Purpose:

As a research based project and paper, this assignment includes no lab involved purpose. However, there is a strong educational intent upon the work done and the resulting project. As ethyl alcohol, drinking alcohol, is a very prevalent substance in todays society it is an important thing to understand. This project discusses, examines, and presents information on the creation of ethyl alcohol through the processes of fermentation and distillation.

Procedure:

Ethyl alcohols chemical formula is C₂H₅OH, yet it may also be referred to as ethanol, grain alcohol, industrial alcohol, fermentation alcohol, cologne spirits, ethyl hydroxide, methylcarbinol, or, more commonly, just alcohol. It is an organic compound composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, as well as an alcohol class defining hydroxyl group. This hydroxyl, or OH, group attached to the alcohol molecule is very important as it provides the substance with property defining hydrogen bonding and polarity. As a colorless, toxic, flammable, limpid, and volatile liquid, which is used most often as a depressant drug, ethyl alcohol is the most common of all alcohol compounds.

The process of fermentation is the reaction and means by which alcohol has been traditionally produced for centuries, and today it remains the principle technique for forming this substance. Fermentation is the break down of simple sugars, such as glucose, by enzymes into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This process is most commonly conducted by exposing a yeast cell to a supply of organic matter. The yeast induces fermentation through its survival practice of anaerobic respiration. Fermentations basic equation is:

Distillation is the means by which the crude alcohol, produced through fermentation, is purified. Using the differences between the boiling points of individual substances, as well as techniques of vaporization and condensation, distillation separates different materials from an original solution. This project examines the processes of batch, continuous steady state, and fractional distillation.

Applications:

Distillation and fermentation are employed in the production of common drinking liquors that are sold in the mass markets of today. Distillation is used for the separation and purification of other substances, for other purposes, as well. Also, ethyl alcohol has many uses besides drinking liquor. Such alternative functions include use in pharmaceuticals, detergents, cleaning products, surface coatings, cosmetics, explosives, antifreeze, and antiseptics. Also, through often simple reactions ethyl alcohol can be altered to form derived substances that have a great many additional applications. For example, blending ethanol with gasoline produces a specific motor fuel called gasohol. Dyes, rubber, solvents, extractants, detergents, lubricants, adhesives, moldings, and pesticides are some of the products of such ethanol-derived substances

Possible Lab/Class Demonstration

Using school materials a simple distillation system can be set up. Using this a salt solution, or other mixture of substances, can be easily distilled.

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