Types & Uses of Alcohol

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Depending upon the type, alcohol can be used for a beverage, a cleaning agent, first aid or as a fuel
when camping and Last Updated: Aug 16, 2013 | By Frank Whittemore Alcohol can has a number of uses
when camping or backpacking. For camp stoves, alcohol does not produce as much heat as other fuels,
such as propane or white gas. However, it is generally considered safer, more widely available and less
expensive than other fuels. When used with care, most alcohols can be a worthy addition to any camping
or backpacking trip.

Ethyl Alcohol
Also called grain alcohol, grain neutral spirits, ethanol or rectified alcohol, ethyl
alcohol can be purchased as an alcoholic beverage of a very high proof. These
include brand names such as Everclear and Golden Grain and are typically 95
percent pure alcohol. These can be used as fuels for alcohol stoves, but may be
very expensive and illegal to possess in some areas. It can also be purchased in its
purest form from chemical or medical supply companies; however, because
benzene, glycerin or other chemicals are required to remove the last amounts of
water, these can be very toxic when used as fuels for alcohol stoves. While ethyl
alcohol can be produced at home using distillation, the process is illegal in the
United States.

Alcoholic Drinks
The word "alcohol" in alcoholic drinks refers to ethanol (CH3CH2OH).

Industrial methylated spirits

some color added. Ethanol is usually sold as industrial methylated spirits, which is ethanol with a small quantity of
methanol and possibly Because methanol is poisonous, industrial methylated spirits are unfit to drink, allowing
purchasers to avoid the high taxes levied on alcoholic drinks.

Use of ethanol as a fuel

Ethanol burns to produce carbon dioxide and water, as shown in the equation below, and can be used as a fuel in its
own right or in mixtures with petrol (gasoline). "Gasohol" is a petrol/ethanol mixture containing approximately 1020%
ethanol. Because ethanol can be produced by fermentation, this is a useful method for countries without an oil
industry to reduce the amount of petrol imports.

CH3CH2OH+3O22CO2+3H2O
Ethanol as a solvent
Ethanol is widely used as a solvent. It is relatively safe and can be used to dissolve many organic compounds that are
insoluble in water. It is used, for example, in many perfumes and cosmetics.

Methanol as a fuel
Methanol also burns to form carbon dioxide and water:

2CH3OH+3O22CO2+4H2O
It can be used a a petrol additive to improve combustion, and its use as a fuel in its own right is under investigation.

Methanol as an industrial feedstock

Most methanol is used to make other compounds, for example, methanal (formaldehyde), ethanoic acid, and methyl.