Methanol will not damage aluminum. I’m not talking about an aluminum alloy.
I was just going off what I read on the internet and what I was always told that aluminum and meth do not mix. I understand taking advice on the internet is not always the right thing to do.
Example:
One of the drawbacks of methanol as a fuel is its corrosivity to some metals, including aluminum. Methanol, although a weak acid, attacks the oxide coating that normally protects the aluminium from corrosion:
6 CH3OH + Al2O3 → 2 Al(OCH3)3 + 3 H2O
The resulting methoxide salts are soluble in methanol, resulting in clean aluminum surface, which is readily oxidized by some dissolved oxygen. Also the methanol can act as an oxidizer:
6 CH3OH + 2 Al → 2 Al(OCH3)3 + 3 H2
This reciprocal process effectively fuels corrosion until either the metal is eaten away or the concentration of CH3OH is negligible. Concerns with methanol's corrosivity have been addressed by using methanol compatible materials, and fuel additives that serve as corrosion inhibitors.
Wikipedia also has this same error:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol:
Fuel for vehicles[edit]
Main articles:
Methanol fuel and
methanol economy
Methanol is occasionally used to fuel
internal combustion engines. It burns forming carbon dioxide and water:
2 CH3OH + 3 O2 → 2 CO2 + 4 H2O
One problem with high concentrations of methanol in fuel is that alcohols
corrode some metals, particularly
aluminium. <--They specifically all out aluminum.
For every 10 places I read online that says do not mix aluminum with methanol I read one place that says it is ok.
Regardless, that Advan tank is not ideal for a variety of reasons I stated above. If the aluminum material it is fabricated is not one of the reasons to not use it, it still does not make it a good product compared to the other solutions on the market.