UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Contribution from the Forest Service 



WILLIAM B. GREELEY, Forester 



Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin 



In cooperation with the University of Wisconsin 



jr^-^j-t. 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



April 6, 1922 



THE MANUFACTURE OF ETHYL ALCOHOL FROM 

 WOOD WASTE. 1 



By F. W. Kressmann, formerly chemist in Forest Products. 1 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

 Sources of ethyl alcohol and comparative costs 



of production 1 



Amount of wood waste available 3 



The present value of wood waste A 



Limitation s to the utilization of wood waste ... 5 

 Processes for the manufacture of alcohol from 



wood 6 



History of the processes 7 



Outline of investigations 15 



Apparatus and procedure 16 



Methods of analysis 17 



Yeasting and fermentation 19 



Results 27 



Effect of catalyzers other than sulphuric acid or 



in addition thereto 53 



Study of different species 56 



Source of fermentable sugar 59 



By-products 61 



Analysis of results 62 



Plant equipment and operation 63 



Costs 67 



SOURCES OF ETHYL ALCOHOL AND COMPARATIVE COSTS OF 



PRODUCTION. 



The production of fermentable sugars and ethyl alcohol from 

 cellulosic materials, such as straw, linen, cotton, peat, wood, and 

 in fact, all plant fibers, has engaged the attention of chemists and 

 technologists for nearly a century. It is only within the last two 

 decades, however, that serious attempts have been made to utilize 

 wood waste for this purpose. The principal sources of fermentable 

 sugars from which alcohol is at present derived are the hydrolytic 

 products of starch and the sugars obtained from fruits and such 

 sugar-factory residues as molasses. 



Corn yields about 2.4 gallons of 188-proof spirit a bushel; and, 

 although the price of corn and other grains used varies with the 



1 The author acknowledges with pleasure his indebtedness to Messrs. Homer Cloukey and H. N. Calder- 

 wood, of the Forest Products Laboratory, whose aid in making the hundreds of analyses necessary to the 

 research was invaluable. Acknowledgment is made also to Drs. S. P. Acree and E. C. Sherrard for helpful 

 criticism and review. For help rendered by men from outside the Forest Service, the author acknowl- 

 edges his obligations to Messrs. Boyt and Groves, of Georgetown, S. C, to Dr. B. C Gravenburg, distillery 

 superintendent, at Fullerton, La., and to Dr. T. B. Wagner, of New York. Many others have assisted in 

 the production of this work, and to all of them the author is grateful. 

 54976°— 21— Bull. 983 1 



