>Can anyone give sound technical data as to why azeotropic distillation is >no longer used commercially?
>Andy Thomson As I recall, azeotropic distillation of ethanol uses benzene, or maybe hexane. Benzene is a big problem with EPA, OSHA, etc., and probably similar groups in other countries. Hexane shouldn't be any worse than gasoline, but I know they can't use it for vegetable oil extraction anymore, so it's probably highly regulated for ethanol as well. Also I suspect the extra distillation steps (one with the azeotrope-forming compound, and then another to remove it from the ethanol) are quite energy-intensive compared to the newer methods. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Get your FREE credit report with a FREE CreditCheck Monitoring Service trial http://us.click.yahoo.com/ACHqaB/bQ8CAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
