The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1906-08-16

with the alcohol. Today. by means of
fractional stills the process has been
greatly improved, and the alcohol may
be obtained cheaply and of high grade.
Irs INDUSTRIAL USES
The industrial uses of alcohol are
many and varied as was demonstrated
by an exhibition in Germany a few
years ago. which WAS devoted exclusive
y to alcohol, its production and it's
uses for industrial purposes While the
general use of alcohol for industrial pur-
poses, heating lighting, and vast range
of chemical and other manufacturing
purposes has steadily increased in Ger
many, the percentage OF the whole pro-
duct that is used for motor purposes liz
relatively small and, 80 far, from in
creasiug, is said to be rather diminishing,
though to just what extent it would be
difficult to prove A few Germans, from
patriotic motives. use alcohol for driving
automobiles, freight wagons motor boats
and aiming machinery. 1t has been
found by elaborate tests that the econo-
my of alcohol as a fuel for gas motors
is largely increased by its being car
bureted through admixture with GER
tain percentage of benzole or other
product of mineral OIL For time ii
was believed that this admixture of
benzole could not be safely carried be-
You'd 20 percent. but more recent ex-
perience has shown that mixture OF
equal parts of alcohol and benzole can
be used, especially in large motors, with
entire safety and economical results. For
automob bile purposes the usual proportion
is now about 80 per cent. of benzole or
gasoline. but at the previous cost Of al
cohol il could not compete on the score
of economy with mineral hydrocarbons
in country where they were either pro
duced or imported free of duty.
The industrial applications OF alcohol
are numerous; The chemical industries
lead. OF these, the manufacture OF
vinegar from alcohol and aceuc acid is
one of the most important This indus
try is mainly the growth of the period
since 1887, and its extent may be esti'
mated from the fact that there is con-
sumed in Germany annually for the
manufacture of vinegar 16,00O,OOO llters
"a, 224 600 gallons) OF alcohol. The old
est application is in cooking. In the
new alcohol cooking lamps, some of
which are regulatable, the alcohol is
gasfied before burning In some the
Bunsen principle is used, the alcohol
before burning passing through tube
where it entrains with it the necessary
quantity of air, For cooking purposes
alcohol has great advantages; 1t is
clearly in application and instantly at
disposal There are also alcohol heating
stoves, but they are as yet too dear to
come into general use. For lighting, AL
cohol has only recently been used. The
first incandescent alcohol lamp dates
from 1895 but was not successful The
Auer lamp is better. 1t gives go to 81
candle-power and burns per hour about
l3 quarts of alcohol, but has the dis
advantage of requiring permanent gas
flying flame The Helft lamps do their
gasifying without special flame and
if kept clean and in good condition give
no trouble The cost of light is 30 per
cent. cheaper than with petroleum.
There is, however, this objection, that II
takes to II minutes to get the flame
going. Other excellent lamps adapted
for the use of alcohol are in operation
in Germany today, such as the Phoebus
and the "Bogenlicht
ALCOHOL FOR MOTORS
The use of alcohol for motors is re-
cent Experiments by Prof. Ernst
Never show that the ale 'hpl motor has
a thermic efficiency of 394 per cent, a
result eXcelled only by the Diesel among
motors using liquid fuel The rea-
son for This is that alcohol containi ng
as it does to per cent of water, per
mits high grade OF compression, with
out danger of prema ture ignition As
alcohol is not 30 rich in carbon as petro
leum and beuzine, it burns more c.eanly
Prof Never obtained from motor of 70
effective horse power consumption as
low az 8 s pounds OF 90 per cent, aco-
hol with full load Per horse power per
hour this cost ia one cent; and the alco-
hol, giving only 5000 heat units, was
compared with petroleum, which gives
10, 600 to 1000 An important advan
tage of alcohol which applies special
" to it's use in motor carriages and in
engines in operating creameries and
small manufacturing plants in premises
adjacent to dwellings,, is its absolute
cleanliness and freedom from the
mephetic odors which render hydrocar-
bon engines 30 offensive to many people
The following list of the industrial
uses of alcohol in England must be- re-
garded rather as Indicative than compre-
| hensive. since the spirit is now used in
very great variety of ways in the nu-
merous industries; artificial lubricants,
| furniture polish, finish, varnish, lac
quers, euamels, celluloid, zylonte, gun
powders, analine coIors, dyeing and
preparation of colofs. dissolving resins
| for hat makers. collodion, goldbeaters'
skin, filing spirit levels, floating mari
I n9r's compass, extracting vegetable aka
loids, making vegetable extracts (dry)
manufacture of transparent soap, quick
drying paints, preserving objects OF
natural history, chemical and anatomi'
cal research. sulphuric ether, choral by
drate, chloroform, Illuminating powder,
liniments of soap, compound camphor,
aconite, and belladonna, hypersperm Oil,
etc.
For industrial purposes and to render
alcohol impossible of consumption as a
beverage, the spirit may be either
meth lated or denaturized. Methyated
means the addition of wood alcohol
(rnethyl alcohol to the spirit (ethly al
cohol J Wood alcohol Is a poisonous
substance and at the same time possesses
an extremely disagreeable taste, which
renders it impotable. The denaturization
of alcohol signifies the addition of such
substances, other than. or together with
wood alcohol, which render the ethyl,
alcohol unfit for use as a drink.