42 Forest Club Annual 



other complex compounds, condenses and drops into a six inch 

 vapor pan at the bottom of the flues. The gas which does not 

 condense is drawn off at this stage in the process and fed into 

 the furnace by means of a steam jet. From a cord of dry wood 

 about 400 gallons of acid is obtained and more if green wood is 

 used. 



From the condensers, the acid is led to tanks, nine in num- 

 ber, 9 feet in diameter by 10 feet high constructed of 2 inch red 

 fir planks. Here the tar is allowed to settle and is then drawn 

 off through a 1J inch pipe to the furnace and burned. Tar 

 composes about 1-5 part of the pyroligneous acid. From these 

 tanks, the acid is pumped to a copper still 54 feet high by 4 feet 

 in diameter in which at equal distances apart, there are arranged 

 one above the other 21 perforated partitions or plates pierced 

 by holes \ inch in diameter and 1^ inches apart. The acid is 

 pumped in at the top of the still through a 2^ inch pipe while 

 steam is turned in at the bottom. The acid separates and comes 

 out at the bottom of the still while the alcohol vaporizes and 

 comes out at the top to a series of three wooden oil traps. In 

 these the oil which vaporized with the alcohol settles at the 

 bottom while the alcohol which at this stage is about 15% pure 

 is drawn off from the top and led to two alcohol tanks sunk in 

 the floor. These are 6 feet high by 9 feet in diameter and are 

 constructed of f inch boiler iron. Here the alcohol is neutralized 

 by adding to it one bushel of lime to the amount of crude 

 alcohol obtained from one cord of wood. It is now allowed to 

 stand for six hours and is then pumped to a second copper still 

 50 feet high by 2^ feet in diameter. This still is composed of 

 eleven sections with three perforated plates to each section. 

 The alcohol comes in the top about 15% pure, is vaporized by 

 steam coming in from the bottom, and goes out about 82% pure. 

 The oil from the bottom of this still is waste. To each 2400 

 gallons of alcohol put in here, only 500 gallons of the purer 

 alcohol is obtained, the difference of 1900 gallons being waste. 



The 82% pure alcohol is now run into a third still which is 

 heated at the bottom by a coil of pipes. From this, the alcohol 

 comes out about 90% pure and is led first into a separator 30 

 inches in diameter by 5 feet tall and then to a cooler 30 inches in 

 diameter by 7 feet tall. From the cooler, it goes to a series of 

 three bleaching stills which have one perforaed plate to each 

 section. To bleach the alcohol, it is treated in the first of these 

 stills with six quarts of sulphuric acid to each 2400 gallons of 

 alcohol, in the second still with twenty-six quarts of sodium 

 hydrate to each 2600 gallons of alcohol, and in the third still 



