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Hi Mark,<br>
<br>
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. <br>
<br>
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:<br>
<br>
IsopropylAlcohol 12,960 btu/lb<br>
Ethyl Alcohol 11,570 btu/lb<br>
Methyl Alcohol 8,419 btu/lb<br>
<br>
Note that Isopropyl does not burn clean in most alcohol stoves, so it
leaves soot on your pots.<br>
<br>
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. <br>
<br>
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. <br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Greg<br>
<br>
==================================================================<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:hikerguy599@aol.com">hikerguy599@aol.com</a> wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:8CA407C76D17A35-1020-35C3@webmail-ne12.sysops.aol.com"
type="cite">I was shopping for denatured alcohol this weekend, and I
noticed that Kleen-Strip's SLK Denatured<br>
Alcohol has changed its label from the last time I purchased it. It
used to say: "Ethanol denatured<br>
with methanol." Now it says "contains methanol."<br>
<br>
So, wanting to know the real composition, I looked up the MSDS for both
SLK and Crown brands.<br>
(MSDS = "Material Safety Data Sheet".)<br>
SLK is commonly found in hardware and paint stores.<br>
Crown seems to be the preferred brand of sporting goods stores.<br>
<br>
SLK contains:<br>
45-50% Ethanol<br>
45-50% Methanol<br>
1-4% Methyl Isobutyl Ketone<br>
<br>
Crown contains:<br>
65-70% Methanol<br>
20-30% Ethanol<br>
< 10% Isopropanol<br>
<10% Methyl Isobutyl Ketone.<br>
<br>
Yikes on the Ketone! Here I thought I was buying relatively safe
ethanol denatured with a small amount of methanol.<br>
<br>
Both SLK and Crown seem to work well in all the alcohol stoves I've
used. But I'm concerned about<br>
two things: The health risks of Ketone, and the relative efficiencies
of ethanol, methanol and<br>
isopropanol.<br>
<br>
So I have some questions:<br>
<br>
1. Should I bother to be concerned about the small percentage of
Keytone? Why or why not?<br>
<br>
2. Is a formulation of Ethanol denatured with a small percentage of
methanol available?<br>
If so, where can I find it and what brands is it sold under?<br>
<br>
3. What are the relative heat efficiencies of ethanol, methanol, and
isopropanol?<br>
<br>
4. Would ethanol be the best, or should I just stop fretting and use
SLK or Crown?<br>
Does combining the different kinds of alcohol improve or diminish the
heat output of a stove?<br>
<br>
Thanks in advance for any input.<br>
<br>
Mark
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