One of the strongest arguments for ethanol fuel is that we can make it ourselves, with no dependence on foreign resources. He envisioned farms across the country providing the crops needed to make both fuel and food. Ethanol is a clear liquid that packs a lot of energy into a usable, storable, and transportable form — only petroleum can compete with ethanol on an energy-per-volume basis. Compared to gasoline, ethanol emits about 20 percent less?
Would-be fuel producers must apply for a permit to make their own fuel, but after the energy crisis of the s, the federal government substantially streamlined the permit process. Recognizing the difference between beverage and fuel spirits, the Department of the Treasury came up with a simplified application for an Alcohol Fuel Producer permit Form A proof gallon is one liquid gallon of spirits that is 50 percent alcohol at 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Each state has its own permit requirements, generally modeled after the federal rules. Ethanol production is a natural process that comes about through the fermentation of carbohydrates — organic compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Plants and crops produce carbohydrates in the form of starches, sugars, and cellulose. The bonds in the molecular structure of celluloses are difficult to break, but most plant starches and sugars are easily broken down into simple sugars with the addition of heat, water, and enzymes. Once the simple sugars are established, yeast is added to feast upon the sugar, reproduce and, in the process, expel carbon dioxide and alcohol.
The choice of raw material is an important factor. Crops with a high sugar or starch content are ideal, but nearly any crop cull or surplus can work if used before spoilage sets in , so you can choose the most economical and sustainable materials available to you.
Apples and other small fruits, potatoes, beans, wheat, rye, and sorghum grains are all potential candidates — as is cheese whey, the milk sugar left over from processing. Food-processing wastes from the beverage, baking, snack, and confectionary industries are notoriously high in sugar or starch content and can provide an alternative to direct-from-field sourced feedstocks.
After fermentation is complete, the ethanol must be distilled from the water. This is best accomplished with a reflux still, which is equipped with a distillation column. The column uses a series of perforated plates or packed compartments to remove the water in a process called fractionation. As the heated water and alcohol vapors rise through each stage, a progressively stronger alcohol vapor is created. During distillation, column temperature must be controlled to take advantage of the different boiling points of the two fluids.
The alcohol vapors rise, while the water condenses and drops back to be reintroduced as a vapor mix again and again. The most potent alcohol vapors exit at the top of the column to be cooled by a water condenser and collected as proof 96 percent pure ethanol. Besides, the small amount of water present does not hinder engine performance. Car engines have to be modified to run on straight ethanol. Fuel-injected engines can have their injectors replaced for greater flow, or the fuel pressure increased.
Engines can be further optimized for ethanol by preheating the fuel and air, varying the heat range of the spark plugs and boosting the compression ratio. So what does it take to set up a small-scale distillery? That depends on how small an operation you want. A simple batch still can be made from an old water heater and a length of 3-inch conduit and heated by wood or natural gas. On a more practical scale, building a 6-inch column still will put you in the 6-gallons-per-hour production ballpark — a substantial yield, but one that comes with additional cost.
Bigger may not always be better, but where the alcohol fuel still is concerned, it does pay for the small farm or homestead to take advantage of the production benefits that size can offer. And this figure Is, of course, barely twice the cost of assembling our smaller still.
Furthermore, the still is not only extremely efficient as is, but also flexible enough to incorporate many different modifications. By the same token, you can up the output of the still by increasing its column size to an eight- or ten-inch diameter.
You see, the working principle will remain unchanged … as long as you maintain a height-to-diameter ratio of about 24 to 1 thus an eight-inch column must be 16 feet in height, and a ten-inch conduit would have to be 20 feet tall. But the best news is yet to come: This low-cost still, even though it can deliver up to eight gallons per hour of distillate and more if you choose to upscale it , is also capable of producing a to proof product … which is ideal for homemade fuel alcohol use!
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