What makes cleaning/sanitizing alcohol different from drinking alcohol? When distilleries switch from making vodka to making sanitizer, what are doing differently?
In: Chemistry
Edit. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRINK SANITIZERS. IT WILL MOST LIKELY KILL YOU.
Bullet points
1. Distilleries use some form substrate , mostly grains, that are broken down by biological fermentation using yeast. This process is also called Ethanol fermentation.
The whole point in setting up a distillery is to produce ethanol.
Ethanol forms an azetropic mixture at atmospheric pressure and cannot be purified above 95-96%.
2. Consuming Ethanol makes people MERRY. Another type of alcohol, Methanol makes people blind and dead. Frankly speaking all other forms of alcohol are toxic to humans.
3. Distillers have processes to convert bland, clear liquid (ethanol ) to suit their needs. Whisky for e.g is brown and oak like.
Further, in distillery pure ethanol is diluted to needs.
A 40 proof whiskey means 20 percent ethanol.
Now coming to sanitizer business.
1. Alcohols in general will kill bacteria , virus etc. Key to note is: A concentration above 75% ethanol solution is recommended by WHO for COVID.
This is a recipe distillers have to follow.
2. To make sanitizer for personal (hands etc.) use ethanol used must be denatured.
Denatured: Govts across the world require ethanol manufactures to add toxic / pungent / colored additives to their produce if it is not meant for human consumption. Resons? Taxation
3. Santizers also have some stabisers / additives to keep them shelf stable.
4. Bottling, it is very difficult to dispense a squirt of Sanitizer from a bottle of corona.
I guess this gives u some insight.
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