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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 2 3 5 6 iWiiiillH .''rJ- ft.tE^rm.1 ,• MICROCOPY KSOIUTION TIST CHART I ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No 7' 1.0 I.I !f!f lis 2.0 11.25 iU ^ /APPLIED IM/1GE Inc — .^ fiochestpf, Ne* fork 1*609 USA '■JS ( n 6) *82 - U300 - Phone ^= i7i6) 288 - 5989 - Fa. l^Jtsj /^yCX^- DOMINION OF CANADA THE HONCKARY ADVIS(«Y COUNCIL YOR SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH . ^ , BULLETIN No. 7 THE MANUFACTURE OF ETHYL ALCOHOL FROM WOOD WASTE BY G. H. TOMLINSON. B.A. Canabs Published by the authority of the Sub-Cominittee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research OTTAWA. 1919 THK MANrFACTLHE OF KTHYL ALCOHOL FROM WOOD WASTE.* DurinK the past ton years the ronversion of wast,- w..,„| info mer sugars f„r us.. ,n the manufacture „f .-thvl ,.ln,h„l h..s a(hi..vo\y!;i",' «.»'".«' surc usinn dilute sulphurous neid ami iit the siinie time munitaiiiinK a moistiuc ratio even helow the saturation limit. Thir< matter of h ' iuoi>ture ratio represents the essential |)oint upon which the >uecess of this business has so far hinged. To illustrate this, h-t us consider what would result, assuming that an aeid eoneenfration of 1 per cent is to he used and in one ease that we have a moist i.re ratio .>f KM) per eent and in the other a moisture ratio of tlK) p.r eent. I'lider these conditions the total aeid consumption in the second c.is,. would be four time«, and the amount of heat used something in excess of three times that in the former. Since the acid must subsecpiently be neutralizen(m(. I at lln- time that tlic iKlvantHni's wrro largely in favour of u^inu a volatile aiitl since, hy this iiicanR, a uniform mixture and f)eii, (ration of the woihI was ussurt-d, while, otherwise, meelmnical admixture was necessary. Nevertheless the difliculties in this connection, which the usf! of sulphuric acid involved, did not appiMir insumiountaKli' and to avoid dangers of patent iidrinKemmt, which otherwise would lie faced, its Use was from that time on employed and the develop- ment which has since occurri ,1 has proceeded accordiiniiy. In comparing the relative advanfaRc of the three reaRcntx it ..ouldseem that under certain conditifms about the same yiehls pan 111' ohtai.ied with each. The maximum yield which I have noled as a result of the vast numlier of ex|)eriments which have been conducteil has approximated ^'.i |)er cent fermentable Hugar. As a matter of fa' t the best yield of which I have a record .show.s '2:M p«'r cent fermentable obtained by usinj? hydroehloric acid. Next to this is one showing 22.9»> per cent obtained by using sulphurous acid. In this particular experiment two tons "f saw(li;st were employed. In the case of sulphuric acid many small Male experiments have given as mui:h as 22 per cent fermentable sugar, but large scah' experiments have never, to my knowledge, ex- ceeded 7o per cent of this figure althouKh there have been a great number of such experiments made. I have, therefore, reluctantly l)eenled to believe that u.sing sulphuric acid a sufficiently intimate mixture and penetration of the wood by the aeid cannot be obtained in any practical way to give the iM'st results. Since hydrochloric acid apparently offers no particular advan- tutie and at the same time involves greater expense further develop- nient of the sulphurous acid process is naturally to be anticipated if my deductions in this connection are correct] By applying the same engineering principles, whi(Ti>ct('<| ill a Mlaiiilard t>c«t sukiii difTiixion Imllrry provided with n lininic similar to thr di(tcNttr hniiiKs. Men- again gnat capHrily n>MiiltM uilh miiiinium lahoiir ix|M-nw in addition to which any hiswiN in •Mrailioii ran \tv praiiiially rliminatcd. A grtal deal of roiirM- dcpj-nds u|>on the iirovisii.n of .imiMithiy ope found to represent one of the most important contributions to this art which has been made. The residue, after the sugars are n'ni<»vfmt c-t-nt of th« (irikiiiat wimhI Thi.x Hhn hccii suti*fiictorily \m-i\ uk fiu-l to Miipply tin- mo ss:,ry xti-iini iukI (Mtwcr for the VHriotis (ip< t joim uml in doiiiK thin HTvrw ii mowf iii)|Mirtiiiit ri'cuii.iitr for sticcpw. l-<'t IIS now (dn^int of o|M'rHtions in each of the two phmts which have iM-cn constnictcd. Kollowinj{ this fhoy havo not Imtii un
