Can you use pure alcohol in  a nitro vehicle/craft?I just read that they do use it in full sized monster trucks.

yes you can use ethanol instead of nitro

Instead of methanol, right ?  Wonder if ethanol's combustion properties are very similar to methanol. 

This also raises interesting questions like, whether nitro (nitromethane) can then be added to ethanol to extract better performance

Ethanol is not a substitute for Glow Engine's Fuel. It definitely will not work. However a small percentage of ethanol mix in petrol would definitely improve petrol engines performance and used in some parts of the country.

A quick search reveals that pure ethanol, as the stuff people drink , will not work (unless it is part of some blend).  OS seems to have made specially designed engines (OS 55 BE) that use "BioEthanol", which use different type of plug etc.  Even they seems to have done it to make a statement about "being green" (environmentally conscious!).



Wonder why people are still not trying the smaller gas engines (15cc) that have become accessible and reliable now, instead of struggling with glow fuel availability in many parts of our country.  That is one item that should surely sell in India, if the local stores can stock them !

But necessity is the mother of invention, and Harikesh bhai may be coming from the angle of someone who has tried ethanol locally and succeeded to a certain extent !

If I remember, pure ethanol is also a banned substance in Chennai. I think you need to have a clearance certificate to procure it. Without that, you are sure to get strange looks when asking for ethanol or methanol.

So basically, it is not possible right now but in some time,it may be the way forward.What about 100% pure ethanol?If one drinks 100% percent pure alcohol,he might die.(heard this on TV).Actually, I think ethanol is a mandatory additive in gasoline in the US. Is it mandatory in India?

Quote from: anwar on May 28, 2010, 10:04:37 PM
Instead of methanol, right ?  Wonder if ethanol's combustion properties are very similar to methanol. 

already use of pure spirit ( pure ethanol ) has been tried. the engine runs well i mean OS 46 AX. this is available in kerala chemical shops. in theory ethanol results in reduced power / RPM compared to meth. no need for any change in engine/plug ( i mean 46 AX).

Like I suspected, necessity is the mother of inventions !

Was this like a one time test, or did anyone fly like this routinely for a while ?  According to all other reports, the engines would barely run (if at all) on pure ethanol !

it was a one time test. the ignition temp of ethanol is much higher compared to meth, hence the difference and difficulty for eth to ignite. but in kerala where normal temp outdoor would be about 30 deg cent, it seems the ethanol route is working. i am yet to go deeper into this but OS has already having an engine running on ethanol. just the plug has a higher heat rating in this case.

well nice to see .Some day,chemists will come up with some kind of insane fuel that ignites at really low temperature but is stable and has a very high calorific value.