How ethanol is made

[144pieces]

Ethenol Really Sucks!

[Itsmeeman1]

Anhydrous doesn't mean dry! It means there's no water(H2O) in it. See the difference?

Ethanol isn't dry, it's a wet liquid! He makes me laugh. Hick!

Cannabis Hemp makes more ethanol than corn per acre so he's using the wrong plant!

[akinorhan5]

just let me say sugar yeast water wait 1 week still at 80 celcius cool the steam transfers in liquid and you got it ethanol :) im 14 years old and im making ethanol for my rc car and for my steam engine that generates electricity im saying that for news makes they work easy.

[TripleX2go]

Where can you buy enzyme?

[asimov13647]

The last time I was in a chemistry class I was told it impossible to produce totally anhydrous ethanol. What development has transpired that allows the total dehydration of ethanol?

[poettv]

@asimov13647 Thanks for the question! We get the ethanol to about 190 proof through distillation, then use a molecular sieve to removing the remaining water.

[Rototill27]

@asimov13647

It's seemingly impossible to produce totally anhydrous ethanol because it is completely soluble in water. The interactions between ethanol and water is termed "hydrogen bonding". It's the same type of bonding that occurs between the base pairs in your DNA. It's a very strong electronic bond. Usually, another agent like magnesium sulphate is needed to get rid of the water. More practically, they use azeotropic distillation in industry to get rid of H20 in ethanol.

[polos505]

haaaa you need a gallon of gasoline to produce 1/2 ga ethanol. good idea mt friend.

[poettv]

@polos505 There is almost no gasoline used to produce ethanol. The primary energy is natural gas to run the plants and a little diesel for the tractors/trucks/etc. A recent USDA study confirmed that for every one BTU of energy you put in, you get 2.3-2.8 out.

[mrXnando]

@polos505 you're right! here in Brazil we spend 300 liters of diesel to produce 7000 liters of ethanol derived from sugar cane to produce ethanol with corn is impractical, with only 100m ² of sugarcane, it produces about 80 liters of ethanol, to do this with corn, it takes more than 200m ², furthermore the consumption of gasoline or diesel fuel in corn production is very high, large trucks, large tractors and harvesters consume much diesel yes!

[miniimoto95]

@polos505 farm machinery and trucks run on diesel.... where is this gallon of gas going?

[vmelkon]

200 proof means 100%?

[poettv]

@vmelkon Yes. That means that you removed all the water and have not yet added any denaturant.

[philquinton]

i want to drink it mixed with coke

[deltaalpha21074]

What are the enzymes? where can they be bought ---?

[deltaalpha21074]

What are the crude enzymes?? what prodcut can they be bought?

[switchgrassfuel]

@deltaalpha21074 Ethanol enzymes are 1. Alpha-amylas enzyme It is added wen mash cools to 194-203 degrees. 2. Gluco-amylase enzyme add at 136-144 degrees. both are found on the internet at Mile Hi Distilling. i think. those enzymes should brake the corn down into simple sugars that yeast like.

[savagenomore]

can ya drink it.......lol

[lienenforcer]

I make my own e85 at home and run my 2001 Caddy DeVille on it; its not hard and it is legal to make here in the US just get a free permit from the BATF & you can produce 10,000 gallons a year! Check out my site MyCarIsDrunk. com for more info

[Topazman12]

But the industry is going to keep this a secret. They will just tell you Corn make Ethanol. Good for Profit.

[Rototill27]

Enzymes aren't microoorganisms, they are biomolecules. The yeast cells use enzymes to convert sugars to the alcohol product using their own enzyme catalyzed pathway called fermentation. Ethanol and water are the toxic biproducts of this bioprocess. Ethanol can then be separated from water by simple distillation.

[EMOjamesy23]

@Rototill27 thanks for pointing that out and saving me the trouble :L