The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1909-04-16
COMMERCIAL VALUE.
OF FLAX STRAW
TESTS OF THE A. C. IN MANUFAc-
TuRE OF pENATuRED ALCOHOL
DEMONSTRATES THAT FLAX
STRAW MAY BE USED BY FAR
MERs AT GOOD PROFIT.

Hopes as to the commercial value
of fax straw are again rising in the
chemical department of the agricul-
tural college, where tests are being
made in using the substance in the
manufacture of dehatured alcohol.
When the tests were first started
there were some doubts expressed as
to the value OF fax straw as raw
material in the making of the spirits,
but 1t seems now that the greatest
drawback will be a mechanical one.
Grant Morton, the denatured alcohol
expert at the college, has about COM
pleted one test and finds that the
straw will possibly yield 40 per cent
OF cellulose, which is the alcohol max
ing property. being able to be con-
verted into sugar and fermented. This
would mean a yield OF about 20 pei
cent OF alcohol or approximately
trinity five gallons of the spirit to the
ton Of straw.
Work Under Disadvantage.
Work has been done under disad-
vantage" said Mr.. Morton to a rep
resentative of The Forum, "and the
most has not been gotten out of the
test, for in breaking down the tissue
by boiling the straw Ia diluted sui
phuric acid has had to be done in an
open vessel.
What Is needed is q cooker in
which six or eight atmospheres can be
obtained when larger amount Of the
tissue will be broken up and it is prob
able that one will be secured for the
purpose.
II found that in addition to the cell
lulose obtained that there was small
per cent OF amonia. some tar and
some lighter oils and these may pos
sibly be utilized in the manufacture OF
alcohol as a by-product and make the
method a paying one.
However there is one objection that
win have to be overcome in practical
production and that is securing a
cooker that will .~esist the attack OF
the acid and will lIot break under the
heat of the several atmospheres that
will have to be used. The acid Will
attack an iron vessel while a porce-
line lined is likely to crack and let the
acid come into contact with the metal
A lead lined vessel Is used in the
production Of alcohol from saw dust
in Germany, but a strong acid is used
which will not attack lead, while a
weak acid like that used with straw
will attack 1t"
A Paying Proposition.
Mr.. Morton has estimated that with
yield of thirty-five gallons per ton
of straw would be paying. Paying So
per ton for 1t from the farmers and
estimating the cost of labor at 81, the
cost of coal at 81 and the cost of sui
phuric acid at 81, the total cost OF
production would be about Sc per ton
of straw or $6 for thirty gallons of al
Ecohol--about 20 cents per gallon. Sell
ing at a profit of 10 cents per gallon
over and above the cost of production
would greatly reduce the cost of de-
natured alcohol from what it is at
the present.
However there are many things to
be taken into consideration which
might effect the cost" said Mr.. Nor
ton. Some of them are whether the
straw can be purchased for SO per ton,
as 1t is in widely distributed localities
and the farmers might have to bale it.
1t also might be hard to compete with
the trust also, and there are hundreds
Of things to be taken into such a
problem that might effect the cost of
production.
'It would take no fertility from the
land providing the waste products are
again put back on the soil, as alcohol
is made from the carbo-h -hydrates-
elements taken from the air and from
water. There is q law IN Germany
that all slops from the distilleries
have to be put back on the land.
81 might get a greater per cent of
alcohol making suH,tances out of the
straw If I converted the cellulose into
hydro -cellulose and then into sugar
and I will probably try this method
during the experiments"