| MadSci Network: Chemistry |
Greetings: SD 38 alcohol is simply 38% ethanol in water with a special denaturant [SD]. Denatured alcohols are used for many household products. Examples would include ethanol used in perfumes, aftershaves and for cleaners. Beverage ethanol is used for drinking and must meet strict production standards because it will be used for human consumption. The denaturing process makes SD 38 not suitable for use in beverages. The fact that SD 38 also has water added to it makes it not useable as a fuel. Ethanol is used as an automotive fuel by itself and can be mixed with gasoline to form what has been called "gasohol" - the most common blends contain 10% ethanol and 85% ethanol mixed with gasoline. Over 1 billion gallons of ethanol are blended with gasoline every year in the United States. Because the ethanol molecule contains oxygen, it allows the engine to more completely combust the fuel, resulting in fewer emissions. Since ethanol is produced from plants such as corn that harness the power of the sun, ethanol is also considered a renewable fuel. Therefore, ethanol has many advantages as an automotive fuel. The aviation industry has been investigating ethanol as a jet fuel; however, today standard petroleum based fuels are much lower in cost. You can find a vast n of information about the subject , including the following facts about ethanol, on the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) web pages at: http://www.ethanol.org/ Ethanol Facts One bushel of corn = 2.5 gallons of ethanol. Ethanol-blended fuels represent 12% of fuel sales in the U.S. One acre of corn produces enough ethanol to equal 10 barrels of imported oil. 23.8 gallons of ethanol displaces one barrel of imported oil. Over two trillion miles have been driven on ethanol-blended fuels since 1980. The ethanol industry is responsible for more than 55,000 American jobs. The domestic ethanol industry saves the government $555 million a year. Using ethanol reduces the demand for imported MTBE by 98,000 barrels per day. How Ethanol is Made The process of making alcohol has been around since virtually as long as man has been on this earth, though it has been immensely refined and upgraded in recent years leading to much improved efficiency. There are three main uses for ethanol (industrial, beverage and fuel) and the production processes vary slightly for each of them, but the main steps are the same. Best regards, Your Mad Scientist Adrian Popa
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