INDUSTRIAL ALCOHOL— DENATURED ALCOHOL 



187 



half gallon per hundred. Wood alcohol may be 

 ased with pyridln bases in the following propor- 

 tions : To each 100 gallons of alcohol of not less 

 than 180 proof, two gallons of wood alcohol and 

 one-half gallon of pyridin bases. Alcohol thus 

 treated is said to be denatured for general pur- 

 poses, suitable for burning in lamps to produce 

 illumination, in stoves for heating and baking, in 

 engines for driving automobiles, and in certain in- 

 dustries in the preparation of varnishes and veneers. 

 There are many uses of an industrial character, 

 however, to which alcohol treated in this way could 

 not be put. The law, therefore, permits special 

 denaturing agents for special purposes, and the 

 Commissioner of Internal Revenue establishes, from 

 time to time, special forms of denaturing. 



As an example of special denaturing the method 

 of treating alcohol for the manufacture of tobacco 

 may be cited. To each one hundred gallons of 

 alcohol there is added one gallon of the following 

 solution : 12 gallons of an aqueous solution con- 

 taining 40 per cent nicotine, xs pound acid yellow 

 dye (fast yellow), -fs pound tetrazo brilliant blue, 

 and sufficient water to make 100 gallons. It is seen 

 by the above regulation that alcohol to be used in 

 the manufacture of tobacco is denatured principally 

 with nicotine, which is a poisonous alkaloid natur- 

 ally existing in tobacco. The addition of this nico- 

 tine in connection with the coloring matters is 

 sufficient warning to the intending drinker that 

 the material is not fit for consumption. 



Alcohol can be denatured only in a Government 

 bonded warehouse under the supervision of the 

 Revenue officials, and when so denatured is marked 

 under the supervision of the Revenue officials and 

 can then be sent into commerce free of tax. 



Economic uses of denatured alcohol. 



Denatured alcohol, or industrial alcohol, is used 

 extensively in the manufacture of coal-tar dyes, 

 smokeless powder, varnishes, lacquers, ether, medi- 

 cines and pharmaceutical preparations, imitation 

 silk, artificial vinegar, flavoring extracts, and in 

 many other industries. The present law does not 

 permit the use of free alcohol, however, for making 

 any medicinal preparations, and therefore it cannot 

 be used free of tax in this country for making 

 ether or any medicine or pharmaceutical prepara- 

 tion except in cases in which it is entirely elimi- 

 nated before the material goes into use. In other 

 countries it is used for these purposes tax free. 



Many manufacturing industries in this country 

 have been prevented from development because of 

 the high tax on the industrial alcohol which they 

 were compelled to use. For example, the manufac- 

 ture of smokeless powder, except for Government 

 use, has grown very slowly in the United States 

 because such powder, made as it is usually with 

 ether and alcohol, costs eighty cents to one dollar 

 and twenty-five cents a pound when the tax on the 

 alcohol must be paid. If tax-free alcohol could be 

 used for making smokeless powder it probably 

 could be made for thirty-five to forty cents a 

 pound. At present prices of the material used in 

 this country, viz., com, the actual cost of a gallon 



of alcohol of 95 per cent strength is not much less 

 than thirty cents. A gallon of such alcohol weighs, 

 in round numbers, seven pounds, and requires four- 

 teen pounds of starch or sugar for its production. 

 A bushel of corn will make not to exceed two and 

 one-half gallons of such alcohol. At forty cents a 

 bushel it is seen that the raw material for the 

 making of a gallon of alcohol would cost at least 

 sixteen cents, that is, the starch in corn is worth 

 a little over a cent a pound. The cost of manufac- 

 turing and packing for market is not much less 

 than fourteen cents, making the total cost of each 

 gallon thirty cents. In order that fair profits may 

 be secured, a gallon of denatured alcohol cannot be 

 sold at retail at much less than forty cents. 



In order that the price be brought lower cheaper 

 raw materials must be secured. Perhaps the most 

 hopeful source is found in the refuse of the sugar 

 factories and refineries. The molasses which comes 

 from the manufacture of high-grade sugar usually 

 contains so many impurities as not to be suitable for 

 consumption. This alcohol can be had very cheap. 

 About two and one-half gallons of it will make one 

 gallon of industrial alcohol. At eight cents a gal- 

 lon the material would cost just about as much as 

 the quantity of corn necessary to make a gallon. 

 As the sugar industry increases in this country 

 and the processes of making sugar become more 

 efficient, the molasses will be worth a less price 

 and probably will furnish in the future a large 

 part of the industrial alcohol required. The refuse 

 of certain factories, such as those which can sweet 

 corn, may also be utilized. The sandy fields of the 

 south Atlantic coast may be made to produce large 

 crops of sweet-potatoes and yams suitable for the 

 manufacture of industrial alcohol. 



At present it is seen that industrial alcohol 

 cannot be used for many purposes in competition 

 with gasoline. There are, however, many pur- 

 poses for which industrial alcohol can be used, 

 as in the manufacturing industries mentioned. The 

 immediate future, therefore, will see a very large 

 increase in the quantity of alcohol used in this 

 country for certain manufacturing purposes, but 

 will not see much of an increase of the use of 

 alcohol for driving engines, automobiles and like 

 purposes. One important use of denatured alcohol 

 will be for illumination and for heating purposes 

 in the household. For these purposes gasoline is 

 altogether too dangerous and denatured alcohol will 

 naturally take its place. 



The law authorizing the denaturing of alcohol 

 did not make any changes in the law relating to 

 the manufacture of alcohol. It follows, therefore, 

 that alcohol which is manufactured for industrial 

 purposes must be made under exactly the same 

 supervision of the Internal Revenue as attends the 

 manufacture of alcoholic compounds for beverage 

 purposes. 



Literature. 



Farmers' Bulletins No. 268, Industrial Alcohol: 

 Sources and Manufacture, and No. 269, Industrial 

 Alcohol: Uses and Statistics, United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



