[nbj]

Hi, quick question regarding ethanol fuel. I own an indoor freestanding fireplace that burns ethanol fuel, but many of the "name brand" bottles of ethanol fuel are very pricey.  My question: Though these companies claim that they're fuel is "specially formulated", does anyone know if it's actually just pure ethanol in a bottle? Or maybe a 95% ethanol solution? I'm wondering about buying from a chemical supply company or hardware store, or even making my own fuel if it would be simple enough.  Thanks for the advice!

[Arkcon]

Are you certain that is is a pure ethanol fuel, and not mostly ethanol with some petroleum distillates (basically gasoline) added?  One of the most important things is the removal of a low percentage of water, which is hard for a novice to remove.

[Enthalpy]

Smell should give a first idea of the composition. You can compare the odour with ethanol for disinfection (ethanol+water essentially, guaranteed no methanol nor petroleum distillates), and with denatured alcohol that contains methanol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol
alcohol to make liquors can be available on the market, it's essentially ethanol+water.
caution: do not sniff too much...

A second low-tech analysis: based on the evaporation speed.
Buy sensitive scales (like 0.01g) on eBay for 10€ (they aren't worth more anyway). Put a container on it with a little bit of your alcohol, all in a room with constant temperature, that is, a basement. The container must be cylindrical, light, not too wide and ~1cm deep; a box for photographic film was perfect when they existed. Note regularly the weight and time, draw a graph, observe several slopes over time. Though, water at the end has probably been catched from air by hygroscopic ethanol.

Scales can also tell the density if you have a container with a simple shape.

Make you own ethanol, that's possible...
- Big amounts need big efforts
- Separation from water is difficult
- Law may restrict it in your contry, or demand to add methanol. Expect controls.

Many countries put a huge tax on ethanol if not denatured, which can explain the price of your fuel.

[fledarmus]

Find the msds for the alcohol you are interested in. Most of them appear to be various forms of denatured alcohol, some with surfactants of one sort or another, possibly for gelling and flash prevention. Here is one -

http://brasa.co/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Brasa-MSDS.pdf

[nbj]

Thanks everyone.  The MSDS was particularly helpful.  Looks like most of these fuels contain approximately 95% ethanol, 4+% ethyl acetate (or equivalent?), and a bittering agent.  So, it looks like making it myself is out of the question, mainly because buying pure ethyl alcohol is highly restricted.  So then it would be a matter of finding a denatured alcohol of these same components being sold without a "fancy fireplace fuel" label on it.  Anything come to mind?  All the other denatured alcohols I'm seeing for over-the-counter purchase look to be much lower concentrations of ethyl alcohol and/or contain denaturing agents that probably wouldn't burn as cleanly.

[Arkcon]

The hardware store denatured alcohol is mostly ethanol, but will have additives to it, maybe some of the same as your fuel ethanol, maybe very different.  The laboratory grade denatured ethanol will be 95% ethanol, < 5% methanol, and some isopropanol.  That's the cleanest fuel I can think of, that still meets regulations to make the ethanol non-drinkable, but laboratory grade denatured ethanol is kinda hard to find, if you're not a laboratory.

[curiouscat]

Most of them appear to be various forms of denatured alcohol, some with surfactants of one sort or another, possibly for gelling and flash prevention.

As an aside: How do surfactants influence flash?

Surfactant => Lower Surface Tension = higher flash point? Why?

[billnotgatez]

@nbj
Is this the kind of fuel you are asking about?
Ignis Ethanol Fireplace Fuel
https://www.ignisproducts.com/ethanol-fireplace-fuel/

Below is a MSDS for another companies Ethanol Fireplace Fuel
http://www.comalc.com/msds/pdf3/MSDS_English_Fireplace_Fuel_Feb_2011.pdf