View Full Version : Dumb question - What fuel do alcohol stoves run on?
I've been looking at buying or making an alcohol tin can stove. Both American and English site refer to "alcohol" - which I presume is spirit alcohol that seems to be available in the US. None of the US sites mention meths.
The references on BCUK that I have found generally refer to alcohol but one has mentioned meths.
Am I right in presuming that alcohol stoves can take meths or is there some other form of alcohol available in the UK that I should use?
Ade
In the UK we do indeed use methylated spirits in alcohol stoves, I think this is due to legislation in the UK ie, we cannot get pure ethanol in the UK (unless you are a research establishment or the like) so we have a mix of ethanol and methanol (normally about 5% methanol), which renders the ethanol poisonous.
UN1170 methylated spirit is 90% ethanol, 3% methanol with traces of wood naptha and pyridine and the color comes from 1.5 ppm methyl violet.
A good trick to reduce sooting when using meths is to mix it with 10% water.
Thanks Adi and Leon.
I thought that meths would be ok so I'll try it out with that.
Ade
many over hear use automotive fuel de-icer which is alco. based do you have it over there?
many over hear use automotive fuel de-icer which is alco. based do you have it over there?
Yeah, we've got de-icer but not sure if it alcohol based or not, and meths will probably be cheaper.
brucemacdonald
21-02-2005, 21:55
I don't think so - in the UK car screenwash is usually detergent with a bit of alcohol in it, but it is designed to be diluted.
Am I right in thinking that what we in the UK call "methylated spirits" or "meths" is called "denatured alcohol" in the US?
Best wishes
Bruce
Meths over in your neck of the woods is what we call denatured alcohol.
Lee :wave:
I'd love to see a Trangia running on screenwash!
not screenwash you guys , the stuff you put in your petrol tank so you gas lines don't freeze due to condinsation. one of the brand names over here is "heet" , I checked it out and its meth. alchol based, but from what I could find the reports say it puts out slightly less btu's than straight denatured al.
As a doctor I can order up to 3 litres of industrial methylated spirits, which is ethanol plus a bit of methanol and wood naptha - no dye, it is colourless.
There are loads of customs and excise rules about it though.
I wonder is if burns cleaner? Probably does because Methyl Violet is described in the Materials Safet Data Sheet as:
Fire:
Not considered to be a fire hazard.
Lower down:
Hazardous Decomposition Products:
May produce carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrogen chloride when heated to decomposition.
Hydrogen chloride isn't going to be good for the little burner.
At work we buy methanol in 50 gallon drums - run through one a year for trangia fuel.
It works out at much less than a £1 a litre.
george