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OAR Box 1846 

Prepped by Ollie Stewart 

Document Number: 

5) ll-B-2 

Docket Number: 

A-90-07 

Printed 11/18/2008 7:30:14 AM Sheet 5 of 93 
' * / . #-6-2. 

P.2 

FEB 51990 

SSMOPAHPUM 

SUBJECT 

, $ %3l- ' \yy\ 

y fr 

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Analysis of Afterraarfcet Wtfel VJditiveo containing 

Methanol 

FRO"? 

T O -

T'ff'orj. 

Jarces D. Greaves, Mechanical Engineer 

Standards Development and Support Branch 

Charles "... r,ray Jr., Director 

^Mission Control Technology Division 

Slenn vr. ?aesavant, Senior Project Manager 

Standard? Development and Support Branch 

Chester J. France, Chief 

standards Development and Support Branch 

A recent study of methanol use Zn consumer products 

suggested that, antcsotlve applications -;ccount for a large 

number of the current consumer pro Acts which contain 

methanol.P] Mso , a study cf methanol poisoning in the a. 3. 

suggested chat abuse and disuse of autcaotive related product*! 

is involved in about one-half of the methanol poisoning 

incidents reported each year.121 

Thus, in fc.1 low-up to these two points we have preparer* 

the attached characterization o? methano1 use in afterrcarVet 

fuel additives. A list of aftermarket fuel additives which 

contain methane! was obtained fron PO?D's Fuel and Fuel 

Addtti*«» M9i«tra.tion data iase. An analysis of the ''n.i 

show'.-;{li||;: tfe*r* are currently about n * aftermarket fuel 

additiv^fe which ccntain methanol. 7V<? concentration of 

methanol' h& aott of thea is generally either very high or it is 

low. Of th« ??"J registered aftermarket additives containing 

methanol, a* products have a concentration greater than ?0 

percent while 85 products have a concentration of less than 39 

percent. The distribution of the fuel additives' sethanoT 

SDSB:GREAVES:Tolonen:2565 Plymouth Rd.:X208:1/22/90:ID#:7880W 

Last reviewed by Charles Gray: 
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concentration is shown in Figure 1 of the attached analysis. 

A^raoat all Of the fuel additives containing a htgn 

concwtroUon of methanol can be classified into th- following 

cat«qoirU«: tnml line antifreeze, aasoltne treatment, octane 

booator, or carburetor or fuel injector cleaner. The *xart 

>r*akdown into categories is shown in Figures 2 and F^gv.r? 3 o, 

the attached analysis. Please contact we if v0u "ave any 

questions. 

.\ttachraent 
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Analysis of Aftermarlcet Fuel Additives Containing Methanol 

U. S. EPA 

James D. Greaves 

December, 1989 
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A number of consumer products which contain methanol are 

being sold as aftermarket fuel additives for gasoline and 

diesel fuels. This report describes an analysis of these fuel 

additives and presents some of their characteristics as a group. 

In order for a fuel additive to be legally sold in this 

country, it must be registered under EPA's Fuel and Fuel 

Additives Registration Program. Manufacturers are required to 

define the chemical content and recommended purposes of their 

products on the registration form. A listing of this 

registration information for all of the aftermarket fuel 

additives containing methanol was used to formulate the present 

analysis. 

There are approximately 215 different fuel additives 

containing methanol currently on the market. A breakdown of 

the number of products by concentration range is presented in 

Figure l. As can be seen from the graph, the distribution is 

bimodal, with 86 products (about 40 percent) containing 90 

percent or more methanol and 85 products (about 40 percent) 

containing 30 percent or less methanol by volume concentration. 

Almost all of the fuel additives can be categorized, by. 

their product name, to have one of the following primary uses: 

fuel line antifreeze, gasoline treatment, octane booster, or 

carburetor, choke, or fuel injector cleaner. Figure 2 shows 

such a categorization for those fuel additives which contain at 

least 50 percent methanol. The "other" category represents 

products whose purposes were not among the main categories, or 

whose name did not sufficiently indicate into which category 

the products belong. 

The fuel additive categories are further broken down by 

methanol concentration in Figure 3. In this graph the 

categories are divided into three parts, low, medium, and high 

concentrations, which represent the fraction of the number of 

products of that category with the given methanol 

concentrations. For example, of the 67 fuel line antifreezes, 

only a few have low or medium methanol concentrations, while 

the majority have high concentrations. 

