"Modern new energy trams are too slow to charge, can we invent a liquid?" Just add that liquid for more than ten seconds, and the car can run far? ”
Is the first word that comes to mind when you see the above sentence "gasoline"? Yes, please deduct 1 in the comments section below.
The above sentence can be said to be a rotten stem, and flowers can be played on a certain Q&A platform. But this sentence also points to a problem, that is, the speed of new energy vehicles at this stage is too slow, so slow that when traveling on holidays, there will be electric vehicle owners who will fight in order to grab charging piles.
Is there really no liquid that can meet the requirements of storage, transportation, and use as convenient as gasoline and diesel, and can meet the requirements of renewable, clean, and low manufacturing costs?
【Chemical formula of methanol】
There really is, and that's methanol.
What is methanol?
You may not be familiar with methanol, but ethanol (commonly known as alcohol) is certainly familiar to everyone. Whether it is drinking alcohol or medical alcohol, it contains a certain amount of ethanol.
【Ethanol】
Methanol is actually more similar to ethanol (commonly known as alcohol), which is a volatile, colorless, flammable liquid, and both are commonly used solvents. Both are very good industrial raw materials, and the status of both is not low in modern industry. But the difference is that methanol has a certain degree of toxicity, methanol on the human nervous system, blood system, digestive tract, respiratory tract, skin, etc. will produce toxic reactions, even if it is methanol into gas, can also damage the respiratory mucosa and vision.
【The fake liquor case that shocked China that year】
Therefore, in the field of ordinary consumption, ordinary consumers are actually more difficult to contact methanol, unless they have been tricked into buying fake wine made of industrial alcohol (which contains about 4% methanol).
What are the benefits of methanol as a fuel for automobiles?
The first is the national and industrial aspects. Methanol is easy to manufacture, has a wide range of manufacturing sources and is less expensive to manufacture. At present, there are two main ways to produce methanol from natural gas, and methanol from coal and coke. And our country's coal and natural gas resources are also relatively rich, but also imported a considerable amount of natural gas from abroad, so in the production of methanol do not need to worry about raw materials, the country can have its own pricing power, unlike now oil can only follow the international oil price.
【Schematic diagram of the coupling process between coal chemical industry and new energy hydrogen production】
The modern coal chemical industry can also be coupled with new energy development, in the future can be low-cost hydrogen production, hydrogen can be directly supplied to coal chemical industry, instead of coal gasification conversion supply, to avoid the generation and emission of carbon oxides, simply put, the original carbon oxides to be discharged into the atmosphere of reuse, into a part of methanol. Every ton of methanol produced can consume about 1.4 tons of dioxide sugar. In addition, waste such as straw and municipal garbage can also produce biomass methanol.
【Methanol at room temperature is liquid】
Then, in terms of transportation, storage, and filling, methanol should also be more convenient. The new energy we are familiar with now is actually more troublesome in terms of storage and transportation, such as hydrogen needs to be transported, stored and filled with specially manufactured high-pressure equipment, and electric energy also needs a medium to store.
Methanol is as liquid as gasoline at room temperature, which means that existing gasoline-related transportation and storage equipment such as transport vehicles and gas stations can be applied to methanol with a little modification. For example, on March 9, 2020, in addition to the original gasoline and diesel fuel business, the Bijie Petroleum Bihai Station in Guizhou also added M100 methanol fuel business, and the methanol fuel savings tank capacity of the site reached 30,000 liters, which can store a considerable amount of methanol fuel.
【Screenshot of Guizhou Satellite TV report】
Finally, there is emissions, methanol vehicles have been piloted in Shanxi, Shanghai, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Gansu and other places. According to the methanol vehicle pilot operation data of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, compared with gasoline vehicles, the energy consumption of methanol vehicles has increased by about 21%, and carbon monoxide emissions have been reduced by about 26%.
For individual consumers, the biggest benefits of methanol fuel are twofold.
【Screenshot of Guizhou Satellite TV report】
One is that there is no need to greatly change the use habits of the original fuel vehicle, and the time to refuel methanol fuel is no different from that of fuel vehicles, which is much faster than that of hydrogen energy vehicles and electric vehicles.
The second is to save money, taking Geely's recently launched 4th-generation Emgrandol electric hybrid car as an example, the model consumes about 9L of methanol per 100 kilometers, and the cost per kilometer is about 0.3 yuan. If the fuel consumption of ordinary hybrid sedans is 5L per 100 kilometers, the cost per kilometer is about 0.42 yuan if 92# gasoline is added, and the cost per kilometer is about 0.45 yuan if 95# gasoline is injected.
So is methanol no disadvantage as a car fuel?
That's definitely not.
【Screenshot of Guizhou Satellite TV report】
First of all, the calorific value of methanol is much lower than that of gasoline, about 1:2.2, so when driving the same mileage, methanol consumption is much faster than gasoline. With the same tank size, a full-fuel methanol car has a shorter range (perhaps half that of a gasoline car) and requires more frequent refueling.
This can certainly be solved by increasing the fuel tank size of the methanol car, but a larger fuel tank will definitely take up more space, and the rear seating space or trunk space may be reduced as a result.
【Many areas are still mainly gas stations】
The second point is that methanol fuel has not yet been widely promoted and is not a mainstream automotive fuel. The places where methanol fuel is more used in China are places with rich coal resources, such as Guizhou, Gansu and other places. Methanol fuel is hardly seen in other places.
The development of methanol vehicles is also relatively slow, and consumers have too few models to choose from. At this stage, the company that is relatively famous in the field of ordinary consumption and has launched methanol vehicles should only be Geely, and it should only have the Emgrand series. If consumers want to buy methanol SUVs or even methanol MPV models, they will basically face a state of no car to choose from.
In addition, methanol also has a certain corrosiveness, which will accelerate the aging of rubber parts and poor low temperature starting performance. And methanol itself is also a good solvent, it is possible to dissolve the oil film used for lubrication, so that the engine piston, cylinder wear more rapidly.
summary
The convenience of use like gasoline, but the cost of use similar to that of today's electric vehicles is the biggest feature of methanol vehicles. But it will take a long time for methanol fuel to be promoted nationwide and for consumers to be willing to buy methanol cars.
However, methanol fuel does have great prospects, as Li Shufu once again emphasized at this year's two sessions: "Methanol, as a low-carbon, oxygenated fuel, has the characteristics of efficient combustion, clean emissions, renewable green attributes, etc., and is liquid at room temperature and pressure, and storage, transportation and use are safer and more convenient than other new energy and clean energy." At the same time, methanol production sources are extensive, the economy is huge, and the whole industry chain is sustainable. ”
Perhaps, methanol is the real gasoline and diesel equal replacement.