RECTIFIED ETHYL ALCOHOL PRODUCTION PROCESS Russian patent published in 2001 - IPC

FIELD: alcohol production. SUBSTANCE: method involves epuration in epuration column, rectification of epurate, and after-refinement of rectified alcohol on final-refinement column. For that, whole stream of alcohol from rectification column is loaded onto feed tray of final-refinement column. From the final-refinement column condenser, methanol-containing cut (1 5-2%) is discarded, whereas intermediate impurities (mainly propyl and isopropyl alcohols) are discarded in two streams from zones located above and below feed tray. Rectified ethyl alcohol is tapped off from boiling-out zone of column. Product is characterized by containing at least 96.3 vol % of ethyl alcohol, exhibiting positive test on purity with sulfuric acid, containing no more that 2 mg/cu.dm of aldehydes (on conversion to acetaldehyde in relation to the weight of anhydrous ethanol), no more than 3 mg/cu.dm of fuzel oil (on conversion to the 3:1 mixture of isoamyl and isobutyl alcohols to the weight of anhydrous ethanol), and no more than 0.003 vol % methanol. Concentration of free acids (without carbonic acid) in anhydrous alcohol does not exceed 12 mg/cu.dm and furfurol is completely absent. EFFECT: reduced methanol level and improved physico-chemical characteristics allowing utilization of alcohol in production of high-quality vodkas. 1 dwg, 1 tbl