A Practical Handbook on the Distillation of Alcohol from Farm ProductsWright, F. B. (Frederic B.)
Science
A Practical Handbook on the Distillation of Alcohol from Farm Products
Wright, F. B. (Frederic B.)
Alcohol; Alcohol, Denatured
A variety of steamer used in various forms and modifications in all the
larger distilleries, is known as the Henze steamer, Fig. 2. In this,
there are no stirrers. The cylinder is conical, and has steam pipes
leading to the interior. At the end of its cone-shaped bottom it
terminates in a blow-off tube, having in it a grate formed of sharp-edged
bars. In operation, steam is introduced at a pressure of one to two
atmospheres until the potatoes are cooked. More steam is then suddenly
admitted at high pressure and the softened potatoes forced through the
grating at the bottom and into the mashing apparatus in a finely divided
state.
In steaming under pressure it is best that the safety valve be so
regulated that the steam will constantly blow off as this action keeps
the potatoes in motion and facilitates disintegration. Care should also
be taken to see that everything about the apparatus is in good condition,
as in working under the high pressures used in the last apparatus there
is liability of explosion. Rust should be particularly guarded against.
With this apparatus a preparatory mash vat is used into which the
contents of the steamers are blown out, malt and water to form milk
having been previously let into the mash vat. Blowing out is accomplished
in 45 or 50 minutes at 130∞ F. and about one-sixth of the charge in the
steamer is retained in the steamer. The mash in the vat is stirred and
cooled and the remainder of the mash blown in raising the temperature to
145∞ F. when the mash is left to stand from half an hour to an hour. With
heavy mashes, rich in sugar, even higher temperatures than 145∞ F. can be
used for saccharifying.
The processes of crushing and saccharifying, above referred to, which are
almost entirely used to-day, require steam. The following methods provide
for the isolation of the fecula or starch, without steam and the
production of a wash of a more watery consistency, therefore easier to
handle in ordinary stills, and with less liability to burn.
Two operations are necessary by this method: First, rasping, or reducing
the potatoes to a finely crushed and pulpy condition by means of a
machine described in the chapter on Beet Mashing; and second, the
separation of the fecula.
To this latter end the potato pulp is placed on a sieve, having side
walls and net work of horse-hair, which is placed over a suitable tub.
Water is run gradually through the pulp and sieve, while the pulp is
rubbed up by hand. When the water comes through clear, then all the
fecula of the pulp has been washed out, and the refuse left in the sieve
can be thrown aside or used as a food for cattle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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