Tuesday, September 30, 2008

DIY methanol powered scooter functional

With the importance of an alternate source of fuel rising steadily, many of us might wonder if methanol could be used as a fuel, though it is highly volatile and inflammable. Recently, a member on WebX took up a project to build a methanol powered homemade scooter. The first version had a prop and a 10cm thundertigre methanol glow engine, which didn’t work too well. In the second version, he changed the engine to the more powerful OS60 MAX without any props. However, this was too big for a scooter of this size. In the third and final version, he changed the engine shaft to 23mm diameter. A simple homemade filter was used, and the engine board is made of a 10mm thick alu arm, which allows flexibility. This version reduces the size of the engine, and there are no over-heating problems. Now, such things may not be legal to drive on our streets but then, it is always nice to know how things work, and they could set the stage for something legal to be manufactured.