Absolute alcohol is made by an extraction process, not by distillation. 

There is a company in Florida which makes a lab distiller which has an
attachment for thier still to extract the water from 95 percent distilled
ethanol. Can't remember the name of the company right now. 

Tim Morken
CDC, Atlanta
 
-----Original Message-----
From: rkline@emscience.com [mailto:rkline@emscience.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 1:48 PM
To: Agust?n Venzano
Cc: HistoNet Server
Subject: Re: Absolute ethanol


I never heard of any method to convert 95% or 96% alcohol to absolute. You
would
need to remove an awful lot of water by some type of chemical such as a
molecular sieve which would cost more than purchasing absolute in time and
material.

Rande Kline
EM Science




"Agust?n Venzano"  on 03/26/2002 12:06:27 PM

To:   HistoNet Server 
cc:    (bcc: Rande Kline/EMI/Merck)
Subject:  Absolute ethanol



Agustin,
Are you sure you don't mean re-distilling the alcohol.  Many laboratories in
the US are re-distilling the alcohol with small laboratory units.  Several
companies make them and I am sure if you ask on HistoNet one of them will
answer.  Pam Marcum

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Agust?n Venzano [mailto:avenzano@cicv.inta.gov.ar]
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 1:27 PM
> To: HistoNet Server
> Subject: Absolute ethanol
>
>
> Dear Histonetters: Did anyone of you hear on home manufacturing
> of absolute
> ethylic alcohol from 95 or 96 ? pharmaceutical alcohol. Some years ago we
> had a Chilean trainee in our Research Center who told us that they usually
> recycled 96 ? alcohol back to absolute alcohol in their lab. I think they
> did it by adding some hygroscopic salt to 96 ? alcohol ?
>
> Thank you for your help
>
> Agustin Venzano
> INTA Castelar, Argentina

Mr. Marcum: I've already consulted some chemists on alcohol distillation,
but they told me that it is rather hard to convert 96? ethanol to absolute
with such method, due to the small difference between the boiling point of
water and ethanol. Which is your personal point of view on the topics?

Yours sincerely

Agustin Venzano
INTA Castelar, Argentina