Ask a Teacher

Search



what is butanol?
Butanol is a flammable liquid that is used as a fuel and as an industrial solvent. Like gasoline, it is a hydrocarbon, meaning that it is composed of the chemical elements hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. Most internal combustion engines can burn butanol without experiencing problems, especially more modern engines. This fact has led to research into the use of it as a fuel additive and as an alternative fuel.

The interest in butanol as an alternative fuel stems in large part from the fact that it has certain significant advantages over ethanol. For instance, an engine which runs on this hydrocarbon will have an easier time starting in cold temperatures than one which uses ethanol. This is because of a chemical property called heat of vaporization. Fuel must be vaporized before it can be burned in an engine, and butanol can be vaporized more easily at low temperatures than ethanol. It is also much less evaporative than either gasoline or ethanol, and releases more energy than ethanol when burned.


comments powered by Disqus