Boron Fuels Not for B-70 Despite the reinstatement of the B-70 supersonic bomber project last week by the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, any hopes for renewing production of boron fuels for this program are out. According to the Air Force, the B-70 will be using General Electric's J93-3 engine, which is designed for hydrocarbon fuels. The J93-5, also GE's, was originally proposed for the B-70 and was designed to use a high energy boron fuel. This project was scrapped (C&EN, Oct. 5, 1959, page 22) because of the high cost of the fuel ($5.00 per pound) and also because of its failure to live up to expectations. Cancellation of the high energy fuel plan shut down Olin Mathieson's boron fuel plant at Model City, N.Y., and put on a stand-by basis Callery Chemical's boron fuel plant at Muskogee, Okla. According to OM, its plant is still shut down and no plans are being made for its use. The one bright spot in the boronbased fuel compounds is pentaborane. This high energy fuel will be produced by Callery's Muskogee, Okla., plant under a $9 million contract from the Air Force. The Air Force says it will be investigating the possibilities of using pentaborane in air-breathing engines and rockets.
CM and EFTA Remain Apart after Trade Talks The latest effort to prevent the bitter trade war that is simmering between Europe's two big economic groups (the Common Market and the European Free Trade Association) met with little success. At a 20-nation trade committee meeting held in Paris week before last, CM nations made it all too plain that they were in no mood to bargain with EFTA on any long term solution to the problem of an amalgamation of the two economic groups. However, plans to bridge the two groups have not been abandoned. Participating in the Paris talks were members of CM (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg), EFTA ( Britain, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, and Switzerland), the U.S., Canada, and the remaining
members of OEEC (Turkey, Spain, Iceland, Greece, and Ireland) that don't belong to EFTA or CM. Since the Paris talks brought no major breakthrough in easing Europe's trade rivalry, all groups attending the Paris meeting are now banking on the upcoming GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) meeting in Geneva this September. With the GATT meeting giving hope of some solution to trade and tariff problems, the 20-nation trade committee came up with plenty of work to be done before the September meeting. The committee recommended that: • A study group should examine tariff changes contemplated by CM and EFTA. • The study group should analyze data collected in the last few weeks by a special committee showing where problems arise for particular industries in individual countries. • The study group should take into consideration views of countries outside CM and EFTA and should submit progress reports to the trade committee. • The trade committee should continue to exist so that it could watch long term developments and so that discussions between CM and EFTA can go on "with due regard to third countries and in line with members' obligation to GATT." The U.S. plans to make tariff cuts on more than 2500 import items at the GATT meeting and Britain has also indicated that it is willing to make substantial tariff cuts, provided there is reciprocation from CM countries.
Petroleum May Yield Cheaper CS2 New process claims to cut production costs 15% Slash 2 5 % off plant investment, reduce production costs by 15%, operate economically at low output—these are the advantages claimed for a new carbon disulfide process (C&EN, June 13, page 74). They result from using liquid petroleum fractions as raw material instead of methane. The developer of the process, Dr. Carlisle Thacker, technical director of the Taylor Fibre Co., believes it may revolutionize the economics of carbon disulfide production.
Modern carbon disulfide plants react methane from natural gas with sulfur. This process, superior to the charcoal retort method, came into use about 10 years ago. Dr. Thacker initiated its development and was issued the original patents on it. Dr. Thacker's new process can run on petroleum fractions with low hydrogen to carbon ratios such as gas oils, fuel oils, and heavy residuums. High sulfur fractions, which usually carry a low price tag, are the most suitable. Lower raw material cost however, is only one of the savings that the process gives, Dr. Thacker says. It turns out higher yields than the methane route with less by-products, and requires less handling and 'heating of sulfur per ton of product. Using heavy residuum, for example, it produces more than twice as many moles of carbon disulfide per 100 moles of reacted gases. The petroleum-based process, Dr. Thacker says, can be economical for small plants. Thus, he continues, it would be practical for carbon disulfide users to operate their own plants for captive consumption. Another factor that makes the new technique attractive is that plants do not need to be located near gas pipelines. Since Dr. Thacker's company is not in the business of manufacturing chemicals, he is making the process available to other firms for pilot-scale development. Detailed design data must be worked out for the reactor system, but, he stresses, uncertainties of going commercial are not great because the reaction steps have been demonstrated on a small scale. So far, one engineering firm and one chemical company are interested in the process, although no agreements have been made. Until the patent situation is clear, Dr. Thacker is holding back general release of process details. Growing demand for carbon disulfide favors early use of the new technique, the developer says. He points out that requirements for rayon, cellophane, and carbon tetrachloride production are expected to raise carbon disulfide output from 600 million pounds per year to 800 million pounds per year by 1970. And the petroleum process will not only be used for new capacity, Dr. Thacker predicts, but also for replacing obsolete carbon-re-
tort plants.
The annual output of
these plants now is over 300 million pounds, he estimates. JUNE
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