Another way of categorizing the fuel additives is through 

the recommended usage information supplied by the manufacturers 

on the registration forms. The manufacturers designate, from a 

list of purposes supplied on the registration form, the 

purposes for which their products are intended. A product can 

have any number of recommended purposes, and this information 

is generally accepted without question. Table 1 presents a 

complete list of this information for all of the aftermarket 

fuel additives that contain methanol. 

A number of manufacturers recommend their products for 

numerous uses. This practice limits the effectiveness of the 

recommended purpose information since, in many instances, the 

product will be a less efficient substitute that is minimally 
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Distribution of Fuel Additives' 

Methanol Concentration 

Cone. 

90-100% I 

80-90% I 

70-80% | 

60-70% 1 

1

 8 

1

 8 

1 9 

50-60% 

40-50% 

30-40% 

20-30% 

10-20% 

0.1-10% 

20 40 60 80 100 

Number of Products 

Figure 1. 
Fuel Additive Uses 

for products whose methanol 

concentration is greater than 50% 

Gas Line Anti-freeze 

62 

Gas Treatment 

22 

Other 

6 

Fl & Carb. Cleaner* 

9 

Octane Treatment 

18 

i 

i 

Figure 2. 

* Fl stands for fuel injector 
Breakdown of fuel additive uses 

by product methanol concentration 

FL* Antifreeze (67) 

Cleaners (68) 

Octane T'ments (27) 

Other (22) 

0% 25% 50% 75% 

Fraction of products with given cone. 

Product Meth. Cone. 

[Z2 Low(0.1%-33%) H i Medium (34%-67%) 

i 

Ul I 

100% 

IX3 High (68%-100%) 

Figure 3. 

* FL stands for "fuel line" 

co 
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Table 1. Manufacturer Recommended Uses of Aftermarket Fuel Additives that Contain 

Methanol 

X Methanol B H I M N U 

90-100 

80-90 

70-80 

60-70 

50-60 

40-50 

30-40 

20-30 

2 

8 

5 

4 

10-20 

0.1-10 

78 2 1 10 

3 1 1 

1 1 

11 

1 1 

11 19 11 13 16 

2 3 1 3 3 

3 

3 

2 

1 

7 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

2 

1 

2 

3 

1 

6 

15 

4 4 12 

13 5 23 

1 1 

1 1 1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

3 

2 

2 

3 

2 

4 

4 

2 

5 

2 

2 

1 

4 

5 

1 

3 

12 

15 

22 1 

Total 126 4 10 15 1 38 56 40 39 81 1 2 3 15 21 9 28 57 1 

A Anti-icing agent 

B Antiknock with scavenger 

C Anti-oxidant 

0 Antistall agent 

E Antistatic agent 

F Cetane improver 

G Combustion improver (antismoke agent) 

H Corrosion inhibitor 

1 Deposit modifier 

J Oetergent 

K Gum solvent 

I Masking or odorizing agent 

M Metal deactivator 

M Pour depressant 

0 Sediment inhibitor 

P Stabalizer or dispersant 

Q Upper cylinder lubricant 

R Octane enhancer 

S Choke cleaner 

T Valve cleaner 

U Other 
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beneficial for many of the recommended purposes. One way of 

eliminating this "noise" in the data is to ignore the product 

usage categories for which only a few products are 

recommended. If the product usage categories in which less 

than twenty products have claimed applicability are ignored, 

nine categories remain. These represent the the most prevalent 

purposes of aftermarlcet fuel additives which include methanol, 

and they are listed, in descending order, in Table 2. 
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Table 2. Most Frequently Recommended Purposes for Fuel Additives Which 

Contain Methanol 

A Anti-icing agent 

K Gum solvent 

S Choke cleaner 

H Corrosion inhibitor 

I Deposit modifier 

J Oetergent 

G Combustion improver (antismoke agent) 

R Octane enhancer 

P Stabalizer or dispersant 

7880W 
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References 

1. "Investigation of Methanol Use in Consumer 

Products," EPA Memo from Sheri Dunatchik, EPA, OMS, SBSD, to 

Charles Gray, EPA, OMS, ECTD, November 15, 1989. 

2. "Acute Exposure to Methanol in Fuels: A Prediction 

of Ingestion Incidence and Toxicity," Litovitz, Toby, M.D., 

Director, National Capital Poison Center, October 31, 1988.