A Practical Handbook on the Distillation of Alcohol from Farm
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
•^ '' .:,. .^t A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK ON THE Distillation of alcohol FROM FARM PRODUCTS INCLUDING The Processes of Malting; Mashing and Mascerating; Ferment- ing 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, 120 Liberty Street LONDON E. & F. N. SPON. Limited. 57 Haymarket, S.W. 1918 >'>f/: x/'Av^-;.:,^ Copyright. 1906, By SPON & CHAMBERLAIN. Copyright, 1907. By SPON & CHAMBERLAIN. CAUBLOT PRESS. £26 William 8tr««t. Naw York. U. 8. 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 ac- corded 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 modem and approved methods and appliances both as used in Europe and in this country. An- other 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 modem distilling apparatus rectifiers and modem plants have been very carefully pre- pared 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 Jv PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 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 Saimier. The pub- lishers' and author's acknowledgements are also due to the Vulcan Copper Works Company of Cincinnati, Ohio,* and to the Geo. L. Squier Manu- facturing Company, BufTalo, New York, for their kindness in allowing illustrations to be given of modem American distilling apparatus. F. B. Wright. 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 PREFACE. answer to the increased desire for information as to the source of Alcohol and its preparation that this book has been written. The processes de- scribed are thoroughly reliable and are such as have the approval of experience. As was stated above, Alcohol is not a natural pro- or duct, but is formed by the decomposition of sugar glucose through fermentation. This leaves Alco- hol mixed with water, and these in turn are sepa- rated by distillation. The literature treating of the distillation of Alcohol from farm products is very scant. But foreign due credit is here given to the following works which have been referred to: Spon's Ency- clopaedia of the Industrial Arts, which also contains an article on Wood Alcohol, Mr. Bay ley's excellent Pocketbook for Chemists, and Mr. Noel Deerr's fine work on Sugar and Sugar Cane. New York. 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 vege- tables. Sources. Principal alcohols 1 CHAPTER II. The Preparation of Mashes, and Fermentation. A synopsis of steps. Mashing starchy materials. Grelatinizing apparatus and processes. Sacchari- fying. Cooling the mash. Fermentation. Yeast and its preparation. Varieties of fermen- tation:—Alcoholic, acetous, lactic and viscous. Fermenting periods. Fermenting apparatus and rooms. Strengthening alcoholic liquors 8 CHAPTER III. Distilling Apparatus. The simple still. Adams still. Concentrating stills. Compound distillation. Dom's still. Continu- ous distillation. The Cellier-Blumenthal still. Coffey's still. Current stills. Regulating dis- tillery fire 33 viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Modern Distilling Apparatus. The principles of modem compound stills. Vapor traps and their construction. Steam regulation. Feed regulation. American apparatus. The Guillatune inclined column still 66 CHAPTER V. Rectification. General principles of " fractionation." Old form of rectifying still. Simple fractionating apparatus. " Vulcan " rectifier. Barbet's twin column recti- fier. Guillaunie's " Agricultural " rectifying ap- paratus. Rectifying by filtration 82 CHAPTER VI. Malting. The best barley to use. Washing. Steeping. Germinating. The "wet couch." The "floors." "Long malt." Drying. Grinding and crushing. 103 CHAPTER VII. Alcohol from Potatoes. Washing. Gelatinizing and saccharifying. Low pressure steaming, and apparatus therefor. Crush- ing the potatoes. High pres&ure steaming and apparatus. The vacuum cooker. The Henze steamer. Isolation of starch without steam. English methods. Saccharifying the starch 110 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER VIII. Alcohol prom Grain, Corn, Wheat, Rice, and Other Cereals. Relative )delds of various cereals. Choice of grain. Proportions of Starch, etc., in various grains. Grinding. Steeping. Preparatory mashing. Sac- charifying. Treatment of grain under high pres- sure. Softening grain by acid 126 CHAPTER IX. Alcohol from Beets. Beet cultivation. Composition. Soil and manures. Sowing. Harvesting. Storing. Production of alcohol from beets. Cleaning and rasping. Ex- traction by pressure. Extraction by maceration and diffusion. The diffusion battery. Fermen- tation. Direct distillation of roots 140 CHAPTER X. Alcohol from Molasses and Sugar Cane. The necessary qualities in molasses. Beet sugar. Molasses mixing and diluting. Neutralizing the wash. Pitching temperature. Distilling. Fer- menting raw sugar. Cane sugar molasses. " Dunder." Clarifying. Fermenting. Various processes , 163 CHAPTER XI. Alcoholometry. Hydrometers in general. Proof spirit. Syke's hy- drometer. Gay-Lassacs hydrometer. Tralles alcoholometer. Hydrometric methods. Estima- X CONTENTS. tion of alcohol. Field's alcoholometer. Grisler's method and apparatus. Estimating sugar in mash. Determination of alcoholic fruits. Phy- sical tests. Chemical tests. The Permanganate of Potash test. Results by Barbet 174 CHAPTER XII. Distilling Plants, Their General Arrangement AND Equipment. Simple apparatus. Elaborate plants. Steam stills. The fermenting room. Ventilation. Ferment- ing vats. Preparatory vats. Arrangement of grain distillery. A small beet distillery. Large- beet distilling plant. Transporting beets. Po- tato distillery. Molasses distillery. Fermenting house for molasses. Transportion of molasses to distillery. Coal consumption 189 CHAPTER XIII. De-natured Alcohol, and De-naturing FoRMULiE. Uses of alcohol. De-natured spirit:—Its use in Germany, France and England. The " De- naturing Act." The uses of de-natured alcohol. Methods and Formulae for de-naturing. De- natured alcohol in the industrial world 211 CHAPTER XIV. De-naturing Regulations in the United States. The Free Alcohol Act of 1906, and proposed changes therein. The Amendment of 1907. Internal Revenue Regulations 224 Index -I'l LIST OF ^LUSTRATIONS. No. Pace. 1 Vacuum mash cooker to face 10 2 Henze steamer 12 3 Mash cooler, air system 15 4 Mash cooler, water system 17 5 Yeasting and fermenting apparatus to face 22 6 A simple still 34 7 Simple direct-heated still 35 8 Simple still, with rectifier 37 9 Adam's still 39 10 Corty's simplified distilling apparatus 41 11 Double still 42 12 Dom's compound still 43 13 Compound still 46 14 Compound direct-fire still 47 15 Cellier-Blumenthal still 49 16 Details of rectifier column 50 17 Details of condenser and mash heater 52 18 Coffey's rectifying still 55 19, 20 Rotary current still 59, 60 21 Indicator for