bine with the alkali to form a soluble rosin soap. 

 Turpentine and pine oil are stable in presence of 

 dilute solutions of alkali and may be removed 

 therefrom by distillation with steam. Wood itself 

 is affected only in slight degree on heating with 

 dilute alkali at low steam pressures, a small pro- 

 portion of the lignin being carried into solution. 

 These well-known facts have suggested the use of 

 dilute alkaline solutions to effect a separation of 

 the primary constituents of resinous . wood. 



A more detailed discussion of the factors entering 

 into the extraction of resinous wood with alkalis 

 will be found in the second part of this paper. 



Bath Processes 



Commercial operations on a limited scale have 

 been carried on for some time whereby the tur- 

 pentine and pine oils and incidentally part of the 

 rosin are extracted from the wood by a hot bath 

 of non-volatile or high boiling material. Molten 

 rosin alone and mixtures of rosin, pitch, pine tar, 

 pine oil, etc. have been used as baths for flooding the 

 wood. Final injection of steam into the bath car- 

 ries off the turpentine and pine oil and permits 

 of using the bath for treating the next batch of 

 wood. The extracted wood may be used as fuel 

 or it may be destructively distilled. 



Hydrolysis 



The hydrolysis of the lignocellulose complex of 

 wood by acids and the production of ethyl alcohol 

 from the fermentable sugars so formed constitute 

 a problem of ever-growing interest. Long-leaf pine 

 has been the raw material used in a large proportion 

 of the investigations along these lines and at least 

 two alcohol plants in this country are now treating 

 this wood on a large scale. 



Very dilute solutions of sulphurous, sulphuric or 

 hydrochloric acid are used as hydrolyzing agents 

 and rather high steam pressures are necessary to 

 effect the decomposition of the lignin and cellulose. 

 The fermentable sugar, calculated as dextrose, 

 amounts to 1020 per cent of the dry weight of 

 the wood under favorable conditions. The extract 

 is neutralized with lime, cooled, and treated with 



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