sharronpaul Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Can someone please tell me why vodka is used over isopropyl? I'm not a salty but have been reading the threads for a little while and am curious. However, I'm a little confused - vodka is such a a noble liquid to be given to fish, and costing maybe $30 a litre, and a 20L cube of isopropyl costing under $100? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 I dont know how well bacteria (or your fish or corals for that matter) would do metabolising isporopanol. With vodka you are basically feeding empty carbs, if they could they would be adding sugar (but that screws things up). Isopropanol is probably a negative instead of a positive when it comes to promoting bacterial growth, but thats just a guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 You can use Isopropanol. It is also a good cleaning agent and often used for cleaning electronic devices such as contact pins It is more toxic than ethanol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharronpaul Posted October 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 What about methanol? it's just one step down the evoloutionary ladder from ethanol and is cheaper again than iso. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Is there a easy source of pure methanol? (i.e. free of denaturing agents you find in "meths") It's generally considered more toxic than ethanol Vinegar is an alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Methanol is a lot more expensive to manufacture than ethanol. Reef how did you get your "ethanol licence"? how much do you pay for it? Is there a big rigmarol to go through to get it or is it relativly straight forward? As it stands I think one bottle lasts a pretty long time, 5ml a day means a bottle will last 200 days which is a lot cheaper than pretty much everything people add to their tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Even ISO is pretty hard to get cause its used for making drugs, theres a local garage that sells it but as far as I know it's the only place in Wlg. They sell it as paint stripper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDM Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 automotive paint suppliers will stock it, its use for degreasing engine bays prior to painting, good for getting oil stains off driveways and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharronpaul Posted October 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 We sell both at work, for the iso you need a purchase order from a GST-registered company, but methanol they sell to all and sundry. Not sure about ethanol, it doesn't really have an application in fuels at the moment. In a couple of years or so, we'll probably be dedicate one of our small tanks (1,800,000L) to it and it'll be easy to get a "sample" that needs to be sent away for testing..... (picture of salties laying on the ground comatose under the sample tap) :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 You need a license to buy ISOPROPYL. It is used to make HASH OIL. (Drugs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharronpaul Posted October 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 I know. I was talking to the chaps at the front counter. It costs $79 plus gst for a 20L cube, and they will sell it to me with a purchase order from my company, as long as it is a registered company with a GST number. I work for one of the "big four" oil companies, and also have a small company of my own that is useful for things such as this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Methanol is a lot more expensive to manufacture than ethanol. Reef how did you get your "ethanol licence"? how much do you pay for it? Is there a big rigmarol to go through to get it or is it relativly straight forward? As it stands I think one bottle lasts a pretty long time, 5ml a day means a bottle will last 200 days which is a lot cheaper than pretty much everything people add to their tanks. Easy, send a letter to customs asking for an exemption for undenatured ethanol. you do need a good reason though. Then you can only get it in 20ltr containers, about $160 i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Then you can only get it in 20ltr containers, about $160 i think. That still seems quite expensive- are they exepmting you from the tax or just the added constituents? For example for me to make 20L of alcohol in my still at 95% including all the sugar, yeast, carbon, electricity etc, probably around $60 off the top of my head. The governemt on the other hand can take natural gas and add water. It doent get much cheaper than that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharronpaul Posted October 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Most locally produced ethanol is made from whey, costs next to nothing to produce. Pretty much you're paying for handling and storage. $160 seems a bit excessive. Last time I checked, a 20L cube was well under that. Think of it this way. Oil companies are planning to have ethanol blends with petrol by 2009. It's already made in huge quantities for the RTD liquor industry, and for export, by an otherwise worthless byproduct of the dairy industry. It would be hopelessly uneconomic to blend fuels with ethanol if it was going to cost $8 per litre for the ethanol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Hope it's not saying anything about the projected price of petrol by 2009! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharronpaul Posted October 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 :lol: That would be telling :lol: Crude has stabilised at around $60/barrel. OPEC won't let it get over this, long term, as it encourages alternatives such as solar, electric, alternatives (biodiesel/ethanol) etc. etc. So, in the long term, it won't get much more expensive than it was a few months ago. Those who said it would be $2 by christmas will be sadly mistaken. My two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 I heard $3.00 by end of 2008. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharronpaul Posted October 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 I think they've been smoking what they've made with the isopropanol. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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