What Is "Metanol" History.Biomethanol,Uses And Precautions

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Metanol

 The chemical compound Methanol , also called methyl alcohol or wood alcohol , isspirit easier. At room temperature is presented as aliquid light (low density), colorless, flammable and toxicto be used as antifreeze ,solvent and fuel . Its chemical formula is C H ₃ OH (CH ₄ O).

History

In the process of embalming , ancient Egyptians used a mixture of substances, including methanol, which obtained by the pyrolysis of wood. However, in 1661 Robert Boyle , isolated pure methanol, when produced by the distillation of wood boxwood .Later it became known as the spirit piroxílico . In 1834, the French chemists Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Eugene Peligot determined its elemental composition . They also introduced the word methylenein organic chemistry , formed from the Greek methy = "wine" + h ȳ le = wood (of trees). It was intended to mean "alcohol made ​​from wood", but it has Greek language errors: misused the word "wood", and wrong order of words due to the influence of the French language. The term "methyl" was created around 1840 by short methylene, and was then used to describe the methyl alcohol. Phrase the International Conference on Chemical Nomenclature reduced to "methanol" in 1892.

German chemists in 1923 Alwin Mittasch and Mathias Pier , working for BASF , developing means for converting synthesis gas (a mixture of carbon monoxide , carbon dioxide andhydrogen ) in methanol. The patent was filed on January 12, 1926 (reference no. 1569775).This process uses a catalyst ofchromium oxide andmanganese , and require extremely high pressures ranging from 50 to 220 atm and temperatures up to 450 ° C. The modern production of methanol is more efficient: catalysts are used (usually copper ) capable of operating at lower pressures.The modern low pressure methanol (LPM) was developed by ICI in the late 1960s with the technology now owned by Johnson Matthey, a leading licencor of methanol technology.

The use of methanol as a motor fuel received attention during the oil crises of the 1970s due to its availability, low cost, and environmental benefits. In the mid-1990s, more than 20,000 "flexible fuel vehicles" (VCF) capable of running on methanol or gasoline sold in the United States. Moreover, for much of the 1980s and early 1990s, in gasoline fuels sold in Europe are mixed small percentages of methanol. Automakers stopped building methanol VCFs in the late 1990s, switching their attention to ethanol powered vehicles. Although methanol VCF program was a technical success, rising methanol pricing in the mid and late 1990s during a period of falling gasoline prices decreased interest in methanol as fuel.

Precautions

In high concentrations methanol can cause headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and death (20ml to 150ml intake is a lethal dose ² ). Acute exposure can cause blindness or vision loss, as it can seriously damage the optic nerve (optic neuropathy ). Chronic exposure may cause liver damage or cirrhosis .Methanol, despite their toxicity is very important in the manufacture of medicines.

Uses

Methanol has several uses. And is an industrial solvent is employed as feedstock in the manufacture of formaldehyde . Methanol is also used as antifreeze in cars, camping estufetas fuel, solvent inks, dyes, resins, adhesives, bio-fuels and aspartame . Methanol can also be added to ethanol to make it unfit for human consumption (methanol is highly toxic) and modeling vehicles with internal combustion engines.

Biomethanol

In the industry relating to the production of wine , methanol comes from enzymatic demethylation of pectin present in the cell wall of the grape, and therefore their concentration in the wine is determined by the concentration ofpectin in the juice , which depends on the variety of grape used, the enzyme concentration and the degree of activity of the latter.

In the fuel cell , working on your application based on the methanol that can be extracted from plant products and integrate a process of ecological and sustainable natural generation.