1710 Making Methanol From Dry Distillation

[@emel60]

One of these days I'll wake up and get greeted by a video of Mr. Robert using a rocket stove synthgas/methanol, electricity producing generator that also does a time travel and pee purification on the side. Awesome job, as always! We are so lucky to have you!

[@asif62621]

Yep. You said what I was thinking. This video was fan…flippin’…tastic!

[@JelloFluoride]

It probably would time travel too

[@fireofenergy]

​@@JelloFluoride ... A year later...

[@pjaycliffe6371]

You, sir are an amazing unstopable force, gratitude

[@baldyetichronicles]

Hi, just a safety note here when making wood methanol. If you pipe the gases from the cool end of the condenser to the wood pot heating flame, you may need a flash arrestor in the line that returns to the burner. I tried something similar many years ago and had a big boom, followed by the liquid end product catching fire. I thought I was making wood gasoline, but didn't realize until I saw this video that I was making wood methanol. Maybe it's the same. Love your work. Cheers.

[@anonimoqualquer5503]

Methanol IS basically gasoline By the way you know any other reliable way of turning wood/waste plants(maybe papear?)into fuel? We We're kind of having a little problem with the supply of Gas....

[@OffGridInvestor]

Too much air in your methanol collection bottle before starting by the sounds. Sounds like a water bubbler between the methanol collection and the rest of the system would have work. You wouldn't be the first one to nearly blow themselves up messing with alternative fuels. I heard of people using an air compressor to compress biogas or something worried they would blow themselves up because of any sparks generated in the electric motor.

[@1justpara]

Straightforward, to the point, no messing and very informative at the same time. PLEASE don't change that.

[@brianoconnell3652]

Moving forward and saving lives. I hope you know that. It is always such a pleasure to whatch your work and your willingness to share. Like it or not you are a light in this world. Keep it up. God bless you.

[@bingebri]

loving your videos! I am glad you get right to the point when so many other channels go round and round. your a blessing in my dreary life so thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge.

[@TheBarnaby25]

I wish your videos were longer. It's so nice listening to what you have to say! I find myself completely mesmerized.

[@got2kittys]

You show everyone that anything is possible with some effort.

[@mib_ua]

Thanks to teachers like you I grew up loving physics

[@OffGridInvestor]

This is WAY better than the average video on gasification where little is explained over half an hour of rambling and you only understand it if you have experience already. I have a still about 4 or 5 meters long. I generally got for refrigeration pipe because I know where to get it and my still is 3/4 copper water pipe on the outside with it bent 90 degrees at the ends and 2 holes drilled to feed thru the refrigeration pipe. I've played with wood gas a bit but never knew exactly how methanol was obtained. We don't have many deciduous trees NATIVE to Australia because it just doesn't get cold enough. So only trees with European or American origin by the sounds. There's some oak around here but not much, all I know is on government land.

[@martinsaint9999]

Learning from the professor the art of moonlighting...

[@John-yf2uf]

Forgot to say, regardless of my comment, I love your video's, probably the only channel I have subscribed to that I watch every video. So glad I came across your channel so many years ago....

[@Ma_X64]

Such a positive and energetic guy! Although this information is not new to me at all, I listened with interest to the end.

[@Undercoverbooks]

If I'm ever shipwrecked on a deserted island, I want you with me! I have the utmost confidence you could invent anything we needed.

[@neuromercy]

Did not know you could cool the gas and condense it for later use. Bravo! On another note, I used to make charcoal in a 50 gal drum with a brush fire around it. But i always wanted to build a kiln with the gas pipe bent back underneath to cook the charcoal with its own gas. Saw someone do that once, would love see you demonstrate it and explain the details.

[@McRootbeer]

the methanol is condensing, the gas is venting to the atmosphere.

[@mahmoudsaleh8693]

Perfect Robert, please continue your great videos

[@MerwinARTist]

I love this! Robert you are killing it! Keep it up mate!! lol 🙂

[@rosco4659]

I've found when coil copper pipe it's handy to fill it with sand if you want bend in tight radii. I used this method when I was building my induction heater. Great video thanks pal.

[@lagunafishing]

I recently watched a video of a guy who makes perfect coils by filling copper pipes with water. He crimp seals and hot glues each end while wrapping them around a mandrel. I guess an easier way would be to use compression end cap fittings and simply unscrew them to let the water out after bending.

