NOVELTY - Process (A) for purifying a crude ethanol product, comprises: (a) hydrogenating an acetic acid feed stream in a reactor (103) in the presence of a catalyst to form a crude ethanol product; (a) recovering an acetaldehyde stream from the crude ethanol product in at least one distillation column; and (c) feeding the recovered acetaldehyde stream to the reactor.    USE - The process is useful for purifying a crude ethanol product (claimed), used in applications including: fuel for motor vehicles including automobiles, boats or small piston engine aircrafts; solvent for toiletry and cosmetic preparations (cleansers or sanitizers), detergents, disinfectants, coatings, inks, pharmaceutical products, medicinal products, food preparations, dyes, photochemicals or latex processing; chemical feedstock to make other chemicals including vinegar, ethyl acrylate, ethyl acetate, ethylene, glycol ethers, ethylamines, aldehydes, or higher alcohols especially butanol; and hydrogenation transport or consumption.    ADVANTAGE - The process provides ethanol which: contains very low amounts (e.g.less than 0.5 wt.%) of alcohols; and is substantially free of acetaldehyde, where the amount of acetaldehyde in the separated ethanol is less than 8 wppm acetaldehyde.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are also included for:    (1) a process (B) for purifying a crude ethanol product, comprising: (a) as above per se; (b1) separating at least a portion of the crude ethanol product in a first column (107) into a first distillate comprising ethanol, water and ethyl acetate, and a first residue comprising acetic acid; (c1) separating at least a portion of the first distillate in a second column (108) into a second distillate comprising ethyl acetate and a second residue comprising ethanol and water; (d1) optionally separating at least a portion of the second residue in a third column (109) into a third distillate comprising ethanol and a third residue comprising water; and (e1) separating at least a portion of the second distillate in a fourth column into a fourth distillate comprising acetaldehyde and a fourth residue comprising ethyl acetate; and    (2) a process (C) for purifying a crude ethanol product comprising ethanol, water, acetic acid, acetaldehyde and ethyl acetate comprising: separating the crude ethanol product; separating the first distillate; optionally separating the second residue; and separating at least a portion of the second distillate in a fourth column into a fourth distillate comprising acetaldehyde and a fourth residue comprising ethyl acetate.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The figure shows a schematic diagram of a hydrogenation system.    Reactor (103)    Flasher (106)    First column (107)    Second column (108)    Third column (109)