Abstract: The process of decreasing methanol in apple spirit, containing ethanol 60.1%(V/V) and methanol 0.85g/L, by packed distilling column was studied in this paper. The results showed that the methanol moved faster and faster to the top with a result of reducing methanol in the bottom boiler simutaniously accompanied with the same changes of ethanol since the beginning of distilling. Whereas, when the ethanol in the boiler is lower than 50%(V/V) the content of methanol in the top liquid of the column shifted to reducing, and the content of the ethanol in the boiler decreased faster. The more the reflux ratio was, the better the methanol was disparated. When reflux ratio arrives at 100:1 for 35min distilling and the methanol in the bottom decreased by 52.9% of its original value, the result met the requirement of qualified spirit according to National Standard. The methanol became lower when reflux ratio of 90:1 or 100:1 was adopted for 50min. Another experiment of reducing methanol with the absorption of 4A molecular sieve was conducted. It showed that the reducing rate by immersing absorption was higher than that by flowing absorption through column. A maximum value was obtained with 30min immersing absorption to reach 61.8% accompanied by a extremely low loss of ethanol. This method is practicable for production.

Key words:  , apple spirit； distillation； molecular sieve； methanol； ethanol ；