Evening star., 1948-11-03
Stars, Men and Atoms
Fuel Alcohols Reported
Made Out Of Corncobs
Agriculture Chemists Find Use fos
Greatest Waste Residues
By Thomas X. Henry


Greatest Waste Residues
By Thomas X. Henry
Fuel alcohols are being made out Of corn
cobs through q new technique developed By
chemists Of the Agriculture Department.
About third Of the corncob one Of Amer.
ican agriculture's greatest waste residues. II
composed Of q material known as pentosan.
A method has been worked out, according
to the departments Bureau Of Chemistry, for
converting = large part Of this pentossn into
rare types Of sugar. These are the so-called
"pentoses," each molecule of which contains
five carbon atoms.
The next step has been to ferment these
sugars into several higher alcohols which can
be used for motor fuel, either by themselves
or mixed with gasoline. Hitherto 1t has been
impossible to bring about their fermentation.
Now 1t can be accomplished with continuous
process.
Two-thirds Of Cob salvaged.
Besides the pentosan q corncob contains
about 40 per cent OF chemically quite similar
material. cellulose, and 80 per cent of lignin.
For the latter there is little use known at
present and 1t constitutes one of the greatest
wastes in nature. The cellulose most abundant
material In plant life, can largely be con.
Verted into the common six-carbon sugars
which are fermented to make wood alcohol,
This also can be used as fuel a.
Thus the accomplishment at the Apric,,I.
ture Departments regional laboratory at peo.
ria, I'LL, Saivages two-thirds of the corncob.
Hitherto cellulose was destroyed in separat.
ing 1t from the pentosan and lignin. Ths
fermentation of the pentose sugars under the
new treatment developed has been found to
give an exceptionally large yield of higher
alcohol, chiefly butyl alcohol, similar to the
alcohol yield obtained from blackstrap
molaSses.
The combined processes now have advanced
10 the point OF semipilot plant operation at
feorla, according to the department chemists.
Inc progress Is regarded as a significant step
toward lessening the strain on the country's
petroleum resources.
Many Centers Of Supply
There are many centers through the Middle
West, 1t Is explained, where a minimum Of
about 250,000 tons of corncohs Is available
annually within q radius of about so miles.
Some such available supply is essential for the
economic functioning of plant. It points to
the day, the chemists say, when Corn Belt
farmers may raise" good deal of their own
motor fuel and possibly manufacture it on o
cooperative basis.
1t Is possible, department chemists say, that
the technlques OF turning the hitherto waste
pentosan into alcohols may be Of even greater
significance In other industrial lines. Rela-
lively little is known of the potentialities of
these materials.
Rediscovery Of a lost art-the carefully
guarded secret Of varnish making of italian
violinmakers Of the Middle Ages-has Just been
reported to the American Association for the
Advancement Of Science here.
Such master craftsmen as stradiyarius and
the Amatis applied to their instruments coat.
ing which never has been equaled for beauty,
Transparency and permanence. The compose
ton was passed on from father to son. but
never made public. Numerous efforts 10 find
the secret have failed and 1t became possible
only with the most precise techniuues of
recent chemistry.
Chemical reconstruction of the varnish ,yis
claimed by Joskph Michelman Of Cintinnati
In the communication to the American Asso.
citation.
Early tests indicated. that an tnportans
ingredient was madder, red dye obtained
from the roots Of q European herb. It was
commonly used for coloring cloth in the Mid
Ole Ages There were also indications of Q
complex combination OF, resins and fatty acids.
Secret in Two Coats.
major difficulty in solving the secret lay
in the fact that the old Italians applied var
nlsh in two coats-the bottom one yellowish
and the upper reddish. 1t was necessary to
separate these cleanly before an analysis could
be made. The yellow varnish presumably was
OF no great value and was used merely as Q
foundation coating.
Once the separation had been accomplished,
however, it was possible to apply to the top
coatings the precise techniques of spectrog-
raphy and microchemistry which reveal
unbelievably minute amounts of any material.
The analysis showed that considerable
amounts Of calcium had been used and that an
important ingredient must have been wood
ashes.
1t was determined, however, that part Of
the secret lay in the technique of preparing
the varnish rather than in the actual ingre-
dients used. This was especially true in obtain.
ing the quality Of permanence which has en-
abled the violins to retain their original
appearance over five centuries