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Author: Subject: Extraction of ethanol from gasoline
JJay
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[*] posted on 28-2-2017 at 12:29


Quote: Originally posted by MrHomeScientist  
From the discussion it sounds like distilling ethanol from gasoline is legal (being a mixture), but then if you take that same ethanol and redistill it for better purity it's now illegal?

Weird.


Haha. Yeah, pretty much, although it depends on exactly what you are doing. I've personally never distilled any gasoline, but I guess there are lots of interesting things in it....




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[*] posted on 1-3-2017 at 07:35


I am sorry if any of my posts have come across as rude or disrespectful. I do not mean any disrespect to anyone here. You all know more about chemistry than I do. I cannot see harm or a safety issue in extracting ethanol from gasoline however. If there was (and inform me if I missed something) I would not attempt it.
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[*] posted on 2-3-2017 at 09:10


I once contemplated extraction of ethanol from E-85 as well.

But I did a bit of research, and found some paint store alcohol that was at least 85% EtOH as well, but the remainder was water, methanol, ethyl acetate, and likely some bitrex.

Now, to get lab-usable EtOH, I reflux the stuff with some NaOH to hydrolyze the EtOAc, then add some dessicant (can't remember if I used CaCl2 or MgSO4), and did a simple distill, throwing out the lead fraction.

Excess water was soaked up with K2CO3.

There might be a trace of MeOH in it, but it's pure enough for almost anything I might use it for in the lab. I've even considered using it for synthesizing ethyl ether, as dimethyl ether and methyl ethyl ether would be lost to the gas phase.

If you want more pure EtOH, find some pure ethyl acetate and hydrolyze it all.
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