[@Luddite1]

Absolutely superb! This is the sort of stuff I wish they’d taught me at school……I might have attended a bit more if they had!

[@ScoreGuru123]

I love your videos! I have a couple of questions about this set up. Firstly, how long do you burn/boil the wood for, and secondly, from the amount of wood you put in the tin, how much methanol is produced? A follow up video to answer these questions would be great. Love the channel and just subscribed 👍

[@markiobook8639]

brilliant Rob, brilliant. God I wish I had a lecturer like you.

[@GypsyHunter232UK]

Very nice easy explanation presented

[@Kapalek84]

that was a very interesting experiment! Would be super nice to see some further experiments about diy methanol with maybe some efficiency improvements or process improvements. Best regards!

[@fabioteixeira868]

I second that!

[@lukahutinski9075]

efficiency can be made better thisis just to show that meol is ''destilable'' from wood allow me a question... lets say the goal ist to maximize methanol production from wood. wood gasification is the way to go but co/h2 is never really optimal (with air to much co, in superheated water stream opossite)... obv. a WGSR is needed after pirolysis. wicg might be complicated as there will be nitrogen, o2, so2, tar and possibly heavy metal from wood. Is it possible to make the 2 h2/1 co by doing air and water into the gasifier? without any cat. ? after that a syngas->methanol is possible

[@barry7608]

Thanks, never been disappointed in your videos always interesting and practical.

[@seahorseist]

Thanks for showing the distillation to make methanol Robert .For a home set up I was wondering how much energy you would need in the heating up to how much energy you would get back from the Ethanol produced

[@RalfyCustoms]

That's my question too buddy

[@trevorjohn3632]

And my question too.

[@dizzywilliams3557]

@kevin Would be worth it even if it is inefficient if the methanol was medical or entertainicle 🍻

[@spamhead]

@@dizzywilliams3557 Definitely NOT for drinking!☠️

[@ColCurtis]

You could use the waste wood after its released the methanol for heating a following batch

[@FASIGMAN]

Brilliant professor pots I mean that most sincerely...............Thanks again I built the heater it's brilliant.

[@richbattaglia5350]

Useful information. May desperate times never require this.

[@guytech7310]

My guess that the yield of methanol is very low. I looked to see if there was a low pressure catalyst you could use to convert the syngas produced into Methanol, but the lowest pressure catalysts still need about 10 Bar (140 PSI, 1 MPa). Now that would be a good experimental video.

[@JackMosel]

Ok Fantastic Robert! I’m on it now! Thank you Sir!

[@stclairjones815]

yeah that's real simple and all you make it look so easy and you're quite entertaining you are with all your fun enlightening information I just ordered some carbon felt to start making my emergency candles so I'm in the process of that thanks for all your insight

[@TheBarnaby25]

Such a wonderful teacher!

[@jasonmorello1374]

You can also refine the methanol for biodeisel, but on the coil layout, you really want the coil to have a continuous downward run, so that it doesn't make bubble traps in the raised areas as badly.

[@matthewellisor5835]

Or put a 'T' at each low point (for cleaning it out) and run it slowly enough that it doesn't blow the trapped liquid around to the next loop and you can re-distill it every time around.

[@D-B-Cooper]

I have the exit at the bottom, have a tap to collect the tar then run it into a tall chimney, rain down spout, and let it condense in there and it runs down and collects in a bucket at the bottom.

[@ZsOtherBrother]

@@matthewellisor5835 Nice idea, although it seems like a lot of work compared to just tilting the coil :)

[@johng.3740]

You can just pour Methanol into a gasoline vehicle, no need for diesel, though you'll have to adjust the air fuel mix to get it running right.

[@jasonmorello1374]

@@johng.3740 It will also run rough and hurt the system, as there is a lot of water produced burning ethanol. It may work for a bit, but a conversion set is needed. As well, the timing may need adjustment, as the flame set for ethanol is different than gas. It is closer than most alternatives, but new cars will have trouble. Older cars with broader setting will do better(pre 1985). However, a diesel in a warm climate can burn several oils straight, such as peanut, canola, soy bean(vegetable) and sunflower. It will be in similar issue as doing the ethanol, but not as much. mostly its about maintaining a minimum fuel temp.

[@gringoanon4550]

You are a true inspiration.

