'cheap' you must accept an irregular mix. This is something that chemical companies absolutely hate to do. And grid operators do not want to become chemical companies. Catch-22. Ironically the mixed fuel is clean once burned, in the sense that the sulfur and other toxins are easy to remove, and its inherent toxicity due to formic acid etc, cannot survive combustion. But it means that the mixed fuel should be burned only in a large regulated (i.e. grid) plant were proper controls are easier to implement. One way to make the mixed fuel, which can be burned in a turbogenerator (unlike coal) is to pump a coal slurry, and it can be low grade coal - heated with waste heat, and piped around a source of "free" radiation (i.e from nuclear waste - hey, you might as well put the stuff to good use instead of burying it) Since ants make one of the products in the mix as venom - and a few other chemicals in there are carcinogenic, but only before being burned - this fuel is unlikely to find an end use in the USA where there is a slight chance of exposure. But - at least in other countries where 'expediency rules' - and for the grid plant which could (probably) turn dirty coal into a clean burning fuel easily and cheaply - that is, so long as they were permitted to use nuclear waste as the necessary radiation source, it makes perfect sense. And we benefit here - in cleaner exhaust blowing across the oceans, if China should do it. They should. This kind of hybridized system is something that defies the ability to promote in the West, since it begins with two of the most toxic energy "problems" - dirty coal and nuclear waste - yet it converts them into a clean fuel with exhaust far cleaner than auto exhaust (not that this is a recommendation for more CO2) ... but... if anyone asks - it could be one of the few cases where two wrongs do make a partial right. Jones
