Processes for producing anhydrous ethanol compositions

Process for producing anhydrous ethanol compositions. The processes comprise hydrogenating acetic acid in the presence of a catalyst to form a crude ethanol product, separating in a first column a portion of the crude ethanol product into a first distillate comprising ethanol, water and ethyl acetate, and a first residue comprising acetic acid, separating in a second column a portion of the first distillate into a second distillate comprising ethyl acetate and a second residue comprising ethanol and water, separating in a third column a portion of the second residue into a third distillate comprising ethanol and residual water and a third residue comprising separated water, and dehydrating a portion of the third distillate to form the anhydrous ethanol composition. The anhydrous ethanol composition, as formed, comprises less than 1 wt.% water, based on the total weight of the anhydrous ethanol composition.