How to "Salt Out"

Salting out is a process that can be used to dehydrate Isopropyl alcohol, i.e., separate it from water in an azeotropic solution. Dehydrated Isopropyl is useful as a fuel by itself and in helping to determine the right amount of catalyst to add when making bio-diesel fuel.

Removing water also increases the Isopropyl alcohol's ability to:

> melt ice off your frozen windshield
> dissolve water in gasoline
> burn cleaner when used as a standalone fuel
> provide your pet with an invigorating rub after his next bath, which is curiously strong enough (dry enough) to dislodge stubborn ticks and fleas
> serve as a powerful pet or human wound antiseptic
> wash out those wax filled ears
> save you big $$$ (dough, ka-ching, moola, etc.) think money*

(*99.9% Isopropyl Iso-Heet at auto stores runs around 18.25 cents per ounce. 99.9% Isopropyl made from salting out 50%-91% generic retail brand Isopropyl runs around 6.73 cents per ounce. That is a savings of over 63%. If you use it to dry your gasoline then be sure to remove the residual salt using the addendum method.)

What you need:

- bottle of 50% to 70% Isopropyl alcohol
- a wide mouth glass jar and lid, or other leak and Isopropyl proof container
- a pound of non-iodized table salt
- a turkey baster with a reduced size nozzle
- an empty bottle equal in size to the bottle of Isopropyl alcohol.

Step 1: Start by Adding the Table Salt

Fill the empty jar about 1/4 full with table salt

Step 2: Add the Hydrated Isopropyl Alcohol

Fill the jar about 3/4 full with hydrated (50% to 70%) Isopropyl alcohol

Step 3: Shake Contents Vigorously

Put the lid on the jar, close to seal the contents and shake jar vigorously to be sure the salt and water combine.

Step 4: Let Gravity Separate the Contents

Place jar on a level surface long enough for the alcohol and salt water to separate (15 to 30 minutes).

Step 5: Keep the Two Layers Separate

Open jar carefully so as not to remix the two layers.

Step 6: Extract the Isopropyl Alcohol

Use the turkey baster to extract the top layer, which will be the Isopropyl alcohol.

Step 7: Fill the Receiving Bottle

Fill a receiving bottle with the turkey baster Isopropyl contents.

Step 8: Label Bottle

Label the bottle "Dehydrated Isopropyl Alcohol"

Step 9: Use Your Dehydrated Alcohol

Use in an alcohol stove, lamp, torch, etc. or to give your pet a nice alcohol rub down.

Step 10: Addendum

You may find that your salted out Isopropyl leaves a salt residue when it is burned. In many applications like a pocket stove the salt residue will continue to serve in the role of helping to separate the Isopropyl and the water when water intrusion occurs from dampness, rain or boil overs.

In other applications the salt residue may not be desired. To separate the salt residue from the Isopropyl use a homemade still. In this case your are not distilling an azeotropic solution of Isopropyl and water but rather separating a liquid from a dissolved solid.

The diagram below illustrates the required components for such a still.

Comments

[MarioL111]

Freezing the salted-out IPA will precipitate a lot of the dissolved salt.

[lloydrmc]

Diagram below?

[Lil'R]

and antihistimines are alcohol amines, so benadryl, dramamine, still technically types of alcohol so lots of alcohols but only one (methanol) causes blindness, cocaine is technically an alcohol too because that is cocamethanol, and that doesn't cause blindness, but if you mix it with ethanol, the two get metabolized into one alcohol, cocaethanol

[patmccock]

i used 91% isoproply alcohol and it wont work why is that?

[accuklipper]

I have seen elsewhere on the web that sodium chloride can't concentrate isopropanol past 87%, and the resulting 87% isopropanol is about 2-3% sodium chloride. This seems to be the explanation for the suggestion of magnesium sulfate that is dehydrated by heating. Sodium hydroxide also works, but there is the matter of it being caustic.

http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?...

[DrCoolSanta]

Thats what the product is suppose to be. If you use more dilute alcohol this will work. Just add some water to this and see :P

[emergencydpt.com]

You could put the salt on your margarita for a scientific buz...or was the alcohol in the water?

[CowGuy]

ISO metabolizes into acetone and you can in fact ingest it though not recommended. Much heavier than ethanol and is dangerously strong, does not cause blindness or instant death but likely to put you close with how strong of an alcohol it is.

[versusterminus19]

Isopropyl alcohol is definitely not something you want to drink. Not all alcohols get you drunk, as far as I know ethanol is the only one that does it without some pretty nasty side effects (although hangovers aren't too fun ;))

[nathanielg]

I have read that if you drink isopropyl alcohol it can cause blindness or even death.

[binnie]

most alcohols actually cause blindness, and ethanol is really the only alcohol thats safe to drink (not that its that safe eh ;D ) most other alcohols cause blindness in really small quantities, and theyr all very lethal poisons.