icnt anil any more recent finuns which I have seen I led ',•• I must treat us 1 oiifidential. A luiel review however of tl;>> litial |>erio(l may Im' of interest. ( otistrintion of iIh' |)lant at (ieornetown, ; ., whs eommen.cil in Septi-mher, MHK), ami its ojM-ration heRan .Inly 12. liHO. This plant was desijjned to (five a daily capacity of two thinisand Kallons of !>5 [ur cent .'ilcohol Iwsed upon ti minimum yield of 2(( gallons jM'r iniperati .. At the fifty-third nieetinn of the Amen t in thi? subject will grow accordingly." This message was reported to have been sent by Mr. J. Stuart firoves, who was represented as in charge of the Georgetown plant, and as far as I know, is the only public tstate- ment regarding tne proposition which has been made by a member of the DuPont organization. In December, 1911, a second plant was l>egun at Fullerton, La. Thi,s was designed along much more extensive lines with the Id rapidly as taken nd since ()l>jcctiv(' of r),(l(»0 pilliiiis (.r !».-) per cent alcohol per day. The capital cxpcnclitiiiv I.. July, l'.li;{. including a coinniission of Sf)2,(i.')X. j.i, wliich ill IK) sense was a necessurv item of the cost, ainoiuited ((I s.'){)<),.")7,s.7l. Sj>iril.s were iii.-l distilled .lamiary 22, l!ti;5, and distillHtion was contimied !iiore or le.-s icKidarlv and at about one-<|uart('r capacity until the niidille ol the July followinji. Yields, output aud costs e(iv( liii;; ,..,,.1, mcntli duriiifi; this period arc set out iu the fiille.wiiin tabic: — Munlli. Jaiiuar>- :iihI I'i'luuiir\' M.inli April Mil .luiio. .July Vi< l<\ in (liillcin> r ilry Idii itl !-• li II :< II M 1« 9 l.v2 17 5 1 i 1 Output CuM per CiHlliins. ('allon. fiKuri's IS,()2(i-7 not uvailabli I5..M9 48-9 IU.24'J-.5 4S 90 :i(i,2W-2 ,«-74 :i4..35S5 32 94 :)r,»i7-8 2S'29 The averajie cot coverir.jj the production of the l,'i2,189.7 gallons which was liiadc. amounted to ;',(J.4S cents. Owiiij; t(i the facl tic:it a departmental system of costiiiR was used an accurate summary of the makeup of tliese fiuures is difficult. ('onsideriiic tiie nioiilh (f .luiie, h(,\w'ver, as representative the f llowinsi analysis, which I have made, is 1 believe approximately VxAW Ma:. !i;il- ,i:'.il Liilxiur U..ur I tiller In'in — .s^uiM'rintcniliMicc Supplirs Repairs I'liwiT :inil stoaiii Doprcriatinn. Insiirani'p. . rjntury cxiH'iisf- < it'tii'ml hiirilrii Diffi-rcnie lirlnccn fist of prcnlurt,- niaiuifaitiirv.l in .May and uscil in .luni' anil aitual .Iiini' iti.-l . ( 'ust per Kullon Cost per (iailon. 051 ■010 ■008 019 ■012 002 ■Ofil 014 013 019 040 ■032 004 ■008 ■003 ■133 ■024 ■329 The item of power and steam covers the complete departmental j>ower house expense including hiljour, superintendence, deprecia- tion, etc., which accounts for its Ix'ing so Uukc. Malt sprouts and molasses were used in the preparation and manufacture of yeast. The figures given above nuist, of course, he considered in relation to the very low average capacity and poor yield which was obtained in order to properly appreciate their significance, owing to the very large proportion represented by fixed charges, as well as labour, which for the same reason was inefficiently employed. Thus it was estimated by qualified experts that if a monthly capacity of lOO.OlX) gallons was reachehoul(l be more than balanced. On the other hand the cost of producing alcohol from either grain or molasses has at least doubled since I'tl.i, and with alcohol in its present demand it wouhl .seem that a more favourable opportunity in which to proceed with some further development along the lines which 1 have di.scus.sed is not likely to occur again. In addition to the possibility of realizing uiuisual i)rofit the saving of food materials which can thus be made is an item not to be ignored and should ensure the proposition receiving the attention