ALCOHOL 29 
When a revenue Officer is assigned to a 
distillery, it must be operated regularly 
on every day except Sundays. (Sec. 39, p. 
57.) 
Methods are prescribed by which de- 
naturants may be obtained and used. 
(Secs. 41-44 and 49, pp. 58, 59, and 61.) 
Factors Influencing the Cost of 
Manufacturing Aleohol 
While cheap and abundant raw material 
is indeed essential to the profitable produc- 
tion of denatured alcohol, there are other 
factors, no less important, which enter in- 
to the cost of manufacture. Some of these 
are as follows: 
Interest and depreciation—A small dis- 
tillery can hardly be built and equipped 
for less than $12,000. Interest on the in- 
vestment may therefore be set at about 
$700 a year; and a like amount ought to 
be allowed for keeping the plant in good 
working order. The capacity of such a 
plant can be doubled without any very 
great increase in cost; and if the capacity 
be halved, the reduction in cost will be 
relatively small. 
Labor—At least three and probably four 
men will be needed to run any distillery, 
however limited its capacity. Increase of 
the production up to 400 or 500 proof gal- 
lons daily would probably not call for ad- 
ditional labor. Five men undoubtedly 
could handle a plant producing 1,000 gal- 
lons daily. 
Water—A large amount of pure cold 
water is needed for the operation of a dis- 
tillery. This fact is generally unknown 
save to those who are engaged in the dis- 
tilling business. A plant capable of pro- 
ducing 100 proof gallons, or 55 gallons of 
180-degree alcohol, in a working day of 
ten hours, will need a supply of water 
amounting to not less than 3,000 gallons 
in that length of time, five gallons per 
minute, and may demand considerably 
more. 
“Fuel—Little definite information is 
available regarding the amount of fuel 
necessary for the operation of a small 
alcohol distillery. This dearth of accur- 
ate knowledge is regrettable, for the coal 
H. W. 
bill is a prominent item in the distillery’s 
expense account. Such data as are at 
hand indicate that the coal consumption 
—per gallon of 186-degree alcohol pro- 
duced—may vary from 11 pounds under 
the most favorable conditions to 38 
pounds in a poorly equipped and poorly 
managed plant As 11 pounds of coal 
as a distillery fuel yield almost 159,000 
heat units and a gallon of alcohol gives 
about 75,000, it is apparent that the use 
of alcohol so produced for heating would 
involve a great waste and be altogether 
unprofitable. Furthermore, the coal con- 
sumption of a small distillery will be 
proportionally greater than that of a large 
one, since many economies which are pos- 
sible in a large plant are quite imprac- 
ticable in a small one. 
Conelusions 
It is apparent that the business of dis- 
tilling alcohol is one which calls for a 
considerable investment and no small de- 
gree of technical skill. It can not be con- 
ducted advantageously, from a commer- 
cial point of view, in very small plants on 
account of the proportionately high cost 
of the plant and labor; and many of the 
so-called “wastes” which have been sug- 
gested as fermentable raw materials are 
so poor in fermentable substance or so ex- 
pensive to handle that their availability 
is thereby impaired. It seems that the 
business, to be productive of satisfactory 
returns, must be conducted on a fairly 
large scale, and that the best success is 
likely to be attained with raw materials 
of the general types already in use, name- 
ly, maize, potatoes, and molasses. The in- 
dustry is not suited to every locality, and 
it is most likely to be successful if car- 
ried on systematically on a very large 
farm, or if supported by the joint interests 
of a fairly large community. The allur- 
ing statements sometimes made regarding 
large financial returns to be obtained by 
making industrial alcohol with waste raw 
materials, unskilled labor, and a “cheap” 
distilling outfit are misleading and can 
only result in loss if followed. 
Wiley. Chief, Bureau of Chemistry, 
Revised by H. BE. Sawyer, Fermentation Chem- 
ist, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
