Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1920-10-12
Straw Gas.

now being produced upon . small seal
at the experimental farm of the Unite
States Department of Agriculture at Al
lington, Va. Although an automobile ha
been operated with the new combustible
and It has been used for illuminating
purposes as we'll as for cooking, the pos
abilities Of straw gas are. not yet full
determined, the department says. i
order to determine the exact commercia
value Of the gas, David j. Price, en-
gineer In charge Of the new Office Of Dc
velopment Work, q subdivision OF tn
Bureau OF Chemistry designed to hell
commercial and industrial concerns t,
use new processes and discoveries de
veloped In the bureau, has placed b. Z
Rothe, Jr., In charge of q series OF pro
duction tests with the experimental ap
paratus at Arlington.
The work can be carried on but slowl!
owing to the limited funds available q
present, but 1t is planned to do mucl
that will determine the quantity snt
nature Of the gas that may be obtained
from wheat, ost, barley, rye, and ric'
straws, and from cornstalks, corncobs
and other vegetable matter usually
burned as waste. If the results of thes,
tests warrant further investigation tn,
experiments will be extended to the prob
lem of plant equipment for producing tht
gas on q scale sufficient to allow tht
farmer to supply light and heat for hii
house, power for stationary engines, and
possibly, for bis tractor from q small
individual ou fit. II suitable unit car
be constructed so that the farmers ini
tial cost will be small, 1t seems likely
that the straw gas may have a certain
economic value in the sections of The
country where the raw material from
which the gas is made Is now considered
as waste and burned or left to rot on the
fields. In some sections of the country
the straw is used as fertilizer, but In the
West and Northwest there is an unlim
tied supply of the material available fol
conversion into light and fuel for the
farm home.
While it has been possible to operate
an automobile with straw gas, and Il
is known that 80 pounds of straw will
produce about 300 cubic feet of gas-ap
amount sufficient to drive light road
ster Is miles-the problem Of reducing
the gas to liquid form or condensing II
sufficiently to allow 1t to be carried con
vepiently is an essential one that mus
be solved before straw gas can be con.
sidered as possible motor fuel. This
will be another of the tasks taken up BY
the engineers Of the Development Dlvi
sion.
Straw gas is not a new thing. The
present process was developed by George
Harrison, Canadian engineer at Moose
jaw, in 1914, who later co.operated or
the project with Prot. MscLaurin of tht
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon
Canada. The university, In conjunction
with the United States Department oi
Agriculture, exhibited q straw.gas equip
ment at the Exposition of Chemical In.
dustries 10 New York City during the
fall of 1918. This equipment was later
purchased and improved by the depart
ment. The Canadian investigators sue
ceeded In operating an automobile with
the product. However, the fuel supply
was carried In large flexible bag or
the top of the car, method OF doubtful
practicability.
Several valuable by-products are OBJ
tanned in the manufacture of the gas
Carbon residue suitable for manufactur.
ing lsmpblaok of exceptionally fine quail
ity is one. This residue also contains
certain amounts of potash, phospbstes
and heterogeneous compounds, which give
it fertilizing value.
The tar and ammoniacal liquids re.
sultipg from the process, aside from theil
value az disinfectsnts and preservstives
may prove useful In the dye industry
II the engineers succeed in perfecting the
present apparatus and In reducing the
cost of production, there is no doubt tha'
straw gas will have an important com
mercial future.