Separating Ethanol From Water Via Differential Solubility

The differential solubility of sulfur in ethanol and water could be exploited to separate ethanol from water. The energy that could be produced by burning the separated ethanol would be more than that required in the separation process. In contrast, the separation of a small amount of ethanol (actually an ethanol/water solution poor in ethanol) from water by distillation requires more energy than can be produced by burning the resulting distillate. The proposed alcohol/water separation process could be exploited industrially to produce clean fuel from fermented vegetable matter.