how is ethanol obtained from2_butene
Answers
The alcohol ethanol, C2H5OH, can be produced in two ways, by fermentation and from crude oil. In ethanol fermentation, yeast is used to break down glucose and other sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide. The glucose and other sugars used in this process come from plants, mainly sugarcane. The sugars are produced during photosynthesis, and come from the carbon dioxide that enters the plant. The plant is then harvested and broken down into these sugars. The juice this produces then has yeast added to it, and is fermented under anaerobic conditions (without oxygen) to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. The equation for this reaction is as follows:
C6H12O6 -> 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO2
Producing ethanol using crude oil is a completely different process. The ethanol is made by hydrolysing ethene, in the reaction C2H4 + H2O ->C2H5OH. The ethene comes from cracking long chain hydrocarbons found in crude oil. This cracking requires high temperatures and a catalyst of phosphoric acid in order to work.