8 BULLETIN 508, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Where especially high yields of refined products are obtained, 

 there is usually a large volume of crude liquor which must be handled 

 to secure these products. Tanbark oak, California black oak, and 

 eucalj^ptus all showed high yields of crude liquor per cord and also 

 gave high yields of acetic acid and alcohol, as indicated in Table 2. 

 use of the manufactures from figures 1 and 2. The laboratory yields 



COMMERCIAL DISTILLATION. 



The results given in this bulletin can be best interpreted for the 

 use of the manufacturer from figures 1 and 2. The laboratory jdelds 

 of acetate of lime are over 50 per cent higher than those obtained in 

 standard commercial practice, although the alcohol yields do not 

 difi^er much from commercial yields. 



Since the data are compared with the results of laboratory dis- 

 tillations of the standard species — ^beech, birch, and maple — they are 

 entirely comparable on this basis. In the commercial interpretation 

 of these diagrams, the average yields per cord from Wisconsin and 

 Michigan beech, birch, and maple may be given as 10.5 gallons of 

 82 per cent crude wood alcohol and 185 pounds of gray acetate of lime. 

 Using these yields as a basis, and taking the relations given in the 

 diagrams, a simple calculation will give an actual cost value for 

 judging the different forms and species for distillation. For exam- 

 ple : Taking an average market value for acetate of lime as $1.75 per 

 100 pounds and 82 per cent alcohol at 26 cents per gallon, the value 

 of these two products ^ from beech, birch, and maple in the commer- 

 cial plant is, then, $3.24 for acetate plus $2.73 for alcohol, which equals 

 $5.97 per cord. Comparing chestnut oak in figures 1 and 2, the cal- 

 culation gives $3.24X0.915 2+$2.73X0.796=$5.14. Chestnut oak is, 

 then, obviously worth about 83 cents less per cord to the distillation 

 plant than the standard species. The slabs alone are worth more than 

 bodywood, a consideration of interest to the sawmill. Tanbark oak 

 indicates a value of $3.24X1.256+$2.73X 1-067 ==$6.98 for alcohol 

 and acetate, or with equal manufacturing and market conditions, a 

 plant could stand a charge of $4.50 per cord for the raw material. 



Of course, many other factors enter into the consideration of the 

 value of any form or species of wood for distillation, but the relative 

 value of the products examined would in each case be the primary 

 consideration. 



' In this particular calculation it is necessary to assume that the yields of charcoal 

 ■would not vary greatly. If the calculation with acetate and alcohol indicated the value 

 of the wood to be questionable, the charcoal could not be expected to bring up the result. 



2 Mean of heart and slab. 



o 



