Methanol is a type of alcohol (also known as wood alcohol and methyl alcohol) that is mostly used to create fuel, solvents, and antifreeze. A colorless liquid, it is volatile, flammable, and unlike ethanol, poisonous for human consumption. Methanol is also used to produce a variety of other chemicals, including acetic acid.
Small amounts of methanol occur naturally in many living organisms as part of their metabolic processes. For example, methanol occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables.
Production: This fuel is generally produced by steam-reforming natural gas to create synthesis gas. Feeding this synthesis gas into a reactor with a catalyst produces methanol and water vapor. Various feedstocks can produce methanol, but natural gas is currently the most economical.
Benefits: Methanol can be an alternative to conventional transportation fuels. The benefits of methanol include:
Lower production costs—Methanol is cheap to produce relative to other alternative fuels.
Improved safety—Methanol has a lower risk of flammability compared to gasoline.
Increased energy security—Methanol can be manufactured from a variety of domestic carbon-based feedstocks, such as biomass, natural gas, and coal.
Antifreeze: Methanol has chemical properties which allow it to lower the freezing point of a water-based liquid and increase its boiling point. These attributes lead methanol to be used as an antifreeze in windshield washer fluid to keep the cleaning fluid from freezing. It is also injected into natural gas pipelines, where it lowers the freezing point of water during oil and gas transport.
Solvent: Methanol is primarily used as an industrial solvent to help create inks, resins, adhesives, and dyes. It is also used as a solvent in the manufacture of important pharmaceutical ingredients and products such as cholesterol, streptomycin, vitamins, and hormones.
