What are fusel oils in distillation?
According to Patil et al., (1) the term fusel oil is used to designate a mixture of higher alcohols obtained during distillation of bioethanol. Higher alcohols are those consisting of more than two carbon atoms such as isoamyl alcohol, isobutanol, propanol, butanol, and others.
How is fusel oil produced?
The fusel oil alcohols are apparently produced during fermentation from amino acids. In industrial alcohol plants, fusel oil and ethyl alcohol are recovered from the fermented liquors and separated by distillation. In the beverage industry, fusel oil is ordinarily allowed to remain in the finished products.
What causes fusel alcohol formation?
Fusel alcohols were produced during sugar and FAN assimilations during their experiments, which is slightly earlier in the process than ester formation. Ester production rate reached a maximum and approximately 80% of the total fermentation time, depending on temperature.
What is the composition of fusel oil?
Fusel oils are 60–70% amyl alcohols (various isomers of C8H11OH), smaller amounts of 1-propanol (CH3CH2CH2OH), isobutanol ((CH₃)2CHCH2OH), and other trace components.
How do you separate fusel oil from alcohol?
1. The first one corresponds to neutralizing the minor organic acids present in Fusel Oil using a diluted solution of sodium hydroxide in excess. The second step consists on separating the Alcohols and Water from the heavy components and the third one involves purifying of the Isoamyl Alcohol.
What is fusel oil used for?
The fusel oil can be used as a solvent, or as raw material for obtaining esters and other chemical compounds. Uses: aromatic extracts, liquid fuel, raw material for the extraction of other alcohols such as amyl acetate and isoamyl, solvent for paints bases.
Is methanol a fusel oil?
The ETS Higher Alcohols (Fusel Oils) panel includes other volatile compounds of interest: acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate and methanol.
Are fusel alcohols toxic?
Although fusel alcohols are considered to be safe flavoring components, their contribution to the intoxicating effects and quality of liquor products warrants investigation. In fact, fusel alcohols could be a key contributor to the intoxicating effects, as a result of their acute toxicity and neurotoxic effects [18].