GAS FROM MAIZE.

Waipa Post, Volume 39, Issue 3089, 14 December 1929, Page 2

GAS FROM MAIZE.

UNITED STATES CHEMIST'S INVENTION.

Means of deriving gas from cornstalks and refuse in sufficient quantities to illuminate and heat cities is the latest discovery reported to the American Chemical Society (states an English journal). Ordinary refuse and the stalks of maize ar combined by a cheap, simple method, with remarkable results.

From these two waste products chemists of the University of Illinois are recovering large quantities of methane gas which can be used for heating, operating motor cars in place of petrol, and driving electric generators. The inventors claim to have devised an apparatus so simple that it can be installed by any farmer to make his domestic refuse turn his cornstalks into cheap cooking gas. It requires no machinery, bacteria from the refuse do the work. The author of the discovery is Dr A. M. Bushwell, professor of sanitary chemistry at Illinois University, assisted by Mr C. S. Boruff.

" The material used is dried cornstalks after husking," says Dr Bushwell. " The stalks are shredded with ar, ordinary shredding machine, boiled, then soaked in water or lime. The apparatus is simply a small tank provided with a corner to collect the gases. A farmer could produce enough gas to supply the needs of a family of four or five from the material, which could be fermented from a gas tank eight feet in diameter and eight feet deep."

It is estimated that a circle of land eight miles in diameter under maize would produce enough stalks to supply the normal gas consumption of a town of 80,000 inhabitants. The discoverers claim that the residue left in the tanks after the gas is used is perfect for the manufacture of cornstalk paper.