INDUSTRIAL USES OF RICE BRAN OIL (PRO.! A CORRESI' ONDEXT IN TlIP F A R EAST)
During the Grcnt Wnr Japan inndc money by supplying the Allies with sonic of tho tliiiigs needed. Thcrc IS not thc same opportunity in this war, with the " China iiicidcnt " still in full swing, which demniids mnny esports t o the niniiilniid in ordcr to kccp ovcr a niillioii troops in the ficld. A n urgcnt war-ncccl wcll understood in Europe is an ndcquate supply of oil of all kinds. Japnii is thcrcforc clcvclopiiig the production of oil from rice as n spccinl fcnturc of its industrinl and chcmicnl industrics.
Rice oil has been produced during tlic past few ycnrs in a small may. Lnst year tlie output ivns rntlicr less than 15,000 tons. That is to bc stepped-up a t lcnst tcnfold, according to prcscnt plnns. Sincc Japan consumes 90,000,000 koku of rice (one kokii cqiinls 180,391 litres), 1,800,000,000 kin (onc kin cqunls 0 . 6 kgm.) of rice bran is obtaiuccl a t thc time of ricc clcnning. Assuming that rice oil is cstractcd from tlic brrin n t the rntc of 13.5%, i t would incan that abol~t 150,000 tons of oil could be obtnincd.
Thc totnl output of grcnsc and oil produced in tlic country last year was 420,000 toils, of which oil extracted froin marinc sourccs reached 250,000 tons, regctnble 160,000 tons, niid from Innd sourccs 10,000 tons. Of tlic total csports of fish oil, hardcncd oil niid fat used in soap was about 100,000 tons, leaving 230,000 tons of oil for domestic consumption. From tlicsc figures i t is clcnr that tlic r81c to be played by ricc bran oil in the futurc is important, not only with rcgnrd to honic consumption but for export to tlic grcnt consiiniiIig cciitrcs in thc Unitcd Kingdom.
I n Clioscn, 20 plants belonging to 1G coiiccrns are at present putting up sonic 3G0,000 tins of tlic oil. This is possiblc becnusc rice bran in lnrge qunntitics is nrnilablc, rice-clcaning in Clioscn bcing cflcctcd collcctivcly. Oil is secured by coiiiprcssion, but is not of a high quality, bcing strong in acid contciit. It tlicrcforc rcquircs dcwasing, dcosidntioii, and dccolorieation bcforc it can be markctcd for industrial purposes.
Wlicn ricc oil is rcfincd, liowcvcr, i t lias ninny uses. It is cinploycd ns a sulstitutc for olivc oil in tlic prcpnrntion of rayon. Altlioiigli it is slightly inferior to olivc oil in somc rcspcch, it is rich in t l ~c c~~iulsilj.ing qunlity and is easy to use. Wlicn hydrogcnntcd tllis ricc oil makes a good linrdcncd product wliich mny bc coinpnrcd to Austrnlian beef tullow. Thc production of this substance will tliercforc bc cffcctcd on n Iargc industrial scnlc as So011 as possiblc. Anotlicr use of tlic oil is as rice hrnn wax. This lius n mclting point of 78", aiid is not unlike beeswax. A liydrogcnntcil ricc, brriii ~VLIX liaving a mclting point of 95" cnn bc obtnincd. WIiiIe n semi-refined ricc bran oil ia now cxportcd in rjinrill quantities, it is believed to bo possiblc to export 100,000 tons (worth 60,000,000 ycn) whcii tlic industry gcts illto