Making 100% pure alcohol

[Ruthy]

Hello
I was going to buy some 100% pure alcohol, but then I thought of just buying a water distiller (like this one http://www.jdharris.co.uk/water-distiller ) so I can just make it myself as and when I need it.

But the question I had for you was first of all will the alcohol that I make be as pure as the 100% stuff that you buy. And secondly how much would it cost (in raw materials etc) to make seven gallons (that’s the quantity I was going to buy)?

[Ronbo]

Hi Ruthy, you might like to clarify your question a bit.
Is the alcohol you want to make for bio-fuel or laboratory use?
Making alcohol the way we do with pot-stills and reflux columns cannot make 100% pure alcohol. Alcohol with pot-stills can be about 85% with triple distilling or about 95% with a column. Ethanol of 100% purity made in a lab would instantly fall back to about 97% when exposed to air.
Regards, Ronbo.

[Ruthy]

Hi Ronbo

The alcohol is for laboratory use.

I take it that the still to which I linked would be classed as a reflux column?
And this is the stuff I was going to buy http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... SE:IT#shId

[Ronbo]

Hi Ruthy,
We don't do industrial ethanol here.
Regards, Ronbo.

[Ruthy]

So what is the difference between the stuff I was looking at buying from e-bay and the stuff that I’d be able to make with a table top distiller?

I really know nothing about these things.

[short2]

Hello Ruthy and welcome to the forum. I do not know the the purpose of the Lab stuff. If it aint for drinking then you are in the wrong forum. I have the T500 still most I have had is 94% which I dilute after taking of 100mls or s0. Utube has many vids. If its fuel your looking for you will also need to adapt your engine to take it. I assume you already know that. If you are not in for stilling for personal use then I say buy it cause you wont get 100% from any still most of us use. Sorry I cant be more positive on that score but hope you find the right grove and it is this one as there are lots of nice people willing to help if the only know what is what. Cheers short.

[Ronbo]

Hi again Ruthy,
Just re-read my last message and realise it might seem to be a bit short.
No offense meant -- we are a real friendly forum here.
What you are looking for is Iso Propyl Alcohol. This cannot be distilled.
It is made by using a complicated industrial process using re-hydration techniques (one method)
It is so cheap to buy that it would never be worth trying to home-brew.
Hope this puts the matter to rest.
Regards, Ronbo.

[Ruthy]

Good morning
I of course realize that this forum is for the drinking of distilled spirits. But I figured that since you know about that this would be the best place to ask about distilling in general.

You pretty much provided the answer to my question Ronbo. As I was going to ask you next if there was any equipment that would enable me to obtain 100% pure alcohol, but from what you’re saying this isn’t really possible in a home environment.

I just wanted to confirm though that Iso-Propanol 99.9% S Grade is just pure alcohol? As I was instructed to get 100% pure alcohol, but I really don’t know anything about these technical names.

Hope you’re enjoying this wonderful sunny day

[Ronbo]

Dear Ruthy,
No! 99.9% alcohol is not 100% pure, it is 99.9% alcohol and 0.01% water.
That's it. End of story!
You cannot buy 100% alcohol.
Why do you think someone in your organisation would ask you to attempt such a task?
Regards, Ronbo.

[Ruthy]

Good evening

Ye, I just wanted to be shore that Iso-Propanol was just alcohol and not something else.

But you’ve helped me clear quite a few things up.

Thank you for your time.

[Phantom]

Additionally, supporting the current consensus (and baring in mind, I haven't read this too closely), but normal distillation alone, it's pretty much impossible to produce 100% ethanol anyhow.

The nearest you'd get, with the most efficient still, would be 95.6 % ABV (or is it 96.5 % ABV ?). Now whether you'd get higher if you factored in some vacuum equipment, I don't know as I haven't seen any figures on that.

Yes I believe that 95.6 % is just about burnable as a fuel, but ideally you'd need a higher percentage purity. Which is outside our interests hereabouts.

I'm sure that someone might tell me if I'm barking up the wrong tree though............

Oh, and the separation of the last bit from the water, well the key word is azeotrope (or azeotropic distillation) so you will have moved away from what we're interested in and pretty much onto chemical engineering.

[Ronbo]

Hi Phantom, yes I think your right in that 95.6% is the best you can ever do with even a perfect still. Even in a laboratory an attempt to produce 100% by dehydration would only produce 99.9% or 99.99% etc.

The water in Ethanol can be replaced by Benzene so that it can be used in motor fuels, but then it's still not 100% pure cause it will have Benzene in it.

I think Ruthy may have been confused by the term Pure Alcohol thinking that 'Pure Alcohol' is a specific substance. As we know there are many alcohol types of which Ethanol and Iso-propyl are just two -- I think Methanol is the simplest compound.

Regards, Ronbo.

[Phantom]

Hi Phantom, yes I think your right in that 95.6% is the best you can ever do with even a perfect still. Even in a laboratory an attempt to produce 100% by dehydration would only produce 99.9% or 99.99% etc.

The water in Ethanol can be replaced by Benzene so that it can be used in motor fuels, but then it's still not 100% pure cause it will have Benzene in it.

I think Ruthy may have been confused by the term Pure Alcohol thinking that 'Pure Alcohol' is a specific substance. As we know there are many alcohol types of which Ethanol and Iso-propyl are just two -- I think Methanol is the simplest compound.

yeah, I looked it up before posting - well the bit about adding benzene, or xylene, or other similar material. The article I read explained about benzene being replaced with other materials since "they" discovered it's carcinogenic properties etc.

Either way, it's a slightly confusing term as under "normal" conditions, it's a virtual impossibility......

[crapula2010]

Methanol CH3OH - Carbon and 3 Hydrogen atoms and one OH.
Ethanol C2H5OH - 2 Carbon atoms joined together with 5 H and an OH.
Isopopyl (Rubbing) alcohol C3H7OH
Butanol - C4H9OH
Pentanol - C5H11OH
and so on adding a carbon and 2 hydrogens each time.

Code: Select all


   H H H H
   | | | |
 H-C-C-C-C-O-H
.. | | | |
   H H H H

Butanol

but our favourite is...

  H H
  | |
H-C-C-O-H
  | |
  H H

good old ethanol.