Methanol Automotive Technology

Following the promotion of a high proportion of M85 and M100 methanol gasoline in Shanghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other places in May last year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced this year that methanol vehicles will be piloted in the above three provinces and cities. Shi Lei, deputy director of the Office of Shanxi Province's New Energy Vehicle Leadership Group, told reporters recently that this move is the most encouraging policy for the promotion of methanol gasoline, which means that methanol gasoline has entered a new stage of development. However, she also pointed out three technical challenges in the process of industrialization and large-scale promotion of methanol fuel. He said that Shanxi Province will seek domestic and overseas related companies to work together to solve these problems in the pilot process.

The first pass: Methanol replacement diesel technology at home and abroad has proven that the application technology of methanol on the ignition engine has matured. Shanxi FAW Jingyu's methanol engine developed on the basis of the original 6102 gasoline engine was fitted on the liberation CA3313 dump truck of FAW. It has been operating in the coal mine for three years with good results. The thermal efficiency can be increased to 40%, 15% higher than that of the gasoline engine, and the economy is lower than that of gasoline. Increased by 2%, but compared with the same horsepower diesel engine, the advantage is not obvious. After this kind of ignition engine was changed to a methanol engine, there was market power only if the price ratio of methanol to diesel was between 2.2:1 and 2.5:1. The methanol engine developed on the basis of the original 6110 diesel engine also adopts the ignition-type route, and the thermal efficiency is equivalent to that of the diesel engine. Generally, the methanol price ratio of diesel fuel is higher than 2.5:1 to reflect the economy. At the same time, the larger the cylinder diameter is, the lower the thermal efficiency is, and the larger this ratio is. Therefore, large horsepower diesel engines still have major technical difficulties.

The second pass: Methanol conversion in vehicles According to reports, in some areas of Shanxi (such as Yuncheng), the methanol conversion of vehicles has been accepted by users. It is generally believed that methanol vehicles run well, the economy is obvious, and the fuel consumption is higher than that of gasoline. About 30%. Although the conversion of the methanol car due to the replacement of oil pumps, spark plugs, nozzle cleaning, etc., the annual cost will increase by about 1,000 yuan; but compared with the annual fuel savings of 10,000 yuan, it is still profitable. The main problems that exist at present are: After using a high proportion of methanol, how to adapt the methanol to the gasoline engine without changing the engine, it is quite difficult to solve this problem.

Judging from the practices of Shanxi and the whole country, it has been successful in converting natural gas from vehicles to vehicles, and changing the burning of methanol fuel is feasible under certain specific conditions, but high-proportional methanol is difficult to implement in reality. The investigation report of the Shanxi Provincial Leading Group for New Energy Vehicles shows that frequent pump damage is one of the issues most affected by vehicle owners and is a technical issue that needs to be solved during the promotion of high-proportion methanol fuel; up to 80% of vehicle owners often reflect injector filters. Blocking; then if the original car is a plastic pipe, it needs to be replaced with alcohol resistant pipe. According to the research report, methanol trucks generally suffer from difficulties in cold start in winter, especially when using M100. Therefore, the following four problems must be solved in the methanol conversion of vehicles: the impact on the engine when the pump life is short, the cold start is difficult, the oil gauge is inaccurate, and high speed continues to travel.

The third level: upgrading low-rate blending technology At present, M15 methanol-gasoline is being promoted and applied in provinces such as Shanxi, Shaanxi, Guizhou and Hebei. The low-ratio blending technology of M15 is mature, which can expand the scope of promotion, increase the depth of promotion, and increase substitution. the amount. The question now is whether it can further increase the proportion of blended fuel, thereby increasing the market pull and increasing the amount of substitution. The current goal is to allow the M30 blending technology to reach the current level of M15 blending technology.

The "compatibility" effect of using low-ratio blended methanol fuels with existing models and transmission and distribution systems is a catalyst for the initial promotion of methanol fuel, and it is necessary to use high proportions to achieve even better energy conservation and environmental benefits. Methanol fuel, but a high proportion of methanol gasoline is difficult to promote because there is no car available, which requires more technical support and innovation in car models.

The transition from one energy form to another takes time. Now is the transition period. The next five years will be an important stage for the development of large-scale industrialization of alternative fuels for vehicles. However, experts in the industry admit that on the technical level of the use of methanol fuel, China’s overall R&D level is not high, and it has not received responses from large auto companies and engine companies. The technical difficulties associated with some key auto parts have not yet been overcome, and many additives have not been used. It was verified by the engine test that the problems in use were criticized by automobile manufacturers and users. In addition, because there is no unified national standard, the quality standards of methanol gasoline on the market are uneven, and the safety and environmental protection of methanol fuel for vehicles is still controversial. The promotion of methanol fuel also faces many uncertainties and many resistances. How to avoid large-scale faults by breaking through technical difficulties and regulating oil quality and vehicle technology is still a problem that must be solved before methanol new energy vehicles reach the market.