Calin+Solomon

=**Ethanol** = = =  By: Calin Solomon & Ahsum Khan Ethanol pump station in [|Sao Paulo, Brazil] where the fuel is available commercially.

__ What is Ethanol? __ ====Ethanol is an alternative fuel produced from the fermenting of sugars or sugar-based feedstock that can reduce the carbon dioxide of gasoline burning vehicles by up to 59%. ====

[|United States Postal Service] vehicle running on [|E85], a "flex-fuel" blend in [|Saint Paul], [|Minnesota].


__The Process  of Making Ethanol __ The process of making ethanol starts in spring when corn is planted for harvest. Once it has fully grown and developed, the corn is collected and shipped to the ethanol factories and the real process begins. First, the corn is ground into small particles in order to expose the cornstarch. The cornstarch, which will be used for the fermentation process, is milled into a fine powder and the remaining materials are shipped to ranches to be used as livestock feed. The cornstarch is then mixed with water and alpha-amylase in order to break in into smaller particles. The mixture is then cooked at about120-150 degrees in order to liquefy the starch and reduce bacteria levels and the resulting liquid is then heated to 250 degrees to break the starch even further. Afterward, the liquid is cooled and an enzyme called glucoamylase is added to it in order to help turn it into a sugar (dextrose) that can be fermented. Then, the sugar is mixed with yeast and left to ferment for 48 hours.  The resulting substance is 10% ethanol, water, yeast/corn that couldn’t ferment and carbon dioxide gas. To separate the ethanol from the mixture, the mixture is heated once more so that the ethanol vaporizes. The vapors collected are then cooled in order for them to condense and afterwards, the liquid is purified by going through the process of dehydration in order to remove any remaining water. But, it’s not over yet. Once the liquid is purified, it is 200 proof ethanol, or what we generally call pure alcohol, which is illegal to be sold as a fuel-grade liquid because it is fit for human consumption. So, gasoline is added to the ethanol until at least 2% of it is gasoline thus making it unfit for human consumption and legal to sell as fuel-grade. The remaining yeast/corn mixture is shipped off to be used as livestock feed and the carbon dioxide is compressed and sold to be used by carbonated beverage industries.  A great video on how ethanol is made from start to finish can be found by clicking on the link below.  http://videos.howstuffworks.com/drivingethanolorg/657-from-farm-to-fuel-video.htm <span style="color: rgb(9,93,15); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">

__<span style="font-size: 160%; color: rgb(9,93,15);">The Importance of the Ethanol __ <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Ethanol is an important factor when it comes to climate change for many reasons. First of all, the burning of ethanol has been recorded to release up to 59% less carbon dioxide than gasoline. If we start burning ethanol instead of gasoline, we will see a drastic change in our climate. Less carbon dioxide in the air would mean less extreme weather events and it would cut the gradual increase in our yearly temperatures that we have been experiencing for the past 50 years or so. Water levels would also stop rising because the temperatures would go back to what they used to be and the polar ice caps would stop melting. The air we breathe will also be a lot cleaner and safer for our environment. Smaller carbon dioxide emissions would reduce the smog levels in big cities thus making safer for people to live in those cities. Less carbon dioxide in the air would also stop the eating away of our o-zone layer which has begun to have holes in it which allows for radiation from the sun to hit the Earth. Another benefit of using ethanol to power your car instead of gasoline is that your car will perform better, remain cleaner, it will have a longer life span, and it will be easier to maintain it. That is because ethanol burns much cleaner than gasoline.

This Google Video gives a quick and simple method of how ethanol can be made at home and how it burns cleaner than gasoline. <span style="color: rgb(9,93,15); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,0);"> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5652084969685574914&ei=3eXHSfKSIpue-wGc3NyaCQ&q=make+ethanol&hl=en __<span style="font-size: 160%; color: rgb(9,93,15);">The Chemistry Involved __ <span style="color: rgb(9,93,15); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(0,0,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The Chemical formula for ethanol is: <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">C2H6O <span style="color: rgb(9,93,15); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(0,0,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,0);">The chemistry involved for making ethanol starts in plants. <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Ethanol-2D-skeletal.svg/100px-Ethanol-2D-skeletal.svg.png width="100" height="38" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ethanol-2D-skeletal.svg"]] || [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Ethanol-3D-vdW.png/100px-Ethanol-3D-vdW.png width="100" height="80" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ethanol-3D-vdW.png"]] ||
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Ethanol_flat_structure.png/100px-Ethanol_flat_structure.png width="100" height="62" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ethanol_flat_structure.png"]] || [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Ethanol-3D-balls.png/100px-Ethanol-3D-balls.png width="100" height="69" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ethanol-3D-balls.png"]] ||

1. Glucose (a simple sugar) is created in the plant by photosynthesis. ||
 * || <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">6(CO2) + 6(H2O) + light → ­C6H12O6 + 6(O2)
 * || <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2. During ethanol fermentation, glucose is decomposed into ethanol and carbon dioxide.

C6H12O6 → 2(C2H6O) + 2(CO2) + heat

During the combustion reaction, ethanol reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water, and heat. <span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(0,0,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">C2H6O + 3(O2) → 2(CO2) + 3(H2O) + heat <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">After doubling the ethanol combustion reaction because two molecules of ethanol are produced for each glucose molecule, there are equal numbers of each type of molecule on each side of the equation, and the net reaction for the overall production and consumption is just: Light → heat

P.S.- I wrote the formulas in Word with the numbers of atoms in each molecule subscribed but when I pasted them here, the subscribed numbers became big and I couldn't figure out how to subscribe them. So, I just put the molecules in parenthesis. Ex: 3(H2O) means 3 water molecules. If I hadn't put the parenthesis it would have looked like 3H2O equals a molecule with 3 hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen molecules. || <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="color: rgb(9,93,15); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">

__Bibliography:__ Buis, Tom. "Break the Addiction to Foreign Oil." __Wall Street Journal.__ 22 March 2009. 23 March 2009. [] Galbraith, Kate. "Ethanol from 'Energy Cane'(and Someday, Orange Peels)." __New York Times.__ 16 March 2009. [] "What is Ethanol." __about.com__. 2009.The New York Times Company. 23 March 2009. < []> "How ethanol is made: from the corn plant to the production plant." __drivingethanol.org__. 23 March 2009. <http://www.drivingethanol.org/ethanol_facts/producing_ethanol.aspx>

<span style="font-size: 150%; color: #095d0f; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">__ Credits: __ Ahsum- wrote "The Chemistry Involved" section Calin- wrote "The Process" & "Importance" and found pictures