T H E JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY VOL.
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theL1-arious committees to which more extended refINDUSTRIA erence is made elsewhere in this issue, a concerted E N G I N E E R I NCGH E M I S T Reffort Y will be directed toward bringing the great
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THE A M E R I C A N C H E M I C A L SOCIETY. BOARD OF LDITORS. Editor: W. D. Richardson.
Associate Editovs. Geo. P. Adamson, E. G. Bailey, G. E. Barton, Wm. Brady, W m . Campbell, F. B. Carpenter, Virgil Coblentz, Francis I. Dupont, W. C. Ebaugh, W m . C. Geer, W. F. Hillebrand, W. D. Horne, I,. P. Kinnicutt, A. E. Leach, K a r l Langenbeck, A . D. Little, P. C. McIlhiney, E. B. McCready, Wm. McMurtrie, J. hlerritt Xatthews, T. J. Parker, J. D. Pennock, Geo. C. Stone, F. W. Traphagen, E r n s t Twitchell, Robt. Wahl, X V m . H. Walker, M. C. Whitaker, W.R . Wliitney. Published monthly. Subscription price to non-members of t h e American Chemical Society $6.00 yearly. .
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THE CAMPAIGN O F 1910.
THE Division of Industrial Chemists and Chemical Engineers is on the march. n'ith organized forces and well-considered plans i t is mol-ing ton-ard a definite objective. I t s lines of attack are many but they all converge. The objective of the Division is 0 laygev ziscjdness o n a higher fila?ie of se ce for all those engaged in the application of chemistry to industry. lye recognize that the public esteem in which our profession is held, the rewards which i t may offer and the satisfaction which i t may bring are finally to be determined by the capacity for useful service demonstrated by its members and that there is no surer way of helping chemists than by developing opportunities for chemists to help others. To this end the work of the Division has been organized, toward this i t will be directed throughout the yea! and for this your enrolment and assistance are solicited. As a first step toward solidarity, a better acquaintance and readier cooperation, the Executive Committee has directed the Secretary' of the Division to prepare a descriptive list of its registered members which shall contain not only the names and addresses of these members b u t a brief statement of their scientific activities and industrial affiliations. Through F. E. Gallagher, 93 Broad S t . , Boston.
industrial and trade associations into touch and sympathy with the work of the Division. Our committees will cooperate with them in the definition of trade terms, the standardization of trade customs, the preparation of specifications, and the development of standard methods of technical analysis. The Committee on Research Problems has been constituted not only to initiate research and devise research methods in industrial chemistry, b u t to cooperate and advise with trade associations as to effective methods of attacking industrial problems of broad general interest to their members. The Committee on Publicity will endeal-or in self-respecting ways and with due regard to the dignity of the profession to secure a wider recognition of the importance and practical value of the chemist's work. Something of what may be accomplished in this regard is indicated by the results secured a t the Boston meeting where on behalf of the Society a t large about joo.ooo words a day were distributed to the press throughout the country. Finally as affording direct help to our own membership and to chemists e\-erywhere as well, reference should be made to the work of the Committee on Descriptive Bibliographies and to that of the Committee on Prices of Elements and Special Compounds. I t is expected that a report of progress will be had from each of these committees a t the San Francisco meeting. A systematic effort has further been inaugurated to arrange with each of the large industrial associations for the attendance of a delegate a t the meetings of the Dil-ision mho shall transmit to his association all matters of interest to its membership. Ultimately i t is hoped to secure reciprocal representation by the attendance of duly authorized members of the Division a t these association meetings. Much as the Dix-ision may hope to accomplish as an organization along the lines indicated and others equally beneficial in their reaction upon its membership and the profession as a whole, i t remains true that the real uplift for a larger usefulness upon a higher plane of sen-ice must come from the sustained and daily effort of each one of us as individual representatiyes of our profession. -1.D. LITTLE. ORGANIZATION.
THE Boston meeting of the American Chemical Society, with more than joo enthusiastic chemists
T H E JOURNAL OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y .
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registered, is one more testimonial to the efficacy of wise scientific organization. The policies developed during the last four years of the Society’s history are working out even better than the most sanguine advocate anticipated. Of those policies the organization of Divisions and the publication of special journals devoted to particular branches of chemistry are the most prominent and important, although the earlier organization of Local Sections and the creation of corporation membership must not be overlooked. There are several independent chemical organizations and independent chemical journals of a scientific type in America which have not yet joined issues with the American Chemical Society. It is unnecessary to state that these societies and publications are doing excellent work. Nevertheless the thought must arise again and again in the mind of an unprejudiced’observer as to the possibilities, if complete organization of the chemical forces in America could be brought about.
