116 



THE AGRICULTURAL NZWS. 



AriUL 20, 1918. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE SUGAR FACTORY AS A SOURCE OF 



SUPPLY OF ACETIC ACID AND ITS 



COMPOUNDS. 



Notice was drawn in the Apricidtural News ot 

 February fl, lOl-S, to the possible utilization of surplus 

 megass. The following article by Mr. Frank Coxon, 

 which appeared in th<- I aternationoX Sugar Journal 

 for February 191.S, will be of interest in connexion 

 with the subject: — 



In 1913 market prii;es for acetic acids and its com 

 jwunds were as follows: acetate of lime, £12 pT ton: 

 acetic acid, £37 per ton; acetone, £74 per ton. 



Current prices to date are: acetate of lime, £10 per 

 ton: acetic acid, £2i>0 per ton; acetone, £200 per ton. 



As in the case of most chemicals, the shutting down of 

 Continental supplies on the outbreak of war immediately 

 -produced a .scarcity, and, acetic acid being war material, high 

 prices soon reigned: there is every indication of their present 

 level being maintained. 



The modern sugar factory of to-day possesses great 

 •potentialities in the supply of these compounds from the 

 treatment of bagasse, either the main supply or the surplus, 

 and two methods suggest themselves. (1) By using the 

 bagasse as a gas-producing fuel in a standard producer 

 generating gas for combustion under the boiler. (2) Hy 

 destructive distillation of the bagasse in closed ret<3rts. 



In the first case, the generation of gas from the main 

 bagasse supply for the boilers would appear to be less efficient 

 than direct firing of the bagasse in jthe usual furnace. But the 

 •question of by-products from condensation and wa.shing of 

 the gas, before passing to the boilers; the elimination of 

 excess air losses, a feature so necessary in efficient bagasse 

 burning: and the more complete utilization of the etteciive 

 heat units — all suggest that this method may have advan- 

 tages worth some consideration. In any case, however, such 

 a procedure would be carried out with surplus bagasse. 



Regarding the destructive distillation of the main supply, 

 this would produce a greater quantity of acetic compounds, 

 but the boiler hou.se would require to look tu other sources 

 for its fuel supply, an impossibility in many cases unless oil 

 is abundant, and a substantial |)rofit shown between its 

 cost and the sale of ai;etic acid, charcoal, and tarry 

 compijunds or their distillate. 



In both systems the gases wmld go through similar 

 proces-ses. whereby the tarry matters, acetic vapours, and gas 

 are separated by fractionation, the acetic vapours passing on 

 to milk-of lime absorbers,' and ultimately being concentrated 

 to yield •'^0 per cent, calcium acetate. The crude acetate 

 •would then be decomposed by one plant into crude a.etic 

 a<id, and by another, as required, into acetone. Re-distillation 

 ..f the crude acetic acid into anhydrous form, and the 

 extraction of the light oils from the tars present no difficulty. 



The foregoing suggestions, it will be noted, when 

 applied to surplus bagasse are on the assumption that such 

 a supply is available, which in a factory working on moilern 

 lines with a fairly high fibre content of the cane .should by 

 no means be 'onsidered out of reason, raw sugar factories 

 having a still better opportunity than tho.se turning out white 

 plantation sugars. The recovery of these by-produets in 

 Kngland on a small scale from a wood working factory s 

 •waste has in vry few case?, if any, resnlted in other than 



financial success, and in a large factory, where modern 

 '■hemical c<jntrol exists, the chances of success are doubled, 

 refined ipialities of the materials being easily obtainable from 

 the i-rude runnings. 



A further point of advantage in this gas production 

 suggestion i> tliat since los.ses from e.Kcess air are eliminated, 

 and better thermal conditions will exist in combustion, there 

 is a greater possibility of overall efficiency in generating steam 

 from a pound of bagas.se turned into gas than if fired direct. 

 Such a contingency would allow either more maceration water 

 to be used, or, in the case of some faitories, the possibility of 

 conversion to gas production will eliminate the extraneous 

 fuel bill. 



It would not be a difficult matter to roughly scheme out 

 balance sheets on either suggestion: but, of the inflated prices 

 of to-day, wliilst ninny may remain, others are likely to alter, 

 and the advantage on the conunercial success of the proposi- 

 tions would not be seen in a true light except where condi- 

 tions in the factory are of the best, aud at once apparent in 

 their possibilitii < of giving a good start to the conversion. 



The percentage of byproducts recovered on 100 bagasse 

 as fired, would be in the case of gas production 1 to 2 per cent, 

 acetic acid, or about 3 per cent, calcium acetate. In the 

 destructive distillation the sucrose in the bagasse converted 

 into acid could Oe added direct to these figures. 



SOURCES OF SUPPLY FOR VARIOUS 

 SUGARS. 



In a presidentiAl address delivered before the Washington 

 .section of the American Chemical Society on January" 10 

 191 <, which is reproduced in the JMia'sia/m Planter iax March 

 ;), 19 IS, the President, .Mr. C. S. Hudson, gave some interest- 

 ing details as to the rarious sugars and their uses. 



The annual consumption of sugar in the United States 

 is approximately estimated ius 4,300,000 short tons, of which 

 amount 79 per cent, is cane sugar and 21 per cent, beet sugar. 

 The growth of the beet-sugar production in the United States 

 has been phenomenal. In 18Ss only 2,000 ton.- were pro.luced 

 but in 191.5 the output had risen to SOO,000 tons. Besides 

 those two well-known sugars, dextrose (corn sugar) is largely 

 produced in the Cnited States by the acid hydro- 

 lysis of corn starch. It is employed in baking, in tanning, 

 and, to some extent, in the manufacture of a type of vinegar 



.\ third .sugar of commercial importance is milk sugar' 

 which was produced in the United States from milk to the 

 e.vtent of about ."Ij.jOOjOOO lb. in 1914. 



Many sugars that are of niuch interest to scientists 

 particularly chemists and bacteriohigists, are almost ■wliolly 

 unknown to the general public, although they occur in 

 I'onsiderable quantities as natural components of foodstuffs. 



l.evulose, useil to some extent in medical practice is 

 prepared by forming from inverted cane sugar and lime the 

 crystalline calcium levulosato, which is broken up into levulose 

 and calcium carbonate by the use of carbon dioxide. 



Kaffinose, a sugar which is u.sed in bacteriology, is 

 contained in cotton seed tn<?al to the extent of nearly ,S 

 per cent. 



.M iltose, a very palatable sugar, is prepared from starch 

 by the action of malt. The field of possible uses of this Kugar 

 either in crystalline foini or as a .syrup is possibly large. 



Mannose, a sugar of much interest to scientists, has 

 usually been prepared from the hydrolysis of vegetable ivory 

 the -eed of I'hyi.r.lrphai' miuniinf/^n, a native palm of South 

 America, .ythough closely related to dextrose and levulose. 



