The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1920-10-02
make CAS- FROM
WASTE MATERIAL
Government Engineers Endeavor
to Perfect Method of Uti-
Iizing Straw.
MAY HAVE ECONOMIC VALUE
An Automobile Has Been Operated
With New CombustibIe and II Has
Been Used for Illuminating Pur-
500 poses and sfor,C ookino.s

Washington.-A gas which Is OBJ
tanned by the destructive distillatiOn
of wheat, oat and rye straws is now
being produced upon a small scale at
the experimental farm of the United
States department of agriculture at
Arlington, Va. Although an autOmO-
bile has beer operated with the new
cOmbustibley and it has been used for
illuminating purposes as we'll as for
cooking, the possibilities of straw gas
are not yet fully determined. the de-
partment says. In order to determine
the exact commercial value of the gas
David J.. Price, engineer In charge of
the new office of development work,
a subdivision of the bureau of chem
istry designed to help commercial and
Industrial concerns to use new proc
esses Inc discoveries developed in the
bureau, has, placed H. E. Roethe, Jr.,
In charge of a series of production
tests with the experimental apparatus
at Arlington.
May Have Economic Value.
The work can be carried on but
slowly owing to the limited funds
available at present, but it is planned
to do much that will determine the
quantity and nature of the gas that
may be obtained from wheat, oat, bar
ley, rye and rice straws, and from
c~ornstalks, corncobs and other vege-
table matter usually burned as waste.
If the results of these tests warrant
further investigation the experiments
will be extended to the problem of
plant equipment for producing the gas
on a scale sufficient to allow the
farmer to supply light and neat for his
house, power for stationary engines
and possibly for his tractor, from a
small individual outfit. If a suitable
unit can be constructed so that the !
farmers initial cost will be small, 1t
seems likely that the straw gas may
have q certain economic value in the
sections of the country where the raw 4
from which the gas is made
or left to rot on the fields. In some
sections Of the country the straw Is
used as a fertilizer. but in the West
and Northwest there is an unlimited
of the material. available for
into Hight and fuel for the
- ~
& While 1t has been possible TO operate +
an automobile with straw gas and It +
Is known that so pounds of straw will {
produce about 800 cubic feet Of gas
an amount sufficient to drive a light
IS miles-the problem Of re-
lucing the gas to liquid form or con- I
It sufficiently to allow it to
De carried conveniently is an essential
me that must be solved before straw
gas can be considered as a possible
fuel. This will be another Of I
he tasks taken up by the engineers
n the development division.
Is Not New Thing. I
Straw gas is not a new thing. The I
resent process was developed by :
1eorge Harrison, a Canadian engineer
t Moosejaw. in 1914, who later CO. :
peHted on the project with Profess I
or MacLaurin. of the University of :
saskatchewan. Saskatoon, Canada. The
University, in conjunction with the :
Tnited States department of agricul- :
1re. exhibited a straw gas equipment :
t the exposition of chemical indus
ries in New York city during the fall ,
f 1918. This equipment was later :
urchased and improved by the de- !
artment. The Canadian Investigators !,
lcceeded in operating an automobile <
18th the product. However, the fuel :
lpply was carried in a large flexible !
ag on the top of the cara method !,
f doubtful practicability. x
Several valuable by-products are OBJ =
in the manufacture of the gas. :
arbon resnlue suitable for manufac- :,
ring lampblack of exceptionally fine 4
lality is one. This residue also con- Z
certain amounts of potash, phos- :
late and heterogeneous compounds &
hich give 1t fertilIZing value. .1S]
The tar and amrnoniacal liquids re- Z
from the process. aside from 5
Iefr value as disinfectants and pre- 1
rvatives. may prove useful in the s
re industry. If the engineers sue 4
ed in perfectipg the present appara- :.
S and in reducing the cost of pro- 3
lctfon, there is no doubt that straw 8
will have an important CONNER =
al future. .