Removing scent from Isopropyl Alcohol

[totachi]

Dear Scientific community

I have dehydrated (almost 100%) isopropyl alcohol. This alcohol has a strong bad scent and I want to use this isopropyl alcohol as a base (raw material ) in a windshield  washer fluid. BUT because of this strong smell I can not. Is there a technique or a machine that can take out the smell from dehydrated isopropyl alcohol before I can mix it to make the washer ?

PS adding industrial grade scents to kill the original smell does not work.

Thank you !

 

 

[StringJunky]

Is it the normal smell of IPA or remaining additives?

Edited January 31, 2018 by StringJunky

[Sensei]

8 minutes ago, totachi said:

Is there a technique or a machine that can take out the smell from dehydrated isopropyl alcohol before I can mix it to make the washer ?

Distillation and/or vacuum distillation.. ? but equipment is expensive (vacuum pump costs at least $400-$500).. but isopropyl alcohol I bought the last time for $6/L.

Whether distillation will work or not, depends on what is contamination (and what are properties like e.g. boiling point).

 

 

[totachi]

8 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Is it the normal smell of IPA or remaining additives?

Normal smell of IPA

[John Cuthber]

IPA smells of IPA.

There's nothing you can do about it.

 

[StringJunky]

1 hour ago, totachi said:

Normal smell of IPA

As JC says, there's nothing to be done about it because it's quite volatile. Only using in really cold conditions, to reduce the evaporation rate, would the smell go down.

Was it your intended idea to use it in pure form in the washer bottle?

Edited January 31, 2018 by StringJunky

[Strange]

I rather like the smell of iso-propyl alcohol.

Nostalgia, maybe ...

[StringJunky]

8 minutes ago, Strange said:

I rather like the smell of iso-propyl alcohol.

Nostalgia, maybe ...

I use it quite a lot for cleaning/degreasing my phone screen, glasses etc and don't find the smell offensive at all. It's very transient anyway.

[Strange]

2 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

I use it quite a lot for cleaning/degreasing my phone screen, glasses etc and don't find the smell offensive at all. It's very transient anyway.

Can you still buy it? (We used to just go round to the local chemists shop and get big bottles of it, but I thought you couldn't do that anymore.)

[StringJunky]

23 minutes ago, Strange said:

Can you still buy it? (We used to just go round to the local chemists shop and get big bottles of it, but I thought you couldn't do that anymore.)

Yes. I use this company and size. Look in their shop page for the size you want.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IPA-100-1-LITRE-Lab-Grade-Isopropyl-Alcohol-Isopropanol-99-1L-/141522873981#shpCntId

P+P is free in the UK

I dispense it from these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5pcs-30ml-Travel-White-Plastic-Perfume-Atomizer-Empty-Small-Spray-Bottle-UK/132440534746?hash=item1ed6122eda:g:8E0AAOSwYwJaOfXf

Edited January 31, 2018 by StringJunky

[Sensei]

1 hour ago, Strange said:

I rather like the smell of iso-propyl alcohol.

Nostalgia, maybe ...

Run Cloud Chamber, and entire room will smell IPA...

After that you can have headaches..

 

1 hour ago, Strange said:

Can you still buy it? (We used to just go round to the local chemists shop and get big bottles of it, but I thought you couldn't do that anymore.)

Check electronics equipment shops (with resistors, diodes, transistors, LEDs, PICs, Arduino, etc. etc. not ready devices).

IPA is used for cleaning electronics.

 

 

Edited January 31, 2018 by Sensei

[StringJunky]

10 minutes ago, Sensei said:

Run Cloud Chamber, and entire room will smell IPA...

After that you can have headaches..

 

Check electronics equipment shops (you know, with resistors, diodes, transistors, LEDs, PICs, Arduino, etc. etc. not ready devices).

IPA is used for cleaning electronics.

 

 

Prices here are high in shops like that.

