Easiest way to distill 120 proof into 190 proof?

[Lurium2000]

Or close to at least

How much of a set up do I need if I want to reuse my expensive alcohol when extracting oil?

 

[flylowgethigh]

Enter the expert's realm: https://graywolfslair.com/index.php/home

 

[Creeperpark]

Moonshine still would work fine. Here's a good one, its called, Suteck 3 Gal Moonshine Still Spirits Kit 12L Water Alcohol Distiller Copper Tube Boiler Home Brewing Kit with Thumper Keg Stainless Steel. Cost is $100 bucks on Amazon. With all due respect, be extra careful!

 

[Gray Wolf]

The easiest cheap way I've found is a simple reflux column.

https://graywolfslair.com/index.php...uxing-columns-for-producing-190-proof-ethanol

 

[NotaProfessor]

Instead of distilling you can use anhydrous magnesium sulfate to dry ethanol the cheap, safe and easy way. No distillation equipment, no heat. One mole of anhydrous mag sulfate (122 g) will suck up 7 moles of water (136 g or ml) to make epsom salts (MgSO4•7H2O). A pound of anhydrous mag sulfate is $5 (I just looked at Amazon) and will suck up about 500 g or ml of water. Pour the ethanol on an excess of anhydrous mag sulfate, stir then let settle overnight. Filter the ethanol to get the mag sulfate out and you have (nearly) anhydrous ethanol. I do this with Everclear to get anhydrous ethanol. It's a trick I learned in organic chem lab when I was in college.

 

[Gray Wolf]

Instead of distilling you can use anhydrous magnesium sulfate to dry ethanol the cheap, safe and easy way. No distillation equipment, no heat. One mole of anhydrous mag sulfate (122 g) will suck up 7 moles of water (136 g or ml) to make epsom salts (MgSO4•7H2O). A pound of anhydrous mag sulfate is $5 (I just looked at Amazon) and will suck up about 500 g or ml of water. Pour the ethanol on an excess of anhydrous mag sulfate, stir then let settle overnight. Filter the ethanol to get the mag sulfate out and you have (nearly) anhydrous ethanol. I do this with Everclear to get anhydrous ethanol. It's a trick I learned in organic chem lab when I was in college.

When I used MgSO4 or Mol Sieve, I had to distill one more time to get rid of the residue. https://graywolfslair.com/index.php/10-the-alchemist-resource/10-19-190-proof-ethanol-from-scratch

 

[f-e]

Gotta be a column to skim the top off.

 

[G.O. Joe]

Some things you don't want to hear:

The solubility of magnesium sulfate in anhydrous ethanol is 11.6 grams per liter, rising with increasing water content.

Adding a lot of solid with a lot of surface area to a liquid and then filtering results in having a lot less liquid than you started with.

Molecular sieves might be mentioned in patents which use industrial techniques, or in chemistry articles where a small amount removed quite small amounts of water - probably with more organic solvent removed than water.

There are good reasons why processes which seem sensible to some are never mentioned by real chemists.

The azeotrope is closer to 195 proof than 190, so I guess 190 is easier. Gear isn't everything. An azeotrope is obtained when the correct procedure for fractionation is followed. You can't just pour a mixture into a kettle, add a packed column and a condenser, turn on the heat, and expect fractionation.

There are no conspiracies involved.