How to Distill Ethanol at Home

In this video I show you how to eaisly purify alcohol using a simple homemade still.
DISCLAIMER - In some countries it may be illegal to distill alcohol, I forgot to say that in the video.
If you liked the video please consider liking and subscribing to my channel :)
If you want to support my work here's my patreon - / amateurchemistry
Also, excuse me for my poor speaking, in the case that you don't understand something there are always subtiles made by me.
0:00 Intro
1:55 Building the still
2:58 First distillation
4:25 Gato Reveal
4:35 First distillation
5:45 Second distillation
7:10 Tests
#chemistry
#experiment
#diy
#colors
#fire

[@sbreheny]

I feel like this video needs a disclaimer that in many countries, distilling ethanol without a license is technically illegal (due to government taxes on drinkable alcohol). This is probably very unlikely to be enforced in a case like this but still worth being aware of.

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

Thanks for your notice, I just put a disclaimer in the description :)

[@experimental_chemistry]

@@Amateur.Chemistry
Normally that's no legal problem as long you use denatured ethanol - or already taxed ethanol without making it more concentrated as it was before you bought it.
Drying the azeotrop with anhydrous sodium sulfate or calcium oxide shouldn't be a problem, too. In case if doubt add a few drops of MEK to taxed alcohol beforehand and you can do what you like with it afterwards.

[@prapanthebachelorette6803]

@@Amateur.Chemistry I’d suggest you pin this comment though 😅

[@prapanthebachelorette6803]

As many people are more likely to go through the comments without clicking “see more” at the video description

[@williambradley611]

@@Amateur.ChemistryI have a pretty cool very hard project idea turning pyrite into pure sulfur

[@experimental_chemistry]

Ethanol forms a seperate upper layer by salting out with potash after the water is saturated with the salt.
This layer should be distiiled instead.
The distillate can be further dryed with calcium oxide, filtered and redistilled then.

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

@Experimental Chemistry I have a question.
Recently I browsed through different video ideas, and came up upon your procedure of making acetone from citric acid.
I find that really interesting and worthy of its own video, but I have to ask you if you agree for me to do that.
In such video i will of course tell that i borrowed this procedure from you, but i ask you for your premission since i know that you might not want me to take your concept.

[@experimental_chemistry]

@@Amateur.Chemistry
It's very polite from you that you ask for permission but it's a commom and known process everyone can carry out and show if he likes. No problem.
If you mention my channel despite that I would be thankful for it. 🤗
In principle you only need to ask other creators if you show direct cut-outs from their videos.
About the method: please consider that the yield is relatively low and the process not really oeconomically worhwhile. I just showed it for fun and for the proof of concept. And don't forget that it's important to pre-heat the mixture and add the permanganate solution only dropwise if you don't wanna create an unhealthy mess... 😉
Have fun & good luck!

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

Thank you very much for you response and tips, also in the video i will definitely mention your channel. However, i have one more question. Yesterday i did a test run of the procedure but with more citric acid and after adding the potassium permanganate i could definitely smell acetone in there, but i didnt seem to be able to distill anything other than some stinky wster. I wonder if the amount of citric acid or water affects the yield here.

[@experimental_chemistry]

@@Amateur.Chemistry
About 7 % citric acid like in my case was enough for making it work. Adding a bit of a strong acid like dill. sulfuric acid will support the decarboxylation. And the permanganate must be added in a stoichiometric amount using a saturated solution dropwise.
Boiling over water and acetone at once is quite normal (even without any azeotrope, which doesn't form between these two solvents), just because of the relatively high boiling point of the citric acid solution in which acetone is formed only successively.
A fractional or second distillation might be helpful for separation, but in my case that was neither senseful (because of the max. obtainable amount of just about 1 g acetone from my small batch) nor necessary (because of its direct use to form iodoform in an aqueous solution).