[Strange]

28 minutes ago, Sensei said:

IPA is used for cleaning electronics.

Yep. That's what we used it for. (And the mechanical bits, as well.)

[totachi]

6 hours ago, StringJunky said:

As JC says, there's nothing to be done about it because it's quite volatile. Only using in really cold conditions, to reduce the evaporation rate, would the smell go down.

Was it your intended idea to use it in pure form in the washer bottle?

The intend is to use it in a form that will give you freeze free of the washer with in temperatures of -30 or -40 C

the reason why I need IPA is because it is non toxic, the market that i require this product for tends to drink this stuff ......

[StringJunky]

34 minutes ago, totachi said:

The intend is to use it in a form that will give you freeze free of the washer with in temperatures of -30 or -40 C

the reason why I need IPA is because it is non toxic, the market that i require this product for tends to drink this stuff ......

Are you near the arctic circle? Wouldn't it be better in those conditions to apply the alcohol by hand with a pump  spray bottle and then wipe the windshield? Obviously this can't be done in motion.

[Sensei]

1 hour ago, totachi said:

the reason why I need IPA is because it is non toxic,

Did you read wikipedia page of Isopropyl alcohol ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol

"Toxicology

Isopropyl alcohol and its metabolite, acetone, act as central nervous system (CNS) depressants,[27] and around 15 g of isopropyl alcohol can have a toxic effect on a 70-kg human if left untreated.[28] Poisoning can occur from ingestion, inhalation, or skin absorption. Symptoms of isopropyl alcohol poisoning include flushing, headache, dizziness, CNS depression, nausea, vomiting, anesthesia, hypothermia, hypotension, shock, respiratory depression, and coma.[27] Overdoses may cause a fruity odor on the breath as a result of its metabolism to acetone.[29] Isopropyl alcohol does not cause an anion gap acidosis but it produces an osmolal gap between the calculated and measured osmolalities of serum, as do the other alcohols.[27]

Isopropyl alcohol is oxidized to form acetone by alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver,[27] and has a biological half-life in humans between 2.5 and 8.0 hours.[27] Unlike methanol or ethylene glycol poisoning, the metabolites of isopropyl alcohol are less toxic, and treatment is largely supportive. Furthermore, there is no indication for the use of fomepizole, an alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitor, unless co-ingestion with methanol or ethylene glycol is suspected.[30]"

 

https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+116

" ACCORDING TO CLINICAL EXPERIENCE ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL IS MORE TOXIC THAN ETHYL ALCOHOL AND LESS TOXIC THAN METHYL ALCOHOL. ... ITS ACUTE POTENCY AS CENTRAL NERVOUS DEPRESSANT IS ABOUT TWICE THAT OF ETHANOL. PROBABLE LETHAL ORAL DOSE FOR ADULT IS 8 OZ (240 ML), BUT AS LITTLE AS 20 ML IN WATER CAN PRODUCE SYMPTOMS. "

 

[John Cuthber]

49 minutes ago, Sensei said:

LESS TOXIC THAN METHYL ALCOHOL

That's probably the important bit, given that nothing is "non toxic".

You can use propylene glycol- low odour, less toxic. Much more expensive.

[Klaynos]

10 hours ago, Strange said:

Can you still buy it? (We used to just go round to the local chemists shop and get big bottles of it, but I thought you couldn't do that anymore.)

I bought 1.5 l on Amazon about a year ago for under £10. Bought for paint thinning but it gets used for cleaning about as much. Most glasses cleaning kits come with watered down IPA as well. 

[Strange]

47 minutes ago, Klaynos said:

I bought 1.5 l on Amazon about a year ago for under £10. Bought for paint thinning but it gets used for cleaning about as much. Most glasses cleaning kits come with watered down IPA as well. 

Last time I tried at a local pharmacy it was before Amazon and Ebay existed! (Or maybe when Amazon just sold books and Ebay was a place for individuals to auction off their unwanted items.)