How to Make Ethanol Alcohol

Ethanol alcohol is a great gasoline additive that will help you increase your car's fuel efficiency. If you own a car that can handle E-85, then ethanol alcohol can be used as 85% of this gas alternative. However, before you attempt to make ethanol alcohol for your own personal use, make sure to consult your local law professional, as it is illegal in many states to produce your own ethanol for automotive use without a special permit.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Ethanol distiller
• Water boiler
• Alpha amylase
• Glucoamylase
• Yeast
• Grain
• Water
• Plastic barrel

1. Decide on a commonly available feedstock for the ethanol. This can be any type of grain, including rice, corn or soybeans. Once you have decided on the feedstock, grind it up and then weigh it.

2. Find out how much water your boiler can handle. Then go to the ethanol materials calculator at The Ethanol Source (see Resources) and plug in the weight of your materials as well as your boiler's capacity to find out how much yeast and sugar you will need.

3. Add alpha amylase enzyme in the proper proportions to the measured water and feedstock. Boil this mixture for an hour to kill any bacteria. Remove the mixture from heat and then add glucoamylase.

4. Add yeast to the mixture and store in a covered plastic barrel. Leave it for 3 to 5 days to ferment. Because Ethanol is flammable, it is best to leave this outside is a protected area.

5. After fermentation is complete, put the mixtrure through a distiller to remove excess water from the mixture. Once the distillation process is complete, store the ethanol in a plastic container in a protected area.

Tips & Warnings

• It is very important to obtain an ethanol-producing license before attempting these steps.
• Make sure you have proper containment facilities before you make the ethanol, as it is very flammable.

Resources

• Resource Calculator at The Ethanol Source