[@PotooBurd]

Love your work! Comenting for the algorithm 🌻

[@chloebunbun]

Very good video ❤ just subbed and love to see more. It's just like nile red before he got popular and got worse. Happy to See again a High quality chemistry video that's down to earth.
Aannnd happy to see a fellow polish guy, you have only little accent but it's not very noticable. Keep up that work ❤

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

Thank you very much for such a positive comment! Its always heartwarming when pepole write you something like this :)

[@WaffleStaffel]

Awesome video. _Lowering the barrier of entry to science..._ Too often, expensive lab equipment prevents people from having access to doing experiments, I love the improvisation. I'd say I hate being the safety NAZI, _but I have mixed feelings about impugning the NAZI's._ I broke a large borosilicate vessel once because the heat was too concentrated in one spot. Thanks for making and sharing excellent content, AC!

[@prapanthebachelorette6803]

I agree. I don’t want to police around too much but I’ve had accidents before, so yeah… I think it depends on what chemicals you are working with and you’ll be fine if you choose your tools appropriately. I’m just afraid that some audience might assume that all backyard chemistry is safe and ended up with some ahh whoooooshhh! 😅

[@tevan_1614]

Amazing content man

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

Thank you!

[@slyfoxchemistry]

Amazing job well done how are you

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

Thanks, I am good :)

[@Harakatheboye]

Is there any other type of tubing that works other than latex?

[@monarchfilmspx0955]

In this setup latex is only used to pump cool water around the condenser tube. It doesn't affect the distillation. It only pumps the cool water around the vapor tube and does not contact your product.

[@speechy7401]

hah widze ze polski kanal po cisowinace
wgl to skad kupujesz szkło? i odczyniki? allegro warchem chemland??

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

Wszystko głównie z allegro i chemlandu, a jakieś egzotyczne odczynniki to z warchemu.

[@speechy7401]

@@Amateur.Chemistry jako wielki fan fenolu proponuję ci żebyś zrobil fenol z aspiryny po czym znitrowal go i zrobil sól z ołowiem jeśli dobrze to oprawisz to myślę że się wybije.

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

Również jako wielki fan fenolu chciałem to jak i dużo innych sporych projektów zrobić już od bardzo dawna, ale czekam z tym do wakacji bo chciałbym to zrobić tak naprawdę dobrze w prawdziwym labolatorium a nie w domu.
Tak czy siak wielkie dzięki za sugestie, bo dzięki takim komentarzom ten kanał może się rozwijać :)

[@speechy7401]

@@Amateur.Chemistry kurde znam wiele osob ktore instersuja sie chemia ale jestes chyba jedyna jaka znam ktora zamaist narzekac na fenol to mowisz ze tez go lubisz hahha

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

@speechy Fenol jest 10/10, imo najlepszy związek aromatyczny zarąbiste rzeczy można z nim robić

[@edgeeffect]

How do you prevent the "boiling flask" from cracking?

[@arturjogi2667]

It shouldn't be cracking? What's happening for you?

[@the_real_aristotle]

it shouldnt crack, as long as there is a liquqid in it

[@Alex_Seth_23_]

Когда есть профессиональное химическое оборудование выполнить дистилляцию достаточно просто

[@ryans3442]

You need to replace the tubing with copper pipe

[@user-dc8em3ou2z]

Ethanol is key for fulmination!😊

[@avenuex3731]

Rubber should not be in the circuit. Copper is cheap, easy to work, has a good specific heat and keeps the ph steady.

[@henryrroland]

"Gato"... Where are you from?

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

I know that the name „gato” can be a bit misleading, but that’s just how i call my cat. I am from Poland actually :)

[@henryrroland]

@@Amateur.Chemistry
Satisfy my curiosity, please. Do you speak Spanish or portuguese?

[@Amateur.Chemistry]

I only speak a tiny bit of spanish

[@edgeeffect]

That's cool... Trochę mówięm po Polsku...

[@user-dc8em3ou2z]

Easier and you can achieve 100% using 3a molecular sieves! Oh yeah!😊

[@ludekspurny5553]

It is not 25% of ethanol, concentration must be much higher because 25% ethanol wouldn’t burn.

[@julianblacksmith8539]

What is the minimum percent for burning