How to create Insta-Gas

Have you ever run out of gas and been stuck on the side of a highway just blocks from a gas station? Well no more! With Insta-Gas, which can be made for $20, that humiliating, dangerous experience is a thing of the past! You still may run out, but with your own small, safe fuel supply in your trunk you will never be stranded again. Our container,costing $20 in supplies, can be assembled in less than a half hour over two days, has survived a 30 mile an hour impact, and after rigorous fire testing a fire marshall on hand stated that the "safety factor is going to be a very very large number".

The container is composed of a basic Nalgene® water bottle containing the fuel, and an outer shell of drain pipe padded with fire retardant Great Stuff®. This combination has survived a 30 mile an hour impact, the standard for fuel tanks, and sustained only an insubstantial fracture on of the outer shell that did not create a fuel leak. Even in a fire situation which we created with the assistance of a local fire department, the container withstood direct exposure 1400 degree fire for 5 minutes while placed just 3 inches from the source of flame. After this, the outer shell was burnt, but the inner Nalgene® was still intact.

Our invention is not just a container, but also an alternate fuel, which consists of methanol and mineral spirits. This mix has a high enough octane rating to prevent knocking or misfiring of the engine, and a high flash point, meaning that the liquid will not vaporize fast enough to become a fire hazard.
 

First off, you need to gather the materials:

Fire resistant Great Stuff® (a type of expanding insulation)
9 inches of 4" diameter PVC pipe
2x 4" diameter PVC pipe end caps
A standard 1 liter Nalgene® bottle
Popsicle sticks
Paper towels
Basic funnel for easy pouring
600ml of mineral spirits
400ml of methanol

Step 1: Making the caps

To make the caps, you will need:

-Your two 4" PVC endcaps
-Popsicle sticks
-Lots of paper towels
-Great Stuff®

WARNING: Great Stuff® is extremely sticky, so wear gloves and eye protection while using it. Also, it is practically impossible to clean great stuff off of a surface, so put down cardboard or the like while making the caps.

1. Place the caps upside down on a flat surface.

2. Apply great stuff in a small dome inside the cap, leaving plenty of room from the edges as it expands. Keep the great stuff away from the inside edge of the cap, as this will prevent the cap from working properly.

3. Repeat with second cap.

4. Leave both caps to dry undisturbed for 12 hours (overnight is recommended).

5. After the caps have dried, you may want to drill a small (1/4" hole) in one endcap through the plastic and Great Stuff®. This will make it easier to remove the cap as it prevents the container from forming a vacuum.

Comments

[mr. clean]

do u know the octane rating of ur gas mixture and what does it do to fuel injectors, rubber O-rings, bearings. valves, valve seats, spark plugs, various sensors such as O2 sensors in the exhaust pipes, catalytic converters, cylinder walls pistons and rings, will it work in a high compression motor, a carbureted motor, a diesel motor, and does it cause excessive smoke when running, excessive carbon build up in intake or exhaust manifolds. and why was mineral spirits and methanol chosen?

[mindstormmastersinstagas]

the octane rating was around 100. So all our test vehicles knocked while we drove up hills but we got there.

The purpose of the mixture is to power your car for a SHORT way to get you to a gas station or simply off the highway. Given that the tank would have residual gas in it, then you are mixing in a quart or so of mixture, the damage to o-rings from the methanol should be minimal. AGAIN, we are NOT suggesting that this is a solution to power your car indefinately, the methanol would CERTAINLY have a negative effect on non-hardened parts if used at length.

The Methanol and Mineral Spirits were chosen because of their high vaporization temps. The reason a container of petrol (gas for us Americans) in the boot (trunk) is NOT a good idea is that on a hot day the substances added to gasoline to make an engine easy to start in winter will vaporize and create a toxic/expolosive situation. Very bad idea to carry gas in your trunk.

[r-philp]

Why use a questionable mixture of mineral spirits and methanol.  Why not just store gasoline?  I'd be concerned about burning such a mixture in my car.

[mindstormmastersinstagas]

We have tested the mixture for a significant amount of time in our car, it does have an octane rating lower than gasoline, but this only causes knocking in high load situations (such as going up a hill) and since this is intended to be used to get you quickly to a close by gas station, that shouldn't be a major problem. Our mixture is also much less flammable than gasoline so it presents much less of a fire hazard should you somehow have a fire in your trunk.

[ilpug]

Huh, that is interesting. I was under the impression that gasoline was the only viable option, and everything else would ruin your car. Have you tried this on modern car engines?

[EnigmaMax]

This can also make a neat bomb. I haven't tested it, but I think the gas would explode on ignition, superheat the foam, and make a napalm effect.

[tfrost1980]

not appropriate for instructables

[ilpug]

Bombs can be used for fun, not just for violence. Napalm is fun to screw around with. Frankly, few things really fall under the "Not appropriate for Insturctables" category.

[mindstormmastersinstagas]

Not at all. We actually tested it with two different fire marshalls. They put it inside the hood of a car they practice on. Both times it withstood more than 5 mins or direct flame without lighting up!!! Both fire marshals told us that it is SAFE to have this in your trunk. They had NO RESERVATIONS about it being a commercially sold product.

[somebody12345]

is that peanut butter??????????

[sean byfield]

baby oil will remove expanding foam

[weg42]

I had run out of petrol on my way to work, in the boot I had a gallon of parafin, this seem to work fine, but  the car would not turn off on the key and had to be stalled, now I just carry a plastic jerrycan full of petrol, and you know what? I have never run out since.
(it was an old nissan, and the diesel effect kept it running even with no spark!)

[caitlinsdad]

Aren't nalgene bottles usually just for water? I think campers use aluminum SIGG bottles to store fuel so I don't know if "solvent" type fuels will react with the plastic cap or bottle causing it to leak.  Maybe you could have used a thermos vacuum bottle and foam it with the fire-retardant stuff.  I would be uneasy storing something like this in the trunk during the summer.  Vapor buildup might leave a smell in the car and become hazardous.  You might have to do a lot of explaining if they do check this device when you are crossing a bridge or tunnel.

[mindstormmastersinstagas]

The mixture has been left in the Nalgene bottles for about a month and it had no noticeable corrosive effect on the bottle during this time. If you want to use a thermos vacuum bottle, feel free to do so, but we found that the Nalgene worked fine and is also pretty cheap. Our fuel mixture has a low flash point which means that it takes a lot of energy for the liquid to vaporize and thus build up the pressure to burst the Nalgene lid's seal. This kind of pressure could potentially build up if you left the bottle in direct sunlight for an extended period of time, but leaving it in your trunk will most likely not present any gas leak hazard.