Originally posted by WMB
I asked the same thing a while back. Most common answer was methanol reacts with the glow plug element and this keeps the glow plug glowing. This doesn't happen with ethanol. I went to the hardware stores to check out denatured alcohol. Turns out the ethanol is denatured with methanol to make it unfit for consumption. I'm still curious to know if a blend might work. mIKE
Our catalytic converters use platinum to cause an after-burning effect to burn off the remaining hydrocarbons and CO in our cars. Platinum glow plugs have been used with various hydrocarbon's with success. Not only that but the first glow plugs had not platinum and no catalytic effect. So I am sure it would work, but very expensive. Denatured alcohol would be your cheapest source.