Ethanol - what is it? Properties of ethanol. The use of ethanol

Ethanol - what is this substance? What is its use and how is it produced? Ethanol is better known to everyone under a different name - alcohol. Of course, this is not quite the right designation. But meanwhile, it is under the word "alcohol" that we mean "ethanol". Our ancestors also knew about its existence. They received it through the process of fermentation. In the course were various products from cereals to berries. But in the received brag, just so called alcohol in the old days, the amount of ethanol did not exceed 15 percent. Pure alcohol was able to separate only after studying the processes of distillation.

Ethanol - what is it?

Ethanol is a monohydric alcohol. Under normal conditions, it is a volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a specific smell and taste. Ethanol has found wide application in industry, medicine and everyday life. It is an excellent disinfectant. Alcohol is used as fuel and as a solvent. But most of all the formula of ethanol C2H5OH is known to fans of alcoholic beverages. It is in this sphere that this substance has found wide application. But do not forget that alcohol as an active component of alcoholic beverages is a strong depressant. This psychoactive substance is able to depress the central nervous system and cause a strong dependence.

In our time, it is difficult to find an industry where ethanol would not be used. It is difficult to list everything that alcohol is so useful. But most of all his properties were evaluated in pharmaceutics. Ethanol - the main component of almost all medicinal tinctures. Many "grandmother's recipes" for the treatment of human ailments are based on this substance. It draws from the plants all useful substances, accumulating them. This property of alcohol has found application in the manufacture of home herbal and berry infusions. And although it is alcoholic beverages, but in moderate amounts they benefit health.

The Benefits of Ethanol

The formula of ethanol is known to everyone from school lessons in chemistry. But that's the benefit of this chemical, so not everyone will answer right away. In fact, it is difficult to imagine an industry where alcohol would not be used. First of all, ethanol is used in medicine as a powerful disinfectant. They treat the operating surface and wounds. Alcohol has a harmful effect on virtually all groups of microorganisms. But ethanol is used not only in surgery. It is indispensable for the manufacture of medicinal extracts and infusions.

In small doses alcohol is useful for the human body. It promotes blood thinning, improving blood circulation and vasodilatation. It is even used to prevent cardiovascular diseases. Ethanol helps to establish the work of the gastrointestinal tract. But only in really small doses.

In special cases, the psychotropic effect of alcohol can drown out the most severe pain. Ethanol has found application in cosmetology. Due to its pronounced antiseptic properties, it is included in almost all cleansing lotions for problem and oily skin.

Harm to ethanol

Ethanol is an alcohol obtained by fermentation. With excessive use, it can cause severe toxicological poisoning and even to whom. This substance is a part of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol causes the strongest psychological and physical dependence. Alcoholism is considered a disease. The harm of ethanol is immediately associated with scenes of unrestrained drunkenness. The excessive use of alcohol-containing beverages not only leads to food poisoning. Everything is much more complicated. With frequent drinking alcohol affects almost all organ systems. From oxygen starvation, which causes ethanol, die in large numbers of brain cells. There is a degradation of personality. In the first stages, memory weakens. Then a person develops diseases of the kidneys, liver, intestines, stomach, blood vessels and heart. In men, loss of potency is observed. At the last stages of the alcoholic, the deformity of the psyche is revealed.

History of alcohol

Ethanol - what is this substance and how it got? Not everyone knows that it was used since prehistoric times. He was a part of alcoholic beverages. True, his concentration was small. But meanwhile, traces of alcohol were found in China on 9000-year-old ceramics. This clearly indicates that people were drinking alcohol-containing drinks in the Neolithic Age.

The first case of obtaining alcohol was registered in the 12th century in Salerno. True, it was a water-alcohol mixture. Pure ethanol was singled out by Johann Tobias Lovitz in 1796. He used the method of filtration through activated carbon. The production of ethanol by this method remained the only method for a long time. The formula of alcohol calculated by Nicolo-Theodore de Saussure, and described it as a carbon compound Antoine Lavoisier. In the 19-20 centuries, many scientists were engaged in the study of ethanol. All its properties were studied. At present, it is widely used and applied in almost all spheres of human activity.