which it apparently deserves. While the sugars thus made have so far been exclusively u.sed in the manufacture of ethyl alcohol there seems no (luestion but that, like cane molasses, they can also be used for feeding purpo.ses. 1 am strongly of the opinion that then^ are great possibiUties in this direction. So far this is .something, however, which has appar- ently not been given the investigation and study which it demands and beyond the fact that a product can thus be made, whicli :. ac- ceptable to animals, there is little I can .say fnmi my own expen.nce ivgurding its j)ractical application. There is no (piestion, however, regarding the food value of the carbohydrates which can thu.s be obtained, nor regarding tlie low cost at which they can be produced. A cost of from 4 to « cents per gallon of such wood molasses I figure should be easily realized and this should be fully equivalent to a gallon of cane molasses for feeding purposes. As a means, therefore, of quickly adding to our food resources this is something which should notbe over- looked and offers, as I believe, unusual and practicallv unlimited possibilities for investigation and development. In the brief time at my disposal it has been inipos.sible to more than touch upon the essential factors in the development of this business with the early stages of which 1 was so intimately asso- ciated. I trust, however, that as a result I have been able to stimulate some wider interest in this particular field which so far has been only scratched and which offers such wide opportunities for further progress. N.B. — Gallons refer to U.S. wine gallons and when referring to alcohol <»,") per cent alcohol is always inferred if not specified. APPENDIX. Since writing the above, I have no information regardinK any further developments of this process in either the United States or Canada. It has been reported, however, that several plants for producing ethyl alcohol from wooil waste, were installed in Germany during the war, and that their output of alcoliol was relatively large. So far as I am aware, however, ro details regarding these developments have been made public up to the present time. Since hostilities ceased the alcohol market throughout the world has been in a most unsettled condition, and until peace activities are more completely resumed, further expansion can hardly be expected. The demand for industrial alcohol is, however, increasing steadily, and it is a safe prediction that it must soon be utilized to supplement our gasolene supply. For this reason it is worth considering to what extent this might be accomplished in Canada, by making use of our supplies of wood waste along the general lines which I have discussed. It is claimed that in British Columbia alone, that the saw-mills produce from ten to fifteen thousand tons of wood waste every day. Conservatively estimated this would represent sufficient raw material to produce from thirty to fifty million gallons of alcohol per year, or enough to operate one hundred thousand motor cars. With such a result entirely possible, it is therefore to be hoped, that some serious effort may soon be made to demonstrate and develop in Canada the extensive posribilities which this apparently presents. In this connection the first step might be for our Forestry Department to give the whole subject thorough investigation, and even go so far as to initiate a commercial demonstration if this should then be found advisable or necessary. Before anything is likely to be accomplished, however, our antiquated regulations governing the manufacture and sale of alcohol must first be revised, so that alcohol can be made and sold for industrial purposes without the needless restrictions now imposed. Proper legislation of this kind would also stimulate industrial activity along many other chemical lines, which are now closed to development in Canada .as a result of our short-sighted polivjy in this connection, and for which there is apparently no excuse now that potable alcohol ceases to be a major source of revenue in this country. July 16, 1919. 67253—2 9 , mmmM ■■■■Ml