SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
———— 
Wool Scouring Industry: Two Important Developments. 
. By W. RUSSELL GRIMWADE, B.Sc. 
So great is the existence of natural grease in Australian wools that 
the Commonwealth could provide all the refined lanoline for local con- 
sumption, as well as the crude fats, and still haye 90 per cent. of its pro- 
duction available for export. This result, however, is not obtained,’ 
Large quantities are lost in the scouring process. At Geelong, for in- - 
stance, it is roughly estimated that 2 tons daily run to waste in the 
Barwon River. The refining of the fat is more a matter of systematizin 
and commercial economy than of chemistry. Hitherto the chief difficulty 
has been that the refiners have not been able to obtain a uniform raw 
material. Most scouring establishments treat all classes and ages of 
wools, and the crude fats, if recovered at all, are bulked together irrespec- 
tive of grade and quality. 
The fat derived from the fine wool of merino lambs, if kept separate, 
requires very little refining, and, as a rule, could be used almost with- 
out treatment as an ingredient of toilet lanoline. On the other hand, the 
fats from other wools are so crude that no amount of refining can make 
them suitable for toilet preparations; and the only useful purpose they 
can serve is las an ingredient of lubricants and axle greases. Decomposi- 
tion and fermentation set in if they are kept for any length of — 
time, and an evil smell is produced. It is essential, therefore, to 
the manufacture of good products that the fat should be treated as 
quickly as possible, since these defects cannot be eradicated by any but 
' the most elaborate treatment. : 
Within the last few months, however, machines have been introduced 
into Australia from America which should facilitate the organization 
of the industry. The principle of the familiar cream separator has been 
adopted in their manufacture, and a super-centrifuge has been developed - 
which is capable of continuously treating -the enormous volume 
of scour liquors, and separating from them the small percentage of fat 
they contain. By this means a fairly uniform and suitable raw material, 
which may be treated by any one of several well-known processes, should 
be available to the refiner. 
Toilet lanoline which is sold in tubes is by no means pure wool fat, 
and often contains only from 15 to 30 per cent. of pure lanoline. The pure 
fat is far too gelatinous and sticky to be acceptable as a toilet requisite. 
A less refined quality is a valuable aid to pharmacy as a basis for oint- 
ments, and as an improvement upon the greases hitherto used for that 
purpose. The crudest product, as previously stated, serves as a lubricant 
_and as a thickening admixture to mineral lubricants. 
In addition to the natural fats that wool contains, there is present 
also a fair proportion of alkali. The scouring is done with soda, which 
saponifies fats and de-greases the wool fibre. A recent discovery promises 
important developments in this industry. Under this new process, the 
potash contents of the wool are made to combine with the natural fatty 
acids, and so create a true soap in the form of an emulsion, which may 
itself be used as the detergent for a subsequent scouring operation. 
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