An overview of methanol as an internal combustion engine fuel

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2015.07.083

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Volume 52, December 2015, Pages 477-493

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.07.083 Get rights and content

Abstract

Methanol is an alternative, renewable, environmentally and economically attractive fuel; it is considered to be one of the most favorable fuels for conventional fossil-based fuels. Methanol has been recently used as an alternative to conventional fuels for internal combustion (IC) engines in order to satisfy some environmental and economical concerns. Because of a number of relatively large research projects that have been ongoing recently, much progress has been made that is worth reporting. This paper systematically describes the methanol productions, including the productions from coal, natural gas, coke-oven gas, hydrogen, biomass etc. It introduces the potentials of methanol as a renewable resource taking into account the world supply and demand, economic benefits and the effects on human health and the environment. Thirteen methods of application such as methanol/gasoline, methanol/diesel blends which can be used on the IC engines are summarized. Finally, this paper puts forward some new suggestions on the weakness in the researches of methanol engine.

Introduction

Nowadays, with reserves of these petroleum-based fuels being rapidly depleted, various alternative resources such as methanol, ethanol, or hydrogen are needed in order to replace the non-renewable resources [1]. With rising petroleum prices and global warming being a dominant environmental issue, it seems that the use of alternative fuels in the future is inevitable. Our present energy supply is based on the fossil fuels, which are non-renewable energy. Given the growing world population and atmospheric environment, increasing energy demand per capita and global warming, the need for a long-term alternative energy supply is clear. Methanol is one of the best candidates for long-term, widespread replacement of petroleum-based fuels [2]. Among renewable alternative energy sources, there are a lot of benefits to the development of alternative fuels such as alcohol fuels instead of the traditional nonrenewable oil resources, for instance, (1) it can mitigate national security and economic concerns over fuel supplies; (2) it can improve the atmospheric emissions; and (3) it can maintain the sustainable development of the resources [3]. Among gasoline and diesel replacement fuels, methanol (CH₃OH) fuel has been considered to be one of the most favorable fuels for IC engines [4], [5].

Methanol is considered to be one of the most favorable fuels for engines, for instance, (1) it can be used in a high compression ratio spark ignition (SI) engine that could replace diesels in certain vocational applications; (2) it can be used in an inlet port injection SI engine; (3) it can be used in a high compression direct-injection stratified charge SI engine; (4) it can be used in a direct-injection SI engine; and (5) it can be used in a turbocharged, port-fuel-injected, high compression ratio medium duty engine [6], [7], [8], [9], [10].

The aim of this paper is to systematically review the methanol productions, including the productions from coal, natural gas, coke-oven gas, hydrogen and biomass etc., and to review the use of methanol as a fuel for IC engines. Finally, this paper puts forward some new suggestions in the researches of methanol engine.

Section snippets

Methanol production

Methanol synthesis has undergone continuous improvements for over nearly a century [11]. Nowadays, methanol as an alternative fuel can be produced from many ways, for instance, it can be produced from natural gas, biomass [12], or it can be produced based on coke oven gas [13], or it can be recovered through flashing vaporation in continuous production of biodiesel via supercritical methanol [14].

Among others, there are a lot of synthesis technologies, for instance, the advent of low-pressure

World methanol supply and demand

Methanol is one of the most important raw materials in the global industry, which makes its demand increasing. Methanol also has significant commercialization effort. Methanol is a product with many useful characteristics that allow it to serve as an energy resource, a chemical feedstock, and a component or intermediate in many consumer goods. The major supply and demand for methanol are depicted in Table 1 [52]. Fig. 6 shows the world methanol supply and demand data [53]. It can be seen from

Economic benefits of methanol

Nowadays, air pollution has become a global problem, and it limits the economic growth of industrial cities. Substitution of cleaner fuels for the current generation of fossil fuels can reduce the need for and economic cost of traditional add-on pollution controls [57]. Fig. 9 shows the prices of Brent Crude oil and Henry Hub gas [54]. It can be seen from the figure that compared with the natural gas and coal, high crude oil price can provide an opportunity to upgrade natural gas and coal into

Effects of methanol on human health and the environment

Methanol, also known as methyl or wood alcohol, is a colorless organic liquid at room temperature that is both flammable and toxic if ingested. Methanol not only affects the human health, but also affects the environment.

Methanol fuel used on IC engine

The properties of methanol, gasoline and diesel fuels are shown in Table 2. Methanol is an alcohol and is a colorless, neutral, polar and flammable liquid. It is miscible with water, alcohols, esters and most other organic solvents. It is only slightly soluble in fats and oils [63]. Methanol has higher octane rating and greater heat of vaporization values as compared to gasoline, making it a suitable candidate for high compression ratio engines with larger power outputs. This is because higher

Conclusions and recommendations

This paper systematically reviews the methanol fuel as an alternative in internal combustion engines, which includes the productions, supply and demand, economic befefits and the effects of methanol on human health and the environmen. Also, thirteen methods of application such as methanol/gasoline, methanol/diesel blends which can be used on the internal combustion engine are summarized in the present paper. The results showed that methanol can be produced from coal, natural gas, coke-oven gas,

Acknowledgment

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 51406135).

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An overview of methanol as an internal combustion engine fuel

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Methanol production

World methanol supply and demand

Economic benefits of methanol

Effects of methanol on human health and the environment

Methanol fuel used on IC engine

Conclusions and recommendations

Acknowledgment

Fuel

Fuel

Fuel

Catal Today

Appl Energy

Fuel

Energy Convers Manag

J Environ Manag

Renew Sustain Energy Rev

Energy Policy

Appl Energy

Energy Convers Manag

Energy Convers Manag

Fuel

Chem Eng Sci

Int J Hydrogen Energy

Energy Convers Manag

Int J Hydrogen Energy

Renew Sustain Energy Rev

Chem Eng Res Des

Appl Energy

Renew Sustain Energy Rev

Energy

Energy

Energy

Fuel

Appl Energy

Energy Policy

Energy

Appl Therm Eng

Fuel

Fuel

Energy

Energy

Energy Convers Manag

Energy

Proc Combust Inst

Renew Energy

Fuel Process Technol

Energy

Appl Therm Eng

Bioresour Technol

Renew Energy

J Hazard Mater

Atmos Environ

Sci Total Environ

Sci Total Environ

Appl Energy

Fuel

Fuel