PHYSICAL
PROPERTIES
ORTHO-ANISALDEHYDE MOLECULAR BOILING MELTING
WEIGHT...
POINT
136.14
(at 760 mm Hg)..
.238°C
38-39"C (2) 3"C SPECIFIC GRAVITY (liquid) 25° 126".. .1.1274 SPECIFIC GRAVITY (solid) 25°/25°.. . 1.258 REFRACTIVE INDEX η 20°/D.. .1.5608 ODOR. . .Burned, slightly phenolic SOLUBILITY in H20-Slightly soluble APPEARANCE... White to light tan solid *Exists
POINTS*...(1)
in two crystalline
forms
ANSUL CHEMICAL COMPANY, MARINETTE, WISCONSIN ώ INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS ·γ· REFRIGERATION PRODUCTS (é FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT
hidden treasure ORTHO-ANISALDEHYDE... which you may also know as O-Mcthoxy Benzaldehyde... is one of those little-known, little-discussed chemicals which on first look appears to have very limited application. However, its unusually promising physical properties seem to oiler exciting possibilities—especially in organic synthesis or as a pharmaceutical intermediate. ANSUL is in a position to supply it in quantities at an extremely reasonable price. We'd like to work with you in developing additional use information. Write us for samples and complete technical information. ANSUL CHEMICAL COMPANY, MARINETTE, WISCONSIN.
I/EC
ethylene, ethane, a trace of acetylene, propylene, propane, a n d the C 4 fraction. Processing of this stream is conventional—CO2 absorption fol lowed by low t e m p e r a t u r e fractiona tion to give a synthesis gas (hydro gen, C O , and methane) plus the desired ethylene, propylene, a n d Cj's as separated products. Engineering Advantages I n this crude oil cracker, BASF has been able to keep undesirable a n d unusable by-products to a m i n i m u m . All the soot and tars, for example, (which d o n ' t crack to ethylene a n d are a nuisance besides) are recycled to the fluidized coke bed a n d b u r n e d to provide some of the heat needed lor cracking. W i t h the two-zone bed, it dispenses with a regenerator. T h e coke particles in the bed are 8 0 % between 0.1 a n d 0.5 m m . in diameter and can be modified by catalysts if desired. Grains below 0.1 m m . d o n ' t r e m a i n in the bed. Since there are no small coke par ticles, Badische has been able to de sign its cyclone with somewhat lower efficiency a n d a correspondingly better a e r o d y n a m i c pattern to pre vent coking of solid particles. C o l u m n s u m p oil is used as quench ing fluid. It is injected in coarse sprays rather t h a n a mist, so that it can penetrate the gas stream enough to wash a n d cool it. This in t u r n
AND
INTERPRETS
eases greatly the problem of nozzle pluggage. Burning in the cracker does lead to a dilution of the final gas stream with CO2, but this can be easily absorbed. T h e extra cost for this, Badische points out, is less t h a n a second generator would be. T h e final by-products—synthesis gas, light oil, naphthalene-rich oil, a n d a small a m o u n t of petroleum coke—can all be used to economic advantage. Other European Crude Oil Crackers BASF is not the only G e r m a n com p a n y to turn to crude oil itself—in addition to various oil fractions—as a source for its light olefins. Hoechst at Frankfurt has a pebble cracker, called the H o e c h s t c o k e r , a n d E r d o e l C h e m i e at D o r m a g e n (jointly held by Ba yer a n d British Petroleum) uses the sand cracker developed by Lurgi, one of the largest G e r m a n engineering firms, in collaboration with R u h r g a s a n d Bayer. Both of these two proc esses use a moving bed of carefully sized solids (sand a n d pebbles) to carry the heat supply to the cracking zone, b u t they both use two genera tors— heating a n d cleaning of soot in one a n d cracking in the other. F u r ther, Badische says, its process gives a very high yield of C2-C4 olefins per ton of crude, a n d fewer and more useful by-products.
Wet Chemistry Enriches Iron Ore For French deposits, physical treatment costs too much I N O R G A N I C CHEMISTRY is by no m e a n s
dead, despite all the attention organic gets these days. I n the iron ore area of France's Lorraine basin, for example, chemists are hot on the trail of an inorganic chemical method of enriching siliceous ores. If success ful, the technique would make avail able for economic exploitation large deposits of such ores. Standard physical methods—e.g., flotation or magnetic roasting a n d separation— are not economical. T h e new route is now going into semiworks trials at Société des
C i r c l e N o . 18 on Readers' S e r v i c e Card
28 A
REPORTS
INDUSTRIAL A N D E N G I N E E R I N G CHEMISTRY
Aciéries de Pompey, at Pompcy in northeastern F r a n c e . According to the c o m p a n y ' s scientific director, D r . Eugene Herzog, the process not only increases the iron content of the ore b u t also renders three fourths of it magnetic, whereas it is all n o n m a g netic when taken from the mine. The approach: D r . Herzog's process, still very tentative, consists basically of boiling for a half h o u r or so the crushed iron ore (containing a b o u t 3 0 % Fe) in 40 or 5 0 % caustic soda. T h e caustic is decanted, taking with it 50 to 8 0 % of the silica, all the alumina, 8 0 % of the phosphates, a n d only 2 to 3 % of the iron. R e m a i n i n g behind are a t least 9 7 % of the iron, the calcium, and the magnesium, plus some 10 to 2 0 % of
I/EC
REPORTS
the phosphorus and 20 to 50% of the silica. The iron-rich solids, with an iron content now ranging from 45 to 50%, can be agglomerated and fed to a blast furnace. Ratio of pig iron to slag is about 2:1, compared to a 1:1 ratio from the untreated ore. The hot caustic leaching solution can be re-used without chemical treatment until the silica content reaches 1 5 % or so. It can then be regenerated by treating with lime to precipitate most of the phosphates and some of the silica and alumina. Caustic recovery and re-use are a key step, because the technique requires a ratio of five parts of it per part of ore. This is just a start. Dr. Herzog emphasizes that his results to date show only that chemical enrichment of the Lorraine ore might be econom ically feasible. During his semiworks trials now going on, he will be firming up, in addition to costs, the chemistry of the reversion of the un dissolved nonmagnetic iron oxides to magnetic oxides. Among the clues about this reaction: traces of calcium and silicates favor it. D.E.G
faioh
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