DETERMINATION OF ETHANOL CONTENT IN GASOLINE

Resumen

The National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP) has established that the alcohol content standard for gasoline has increased from 27% to 30% by volume. Therefore, if the percentage obtained is lower or higher than the established standard, the gasoline will be considered an adulterated product. This was observed in the sample of the compound tested during the Organic Chemistry Laboratory course of the Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry at the Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology of Ceará (IFCE) - Ubajara Campus, a practice related to the year 2022. Therefore, this article aims to determine, through an experiment, the ethanol content present in a commercial gasoline sample, using volumetric titration. The method initially measured the alcohol content of commercial gasoline mixed with a saline solution (NaCl + distilled water). Subsequently, the alcohol content of the respective sample, mixed with distilled water, was measured. As a result, and according to the ANP's update on the alcohol content of gasoline, the data obtained demonstrated that the ethanol content in the laboratory-tested sample of the respective product was adulterated, as the values found were far from the percentage permitted by the ANP.