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Local
THE BATTALION
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1981
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Photo by T. Garrett
Sam Olivieri, president of the International Students Associa
tion, explains the purpose of the seven seminars planned for
this semester. The seminars are to “show international stu
dents the beauty of being able to live in a country where you
n speak freely and to give Americans a chance to see diffe
rent points of view held by foreign students.”
Alcohol may be dream fuel
By DANA SMELSER
Battalion Reporter
Texas A&M University resear
chers are working on the farmer’s
dream —- turning crops into fuel
for his machinery and feeding the
fuel residue to his livestock.
Researchers at the Texas Agri
cultural Experiment Station are
operating an alcohol-distillation
unit to see if alcohol would be
practical as fuel for farmers.
Henry O’Neal, operator of the
unit, said the ethyl alcohol, or
ethanol, is produced by the fer-
mentating crops such as corn,
wheat, potatoes, sugar cane or
sugar beets.
The researchers want to make
distillation cheap enough that far
mers could make their own on a
small-scale basis.
The unit, which costs about
$90,000, stands 20 feet long, 10
feet wide and 26 feet high. It can
produce 190-proof alcohol,
O’Neal said.
The alcohol cannot be used to
make gasohol, he said, because
gasohol requires 200-proof alco
hol. Gasohol contains 90 percent
unleaded fuel and 10 percent
alcohol.
The ethanol can be used for en
gine fuel without added pet
roleum.
If the carburetor is adjusted to
allow more flow, O’Neal said, “the
engine will just purr along just like
gasoline.”
“Before, we knew absolutely
nothing about it (distillation),’’
O’Neal said. “Now we know how
to cook, ferment and distill the
grain.”
One bushel of grain makes 2.5
gallons of approximately 185-proof
alcohol, O’Neal said.
The process also leaves about 18
pounds of dried grains per bushel,
which can be used to feed lives
tock. The dried grain contains ab
out 28 percent protein.
Ethanol is produced in a series
of steps:
— The grain is cooked with wa
ter and an enzyme for about an
hour, to break down the starch it
contains.
— The liquid, or mash, is
cooled and another enzyme is
added to change the starch to fer
mentable sugars.
— Distillers’ yeast is added, and
the mash is allowed to ferment for
two to three days, converting the
sugar to ethanol, making what is
commonly known as beer.
— The ethanol is separated
from the fermented mixture by
boiling it off and condensing the
ethanol vapors into a liquid.
— Most of the water is re
moved from the vapors, making
approximately 190-proof alcohol.
— The water is dried from the
remaining residue, leaving distil
lers’ dried grains, which can be
used as feed.
Before the unit began operation
in January, little information was
available on producing alcohol on
a small, farm-scale basis, O’Neal
said.
“We wanted to make a small
plant that would be representative
of what a farm-scale plant might
be,” he said.
Further research will be done
in a number of areas.
Although the cost of production
of a gallon of ethanol is hard to
estimate, the researchers hope to
collect enough data to help other
producers estimate the cost of pro
duction in their own units, O’Neal
said.
Plans are also being made to ex
plore the long-term use of alcohol
in an engine.
“We know that alcohol is a good
fuel, but there may be some
maintenance considerations
under long-term use that we will
have to take into account,” he said.
ST. THOMAS
EPISCOPAL CHURCH
& STUDENT CENTER
Announce
CLASSES FOR
THOSE INTERESTED
in
PREPARING FOR
CONFIRMATION
and or learning more about
the Episcopal Church
CLASSES MEET
IN THE CHURCH
Beginning 8:00 P.M.,
Sunday MARCH 8
906 Jersey,
College Station
(So. Side of Campus)
Ph. 696-1726
Sell it in Battalion Classified
845-2611
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Internat’l students
air seminar opinions
By DIANA SULTENFUSS
Battalion Reporter
I Some of Texas A&M’s international students spoke on their coun-
\ i tries’ histories and gave opinions on current problems Thursday.
M I Students from Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Palestine spoke
J ! to about 100 people in 102 Zachry in the second of seven seminars
ggggjJ scheduled by the International Awareness Committee of the Interna
tional Student Association.
Some of the students refused to allow publication of their names or
photographs because of worry about possible retribution from their
countries.
The time is right for Algeria to make its influence known in the
international arena, said A. Bouhassoun, a student from Algeria. But
thi s won’t happen until economic independence has ensured that the
country’s voice will be heard, he said.
“The Palestinian voice has been muted and neglected by the world
community for years,” said the president of the General Union of
Palestinian Students, who refused to give his name. “The Palestinians
will keep on struggling as they have always done, for the liberation of
Palestine and for the erection of a progressive democratic state where
everyone can enjoy equal rights and privileges regardless of race or
A representative of the Sri Lanka Student Association said it is
[ difficult for an economy to achieve substantial levels of development at
a reasonable rate on its own. But he said he dislikes many forms of
foreign aid because the aid which is given is often a means of invest
ment.
■ T never consider oil a blessing to our country at all,” said Abdullah
Salamah, a graduate student from Saudia Arabia. “Oil put the country
I’LL TEACH BILLY TO BE A C0WPUNCHER
AS LONG AS HE DON’T PRACTICE
on my cows:
Jim Shoulders and Billy Martin: Famous Cowboys