Diesel vs gas......................
OK folks, there have been a few to many diesel vs gas threads that have shall we say gone to "Hell and a hand basket"! So if all of you would put in you BEST, no flaming reasons for going gas vs diese...
Forum Discussion
I think you're right about the moonshine. It's legal to make for your own consumption, whether you drink it or use as a motor fuel. No different than making beer or wine at home. The revenue'rs get on you if you try to sell it without the proper license or paying the tax. Producers get around those issues by selling "denatured" alcohol. That's just ethanol (corn sqeezin's) with enough methanol mixed in to make it poisonous.
Ethanol is the stuff that makes a decent spark-ignition motor fuel, but you have to use a lot of it. Methanol would also make a decent fuel, but there wouldn't be any cost savings, and since it's primarily made from natural gas it's not really a renewable energy source. Methanol, when combined with caustic soda makes methoxy-alcohol. It's the ingredient that breaks down the triglyceride's in the WVO to start the biodiesel process. It's probably safer to buy the caustic and methanol pre-mixed. Most folks are allergic to caustic. It irritates and turns the skin red, makes your eyes water, and can make you seek medical attention. Before the days of gasohol, I'd put a coke bottle full of methanol in my gas tank a couple time a year to absorb any condensation and burn it through. (I may have only suceeded in putting a layer of methanol in my tank)
Happy travels.
Ethanol is the stuff that makes a decent spark-ignition motor fuel, but you have to use a lot of it. Methanol would also make a decent fuel, but there wouldn't be any cost savings, and since it's primarily made from natural gas it's not really a renewable energy source. Methanol, when combined with caustic soda makes methoxy-alcohol. It's the ingredient that breaks down the triglyceride's in the WVO to start the biodiesel process. It's probably safer to buy the caustic and methanol pre-mixed. Most folks are allergic to caustic. It irritates and turns the skin red, makes your eyes water, and can make you seek medical attention. Before the days of gasohol, I'd put a coke bottle full of methanol in my gas tank a couple time a year to absorb any condensation and burn it through. (I may have only suceeded in putting a layer of methanol in my tank)
Happy travels.
