Removing ethanol from gasoline is easier than it sounds. Ethanol is more soluble in water than in gasoline. So, if you add water to the gasoline and shake it vigorously, the ethanol will attach itself to the water. After it has sat for a while, the gasoline and water/ethanol form two distinct layers and you can drain the ethanol/water in a number of ways.
Items You Need:
- Separatory funnel
- Plastic funnel
- Gasoline
- 2 small glass jars
- Adhesive labels
- 1 g anhydrous magnesium sulfate
- Glass funnel
- Filter paper
How to Remove Ethanol from Gasoline?
Let’s understand how to remove ethanol from gasoline step by step:
Choose a funnel that is twice the size of the liquid you are adding. Separating funnels are used in chemistry to separate liquids. It needs to be doubled in size to give the liquid room to move.
Check the valve at the bottom. The valve, called the stopcock, should be closed to prevent liquid from escaping. Use a ring stand to keep the funnel in the air so you don’t have to hold it.
Remove the cap(stopper) from the top and pour the gasoline into the funnel. Pour in the water after the gasoline and put the plug back in place. Use approximately 1 cup (240 ml) of water per 1 gallon (3.8 L) of gasoline. Make sure there are no open flames nearby as gasoline fumes can ignite.
Put your finger on the stopper. Invert the funnel and shake the solution. With the stopper pointing down, turn the stopcock to open to relieve any pressure. Close the stopcock and shake the solution a little more. Repeat 2 or 3 times.
Place the funnel back in the holder. The stopcock should be facing downward in the ring stand. Let the mixture sit until the gasoline isn’t cloudy anymore and you have a clear separation between the 2. It will take at least a couple of minutes.
Drain the ethanol and water out of the bottom. Place a container under the funnel. Open the stopcock to let the ethanol and water come out of the bottom. Be careful to stop right where the mixture is separated, and close the stopcock.
Add about 1 gram of anhydrous magnesium sulfate powder to the jar containing the gasoline and swirl for 30 seconds. The magnesium sulfate will absorb any water that may still be mixed with the gasoline and form a solid clump in the bottom of the jar.
Place a piece of filter paper in a glass funnel and place the funnel on top of an empty glass jar. Slowly pour the gasoline through the filter paper. The filter paper will catch any solid pieces of magnesium sulfate. The jar should now contain gasoline that is free of both ethanol and water.
How to Remove Ethanol from Gasoline Through Three Methods
There are several methods that can be used to remove ethanol from gasoline, but most of them are complex and require specialized equipment. Here are a few possible approaches:
Method 1: Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating the components of a mixture by using differences in their boiling points. In the case of removing ethanol from gasoline, the mixture is heated to a high temperature, causing the ethanol and other volatile compounds to evaporate.
The vapors are then cooled and condensed, resulting in a separation of the ethanol from the gasoline.
To perform distillation, the mixture is placed in a distillation flask and heated to a temperature above the boiling point of the ethanol but below the boiling point of the gasoline.
The vapors produced by the heating process rise up a column, where they encounter a cooled surface, such as a condenser, which causes them to condense back into a liquid.
The condensed liquid, which contains a higher concentration of ethanol than the original mixture, is collected in a receiving flask. This process can be repeated multiple times to further purify the ethanol.
Method 2: Adsorption
Adsorption is a process in which molecules of a gas, liquid, or dissolved solid are attracted and held on the surface of a solid material.
In the case of removing ethanol from gasoline, this process involves passing the gasoline through a bed of activated carbon or other porous material, which absorbs the ethanol and other contaminants. The purified gasoline can then be collected on the other side of the bed.
To perform adsorption, the gasoline is passed through a column filled with the adsorbent material. As the gasoline passes through the column, the ethanol and other contaminants are attracted to and held on the surface of the adsorbent material.
The purified gasoline is collected on the other side of the column. This process can be repeated multiple times to further purify the gasoline.
Method 3: Membrane separation
Membrane separation is a process in which a membrane with very small pores is used to filter out contaminants from a liquid or gas. In the case of removing ethanol from gasoline, this process involves using a membrane to filter out the ethanol and other contaminants from the gasoline.
The purified gasoline can then be collected on the other side of the membrane.
To perform membrane separation, the gasoline is passed through a membrane with pores that are small enough to retain the ethanol and other contaminants, but large enough to allow the purified gasoline to pass through.
The purified gasoline is collected on the other side of the membrane, while the ethanol and other contaminants are retained on the membrane. This process can be repeated multiple times to further purify the gasoline.