Ethanol is separated from water and other substances through distillation using an ethanol still. Ethanol is mainly created through fermentation and has many uses, including as fuel and for human consumption. Different types of stills, including alembic and fractional distillation, are used to achieve higher concentrations of alcohol. Other types of stills, such as vacuum stills and evaporators, are also used for various purposes.
An ethanol still is a device used to separate ethyl alcohol from water and other substances. This is done through a process called distillation. Distillation heats a mixture to a specific temperature. At this point, either one substance in the mixture will boil and become a gas or both substances will turn into a gas. In a simple alembic, this gas is then extracted from the mixture and cooled. If both substances are in the gas, the substance with the higher boiling point is usually cooled and separated first while the other substance continues further through the still. It may be necessary to distill a blend several times to achieve a high level of purity.
Ethanol is an alcohol. Each ethanol molecule has two carbon atoms, six hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Ethanol has a lower boiling point than water, which means it becomes a gas at a lower temperature. It is mainly created by yeast through a process called fermentation. It has many uses, but the two it is best known for are for fuel and for human consumption.
When used as a fuel, alcohol can be used in pure form or mixed with other chemicals. These forms of fuel include traditional North American gasoline which is blended with a small percentage of ethanol, E85 fuel which is approximately 85% grain alcohol, and pure ethanol which can be used in specialized vehicles. When consumed by humans, ethanol is almost always mixed with other substances. It is the primary alcohol in beer, wine, spirits and other alcoholic beverages.
Ethanol is often not in its desired form when it is first produced. This is because ethyl alcohol is created through fermentation. The fermentation process results in a mixture of alcohol, water and other substances. This blend contains a very low percentage of ethyl alcohol. To obtain a higher level, the blend is subjected to various processes. The process that leads to the highest percentage of ethanol is called distillation.
The distillation of ethanol is done using an ethanol pot still. A still used specifically for ethanol is heated and cooled so that the ethanol separates from the water and other substances it is mixed with. There are many different types of these ethanol stills, but they all work on the same basic principle of boiling and cooling the mixture.
The simplest and most modern ethanol still is an alembic. Stills heat a batch of alcohol-containing liquid in a large pot. The vapors released from the heated liquid contain a higher percentage of alcohol than the mixture because alcohol has a higher boiling point. These vapors travel up a large tube called a column. As the steam cools in the column, water escapes from the steam and falls back into the pot. The remaining vapor contains an even higher percentage of alcohol, is then cooled and collected in another vessel.
Another type of ethanol still is one that uses fractional distillation. In fractional distillation, the column contains plates or packing material. As the alcohol-containing vapor rises through the column, it condenses continuously as it contacts the cooler plates and packing material. The vapors from below cause the liquid further up the column to become a gas again, but the gas contains a higher percentage of alcohol than it did before. Once the gas leaves the column, it contains a very high percentage of alcohol.
Still builders can be very clever and have been known to use other types of stills and hybrid systems to achieve higher concentrations of alcohol. Vacuum stills, steam stills, and even evaporators have been used to extract the alcohol. Some of these types of pot stills are used so that the flavors are retained in the resulting alcoholic blend. Other times, these stills are used to increase the rate of distillation, separate more dangerous chemicals, or simply because the still builder wants to try a more interesting design.
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