[pct-l] Denatured alcohol, ethanol vs. methanol

[Tortoise]

Boy did I start a thread with my question about isopropyl alcohol.  I 
bought Safeway brand 99% isopropyl according to the label, in Safeway. 
don't recall what I paid. I don't know what it else it contains, probably 
water.  In my cat can stove it burns with a yellow flame and produces lots 
of soot and the soot collects on my pan.


Tortoise

<> He who finishes last, wins! <>


Greg Kesselring wrote:
> Hi Mark,
> 
> Don't know the answer to your question about ketone, but I wouldn't be too 
> concerned about it.  You're not drinking it.  However, you should be careful to 
> avoid getting it on your skin if you can because skin is not an impermeable 
> membrane. 
> 
> Regarding which alcohols have greatest heat output, it's Isopropyl first, 
> followed closely by ethanol, then methanol which has least number of btu's per 
> pound.  Here are the btu's per pound of each:
> 
> IsopropylAlcohol 12,960 btu/lb
> Ethyl Alcohol 11,570 btu/lb
> Methyl Alcohol 8,419 btu/lb
> 
> Note that Isopropyl does not burn clean in most alcohol stoves, so it leaves 
> soot on your pots.
> 
> Tinny at Minibull Designs has done some experimenting with a mixture of 
> Isopropyl alcohol with either methanol (Heet in the yellow bottle) or ethanol 
> (denatured alcohol).  If you're a tinkerer, you could do the same with your 
> stove at home and see if there is some blend that will burn soot free. 
> 
> Probably not worth the bother because Isopropyl and Ethanol have very close to 
> the same heat output.  On the other hand, based on what you've found out about 
> denatured ethanol containing large percentages of methanol, maybe it would be 
> worth finding a mixture that burns soot free.  You'd have to find a source of 
> Isopropyl alcohol that's 90 percent or higher.  Most sold in drug stores is 70 
> percent, the other 30 percent being water.
> 
> As far as the two brands of denatured ethanol that you listed here, it looks 
> like SLK (I thought it was SLX?) would be preferred over Crown because it has 
> more ethanol and less methanol.
> 
> Let us know if you find a source of Isopropyl 90 percent or higher, and what 
> mixture of that and the denatured ethanol produces a clean burn in your stove.
> 
> Greg
> 
> ==================================================================
> 
> hikerguy599 at aol.com wrote:
>> I was shopping for denatured alcohol this weekend, and I noticed that 
>> Kleen-Strip's SLK Denatured
>> Alcohol has changed its label from the last time I purchased it.  It used to 
>> say: "Ethanol denatured
>> with methanol."  Now it says "contains methanol."
>>
>> So, wanting to know the real composition, I looked up the MSDS for both SLK 
>> and Crown brands.
>> (MSDS = "Material Safety Data Sheet".)
>> SLK is commonly found in hardware and paint stores.
>> Crown seems to be the preferred brand of sporting goods stores.
>>
>> SLK contains:
>> 45-50% Ethanol
>> 45-50% Methanol
>> 1-4% Methyl Isobutyl Ketone
>>
>> Crown contains:
>> 65-70% Methanol
>> 20-30% Ethanol
>> < 10% Isopropanol
>> <10% Methyl Isobutyl Ketone.
>>
>> Yikes on the Ketone!  Here I thought I was buying relatively safe ethanol 
>> denatured with a small amount of methanol.
>>
>> Both SLK and Crown seem to work well in all the alcohol stoves I've used.  But 
>> I'm concerned about
>> two things:  The health risks of Ketone, and the relative efficiencies of 
>> ethanol, methanol and
>> isopropanol.
>>
>> So I have some questions:
>>
>> 1.  Should I bother to be concerned about the small percentage of Keytone?  
>> Why or why not?
>>
>> 2.  Is a formulation of Ethanol denatured with a small percentage of methanol 
>> available?
>> If so, where can I find it and what brands is it sold under?
>>
>> 3.  What are the relative heat efficiencies of ethanol, methanol, and isopropanol?
>>
>> 4.  Would ethanol be the best, or should I just stop fretting and use SLK or 
>> Crown?
>> Does combining the different kinds of alcohol improve or diminish the heat 
>> output of a stove?
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any input.
>>
>> Mark
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
> 
> 
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