Alcohol derived from the fermentation of grain, sugar,
and of all starchy matters in general, contains an innumerable host of
different products, which may be grouped under four principal heads:
1. Empyreumatic essential oils, characteristic of the source of the
alcohol, and having a powerful odor which infects the total mass of
the crude spirits. 2. A considerable quantity of water. 3. A certain
quantity of pure alcohol. 4. A variable proportion of volatile
substances, composed in great part of ethers, different alcohols, and
bodies as yet not well defined. These latter affect the quality of
the alcohol by an odor which is entirely different from that of the
essential oils.
The object of rectification is to bring out No. 3 all alone; that is
to say, to extract the alcohol in a pure state by ridding it of oils,
water, ether, and foreign alcohols.
The alcohol industry never realizes this operation in an absolutely
complete manner. All the rectifying apparatus in operation at the
present day are based on the use of high temperatures varying between
78.5 deg. and 100 deg.. The successive condensation and vaporization of the
vapors issuing from the spirits effect in the rectifying columns a
partial separation of these liquids, and there are received successively
as products of rectification:
1.
Pages:
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107