Methanol quality issues
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Our company’s original heavy aromatic hydrocarbons and carbon steel tanks used for storing gasoline have been cleaned and are now being used for storing gasoline; we noticed that the methanol has a slightly reddish color. Is this a serious problem? ? ? What are the solutions?
Methanol has a slightly red color, possibly due to the presence of metal particles such as iron filings. Since the storage requirements for methanol are relatively low, especially when carbon steel tanks are used for storage, it is possible for some iron particles to get mixed in during the loading and unloading of methanol, causing the liquid to appear slightly reddish in color. It is recommended to let it sit for a while; the iron particles will then settle at the bottom of the tank.
Is it because of the high moisture content in methanol that causes the tank to rust?
Some say that storing and transporting carbon steel can affect the quality of methanol and that anti-corrosion measures are necessary, while others claim there is no problem – it’s not clear what’s actually the case
As long as it’s not 100% methanol, the presence of impurities will lead to corrosion; I’m not sure if that’s the case.
The decline in the quality of methanol produced by our company this time was due mainly to a short oxidation time using potassium permanganate. I took samples for quantitative analysis, and found that the methanol contained other hydrocarbon impurities in amounts of 850PPM; among these, the content of unsaturated hydrocarbons was around 200PPM. The iron content was below the ppb level, which indicates that rust has an impact only on the color of the methanol. Unsaturated hydrocarbon impurities are the main cause of the decline in quality
It is mainly caused by inadequate cleaning of the storage tank before storing methanol. If the tank walls and bottom are cleaned thoroughly with a high-pressure water gun, that will be fine