A Survey on the Wear Research of the Methanol Engines

The general state of the wear research of methanol engines in the past decade at abroad was reviewed in this paper. It indicated that the wear of methanol engine belonged to corrosive wear. The most serious wear was occurred on the piston ring and the upper region of the cylinder wall. The combustion products of methanol fuel, such as methane acid, water and residual methanol, were the major substances resulting in the corrosive wear of methanol engine. Hydrogen peroxide functioned for promoting this corrosive wear course. The authors also put forward how to solve effectively the corrosive wear problem and give an outline of the major research area in the future: a. Improving the combustion course of methanol fuel in order to rise the efficiency, decrease the concentration of some active substances, i. e. methanol, hydrogen peroxide and formaldehyde, in the burning products. b. Improving the quality of the material in lubrication system, developing the lubricating oil, which is resistant to formic acid and methanol, for the methanol engine lubrication.