Hi Greg I think you'll lose quite a lot of alcohol that way, if it works. I'd be interested to hear of some results though. The usual way is with quicklime, which does work, but you also lose some alcohol, and quicklime is hard to get these days. Of course the ethanol doesn't have to be anhydrous unless you're planning to mix it with gasoline or use it to make biodiesel - otherwise 180-proof is a better fuel than 200-proof. There's a lot more about this at Journey to Forever:
Anhydrous ethanol To make ethyl esters the ethanol must be anhydrous, 99%+ pure -- with less than 1% water content. See: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethyl_esters.html The purest ethanol that can be produced by ordinary distillation is only 95.6% pure, the rest being water, which interferes with the transesterification reaction in making ethyl ester. More common for home distillation is 170-190 proof -- 85-95% pure. Members of the Biofuels mailing list have succeeded in making ethyl ester using 85% ethanol they've distilled themselves, by removing the excess water with quicklime (CaO). See The Manual for the Home and Farm Production of Alcohol Fuel by S.W. Mathewson, Chapter 12 -- Drying the Alcohol, Drying with lime. http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_manual/manual12.html An easier method is to use 3A zeolite molecular sieves. Biofuels group member Ken Provost reports: "Zeolite (aka "molecular sieve") works BEAUTIFULLY to suck the last bit of water out of distilled ethanol. I got a sample of Type 3A Molecular Sieve from Adcoa in Southern California: http://www.thomasregister.com/olc/adcoa/molecula.htm "I got a can of the 4-8 mesh -- little balls of rock about 1/8" diameter. They absorb about 20% of their weight of water over the course of a few hours. Take a liter of 95% ethanol, throw in 250g of the stuff, swirl occasionally, filter out the next day through a strainer, and presto! Anhydrous ethanol. Not expensive either -- US$2.05 a pound in 10 lb quantities, and reusable indefinitely. You drive off the water under a broiler for an hour." Cornmeal Adsorber for Dehydrating Ethanol Vapors -- by Michael R. Ladisch et al., Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering, Purdue University. About half the ethanol now produced in the US is dried using corn grits. When the corn's drying capacity is worn out, it can be fermented and distilled to make more ethanol. This 1981 paper is the original work on the subject. http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_grits.html Separating Ethanol From Water -- by Renaldo V. Jenkins of Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA. More economical methods of separating water from ethanol to produce anhydrous ethanol, using sulphur or castor oil. Provided by F. Marc de Piolenc. http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/eth_separate.html Absolute Alcohol Using Glycerine -- Mariller-Granger Processes, from E. Boullanger: Distillerie Agricole et Industrielle (Paris: Ballire, 1924). Mariller's absolute alcohol production process by dehydration using glycerine, various systems examined and explained. Translation from the French by F. Marc de Piolenc. http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/Mariller.html Best Keith Addison Journey to Forever Handmade Projects Tokyo http://journeytoforever.org/ >----- Original Message ----- >From: "sameer bawa" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "biofuel" <biofuel@yahoogroups.com> >Sent: Monday, November 26, 2001 00:44 >Subject: [biofuel] molecular sieves for dehydrating ethanol > > > > Can any one help me with companies manufacturing molecular sieves for >dehydrating ethanol? > > Thanks > > > > Sameer BawaGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : >http://explorer.msn.com > >I have heard of a little trick that might work, and it would be cheeper to >boot. The idea was along the fact that water combines with lime and alcohol >does not. I don't know if it will work, but, the idea behind it makes >sense. > >Place the ethanol in a container like a 30 gal RubberMaid trash can. Add >1/4 bag Portland cement, mix well, let settle, after 24 hrs, mix it all back >up, let settle again. Without disturbing the sedament, remove the alcohol to >just above the lime. The lime in the can combines with the water and gets >solid (clumping). After it sets up, it can be removed from the can, leaving >unreacted lime to be mixed with the next batch of ethanol, with more added >as nessasary. A simple micron filter to remove any last lime, from the >alcohol would be all that was needed. > >Anyone have any thoughts on it? > >Greg H. > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Universal Inkjet Refill Kit $29.95 Refill any ink cartridge for less! Includes black and color ink. http://us.click.yahoo.com/r9F0cB/MkNDAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
