Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
used to increase octane performance and reduce emissions in vehicles.
MTBE is produced from methanol and butanes and continues to play an
important role as a fuel oxygenate in Asia and the Middle East.
As can be seen in Figure 1.2, methanol is both an important chemical
commodity and an energy fuel. The “Other” category includes several
applications for consumer products that are widely familiar, including
windshield wash fluid and “sterno” cooking fuels. While the growth of
methanol's chemical markets is generally on pace with other chemicals
at about 3-5% per year, markets for methanol fuels are expanding at a
robust 25-40% per annum. In terms of consumer exposure to methanol,
the use of methanol transportation fuels—primarily in the act of vehicle
refueling—represents the largest potential exposure route. However, the
5-minutes-exposure to the inhalation of methanol vapors from refueling
a methanol compatible vehicle is expected to generate less of a
methanol uptake than drinking a can of diet soda containing the
sweetener aspartame (which metabolizes in the body to methanol).
In the United States, there are now more than 8 million ethanol
flexible-fuel vehicles (FFV) on the road although only a few alternative
fuel vehicle buffs will recall that FFV technology began with 20,000
methanol/gasoline cars sold in the 1980s and 1990s. The Renewable
Fuel Standard, established by the U.S. Congress in 2007, calls for the
40
Formaldehyde
35
MTBE
Acetic acid
30
Methyl
methacrylate
25
Methylamines
20
Chloromethanes
15
DMT
10
DME
Fuels
5
Other
0
FIGURE 1.2 Global methanol consumption.
