Ethanol

Written by Malcolm

Friday, 20 April 2007

Ethanol: When concentrated can be used as alternative fuel.

Ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol are other names for ethanol. The biggest individual use of ethanol in the world today is for vehicle fuel and fuel additive. It is inflammable and colorless while also being a toxic

chemical compound that gives off a very distinct odor that may remind one of a perfume and is also the alcohol you find in alcoholic drinks. Ethanol as been around for a long time and was used to power the German V-2 rockets in the second world war.

Ethanol is alcohol based and can be made into a alternative fuel source by fermenting and distilling starch crops that have been converted into simple sugars. Some crops that can be used are, corn, barley and wheat, although it can also be produced from "biomass" such as grass and trees and is called bio-ethanol. Other examples that can be used are feed stocks containing sugar such as sugar beets and sugar cane.

The basic steps for production of ethanol are:

Fermentation:

Ethanol may be produced as a petrochemical via hydration of ethylene and also for fermentation of sugar with yeast.

Distillation:

To enable it to be used as ethanol fuel, the water in it as to be removed. Pretty much all of the water is removed by distillation, however the purity as limited of around 95-96%

Dehydration:

This is required only if there as been a problem with distillation.

Some crops like corn may also require pre-production steps such as refinement into starch and lignifications.

Its history of ethyl alcohol goes back thousands of years, and some traces of it was found in pottery from the northern parts of China. This find suggests that alcoholic beverages where used among people of ancient civilizations.

Its hydroxyl group allows it to be part of hydrogen bonding and it is a versatile solvent that can be used in medicines, food flavorings and colorings that are not easy to dissolve with water.

The three main producers of ethanol are China, Brazil and the USA. Of these Brazil is by far far the biggest producer and in 2004 produced around 16.4 billion liters out of a total world production of 42 billion liters.

There are several advantages to using ethanol such as it is easy to use as well as handle and can be used to reduce consumption of petroleum and is also good for the environment. It will also have a positive affect on agriculture by increased demand for feedstock's.

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