Question

Would ethanol from sugar cane be separated through simple, steam, azeotrope, or fractional distillation? And why?

Answer 1

Ethanol and water

It is a positive azeotrope. The azeotrope composition is 95.63% ethanol and 4.37% water (by weight). Ethanol boils at 78.4°C, water boils at 100°C, but the azeotrope boils at 78.2°C, which is lower than either of its constituents. In general, a positive azeotrope boils at a lower temperature than any other ratio of its constituents. For ethanol/ water, 78.2°C is the minimum temperature of the mixture can boil at the atmosphericpressure. Positive azeotropes are also called minimum boiling mixtures or pressure maximumazeotropes.