VOL.2. No. 12
1175
Although furfural was discovered a hundred years ago, it has until recently remained one of the rare organic chemicals, high in price and available only in small amounts. It was studied merely in its relations to "pure science" and but little thought or effort expended on its possible industrial application. Through the application of chemical research, it has been found possible to manufacture furfural from oat hulls at a sufficiently low cost to make it the cheapest aldehyde available. After exhaustive study of various factors influencing the yield of furfural from oat hulls, such as time, acid con-
centration, rate of removal, etc., a simple and effective procedure was developed in which the hulls are subjected to the action of steam and acid in large rotary digesters. The distillate from these digesters, which has a relatively high furfural content is neutralized and furfural recovered by distillation. The liquor obtained from the still contains about 95 per cent furfural and 5 per cent water. This product is refined to between 98 per cent and 99 per cent and constitutes the technical grade of furfural on the market at the present time. Furfural is very active chemically, is a solvent of wide application and possesses many properties tendmg to give it commercial utility. It is at present being used very extensively in the manufacture of synthetic resins and molding compounds. As a solvent it is being used in the preparation of cellulose ester lacquers and in varnishes. A number of the synthetic resins made from it are adaptable to use in the varnish industry. Because of its germicidal and fungicidal properties, furfnral is finding application in the preparation of dextrin and similar pastes, also in glue solutions as well as in disinfectants, deodorizers, etc. Furfural solutions are extremely well adapted for the preservation of biological specimens. The commercial use of furfural as a base for dye st&s has been studied only slightly. Many compounds have been mentioned in both patent and scientific literature as dye stuffs, hut to date none have been produced on a commercial basis.