THE DISTILLATION OF WHISKEY.’ B y A. B. ADAMS.CHEMIST,BUREAUOF INTERNAL REVENUE. Received November 17, 1909.
Until recently b u t little attention has been paid to the chemistry of whiskey, and practically none to the changes taking place in its distillation. As to what occurred in the different parts of the process, what was the composition of the different portions of the distillate and residues, but little was actually known, The work of SchidrowitzZ has been about the only work published on this part of the subject, and as this is upon the methods as used in the British Isles, where the processes of making whiskey differ somewhat from those used in this country, it was thought desirable to obtain some data upon the processes used in this country. It is with the view of shedding some additional light on the subject that this paper is offered. I n the United States nearly every distiller uses one of two kinds of stills for the first distillation. The three-chambered beer still, either wooden or copper, is used in Maryland and Pennsylvania; in Tennessee and Kentucky the small ten- or twelve-chambered continuous beer still is used. It was, therefore, decided to obtain samples representative of a day’s run from a distillery in Pennsylvania using the threechambered beer still, and one in Kentucky using the continuous beer still. The Pennsylvania distillery selected, uses a threechamber charge wooden beer still : the vapor pipe passes out of the center of the top of the still, then downward into the bottom of the doubler-a copper cylinder
about 30 inches in diameter, and a s high as the beer still. Into this doubler are placed at the beginning of each charge the combined heads and tails of the previous charge. The vapors from the beer still enter this liquid, boil it, and pass out a t the top of the doubler in a vapor pipe connected to a worm where they are condensed. The object of cutting out and returning the heads and tails to the doubler appears to be to cut out of the whiskey those portions of the distillate which contain undesirable products, such as an excess of aldehydes, and certain indeterminable bodies occurring in the tail of the run, called by many fusel oil, which, however, are proven b y these analyses not to be “fusel oil” or the higher alcohols. By reboiling, the alcohol is saved and the “ undesirables ’’ gradually disappear, partly by chemical change and partly b y elimination. Starting with the still in operation and a charge just run-it being charged every 28 minutes-the slop or spent beer in the lowest chamber is drawn off, and the partly dealcoholized beer in the second chamber dropped into the bottom chamber; the contents of the first or top chamber are dropped into the second chamber, and new beer (about 1,000 gallons) from the charging tank is emptied into the first chamber. The residue from the doubler of the beer still is emptied into the second chamber of the still, and the doubler recharged with the I ‘ heads” and ‘( tails” of the previous run of the beer still, consisting of about 1 7 2 wine gallons, the composition of which can be seen b y averaging the heads and tails in the proper proportion. Grams per roo liters. Higher Qu,analco- Alde- Furtity Proof. acids. Esters. hol. hydes. furols. gallons. Average of heads.. .111.4 7.2 126.7 80.0 164.0 0.0 12 Average of tails., 61.2 9.6 15.8 37.0 7.0 0.4 160 Average..
,
. .... -- -. . . , . . . . 64.6 9 . 4 23.5 40.0 ,
Contents of doubler a t end of charge..
. . . . . . . . 27.6
7.O
6.1
_ _ - 17.9
0.38 172 total
trace 0.0
172(about)
Live steam is then turned into the bottom chamber, a pressure of about 4-j pounds being used. I n about eight minutes the distillate begins to come over. The first runnings called “heads” are very turbid and are collected in the “low wine” tank as soon as the distillate clears, which takes about two minutes; a sufficient quantity is considered cut out as “heads;” the distillate is then turned into what is called the “high mine” tank, the contents of which are redistilled the following day. This high wine,” or ‘‘ middle run.” is continued for about five minutes or until the proof has dropped to I 1 2 when the flow is again turned into the “low wine” tank where it is mingled with the heads.” The distillation is discontinued when a certain number of inches of low wines has been run and the proof has reached about 8’. The contents of the lowest chamber are now exhausted of alcohol I‘
‘(
Published by permission of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Read a t the summer meeting of the American Chemical Society. Detroit. Mich.. 1909. aSee Schidrowitz in Royal ConznzLrswn on W h i s k e y , Vol. 1 . Great Britain. Schidrowitz in The Journal of the Insiitufe of Brewing, 1906. 1
Feb., 1910
