I'm searching for fuel availability for alcohol stoves. From what I understand, ethanol > 70% is "banned". I've read that hardware stores and large supermarkets sell BBQ starter fluid, some of them being > 90% ethanol. Is that so? Suggestion?
@Stéphane Gauvin Banned from where? In Australia we can buy “Methylated Spirits” which (these days) is almost 100% ethanol but with bitterant added to make it undrinkable. Restrictions on ethanol usually are made to restrict its human consumption, hence adding bitterants. Tony
@Stéphane Gauvin alcohol for drinking is very rarely sold at above 50% ethanol (100 proof in US, 87ºproof in UK) and typically more likely 35 to 40% As @Tony Press stated at higher concentrations it's usual for ethanol to be adulterated with methanol and / or bitterants and frequently a distinctive coloured dye. It may be different in Canada and that would explain why a lot of Canadian stovies use methyl hydrate instead. Interestingly, 70% ethanol is what I was taught to use when wiping down work surfaces in a microbiology lab before and after experiments as that's the concentration that causes cells to rupture. Regards John
So, the problem seems to be a ban on denatured alcohol in Canada. Methyl hydrate (methanol, methyl alcohol) would be one way to go. Just noticed that marine stove fuel (equivalent to denatured alcohol) might be available in Canada.
@Stéphane Gauvin Ethanol is available in Canada. It is sold as Bio Ethanol Fireplace fuel. Type "Ethanol Fireplace Fuel Canada" into your search engine and you will find numerous sites like this or this that sell pure ethanol in Canada. Ben
In my opinion this whole 'denatured alcohol is banned' business relates directly back to California's ban on its use as a solvent. Marked and sold as 'stove fuel', or just 'fuel', it remained available. We discussed this here at CCS a few years ago. What California does, eventually other places follow-- not in banning denatured alcohol, but in labeling it 'stove fuel'-- because the Cal market is so large. So now in Washington we have the absurd situation of the stuff labeled as 'fuel' (with denatured alcohol below in small letters), and sold still among the solvents, not the fuels. It's not 'banned' here, and I have my doubts it is in Canada....
I have trailed some metho from an industrial cleaning supply mob here. Msds sheet says it’s 99-100% ethanol. There’s bitterant in it but not listed. Burns wonderfull in pressure stoves and with water very good in trangia burners. Given the flick to diggers brand for a while. Finally have a win with stove fuels here. Well a drop of kerosene goes along way and still smells respectable, but wouldn’t use it cooking with the Omni oven type set-ups. You might have to look at popcorns still’ in licker with a badger’s pecker. Something like that.
Isopropyl alcohol no good in stoves? It seems that's cheap over there, cheaper than ethanol at least from what I've gathered. It's pricey as here in Aus Don't they sell methanol or ethanol as widescreen washer fluid for winter use due to it not freezing? The availability and different prices is funny between countries. Shellite/naphtha/white gas is so expensive here I started distilling unleaded. I gather it's pretty cheap over there comparatively
Isopropyl alcohol is not a stove fuel. Ethanol and Methanol are both stove fuels. Ethanol is biodegradable and less toxic than Methanol. Ben
Isopropyl didn't work well in a Trangia. I don't remember the percentage I tried but it wasn't good. Around here there's a product sold as gasoline line antifreeze called Heet, and it's either methanol or isopropyl depending on the formulation you buy. The methanol works great and is very inexpensive if caught on sale at the end of the season. Maybe something similar is available in other countries. The use case for gasoline antifreeze largely disappeared with the introduction of 10% ethanol fuels, but thankful it's still available for camp stove use.
We use 70% isopropyl alcohol in our Micro lab, but same difference. I believe that concentration is more easily absorbed into the cells and then rupturing them.
Automotive stores and even some gas stations/convenience stores sell a product called "HEET" it's 100% methanol, and it's cheap too. The product is in a small yellow bottle, probably about 500ml or so. If the bottle is red then it's isopropyl alcohol, and I don't know if it's pure or not. Also hardware stores sell "stove fuel" or "marine fuel" the brand is Kleen-Strip and it's found in the paint thinner section. Either one gallon or one quart. This is denatured alcohol and it's about 50/50 or 60/40 methanol/ethanol. It's a better deal but HEET is still a good deal and the bottles are very convenient to pour from. Lugging around (and spilling) a gallon jug is a bit silly if you're just trying to prime a stove. BBQ starter fluid is not alcohol, it's more like kerosene, and it won't work as an alcohol substitute, it flares up with a sooty, smoke-billowing flame. (But it's GREAT in kerosene stoves) RC glow fuel also does technically work, but it's VERY expensive in comparison, it'll leave oil residue behind, and the nitromethane makes the flame burn white in color so it's literally invisible in direct sunlight.
I have never known anyone to do this. The usual practice is to pour the fuel into smaller vessels for use. A funnel can be helpful in this process, but it is not particularly difficult.
Certain times of year yellow HEET goes on sale for a ridiculously low price. I stocked up years back and am almost down to needing more.
Yes you're right, it's probably a non-issue for most people. But I was just highlighting the fact that the yellow HEET bottles have both the fuel, and a convenient way to dispense it, without need to find or buy anything else. An all-in-one solution
Bonjour Stéphane, Here in Quebec, you are correct, our provincial liquor agency no longer sells alcohol (to drink) over 70%. For the benefit of other readers, alcohol (to drink) is regulated provincially in Canada, and this may vary in other provinces. Ethanol suitable for combustion is indeed relatively hard to find here in Quebec. I have occasionally found ethanol for alcohol fireplaces in Montreal hardware stores. I once tried marine stove fuel (bought in Nova Scotia). I didn’t notice a difference in my Trangia, versus the methanol I usually use. Rubbing alcohol sold n pharmacies here is usually isopropyl; I have seen ethanol, but I don’t recall the concentration. I wonder if it is possible or practical to buy ethanol through a scientific / laboratory equipment company. Methanol is readily available in Quebec hardware stores (I think elsewhere in Canada too), often sold as methyl hydrate, and is most likely found in the section with paint thinners / removers. It tends to come in ~1L and ~4L bottles. Outdoor / sporting stores like MEC sometimes carry it too. Fondue fuel is available in many Quebec grocery stores, and has served as a backup for me. Buy the liquid kind, not the gel kind, for a Trangia type stove. Neither the concentration nor the type of alcohol tends to be specified on the package. The small bottles may be more expensive than the methanol from a hardware store, but suit me wéll when travelling by bicycle etc. Fondue fuel has worked fine for me, with one minor downside. Unlike any of the other options I have tried in Canada, this one has a blue colorant added. It doesn’t seem to affect cooking but the colorant stays behind in my burner’s wick, which bothers me aesthetically. The HEET product that many refer to in the USA, is either unavailable or uncommon in Canadian gas stations i have seen. Gas line antifreeze is readily available, in other brands, but the contents seemed to me to be unlabelled, so I have not tried it. If all that you can find is gelled alcohol, I have read that you can add something common (maybe table salt?) and the gelling agent will precipitate out, and you can pour off the alcohol. I would do this only as a last resort. I don’t know the chemistry of the fuel or the reaction to say whether the liquid fuel is safe for either the stove or me. Although this comes quite a bit after your inquiry, I hope this is helpful to you, and others in Quebec and other parts of Canada.