[@angelusmendez5084]

Thanks very much mate, you're the best 👏

[@Juze81]

with longer use, the pipeline fills with tar and clogs the entire system. But yes, a simple demonstration of how to do this. It would be better if the pipe was folded into a U shape several times and a valve was placed in the lowest bend where the tar can be drained out of the system. Water cooling helps also a lot.

[@briansmithenergy248]

Respect and gratitude unlimited

[@GadgetViper]

Awesome, I hope you get a chance to show a more optimised version

[@Coxeysbodgering]

A note on the microbore, there are a couple of types, you need the annealed type like Rob used it is usually a more orange red colour, the stuff that looks like normal copper pipe will need annealing. Once it's formed you may also need to anneal if you need to change the shape of the coil due to work hardening otherwise you risk crack the pipe.

[@l0I0I0I0]

Filling the pipe with fine dry sand also works well for bending. Was curious on best practice for annealing copper pipe?

[@joohop]

Great Stuff Lad Bless Up

[@lucaslittmarck2122]

This is how Sweden drove tens of thousands of cars during second ww. The Americans had more than a million heating wood in the back of the cars with a wood stove. (:. Also it should be classified as solar energy because that's where it come from.

[@PB2543]

That's quite a rabbit hole your going down there, great video love the content you make

[@ThomasAndersonbsf]

by the way thank you for pointing out the different types of wood can have that drastic of a different output of product :)

[@jamesdim]

Great series of videos on syngas! Is the heat from the gas coming out enough to continue the pyrolysis of the biomass? That way we can just jumpstart the burning process and then it can continue on its own. Of course then the question is how much remaining gas is there for us to use.

[@TimeSurfer206]

There does come a point where the process becomes exothermic, but I'm not sure where. Pretty sure it's after the water boils off, but before the pyrolization is finished.

[@striderwashington9916]

I really appreciate your videos! Thank you!

[@jamesarnold6059]

Much respect... love it!

[@Freetalkfm]

Thanks Robert :) your a gem

[@karlmyers6518]

Love a distiller. Maybe I'll send you a sample for Christmas 😉😉

[@Jhoustonmcmillan]

Fantastic! I wonder if the heater would get hot enough to be able to perpetuate the still / heater..... Thanks for sharing

[@keithjurena9319]

Now add a fractional distillation column instead of the dodgy condensation coil. Methanol water azetrope can be broken with 3A molecular sieves in a second distillation which would also remove associated pyrolysis tar.

[@johng.3740]

Good idea! Methanol can be used instead of gasoline in a "grid down" or emergency situation. People can use methanol to power up electric generators or internal combustion vehicles. Though, the air/fuel ratios for combustion with Methanol will be different as is the energy density of methanol, but in a grid down situation it's best to have some liquid fuel than none. Can you show us how to do wet distillation as well? It would be interesting to show how to extract liquid fuel from many sources and each time show the liquid fuel running an electric generator or a vehicle.

[@azlandpilotcar4450]

It might be interesting to use kitchen waste or compost as feed stock. Good project. Perhaps the vapor out waste could be burned in a plant pot?

[@TonyGingrich]

Thank you, good Sir!

[@GavinGoodman68]

Superb, my de-valved empty propane tank has a purpose 🙂

[@rowanbrecknell4021]

I got one. DMSO extraction from timber. It is a solvent for clothing material dyes.

[@kittypigeonclueless5566]

God bless you. That was simple, beautiful and easy enough for a moron like me to understand!

[@keithharrison1453]

It could also be interesting to cover DIY Ethanol production. My late Father-in-Law knocked that up for his Bio-Ethanol heater, and I think he basically brewed up sugar and yeast, then distilled that to get Ethanol. This is only from memory so, don't quote me on it!

[@davidfuller764]

Can I quote you on that? lol

[@AndreaDingbatt]

@@davidfuller764 🤔🤯😁💞😎👍👍

[@davenooner2142]

Awesome...your the best. Thank you.

[@redbone8492]

That is great. Thank you for doing this.

[@bladeking2013]

Here’s a neat video idea what kind of batteries can you make and different things can you make from three standard issue soldier meals or MREs

[@kellyblack4897]

Thank you!

