Burning methanol
You barium!
Methanol is harder to ignite than gasoline and burns about 60% slower, meaning the entire fire is a lot cooler and easier to control. Also water is the prefered supressant of these types of fire because, not only does it kill the flames but it dilutes the fuel meaning the fire will stop even faster. This means in terms of car-fire safety methanol is far safer than gasoline.
If above 12°C a spark can cause methanol to explode if the concentration is above 6.7%, this is why any factories etc dealing with substances like methanol must have an extremely efficient ventilation system. Also, the flames produced by a methanol fire are very light in colour and extremely hard to see with the naked eye on a sunny day, making it almost impossible to gauge the size of the fire, therefore making it hard to fight.
Methanol is harder to ignite than gasoline and burns about 60% slower, meaning the entire fire is a lot cooler and easier to control. Also water is the prefered supressant of these types of fire because, not only does it kill the flames but it dilutes the fuel meaning the fire will stop even faster. This means in terms of car-fire safety methanol is far safer than gasoline.
If above 12°C a spark can cause methanol to explode if the concentration is above 6.7%, this is why any factories etc dealing with substances like methanol must have an extremely efficient ventilation system. Also, the flames produced by a methanol fire are very light in colour and extremely hard to see with the naked eye on a sunny day, making it almost impossible to gauge the size of the fire, therefore making it hard to fight.
Liquid methanol
Methanol is found naturally in the human body (in low concenration and amounts) and also in some fruits. However if directly ingested (throat, lungs or skin) 10ml can make you blind and over 60ml can be fatal. To make this fuel safer we blend it with ethanol (another good reason why ths fuel should not be used 'neat'). Methanol poisioning is easier to treat than benzene or gasoline, but unfortuately the patient doesn't start showing symptons until it will probably be impossible for a full recovery.
