butanol
BYOO-tuh-nawl
Definition
A four-carbon alcohol that serves as a high-value chemical solvent and a potential fuel source for internal combustion engines.
Etymology
The word is derived from the chemical root 'butyl' (from the Latin 'butyrum' meaning butter) plus the suffix '-ol,' denoting an alcohol. It was named because the acid from which the butyl group is derived, butyric acid, was first isolated from rancid butter.
In the news
In this article, butanol is described as the primary product sought by Celtic Renewables from the fermentation of whisky-making waste, serving as a direct substitute for petrol in modern engines.
About a tenth of what comes out of malt whisky production is spirit, while Scotland's malt whisky industry produces almost 750,000 metric tons of spent barley and 2 billion liters of copper-laced pot ale a year, residues one Scottish firm has fermented into a petr
Read the full article ↗ScienceBlog.com