Vol. XVI. No. 399. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



247 



INDUSTRIAL ALCOHOL. 



Owing to the war the large market for rum which used 

 to exist has been cut off at a time when British Guiana, 

 Trinidad, and Jamaic* are producing more than at any 

 previous time. On the other hand, the necessity for the use 

 of industrial alcohol has grown to an enormous extent, while 

 the large quantity of po'ato spirit produced in Germany is 

 naturally not available. Enormous quantities of alcohol are 

 required in the production of munitions alone, for it is used 

 as a solvent for gun-cotton in connexion with a fulminate 

 employed in shell fuses, a solvent for drugs, etc. In fact, the 

 Minister of Munitions announced that the requirements of 

 alcohol in the production of munitions, for the transport and 

 air services and for other purposes directly connected with the 

 war, are increasing to such an extent that an Advisory 

 Committee to consider the best means to be adopted for 

 securing adequate supplies to meet the demand for war 

 purposes and the es,sential industrial trades has been 

 appointed. Alcohol has therefore been manufactured in the 

 United Kingdom to meet these wants, but its production has 

 become more and more expensive, and a further disadvantage 

 is that it has to be made from valuable grain like wheat, 

 barley, maize and potatoes, all of vital necessity as food. It 

 has been oflBcially suggested by the Jamaica Government that, 

 as rum is produced from a waste product in the production 

 of sugar (waste product being used in the sense that it nn- 

 not be used for food), namely, molasses, it might be well to 

 consider the production of industrial alcohol from that 

 source. S ■ long as rum could be exported profitably, it was 

 diftieuU to obtain consideration on this point; but now there 

 is an entire prohibition of rum. Both in the United King- 

 dom and Jamaica large stocks are held in the bonded warn 

 houses; and as this year rum will not be saleable it is urged 

 thai the existing slocks, as hns been done in France, should 

 be denatured and that, for the pre.'^ent, molasses should be 

 converted into industrial alcohol. These facts apply with 

 equal or greater significance to conditions in British Guiana. 

 The Minister of Munitions is, therefore, de.sirous of obtaining 

 supplies of industrial alcohol from the West Indies. 



Few persons fully realise that, besides being a powerful 

 stimulant and a clean useful fuel, alcohol is of growing 

 importance in industrial progress as a source of power for 

 use in engines, motor.=, heating and lighting, and that, when 

 used for similar purposes, is termed industrial alcohol. 

 Industrial alcohol is simply alcohol treated by a process 

 ■which destroys its character as a beverage, renders it unfit 

 for liquid medicinal purposes and prevents its use in any 

 manner except for industrial purposes. 



The processof rendering alcohol unsuitable for drinking is 

 called 'denaturing', and consists, essentially, in adding to the 

 alcohol a substance soluble therein of a bad taste or odour, 

 or both, of an intensity which renders it impossible or 

 impracticable to use the mixture as a drink. The substances 

 added must be of such a nature as to render their removal 

 very difficult by simple operations In England completely 

 denatured alcohol (mineralized methylated spirit) is made by 

 adding 1 part if wood naphtha to 9 parts of grain alcohol (50 

 per cent, above proof), and to the mixture 0-375 per cent, of 

 mineral naphtha (petroleum). Retailers are only permitted 

 to sell completely denatured alcohol. In the United States 

 the dei.aturirg mixture is h volume benzine plus 10 volumes 

 methyl alcohol to 100 volumes ethyl alcohol, while in 

 Germany, the usual denaturing agents for ordinary alcohol 

 •used for burning purposes is 2 per cent, by volume of wood 

 spirit I'lus i per cent, of pyridine bases or a mixture of 

 bei.zol and 'light petroleum. 



The alcohol occurring in distilled beverages is principally- 

 derived from maize, rye, barley and molasses, and in its pro- 

 duction a careful selection of materials is required in order 

 that the desired character of drink may be secured. For 

 instance, in the production of rum, the molasses derived from 

 the manufacture of cane sugar is the chief raw material In the 

 fermentation of molasses a particular product is formed which 

 by distillation gives the alcohol compound possessing the aroma, 

 and flavour of rum. The chief agricultural sources of alcohol 

 for industrial uses are those crops which produce starch, sugar 

 and raw material of wood fibre. In the West Indies industrial 

 alcohol can he mide from molasses, arrowroot, bananas, 

 cassava, corn (maize), rice, sweet potatoes, etc., and the British 

 tropical possessions should proiuce it in quantities sufficient 

 to render the Empire independent of outside sources of supply. 

 Although it has only half the heating power of 

 kerosene or gasolene, industrial alcohol has many valuable 

 properties which enable it to compete successfully with 

 these rivals, in spite of its lower fuel value. In the first 

 place it is much safer, as has been pointed out in an 

 interesting work on the subject by Mr. F. B. Wright, 

 U.S.A. Alcohol has a tendency to heat the surrounding 

 vapours and produce currents of hot gases which are not 

 usually brought to a temperature high enough to inflame 

 articles at a distance. It can be easily diluted with water, 

 and, when diluted more than one-half, it ceases to be 

 inflammable. Hence ii; can reidily be extinguished, whereas 

 burning gasolene, by floating on the water, simply spreads 

 its flame when water is applied to it. When, however, 

 alcohol is used for lighting purposes, it is generally estimated 

 that it possesses about double the power of kerosene, a gallon 

 of alcohol lasting as long as 2 gallons of the oil. When used 

 for street lighting in connexion with mantle lamps, alcohol 

 vapour burns like gas with an incandescent flame and 

 rivals the arclight in brilliancy, so that it requires to 

 be shaded. Alcohol can also be employed in the same 

 manner in cooking stoves. For motor purposes however, 

 it has been pointed out that, although alcohol can be 

 used for driving gas engines for ordinary running, it 

 has not been found suitable for motor cars, because it 

 has not the flexibility of petrol, such as is required for 

 frequent starting and running at slow speed. It is said 

 that this difficulty has been overcome by the addition of a 

 certain quantity of benzol (benzene), which is a by-product 

 of coal distillation, and by the invention of natalite. 



It is estimated tliat 1 bushel of maize will produce 27 

 gallon.s, a bushel of sweet potatoes 1 gallon, and 3 gallons of 

 molas.ses 1 gallon of industrial alcohol. 



In considering the production of industrial alcohol in 

 the West Indies, it is essential to calculate how far the 

 price obtainable for molasses compares with the price of 

 industrial alcohol after deducting the expenses of distil- 

 lation. From a patriotic stand-point, the less alcohol 

 distilled from foodstuffs, such as maize, the better. The 

 subject certainly deserves careful consideration. 



The Sugar Industry Agricultural Bank in 



Barbados. — From the Auditor's report for the year ended 

 May 31 1917, and pablished in the Barbados Ojf!,cial GazetU 

 of July 'so, it appears the total loans for that period, on 

 the application of 125 owners of plantations, amounted to 

 £210 755. The income derived from interest was £5,960, 

 and the expenses amounted to £1,442, leaving a net incuine 

 of £4,518. Tbe accumu'ated profits on May 31, 1916, were 

 £46,885, while on May 31, 1917, they amounted to i 51,403. 

 This sum, added to the Imperial grant of £80,000, places 

 the Bank's total funds at £131,403. There were, no bad 

 debts. 