[@ihtsarl9115]

Thanks for sharing keep it up God Bless you

[@BB-sm8ey]

STOP!!!! I can't keep up with all the stuff you're making me want to try!😆

[@theservco]

I hear you. I'm still in "zinc bromide" battery never never land from over a year ago! Now into all of the heating experiments since he built the rocket stove.

[@mermaid10x]

I wonder what your day job is. Your videos are interesting and you are an effective instructor so I wonder if you teach shop or something similar

[@blimey691]

You are awsome professor great..interesting content👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@michaelpelletier4515]

This is an important exercise to learn, with proper ventillation wood could be used to generate the 300 - 400 degrees required to create the methonal by dry distillation so you aren't using a valuable fuel to create the methanol. Just my opinion !

[@McRootbeer]

I remember a patent i saw about a really simple process for making liquid fuels from gas at ambient pressure. If I remember correctly, they bubbled the hot (100-200c) gas through a tank of diesel and ball bearings (I think they were tungsten balls) and the gas condensed into a liquid they could burn in an unmodified kerosene heater. It sounded like the perfect thing for home fuel makers. The process worked with hydrogen and biogas from a digester, so I bet syngas would work too.

[@markiobook8639]

the balls were probably to massively increase surface area for something maybe as heat conductor?

[@McRootbeer]

@@markiobook8639 I think the patent said the balls were acting as the catalyst. That's why they were tungsten (or maybe chrome... It's been years since I read it).

[@markiobook8639]

I see. Thanks.

[@mike289homebuilt5]

Ohh now wait this is interesting, although no longer very affordable. There is a old book were they make nat. gas by blowing air and steam thru coal then superheat it in chamber spraying fuel oil in the last stages to enrich it into a useable higer btu gas. Im still thinking alcohol or biodiesel. What about chalk calcium carbonate in contact with water it produces a gas but requires heat input (solar) to complete the reaction.

[@ktm42080]

Very nice my friend! Would it make more sense to have the coil vertical instead of horizontal? I believe the liquid will get trapped at the bottom of each coil wrap. Just a thought, and just a fan of your insightful videos. Cheers 😁

[@perrygershin3946]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@shredder60]

Amazing Robert!!! Please show us how to make H202

[@KeithOlson]

FWIW, it is pretty easy and inexpensive to separate menthanol from water through vacuum distillation. Look up 'methanol recovery' for lots of building ideas. (This method is used to recover the methanol when making biodiesel.)

[@shredrik]

Merci Beaucoup!

[@yash_kambli]

In other videos they said the dark liquid coming out from condenser is basically a wood vinegar and to obtain methanol extra steps has to be performed. Don't know how authentic the information was that's why need some detail info to clear the confusion.

[@agritech802]

That is brilliant Robert, you make everything look so simple 😁 on a slightly different subject, could you show us how CO2 could be used as a battery as energydome have done, it looks like a very promising solution for grid scale storage? Thanks a million

[@allanwood3562]

That was great as I didn't know that distinction between pine and deciduous feedstock. I wonder now how eucalyptus wood behaves as I have ready access to pine, eucalyptus and fruit tree wood (lots of prunings).

[@bern4679]

I would also like to know what happens when you use eucalyptus.

[@allanwood3562]

@@bern4679 I think I'll have to try it out and see. Not a big project after all 😊

[@travismoore7849]

It might be nice to use concentrated solar to turn saw dust and junk paper mail into methanol.

[@l0I0I0I0]

Love it!

[@byronsowntime]

Again. Thankyou!

[@creativerecycling]

Would it work more effectively if the axis if the helical coil were vertical? I’m thinking that a substantial bit of distillate would get trapped in the bottoms of the loops.

[@mrpants8976]

I would suggest the cooling pipe be situated so the spiral is specifically traveling downward to make sure there is no liquids stuck in the middle of the coils

[@ricksanchez3176]

Moonshine stils had what was called a thump keg. The coil was ran through a water barrel to cool it. They had a rhythmic "thump" from the gas building a little pressure until it pushed the liquid from the coils. With that said, I don't know what the tars building up from the wood gas would do? Probably good to have a relief somewhere in the system, precoil. Even a well calculated hole with a weight setting on top.

