Distillation, wood destructive

During World War II in Germany, automobiles were fueled by the gases produced from thermal decomposition of wood and research is ongoing today on the more efficient gasification of wood. Destructive distillation has been used throughout most recorded history to obtain turpentine from pinewood, as discussed later in the chapter. 

C4H8O, CH3COCH2CH3. Colourless liquid with a pleasant odour, b.p. 80°C. It occurs with propanone in the products of the destructive distillation of wood. Manufactured by the liquid or vapour phase dehydrogenation of 2-butanol over a catalyst. Used as a solvent, particularly for vinyl and acrylic resins, and for nitrocellulose and cellulose acetate, also for the dewaxing of lubricating oils. U.S. production 1978 300 000 tonnes. 

Charcoal Charcoal is the residue from the destructive distillation of wood. It absorbs moisture readily, often containing as much as 10 to 15 percent water. In addition, it usually contains about 2 to 3 percent ash and 0.5 to I.O percent hydrogen. The heating value of charcoal is about 27,912 to 30,238 kj/kg (12,000 to 13,000 Btu/lb). 

Commercial acetic acid is manufactured fiom pyroligneous acid obtained in the destructive distillation of wood. The latter is neutralised with lime, and separated by distillation from wood-spirit and acetone. The crude calcium acetate, which has a dark colour, is then distilled with the requisite quantity of concentrated hydrochloric acid. Anhydrous or glacial acetic acid is obtained by distilling fused sodium acetate with concentrated sulphuric acid. 

Cadinene owes its name to its occuiTence in considerable quantity in oil of cade—which, of course, is not a true essential oil, but the product of destructive distillation. It is found in numerous essential oils, including those of patchouli, savin, galbanum, camphor, cedar wood. West Indian santal, juniper, and many others. Cadinene is best prepared as follows —... 

Methanol was originally produced by the destructive distillation of wood (wood alcohol) for charcoal production. Currently, it is mainly produced from synthesis gas. 

Coal gas for illumination—and later for heating— was produced by the destructive distillation of coal and resulted in the production of large volumes of tar. This is used in the form of creosote for wood preservation, so that both gasworks sites and impregnation facilities became heavily contaminated with coal tar products. The range of compounds involved is enormous, but attention... 

At one time, most methanol was produced by the destructive distillation of wood (i.e., heating wood to a high temperature in the absence of air) => wood alcohol . 1) Today, most methanol is prepared by the catalytic hydrogenation of carbon monoxide. 

Methyl alcohol, CH2OH, also called wood alcohol or wood spirit, since it was formerly obtained from the destructive distillation of wood. It has also been synthesised from carbon monoxide and hydrogen or by fermentation of various sugar containing crops. Used as a part replacement for petrol in Gasohol to deliver a more environmentally friendly fuel, i.e., from renewable resources. 

Animal fats and oilseeds (soybean, cottonseed, coconut, palm) are important feedstocks for plasticizers and cosmetics. Destructive distillation of biomass yields methanol ( wood alcohol ), acetic acid, tar and charcoal, and was the backbone of the chemical industry in former centuries. 

The early sources of phenol were the destructive distillation of coal and the manufacture of methyl alcohol from wood. In both cases, phenol was a by-product. Recovered volumes were limited by whatever was made accidentally in the process. Initial commercial routes to on-purpose phenol involved the reaction of benzene with sulfuric acid (1920), chlorine (1928), or hydrochloric acid (1939) all these were followed by a subsequent hydrolysis step (reaction with water to get the -OH group) to get phenol. These processes required high temperatures and pressures to make the reactions go. They re multistep processes requiring special metallurgy to handle the corrosive mixtures involved. None of these processes is in commercial use today. 

There s a good reason why methanol is commonly called wood alcohol. The early commercial source was the destructive distillation of the fresh-cut lumber from hardwood trees. When wood is heated without access to air at temperatures above 500°F, it decomposes into charcoal and a volatile fraction. Among the compounds in the volatile fraction is methanol. Hence, the name wood alcohol or wood spirits. 

The destructive distillation of wood to produce methanol results in some by-product acetic acid, and that was the most popular but now defunct commercial source. Fermentation, the oldest, indeed the ancient method, is still used to produce vinegar for the food industry. Vinegar is a 3—5% solution of acetic acid in water. 

Methanol, CHgOH, also known as wood spirit , was produced by destructive distillation of wood. Today, most of the methanol is produced by catalytic hydrogenation of carbon monoxide at high pressure and temperature and in the presence of ZnO - CraOg catalyst. 

Interest in renewable resources as raw materials for chemicals and energy has intensified in recent years as a result of anticipated shortages of petroleum and natural gas ( 1, 2, 3). A significant part of this effort has been devoted to the production of alcohols, particularly methanol and ethanol, from wood ( - ) Methanol is the main constituent of "wood alcohol", made for a great many years by the destructive distillation of wood, especially hardwoods W. From a ton of hardwood, one could expect about 60 lb, that is 7.5 gallons of methanol, along with a variety of other chemicals. Wood alcohol is no longer made. The processes discussed in recent reports, are quite different,... 

Activated carbon is produced by destructive distillation of carbonaceous substances, such as wood, bones, and nut shells. The carbon obtained from distillation is then heated to 800-900°C with steam or carbon dioxide. 

By the destructive distillation of organic substances, such as wood, coal, c. 

Fropionic and butyric acids are produced in some kinds of fermentation and acetic acid is obtaiued by tbe destructive distillation of wood and other similar substances. 

Mmtfaeture.—1. By the destructive distillation of wood, a liquid is obtained which contains acetic acid the acid is pu> rifi by being converted first into a ctdcic, and then into a sodic salt, the latter being afterwards decomposed by sulphuric acid,... 

For example, destructive distillation of wood oives methanol (wood alcohol ), wood... 

Chemicals have long been manufactured from biomass, especially wood (silvichemicals), by many different fermentation and thermochemical methods. For example, continuous pyrolysis of wood was used by the Ford Motor Co. in 1929 for the manufacture of various chemicals (Table 20) (47). Wood alcohol (methanol) was manufactured on a large scale by destructive distillation of wood for many years until the 1930s and early 1940s, when the economics became more favorable for methanol manufacture from fossil fuel-derived synthesis gas. 

This process may also be referred to as destructive distillation. It has been applied to a whole range of organic materials, more particulady to natural products such as wood (qv), sugar (qv), and vegetable matter to produce charcoal (see Fuels from biomass). However, in the present context, coal usually yields coke, which is physically dissimilar from charcoal and appears with the more familiar honeycomb-type structure (27). 

Limpricht,1 in 1873, prepared furan by heating barium 2-furancarboxylate with soda lime. It has since been prepared by the dry distillation of barium 2-furancarboxylate 2 in small amounts by distillation of calcium succinate 3 by the destructive distillation of resinous pine wood 4 by heating succinaldehyde with water at 1800 0 and by heating 2-furancarboxylic acid in a sealed tube.2... 

At one time, most methyl alcohol was obtained by ihe destruction distillation of hardwoods thence Ihe name mnttl iitrnlml) al ahoui 350 C. along wilh a yield of acetic acid and small percentages of acetone in the water condensate. Interest in returning to wood as a source lias revived heenuse of lossil fuel shortages. 

Methyl alcohol (methanol wood alcohol) a colorless, volatile, inflammable, and poisonous alcohol (CH,OH) traditionally formed by destructive distillation (q.v.) of wood or, more recently, as a result of synthetic distillation in chemical plants. 

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