The advantages of methanol engines are as follows:
Environmental Protection
Cleaner Emissions: When methanol is burned completely, the main products are carbon dioxide and water. Compared with traditional gasoline or diesel engines, the emissions of harmful gases and particulate matter are significantly reduced, resulting in less pollution to the atmosphere. Although there may be small amounts of unburned alcohols, formaldehyde and other harmful gas emissions in the exhaust of methanol engines, it is still more environmentally friendly than traditional fuel engines overall. Reduced Carbon Emissions: Methanol has a relatively low carbon content and can be produced in various ways, such as using renewable energy or industrial waste gas, etc. This helps to reduce carbon emissions to a certain extent, which is of positive significance for coping with climate change and achieving sustainable development.
Fuel Economy
Low Fuel Cost: Methanol has abundant production raw materials, such as coal, coke oven gas, natural gas, biomass, and even carbon dioxide, etc. can be used to produce methanol. This makes the production cost of methanol relatively low, and the fuel price is also relatively cheap. Therefore, although the thermal efficiency of methanol engines may be similar to that of traditional fuel engines, due to the low fuel cost, the comprehensive fuel economy is better. Higher Combustion Efficiency: Methanol has a high octane number and good anti-knock performance, which can achieve a more ideal combustion process in the engine, improve combustion efficiency, and further improve fuel economy.
High Safety
The vapor pressure of methanol is much lower than that of gasoline, and the volatility of its vapor is also smaller than that of gasoline. Moreover, methanol engines produce a relatively high proportion of vapor. This means that the possibility of fire, deflagration and other dangers during the storage, transportation and use of methanol is relatively low, making it safer to use.
Minor Modifications to the Engine
Based on the existing engine technology, it is relatively easy to modify it into a methanol engine. There is no need to carry out large-scale modifications to the engine structure to meet the requirements of using methanol fuel. This can reduce the R & D and modification costs of the engine, and is also conducive to the popularization and application of methanol engines.
Convenient Storage and Transportation
Methanol is a liquid fuel and has similar physical properties to traditional liquid fuels such as gasoline and diesel. Therefore, the existing petroleum fuel storage and transportation system can be used for the storage and transportation of methanol, without the need to build additional large-scale new storage and transportation facilities, resulting in less infrastructure investment.