A Practical Handbook on the Distillation of Alcohol from Farm Products. F. B. Wright
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F. B. Wright
A Practical Handbook on the Distillation of Alcohol from Farm Products
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4057664635051
Table of Contents
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 Encyclopædia 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
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
CHAPTER II.
THE PREPARATION OF MASHES, AND FERMENTATION.
A synopsis of steps. Mashing starchy materials. Gelatinizing apparatus and processes. Saccharifying. Cooling the mash. Fermentation. Yeast and its preparation. Varieties of fermentation:—Alcoholic, acetous, lactic and viscous. Fermenting periods.