Ethanol production by alcohol fermentation

Perhaps the most famous way to get ethanol is alcohol fermentation. It is possible only by using organic products that contain a large amount of carbohydrates, for example grapes, apples, berries. Another important component for fermentation to be active is the presence of yeast, enzymes and bacteria. The processing of potatoes, corn and rice also looks like this. To obtain fuel alcohol use raw sugar, which is produced from cane. The reaction is rather complicated. As a result of fermentation, a solution is obtained that contains no more than 16% ethanol. A higher concentration can not be obtained. This is explained by the fact that yeast can not survive in more saturated solutions. Thus, the resulting ethanol must be subjected to purification and concentration processes. Distillation processes are usually used.

To obtain ethanol, use the species of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae of various strains. In principle, they are all capable of activating this process. As a nutrient substrate, wood sawdust can be used or, alternatively, a solution obtained from them.

Fuel

Many know about the properties that ethanol possesses. What is alcohol or a disinfectant is also widely known. But alcohol is still fuel. It is used in rocket engines. A well-known fact - during the First World War, 70% aqueous ethanol was used as fuel for the world's first German ballistic missile, the V-2.

Now alcohol has become more prevalent. As a fuel, it is used in internal combustion engines, for heating appliances. In laboratories it is poured into the spirit-holders. The catalytic oxidation of ethanol is used for the production of warmers, both military and tourist. Alcohol with restriction is used in a mixture with liquid petroleum fuel due to its hygroscopicity.

Ethanol in the chemical industry

Ethanol is widely used in the chemical industry. It serves as a raw material for the production of substances such as diethyl ether, acetic acid, chloroform, ethylene, acetaldehyde, tetraethyl lead, ethyl acetate. In the paint and varnish industry, ethanol is widely used as a solvent. Alcohol is the main component of windshield washers and antifreezes. Alcohol is also used in household chemicals. It is a part of detergents and cleaning agents. Especially often it is found as a component in liquids for the care of plumbing and glass.

Ethyl alcohol in medicine

Ethyl alcohol can be attributed to antiseptics. It has a harmful effect on virtually all groups of microorganisms. It destroys the cells of bacteria and microscopic fungi. The use of ethanol in medicine is almost ubiquitous. This is an excellent drying and disinfectant. Due to the tanning properties, alcohol (96%) is used to process the operating tables and hands of the surgeon.

Ethanol is a solvent for medications. It is widely used for making tinctures and extracts from medicinal herbs and other vegetable raw materials. The minimum concentration of alcohol in such substances does not exceed 18 percent. Often ethanol is used as a preservative.

Ethyl alcohol is also perfectly used for grinding. During fever, it produces a cooling effect. Very often alcohol is used for warming compresses. At the same time it is absolutely safe, there are no redness and burns on the skin. In addition, ethanol is used as a defoamer when supplied artificially with oxygen during ventilation. Alcohol is also a component of general anesthesia, which can be used in case of a shortage of medications.

Ironically, ethanol medical is used as an antidote for poisoning with toxic alcohols, for example methanol or ethylene glycol. Its effect is due to the fact that in the presence of several substrates, the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase only performs competitive oxidation. Due to this, after the immediate intake of ethanol, following toxic methanol or ethylene glycol, a decrease in the current concentration of metabolic toxins is observed. For methanol, this is formic acid and formaldehyde, and for ethylene glycol is oxalic acid.