[@TimeSurfer206]

There is a company named "Vevor" that makes, among other things, stills. Although the one I bought was intended for "Beverage production," it is an 8 gallon Stainless Steel vessel, with a lid that clamps on, a Thermometer that goes inside through the lid, and, a condenser coil that has a water jacket!, and includes a WATER PUMP, so you can circulate cooler water from a tub or bucket. I see no reason It won't work for this. But once I try it, I'll never want to use it for "Beverage production." Which is fine, I don't drink. I can still use it for fuel grade Ethanol, though. I paid $105 and change for it. I plan on using 5 gallon water bottles, the "Water Cooler" style, with a Tee fitting on the tubing to allow the condensed Methanol to drip into it, while the volatile gasses like Hydrogen and Carbon Monoxide et cetera are fed to a burner under the pot, to help fuel the process. I shall bookmark this video and try to remember to make an update, and also try to post a video of me trying it.

[@Edmorbus]

Thanks for sharing

[@pointblankracer6274]

Awesome, thank you.

[@MrFlippingHappy]

Thanks a bunch should help a lot of folks again thanks ehhhh

[@jibberjabber9378]

The idea and demonstration is straightforward but how best to scale up from producing a small amount into a beaker to say a gallon per distillation batch? Use a loaded 55-gal drum placed over a large fire? Seems it might get a bit risky the larger the scale though; not looking to blow or burn myself up... 🔥🔥🔥

[@jerbear7952]

Quick tip: if you can't reach your former, try the ladder. :)

[@actudoran]

really cool! didn't know that :) I suppose I could repurpose my ethanol distillation rig ☺️ .... I'll have to look up whether I can use it with grass clippings and tree branches and twigs ... 300C ? ... would a normal gas burner reach the required temperature?

[@Mr-Corey-June]

Just stick with the ethanol, it tastes better.😇

[@mathiaslist6705]

And again the interesting thing are Lachmayer's papers on isomerization in hemp products and methanol seems to be more practical there than cyclohexane. In other words everyone growing weed should watch this video and re-consider if it's really worth it.

[@MichaelSkinner-e9j]

Besides on site solar for getting the energy needed for pyrolysis. At least on a large scale- what about a combination of concentrated solar and hydrogen fuel cell co-generation? I always wondered if you had a tree farm, besides lumber/bamboo, you could get methanol and carbon liquor (lignin carbon fiber, but that may have issues and dry distillation makes sense using as much as possible)

[@michelbisson6645]

very good thank you, what catalyst is needed to make methanol from syngas?what temperature do we need pressure to?

[@jakattah]

Lower temps of around 80C should yield wood vinegar which has a lot of uses.

[@TheTarrMan]

Dude, your awesome.

[@apis-eye-trading]

Hi Rob - this is so cool - I have been wondering what would be the easiest way to create methanol for a burner. Thanks for sharing this! Presumably there's no net benefit in making it with a burner due to the energy being used to distill the fuel.. ? Presumably you're just doing it that way for the demo. I suppose if you have a rocket stove burning freely collected wood then it would make a lot of sense. I guess you could achieve the temperature but would it be unreliable in terms of controlling the temp of the fire?

[@mememan2344]

I was thinking you could have two inlets, one that feeds the fire and another one that draws ambient air directly in the reaction vessel containment chamber. Then you could just control the temp with the 2nd one.

[@user-vq4mt4zd4e]

great content thanks

[@rowanbrecknell4021]

2:49 Distillation is so simple they prefer you forget how to do it.

[@85verbena]

Excellent. Is there any more updates on different fuels for heater?

[@DarthPoyner]

Just wondering if you could get the same result from Algae or bamboo as they are much easier to grow in bulk.

[@harrycallaghan2531]

Top Man Rob!

[@R2NOTU]

Please do the syngas and catalyst Because you can use any type of wood to make the methanol .

[@The0ldg0at]

Is it possible to transform it into a solar Dry Distillation gismo?

[@goiterlanternbase]

Every fall i guess, how the fallen leafs could be used. There is quite a lot of it and collected on the right days, it is perfectly dry biomass, ready for storage. Now, burning the leafs is a mess, but what about dry distillation and store away the carbon residue, to reduce a city's carbon footprint. Maybe even, after running the treated wastewater trough it, to reduce pesky residues of drugs and POP.

[@michaeltichael]

A question, under a similar setup, doesn't this produce pyroligneous acid (sometimes termed as wood vinegar)?

[@matthewellisor5835]

that would be one of the improvements to which he referred. By separating that fraction in a refluxing column it can be processed to produce more MeOH.