Chapter II: 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

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. Fermenting apparatus and rooms. Strengthening alcoholic
liquors. 8

CHAPTER III.

DISTILLING APPARATUS.

The simple still. Adams still. Concentrating stills. Compound
distillation. Dorn's still. Continuous distillation. The
Cellier-Blumenthal still. Coffey's still. Current stills.
Regulating distillery fire. 33

CHAPTER IV.

MODERN DISTILLING APPARATUS.

The principles of modern compound stills. Vapor traps and their
construction. Steam regulation. Feed regulation. American
apparatus. The Guillaume 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 rectifier. Guillaume's "Agricultural"
rectifying apparatus. 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. Crushing the potatoes. High pressure
steaming and apparatus. The vacuum cooker. The Henze steamer.
Isolation of starch without steam. English methods. Saccharifying
the starch. 110

CHAPTER VIII.

ALCOHOL FROM GRAIN, CORN, WHEAT, RICE, AND OTHER CEREALS.

Relative yields of various cereals. Choice of grain. Proportions
of starch, etc., in various grains. Grinding. Steeping.
Preparatory mashing. Saccharifying. Treatment of grain under high
pressure. 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. Extraction by pressure. Extraction by maceration
and diffusion. The diffusion battery. Fermentation. 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. Fermenting raw sugar. Cane sugar molasses. "Dunder."
Clarifying. Fermenting. Various processes. 163

CHAPTER XI.

ALCOHOLOMETRY.

Hydrometers in general. Proof spirit. Syke's hydrometer.
Gay-Lussac's hydrometer. Tralles alcoholometer. Hydrometric
methods. Estimation of alcohol. Field's alcoholometer. Grisler's
method and apparatus. Estimating sugar in mash. Determination of
alcoholic fruits. Physical 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. Fermenting vats. Preparatory vats. Arrangement
of grain distillery. A small beet distillery. Large beet
distilling plant. Transporting beets. Potato distillery. Molasses
distillery. Fermenting house for molasses. Transportation of
molasses to distillery. Coal consumption. 189

CHAPTER XIII.

DE-NATURED ALCOHOL, AND DE-NATURING FORMUL∆.

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 FormulÊ for de-naturing. De-natured alcohol
in the industrial world. 211