Food industry

So, how to get ethanol, it was known to our ancestors. But he received the most wide application only in the 19-20 centuries. Along with water, ethanol is the basis of almost all alcoholic beverages, primarily vodka, gin, rum, cognac, whiskey, beer. In small amounts alcohol is found in beverages, which are obtained by fermentation, for example in kefir, koumiss, kvass. But they are not considered alcohol, since the concentration of alcohol in them is very small. Thus, the content in fresh ethanol kefir does not exceed 0.12%. But if he stands up, the concentration may rise to 1%. In kvass ethanol is slightly more (up to 1.2%). Most alcohol is contained in koumiss. In a fresh dairy product, its concentration is from 1 to 3%, and in the settled milk it reaches 4.5%.

Ethyl alcohol is a good solvent. This property allows using it in the food industry. Ethanol is a solvent for flavors. In addition, it can be used as a preservative for bakery products. It is registered as a food supplement E1510. Ethanol has an energy value of 7.1 kcal / g.

The action of ethanol on the human body

Ethanol production is established all over the world. This valuable substance is used in many spheres of human life. Tinctures on alcohol are a medicine. Impregnated with this substance wipes used as a disinfectant. But what is the effect of ethanol on our body when ingested? Is it useful or harmful? These issues require detailed study. Everyone knows that humanity consumed alcoholic beverages for centuries. But only in the last century the problem of alcoholism has acquired a large scale. Our ancestors used braga, mead and even now so popular beer, but all these drinks contained a weak percentage of ethanol. Therefore, they could not cause significant harm to health. But after Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev diluted alcohol with water in certain proportions, everything changed.

Currently, alcoholism is a problem almost all countries in the world. Getting into the body, alcohol has a pathological effect on almost all organs without exception. Depending on the concentration, dose, route of exposure and duration of exposure, ethanol may exhibit toxic and narcotic effects. He is able to disrupt the cardiovascular system, contributes to the development of digestive tract diseases, including stomach ulcers and 12-colon. By narcotic action means the ability of alcohol to cause stupor, insensitivity to pain and oppression of the central nervous system. In addition, a person develops alcoholic excitement, very quickly he becomes addicted. In some cases, excessive consumption of ethanol can cause someone.

What happens in our body when we drink alcoholic beverages? A molecule of ethanol is capable of affecting the central nervous system. Under the influence of alcohol, the endorphin hormone is released in the nucleus accumbens, but in people with pronounced alcoholism and in the orbitofrontal cortex. But, nevertheless, despite this, ethanol is not recognized as a narcotic substance, although it shows all the appropriate actions. Ethyl alcohol was not included in the international list of controlled substances. And this is a controversial issue, because in certain doses, namely 12 grams of substance per 1 kg of body weight, ethanol leads first to acute poisoning, and then death.

What diseases causes ethanol?

The ethanol solution itself is not a carcinogen. But his basic metabolite, acetaldehyde, is a toxic and mutagenic substance. In addition, it also has carcinogenic properties and provokes the development of cancer. His qualities were studied in laboratory conditions on experimental animals. These scientific works have led to very interesting, but at the same time, alarming results. It turns out that acetaldehyde is not just a carcinogen, it can damage DNA.

Long-term use of alcoholic beverages can cause a person such diseases as gastritis, cirrhosis, ulcer of the 12-colon, stomach, esophagus, small and large intestine, cardiovascular diseases. Regular ingestion of ethanol into the body can trigger oxidative damage to brain neurons. Due to damage to the blood-brain barrier, they die. The abuse of alcohol-containing beverages leads to alcoholism and clinical death. People who regularly drink alcohol, the risk of developing a heart attack and stroke increases at times.

But this is not all the properties of ethanol. This substance is a natural metabolite. In small amounts, it can be synthesized in the tissues of the human body. It is called true endogenous alcohol. It is also produced as a result of the breakdown of carbohydrate food in the gastrointestinal tract. Such an ethanol is called "conditionally endogenous alcohol". Can a normal breathalyzer determine the alcohol that has been synthesized in the body? Theoretically, this is possible. Its amount rarely exceeds 0.18 ppm. This value is at the lower limit of the most modern measuring instruments.