Ethanol is sometimes abbreviated as EtOH, using the common organic chemistry notation of representing the ethyl group (C2H5−) with Et. Physical properties
Ethanol is a volatile, colorless liquid that has a slight odor. It burns with a smokeless blue flame that is not always visible in normal light. The physical properties of ethanol stem primarily from the presence of its hydroxyl group and the shortness of its carbon chain. Ethanols hydroxyl group is able to participate in hydrogen bonding, rendering it more viscous and less volatile than less polar organic compounds of similar molecular weight, such as propane. Ethanols adiabatic flame temperature for combustion in air	is 2082 Celsius or 3779 Fahrenheit.Ethanol is slightly more refractive than water, having a refractive index of 1.36242 (at λ=589.3 nm and 18.35 °C or 65.03 °F). The triple point for ethanol is 150 K at a pressure of 4.3 × 10−4 Pa.

Solvent properties
Ethanol is a versatile solvent, miscible with water and with many organic solvents, including acetic acid, acetone, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, diethyl ether, ethylene glycol, glycerol, nitromethane, pyridine, and toluene. Its main use as a solvent is in making tincture of iodine, cough syrups etc. It is also miscible with light aliphatic hydrocarbons, such as pentane and hexane, and with aliphatic chlorides such as trichloroethane and tetrachloroethylene.Ethanols miscibility with water contrasts with the immiscibility of longer-chain alcohols (five or more carbon atoms), whose water miscibility decreases sharply as the number of carbons increases.
Possible reasons for predisposition to VALI include:

An injured lung may be at risk for further injury
Cyclic atelectasis is particularly common in an injured lung

Pathogenesis
Overdistension of alveoli and cyclic atelectasis (atelectotrauma) are the primary causes for alveolar injury during positive pressure mechanical ventilation. Severe injury to alveoli causes swelling of the tissues (edema) in the lungs, bleeding of the alveoli, loss of surfactant (decrease in lung compliance) and complete alveoli collapse (biotrauma). High flow rates are associated with rheotrauma, high volumes with volutrauma and pressures with barotrauma. Collectively these may be converted into a single unit of mechanical power. Diagnosis
VALI does not need to be distinguished from progressive ALI/ARDS because management is the same in both. Additionally, definitive diagnosis of VALI may not be possible because of lack of sign or symptoms. Prevention
Preventing alveolar overdistension
Alveolar overdistension is mitigated by using small tidal volumes, maintaining a low plateau pressure, and most effectively by using volume-limited ventilation. A 2018 systematic review by The Cochrane Collaboration provided evidence that low tidal volume ventilation reduced post operative pneumonia and reduced the requirement for both invasive and non invasive ventilation after surgery

Preventing cyclic atelectasis (atelectotrauma)
Applied positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) is the principal method used to keep the alveoli open and lessen cyclic atelectasis. Open lung ventilation
Open lung ventilation is a ventilatory strategy that combines small tidal volumes (to lessen alveolar overdistension) and an applied PEEP above the low inflection point on the pressure-volume curve (to lessen cyclic atelectasis).