Ethanol is a new and controversial trend in the automotive industry. The environmentally friendly benefits are somewhat debatable (see Ethanol Fuel discussion). However, there is general agreement that Ethanol is a cleaner burning fuel that it is a truly renewable source of energy. Interestng the distillation process is similar to that of making an alcoholic beverage. Read on.

The milling process is the first step in ethanol distillation where the grains are ground into a powdery meal. The meal is then hydrated in a process called liquefaction before being mixed with  water (or a substitute) and cooked at very high temperatures (between 120-120 degrees Celsius). At these temperatures the starches in the grain become liquefied also any corrosive and dangerous bacteria are killed.

In the next stage the saccharine in the ground meal is isolated. This is achieved by adding enzymes to the cooled ground meal that convert the starches to complex and simple sugars.

The fermentation stage is next with the addition of yeast into the meal. Depending on the time constraints involved the fermentation process can either be a batch or a continual process.

At this point the alcohol content of the mix is only about 10%. Distillation helps remove the solids via a venting system using heat and high pressure. After this process the alcohol will be about 95% pure or better.

The alcohol is further purified by removing any excess water in a dhydration process to be come 100% pure (known as 200 proof). To prevent human consumption the gasoline is finally denatured with gasoline.



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