Light-faced brick and glass characterize Cities Service's new 30,000 square foot Research and Development Laboratory. The research and analytical laboratories and cafeteria are in the one-story wing with automotive and photo laboratories, machine shop, and administrative offices in the two-story part. There are also an extensive library and art department
LABORATORY
OF THE MONTH
Analysts A i d Petroleum Product D e v e l o p m e n t Petroleum refiners face constant pressure t o make better gasolines, fuels, and lubricants. Cities Service meets this competitive battle with a substantial research program which emphasizes product development. Responsibility for this program lies with Cities Service Research and Development Co. This consolidated research a r m was set u p in 1948. Activities were then located in five labs: Hillside, N . . J . , P e t t y Island, N . J., E a s t Chicago, 111., Tallant, Okla., and Lake Charles, La. Growth since its founding created need for more space and also the need for centralized effort. Last J u n e the company officially opened a new product development lab a t Cranbury, N . J . Located on a 100-acre t r a c t it consolidates research formerly handled a t the Hillside, P e t t y Island, and E . Chicago labs. Lake Charles continues as a process development and catalyst research unit while another lab, a t Tulsa, handles the drilling and exploration side. Research a t C r a n b u r y centers on improved aviation, motor, Diesel, and jet fuels. Other important areas include lubriConventional w e t chemical analysis still plays an portant role in the modern research laboratory
cants—oils, greases, or synthetics—fuel oils, and asphalts. Basic research is also included in Cranbury's program. T y p i cal basic problems now under study are friction coefficient effects, wear fundamentals, and theoretical flame. research. T h e Cranbury lab also has a nuclear energy section housed in a separate building. I t has three labs plus the radiation cave. T h e latest automatic and semiautomatic safety features are used t o prevent accidental exposure t o radiation. I t is
im-
The new R&D center has 1 0 main laboratories with service lines feeding from the floor into the center and wall working areas. Each laboratory has a safety shower, chemicalresistant work benches, and vinyl tile flooring. An accelerated stability apparatus gives information concerning oxidation rates of fuel oils VOL. 29, NO. 8, AUGUST 1957
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49 A
Cities Service is also exploring nuclear energy as a means to improved fuels and lubricants. The nuclear laboratory is housed in a separate building. Shown here is the radiation area. The operator works in a pit while operations are carried out at floor level. The cobalt-60 source is kept in 10 feet of water. A 42-inch-thick window, 42-inch high density concrete walls, a 15ton lead door, and remote controls assure safe operating conditions
When animal and vegetable oils were major lubrication materials, mechanical performance was often erratic. Today's petroleum-based lubes require close adherence to physical specifications. A physical testing laboratory helps maintain quality standards
Sulfur content of petroleum products, such as gasoline, is determined by the conventional lamp method
the only nuclear unit, owned by a petroleum company, t h a t uses cobalt-60, in flat plates 13.5 X 2 X 1 / 8 inches, as its radiation source. T h e cobalf>60 has a potency of 5000 curies. These research facilities need extensive analytical support. Hence over l / 3 of the work a t C r a n b u r y is analytical. This includes research services, product inspection, and analytical research. T h e latest wet chemical methods and physical tests are used. M u c h instrumentation is involved. More t h a n 100 people are employed a t the new lab. Half are technically trained, mostly chemists or chemical engineers. T h e company plans to increase t h e staff in the future. 50 A
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ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
NEW! WACO . . . f o r Karl
TITRATOR Fischer
Moistures
Physicochemical methods of analysis are utilized extensively in petroleum research
Viscosity determinations are one of a series of tests applied to petroleum products
Infrared equipment is among the extensive instrumentation used. Other instrumentation includes photometers, recording titrimeters, microdistillation equipment, gas chromatographic units, and x-ray fluorescence apparatus
SkaHkMfrte At $21 6.04 complete, the new W A C O for Karl Fischer moisture determinations
now
features
NO-DIP, BALL JOINT Pyrex glassware.-.plus Drain Flask, W A C O magnetic stirrer . . . for every application!
Hundreds of users
of the original W A C O may also modernize as parts are INTERCHANGEABLE!
WACO TITRATOR BULLETIN describes this low cost accurate titrator and the new Reservoir, the Drain Flash and magnetic stirrer shown above.
WRITE FOR THIS BULLETIN AC-8 LABORATORY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT
WllKENS-AMDERSON CO. 4525 W . D I V I S I O N ST.
CHICAGO 5 1 , ILL.
Circle No. 51 A on Readers' Service Card, page 73 A
VOL. 29, NO. 8, AUGUST 1957
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51 A
