Production of Alcohol from Sulfite Waste Liquor

In Sweden the production of alcohol increased from 8 million liters in 1934 to 23 million in 1936, 32 million in 1939 and 33 million in 1940. Sweden had 33 plants producing alcohol from sulfite waste liquor in 1940. Many improvements have been made with respect to yields and operating costs. 

Similar development has occurred in Germany.In 1943 it was reported that 250,000 hectoliters of alcohol were produced from sulfite waste liquor. The preferred method of fermentation was a continuous method in which the yeast was grown on chips or twigs and the neutralized sulfite waste liquor flowed through these chips.  

A plant for the fermentation of sulfite waste liquor in America was built at Mechanicsville, New York, by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company in 1914. The alcohol stills and some of the other equipment were imported from Germany and were considered the most modern at that time. In comparison to present American stills, these were very inefficient because they were wasteful of steam and did not recover all the alcohol. This plant reused the yeast from a previous fermentation for succeeding fermentations. The plant produced about 221,000 gallons of alcohol per year in 1919. In later years, because of the inefficiency of the alcohol stills with dilute alcohol solutions, molasses was added to the sulfite waste liquor to increase the alcohol content. The plant operated until 1939, when it was closed because of obsolescence. 

Other plants were started at Oregon City, Oregon, and at Appleton, Wisconsin, but developed little further than the pilot plant stage. 

With the advent of more efficient stills and more modern yeasthandling equipment, and as the result of the greater demands for alcohol, two modern plants were established, one at Thorold, Ontario, Canada, and another at Bellingham, Washington. 

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IX. Production of Alcohol from Sulfite Waste Liquor. 187... 

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