No way since decantation means pouring liquid & leaving solid behind in a careful manner. The liquid mixture (hexane with Tb= 69 degrees, ethanol with Tb= 78.5 degrees, and water with Tb=100 degrees) is heterogeneous. In a separatory funnel, n-hexane will be in the upper layer, and "aqueous" ethanol will be in the lower layer. The 2 layers are separated so hexane is isolated. The solution ethanol-water cannot be separated into its components by fractional distillation because the 2 form an azeotrope (constant boiling mixture which here boils at 78 degrees below both i.e. minimum). The 2 components are separated by rectification only after adding a third substance as entrainer (which either takes water alone with it or takes ethanol alone with it).I think a liquid ketone may do it but this needs an experiment to support the idea.

KOH does not react with ethanol so it will not remove the odor due to the alcohol.

Hexane (non polar) water + ethanol (polar), so you can use simply the separatory funnel because the are completely immicible , after separating water and ethanol fraction try to pass it through the filter paper with fine activated charcoal, charcoal will adsorb the traces of n-hexane.

but sir when ethanol too adsorbs to charcoal. is there a way to seperate adsorbed ethanol from charcoal. I have read article stating ethanol adsorbs to charcoal and it is necessary to maintain low concentration of ethanol in fermentation medium. becoz ethanol adsorbs to charcoal

A good and easy way is by a ternary diagram. Trying to be in biphasic phase by adding more water o hexane (depending of you start concentration of the mixture) . Then you will get on aqueous and an organic phase so its easier to separate by decantation.

AGC