A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK
ON THE
DISTILLATION OF ALCOHOL
FROM
FARM PRODUCTS
INCLUDING
The Processes of Malting; Mashing and Mascerating; Fermenting
and Distilling Alcohol from Grain, Beets,
Potatoes, Molasses, etc., with Chapters
on Alcoholometry and the
DE-NATURING OF ALCOHOL
FOR USE IN
Farm Engines, Automobiles, Launch Motors, and in Heating
and Lighting; with a Synopsis of the New Free
Alcohol Law and its Amendment and the
Government Regulations.
BY F. B. WRIGHT.
SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED
NEW YORK
SPON & CHAMBERLAIN, 123 LIBERTY STREET
LONDON
E. & F. N. SPON, LIMITED, 57 HAYMARKET, S.W.
1907
Copyright, 1906,
By SPON & CHAMBERLAIN.
Copyright, 1907,
By SPON & CHAMBERLAIN.
McIlroy & Emmet, Printers, 22 Thames St., New York, U. S. A.
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.
Since the passage of the "Free Alcohol Act" there has been a constantly
increasing demand for information as to the manufacture of industrial
alcohol. This, with the favorable reception accorded to the first edition
of this book has lead the publishers to bring out a second edition.
The entire volume has been carefully revised and not only has the
original text been amplified but new chapters have been added explaining
the most modern and approved methods and appliances both as used in
Europe and in this country. Another valuable feature of the present
volume is the collection of U. S. de-naturing formulas covering the
special denaturants necessitated by the various arts and by the
Government requirements. The chapters on modern distilling apparatus
rectifiers and modern plants have been very carefully prepared in order
to give the reader a clear idea of the various types of apparatus in use
to-day and of their general place in a distillery system. The value of
the book has been further increased by numerous additional illustrations.
It would be impossible in the compass of one small volume to describe all
the practical details of alcohol manufacture particularly as these
details vary with every distillery, but it has been the aim of the author
to give sufficient information to enable every reader to understand the
theory and general practice of the art, leading him from the simple
methods and apparatus used until the last ten years to the more
complicated stills and processes which have been lately devised.
Inasmuch as the manufacture of industrial alcohol has been most highly
perfected in France and Germany, use has been made of the best European
authorities and in particular the author begs to acknowledge his
indebtedness to Sa Majeste L'Alcohol by L. Beaudry de Saunier. The
publishers' and author's acknowledgements are also due to the Vulcan
Copper Works Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, and to the Geo. L. Squier
Manufacturing Company, Buffalo, New York, for their kindness in allowing
illustrations to be given of modern American distilling apparatus.
F. B. WRIGHT.
New York, Aug. 1, 1907.
PREFACE.
To the majority of persons Alcohol connotes liquor. That it is used to
some extent in the arts, that it is a fuel, is also common knowledge, but
Alcohol as a source of power, as a substitute for gasoline, petroleum,
and kindred hydrocarbons was hardly known to the generality of Americans
until the passage of the "De-naturing Act" by the last Congress.
Then Alcohol leaped at once into fame,--not merely as the humble servant
of the pocket lamp, nor as the Demon Rum, but as a substitute for all the
various forms of cheap hydrocarbon fuels, and as a new farm product, a
new means for turning the farmer's grain, fruit, potatoes, etc., into
that greatest of all Powers, _Money_.
That Alcohol was capable of this work was no new discovery accomplished
by the fiat of Congress, but the Act of June 7, 1906, freed de-natured
Alcohol from the disability it had previously labored under,--namely, the
high internal revenue tax, and so cheapened its cost that it could be
economically used for purposes in the arts and manufactures which the
former tax forbade.
This Act then opens the door of a new market to the farmer and the
manufacturer, and it is in answer to the increased desire for
information as to the source of Alcohol and its preparation that this
book has been written. The processes described are thoroughly reliable
and are such as have the approval of experience.
As was stated above, Alcohol is not a natural product, but is formed by
the decomposition of sugar or glucose through fermentation. This leaves
Alcohol mixed with water, and these in turn are separated by
distillation.
The literature treating of the distillation of Alcohol from farm products
is very scant. But due credit is here given to the following foreign
works which have been referred to: Spon's EncyclopÊdia of the Industrial
Arts, which also contains an article on Wood Alcohol, Mr. Bayley's
excellent Pocketbook for Chemists, and Mr. Noel Deerr's fine work on
Sugar and Sugar Cane.
NEW YORK,
Oct. 31, 1906
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
ALCOHOL, ITS VARIOUS FORMS AND SOURCES.
Its chemical structure. How produced. Boiling points. Alcohol
and water. Alcohol, where found. Produced from decomposition of
vegetables. Sources. Principal alcohols. 1