Alcohol fuel is made by mixing gasoline with ethanol, an alcohol produced from the distillation of any plant. Ethanol is usually made from corn, in the United States, but can also be made from sugarcane, grass clippings, food waste and ocean kelp. Ethanol contains some percentage of water. Transport fuels can contain no more than 0.7 percent of water. Ethanol must be dehydrated before mixing with gasoline and using as a viable fuel. Zeolites are used to dehydrate alcohol. Zeolites, either man-made or naturally occurring, are porous mineral substances that absorb certain ions, molecules or compounds, such as H2O, water.
Place molecular sieve in a container where ethanol will be held. Molecular sieve comes in the shape of either white pellets or beads. Some producers prefer to pour the molecular sieve into a tubing structure that secures the sieve on one end by steel wire mesh. The idea is to allow the ethanol to flow through the sieve into the container without having to fish the sieve out afterwards.
Secure steel wire mesh to one end of a length of metal pipe with a soldering tool or to PVC piping with a staple gun. Pour the molecular sieve into the open end of the tube. Make sure that the sieve does not fall through the pipe. Insert the still decanter opening into the open end of the tube, and turn on the spigot.
Pour ethanol over the molecular sieve. The molecular structure of the zeolite is a lattice. The 3a molecular sieve will allow metals to pass through quickly but will hold and absorb water as the ethanol passes through. The result from passing through the sieve will be 100 percent ethanol. Some producers prefer to pour the molecular sieve into a tubing structure that secures the sieve on one end by a wire mesh. Secure wire mesh to one end of a length of metal or PVC piping. Pour the molecular
Remove molecular sieve. Dry out the sieve in a heat dry vacuum. Water must be expelled from the zeolites to render them available for reuse.
