16 



apparatus, but such a procedure increases running expenses and is the 

 most costly in the end. 



Builders of destructive-distillation plants quote from $1,500 to 

 $2,000 per day-cord on a basis of a 10-cord plant, with higher figures 

 for smaller plants and lower figures for larger ones. 



The price of equipment when turpentine alone is recovered by dis- 

 tilling with steam is, as a rule, considerably lower than the destruc- 

 tive equipment, and quotations vary from $400 to $l,500 a per cord of 

 wood treated daily. These wide differences are due largely to the 

 newness of the industry in the South, to differences in time of distilla- 

 tion, and also to the fact that in nearly all cases the apparatus is 

 patented and an exorbitant value is frequently placed on the patent 

 rights. 



A plant to destructively distil 12 cords of wood per day will require, 

 approximately, the following equipment : 



2 oven retorts, each 32 feet long, or 12 round retorts. 



4 oven coolers, each 32 feet long, or 100 300-pound charcoal cans. 



24 to 26 charcoal cars of iron (if oven retorts are used). 



1 tar still. 



1 liming still. 



1 alcohol still. 



1 steam pan, 14 feet long, 9 feet wide, inches deep. 



1 settling pan, 8 feet long, 9 feet wide, 4 feet deep. 



1 100-horsepower boiler. 



1 10-horsepower engine. 



1 set iron mixing gear. 



1 blow tank for elevating liquid acetate to settling tank. 



1 storage tank. 



1 mixing tub, wood. 



2 to 3 wooden storage tanks. 



1 copper condenser for each retort. 

 1 copper column still aiid condenser. 

 Pumps to supply water for condenser. 



In the case of pine-wood distillation additional storage and settling 

 tanks for tar and turpentine, another tar still, and a, refining still for 

 turpentine are required. Smaller liming and alcohol stills may be 

 used. A plant for the recovery of turpentine only would call for 

 much less equipment, and the apparatus would be of a different char- 

 acter. If a daily charge of 10 cords is to be distilled the following 

 items would probably be sufficient : 



10 retorts, capacity of 1 cord each. 



10 condensers. 



1 1 50-horsepower boiler. 



1 100-horsepower engine. 



The higher prices are based on operating each retort but once in twenty-four hours. 

 If the time of distillation is shortened, as can safely be done, the cost per day-cord is 

 reduced proportionally. 



[Cir. 36] 



