Drying Ethanol with Zeolyte

By Donald Franson

I have used Zeolite to dry my alcohol for the past 2 years with
great success.

There are different kinds and SIZES of Zeolite and here size matters
the most. By size I am not referring to the actual grain size of the
pellets but the internal size of the openings within the Zeolite.

Water has a particle size of a little over 3 angstroms where as

alcohol has a particle size of a little under 3 angstroms, so a
Zeolite rated AT 3 angstroms will trap the water and not let it go.
Now that is not to say that it will not adsorb the alcohol too! It
will soak up whatever it can but water will displace the alcohol and
water cannot get out while alcohol can. I say this because I stood
in shock the first time I poured a quart of 95% alcohol into 5
pounds of Zeolite and nothing came back out, (5 pounds of Zeolite
fills a gallon can.)

I let Sphinx adsorbents Inc. figure out the amount of Zeolite I

needed for 5 gallon batches and they gave me a figure of 14 pounds
of Zeolite to 5 gallons of 190 proof alcohol to remove the last 10%,
However they have a minimum sale of 20 pounds.

The Zeolite did come dry but not ready to use. I did not know I had
to wash it out to get the dust out and had to find out the hard way.
The dust that came out with my alcohol could not be removed with a
filter and I had to put it through my still again to get rid of it.
Also agitation of the Zeolite will flake off powders that will do
the same thing so do not agitate the Zeolite thinking it will make
it work faster.

How I use Zeolite:

Took a metal bucket that will fit into my oven or drying box, the
bucket also needs to fit inside a large container that I pour my
alcohol into (found a 15 gallon stainless container with a drain and
lid that works perfectly for me.

Drill the bucket full of rather large holes (I used 2 inch holes but
smaller will work)

Put window screen inside the bucket and put the Zeolite into the
screen then folded and tied the screen closed so that the Zeolite
cannot get out.
Rinsed the Zeolite out with water until the water ran clear!

Dried the Zeolite and let cool inside the drying box or oven.
(I found a used Convection oven for sale at the Habitat Restore in
my town that works great for a drying box, do not use your kitchen
oven or your wife will be very upset!!!)

Put the bucket of Zeolite inside the alcohol container and pour in
alcohol, let stand 1 hour, Drain and store the 100% alcohol in an
air tight container until ready for use.

Fill the alcohol container with water to just cover the Zeolite. Let
stand 1 hour.

Remove Zeolite bucket and drain, it is now ready to dry for next use.

Put the water into my still boiler and boil with next batch of beer
to recover the alcohol.

I do not dry the Zeolite until I am ready to use it because it will

adsorb the water right out of the air.

I bought my Zeolite from SPHINX ADSORBENTS, INC. Tel# 413-736-5020

It is called: MOLECULAR SIEVE TYPE Z GRADE 3A-8

I hope this clears up some of the mystery of using Zeolite, I know

that this is not the way it is done in large operations and not the
only way to use Zeolite but it is pretty fool proof (that means it
works for me.)

Donald Franson
September 2006