Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1906-08-15
DENATuRsD ALCOHOL.
Process of Manufacture-Poss
ON the Farm.

Process of Manufacture-Possib >
ON the Farm.
Denatured alcohol is simply the com.
merclal grade Of pure alcohol to which
Is added wood alcohol or some other
| material that makes 1t entirely unfit
for a beverage or for medicinal pur-
poses. Alcohol Is product of the de-
composition Of sugar or, more properly,
glucose by the action of ferments, such
as yeast. Any substance which con-
talns sugar or substances such as
starch, vegetable fiber, etc, which can
be converted into sugar can be used
as q source of alcohol. The, most Inn
portant sources used commercially are
grapes, pota toes, beets and other root
crops and grains, especially rye, bar
ley, corn and rice. Many other fruits
besides grapes are used-for example,
apples, peaches and cherries. Fibers
such as cotton, linen and hemp, after
chemical treatment to change the
woody fiber into glucose, have also
been used successfully,
How Made In Commerce.
In commerce the process is simply an
Improvement on the home process of
making wine from grapes, currants or
other fruit juices. A vat Is filed with
liquid properly warmed, and yeast Is
added and stirred. Soon bubbles of
carbonic acid gas appear and gradually
increase until the liquid looks as IL 1t
were boiling. In about twenty-four
hours the bubbling gradually ceases,
the liquid becomes clear, and about
forty-elght hours from the start It Is
ready for dlstillation. This dlstillation
depends upon the difference In temper
allure at which alcohol and water boil,
the former requiring considerably less
heat to turn into vapor. 1t also de-
ponds upon the condensation OF vapor
into liquid when the temperature falls.
Fabrication Processes.
In practice, with the simple forms Of
still, there are always more or less wa
ter and volatile substances, such as es-
sential oils and acetic acid, present In
the condensed product, which must
therefore be purified by other processes.
The most common of these processes
Is successive distillation, the liquid re-
sulting from the first distillati5n being
again and again distilled until the prod: !
uce is pure. Thus, to give a theoretica
example starting with an Original
crude liquid containing per cent alco-
hol, its condensed vapOr may contain
40 per cent Of alcohol. This second
liquid redistllled may yield d liquor
containing 80 per cent alcohol; a third
may produce solution SO
per cent pure. and so on. The necessity |
for this Redistribution and the remov-
al Of undesirable impurities has given
rise to vast variety Of complicated
apparatus.
Making IL In q Small Way.
The foregoing outline, from Ameri
can Agriculturlst, of the process Of
alcohol, especially the
mention Of much and complicated ap-
paratus, indicates that for farmer to
make alcohol from the refuse OF his
farm is not so simple matter as may
at first be thought. AS good authority
as DR.. Wiley, chief chemist Of the de
partment Of agriculture, has found II
advisable to warn farmers that II
would hardly prove profitable to I'M
lertake the manufacture OF alcohol in
l small way on the farm. His idea is
hat, as central factories are necessary
n the beet sugar industry, so will cen
rial distilleries be In making alcohol.