6. Usages and applications of ethanol, shelf-life, storage and benefits & ethanol standard
Alcohol is used in medicine and industry in a wide range. The most important applications are presented as below:
1. Uses of medical alcohol
Medical alcohol has the widest range of application within the country. Medical alcohol is produced and offered to the market with 70 or 96 degree of purity.
Following are some major uses of alcohol:
Vinegar manufacturing
Vinegar is a material resulted from acidic fermentation of alcohol and has various uses in food industries as well as domestic household consumption.
It is to be pointed out that sometimes vinegar is directly taken from molasses; however, the vinegar tastes astringent and is low in quality. Therefore, if alcohol and vinegar production processes are considered sequentially:
Molasses (alcoholic fermentation/ferment) alcohol (acidic fermentation/ferment) vinegar
At first, molasses turns into alcohol through the process of alcoholic fermentation and then alcohol is acidically fermented and vinegar is produced.
In factories, usually molasses changes into alcohol and is then pumped into preservation tanks. After this phase, alcohol is transferred to thinning tanks and becomes capable of performing acidic fermentation following the addition of thin water. Finally, ferment is added and vinegar is produced through the acidic fermentation process.
Thus, it should be noted that alcohol and vinegar production are two separate processes and are not technologically linked to each other. Furthermore, as explained previously, vinegar cannot be taken from molasses directly due to the low- quality of the product. It is to be said that about 10 liter vinegar can be gained from each liter of alcohol.
Medical uses
Alcohol is a strong antiseptic material. Therefore, medical instruments and equipment are sterilized with alcohol and it is also used in injections and bandage wards.
Pharmaceutical uses
Alcohol has two applications in pharmaceutical industry:
a. Solvent
Alcohol is the solvent for most drugs existing in plants and some chemicals. So, in order to extract the medicine from plants or chemical compounds, alcohol is used.
b. Drug
Alcohol is directly used in formulation of some drugs.
c. Drinking
In other countries, alcohol is used for making alcoholic drinks.
2. Uses of industrial alcohol
Industrial alcohol has many uses.
Raw material for manufacturing cosmetics
Alcohol is used in producing cologne, perfumes, flavors and other cosmetics. The most distinguishing feature of alcohol for being used in manufacturing the said products is its solvability. Alcohol dissolves various flavors (used in making cologne and perfumes) as well as oils and waxes (in making lipsticks, blushers, mascara, etc.) and exits the environment due to its quality of vaporization in low heat.
Raw material for manufacturing some pharmaceuticals
Alcohol compounds are used in making some pharmaceutical products such as window washers, shiners and polishers.
Raw material for manufacturing colors
Alcohol is used in formulation of some lacs, colors and polishers. In these products, alcohol is used as the solvent of consumed resins as well as holder and solvent of pigments. Another reason for using alcohol in the said products is its cleaning ability in order to increase the stickiness of color or lac on the surface.
Manufacturing derivatives of alcohol
Alcohol is used in manufacturing some industrial products derived from alcohol. Alcohol is used as the raw material for manufacturing the following products:
- Ethylene glycol (automobile anti-freezing)
- Astaleids
- Butadienes
- Polyesters
- Chloroform
- Ethylene chloride
- Di-ethyl ether
- Aston
Fuel alcohol
It is actually the absolute alcohol which is in order to either increase the degree of octane in gas (a substitute for the gas additive MTBE) or to be used as a part of gas used as automotive fuel.
Alcohol can be indirectly (in form of the raw materials ETBE or MTBE) used as one of the additives to gas.
3. Shelf-life, Storage and Benefits:
Up to 24 months and can be stored at
Large volumes: in carbon steel tanks with protection against atmospheric and other electrical discharges (grounded)
and with special fire protection valves. The tanks should be protected by containment basins with capacity to receive the
tank contents;
Small volumes: in lined carbon steel, iron or stainless steel containers, at a safe distance from heat sources,
with ventilation, with explosion-proof electrical installations and grounding systems;
High solubility in water and organic solvents;
Clean and renewable source of energy;
4. Ethanol Standard
Standard No. 161 of the Iranian Standardization and Industrial Researches Institute is devised for specifying the
properties, packaging and signing different types of ethylic alcohol.
This standard is voluntarily applied within the country.
Also, standard numbers 3753 and 321 of India (IS, IS 3753, 321) and the US pharmacopoeia (U.SPH and ASTMD4806)
are related to alcohol.
