Aerosols production tops 2 billion units Tttal aerosol production (millions of units) 2500-
2C00 1500
1000 500
..••illlll
•lllllllll
Source: Chemical Specialty Manufacturers Association
1958 1959 1960
1961
1962
of 2.1 billion aerosol units in 1967 marks a 14% increase over the 1.8 billion units produced in 1966. Aerosols have thus returned to the growth curve after an almost static year in 1966 that produced only a 1.9% increase over 1965. Much of the renewed vigor can be attributed to personal products—hair sprays, shave creams, deodorants, antiperspirants, and the like. Personal products got derailed in 1966, some say by the switch to straight feminine hair styles that called for little or no hair spray. If so, the current trend to curly styles could account for the reversal which has pushed personal products production in 1967 up to 1.0 billion units, a 12% increase over 1966's 891 million units. In other categories, automotive and food products showed sizable production increases over 1966. Automotive products increased 70% to 40 million units and food products 45% to 101 million units. But the two together make up only 6.6% of industry production and thus have little influence on the industry total. For Europe, some 1967 statistics have been published by IGA (the German Aerosol Association), and by the British Aerosol Manufacturers' Association. Mr. Hearn has, however, estimated production for other countries. The largest markets in Europe are West Germany, with 1967 aerosol production of 245 million units; the United Kingdom, at 177 million units; France, at 160 million units; Italy, at 105 million units; the Netherlands, at 52 million units; and Switzerland, at 36 million units. Together, Mr. Hearn says, these countries account for 87.5% of aerosols filled in western Europe, although they have only 70% of the total population in this area.
1963 1964 1965 1966 1967
Ford to use aluminum radiators on some '69 and 7 0 models Ford Motor Co. will equip a limited portion of the late-1969 or early-1970 model-year output of one of its models with aluminum radiators. Ford thus joins Chevrolet division of General Motors which has used the light metal radiators on Corvettes since 1960 (about 200,000 of them are now in service). Detroit's interest in aluminum radiators is increasing because copper and brass, the usual radiator materials, have been more than usually unstable in price and supply. The long copper strike caused red-metal prices to increase sharply, while aluminum prices have remained relatively stable. Aluminum also has a large weight advan-
tage, of course, which is becoming more important as engines get larger and more accessories are added. These advantages have led aluminum industry spokesmen to predict large-scale acceptance of aluminum radiators by auto makers within the next several years. The market potential could be as high as 75 million pounds per year, according to George E. Herrman, manager of transportation industry sales for Aluminum Company of America. However, certain fabrication and service problems, as well as high changeover costs have caused the auto industry to proceed slowly. Aluminum is harder to fabricate than copper, and the flux left behind after brazing can cause corrosion. Brazing, the technique by which aluminum surfaces are joined, normally involves heating the aluminum to near its melting point in the presence of flux. The flux conditions the oxide film on the metal so that a filler metal, either added or preplaced, can flow over the surfaces to be joined. The filler metal displaces the flux and joins the surfaces after it is cooled and solidified. Brazing is usually done at 1040° to 1140° F. The filler metal is an aluminum alloy containing 7 to 12% silicon, and the flux is usually a mixture of alkali and alkaline earth chlorides and fluorides. Several brazing techniques are being tried on radiators. Corvette radiators are made by dip brazing, in which the entire assembly to be brazed is dipped in a bath of molten flux. This method is useful for complex assemblies, but it requires a large amount of flux. Ford won't reveal, however, which technique it will use in its pilot run. Aluminum makers are pushing development of brazing techniques which use little or no flux. Furnace brazing and vacuum brazing are examples. In furnace brazing, an assembly to which flux has been applied is heated to the brazing temperature in a furnace. In the vacuum method, brazing is done without flux in a furnace under a pressure of 10~5 torr.
Calendered-sheet treading process developed by Firestone
Rinsing Alcoa experimental radiator Large-scale acceptance
New types of rubber for tire treads and more automation in tire making may result from a new tire-treading method developed by Firestone Tire & Rubber. The calendered-sheet treading process is faster, uses less labor, and wastes less rubber than conventional treading methods, according to the company. MAY 27, 1968 C&EN 17
the cutting, handling, and storage of scrap treads. •Permits machine centering of treads on tire bodies instead of hand centering and hot application of rubber for better adhesion. Firestone has applied for a patent on its sheet-treading unit and tells C&EN that it "does not intend to license the technology to other tire makers at this time." Sheet treading of tires is not a Firestone exclusive, however. Other major tire makers have been using it for off-the-road vehicles. Goodyear, for one, has been using it for about three years and has experimental production under way for road tires. Uniroyal and Goodrich also have been experimenting with nonextruded treads. Probably the biggest drawback for sheet treading is the capital investment required. Hence, the system will probably not replace existing extruders but will be incorporated into new plants. For on-the-road vehicles, the first plant to use sheet treading exclusively is Firestone's Albany, Ga., plant, due on stream next month. At present, Firestone has four units in operation. One line of American cars has sheet-treaded tires as original equipment this year, Firestone says. Firestone calendered-sheet tread unit Faster, less labor, less waste "The sheet tread procedure is the most startling advance in tire manufacturing in a generation," Firestone's board chairman Raymond C. Firestone says. Also, it opens the door to other methods of tire construction which will improve tire quality and production speed, he says. In Firestone's new process, 0.032inch-thick rubber sheet is rolled onto the tire body in layers to achieve desired tread thickness. The company couples a computer to the sheettreading unit to program its operations. Also, the computer makes automatic adjustments for changes in tire size. In traditional tire making for on-theroad vehicles, rubber is extruded in one continuous strip. The strip is wrapped around the tire carcass and spliced together before the tire is molded and grooved. Some rubbers scorch or burn when extruded and, therefore, cannot be used for treads and sidewalls in the extrusion process. Main advantages Firestone claims for its process are that it: • Allows use in treads and sidewalls of special compounded rubber not usable with present tread extrusion methods. • Eliminates tread extruders, hand splicing of treads and sidewalls, and 18
C&EN MAY 27, 1968
Three new jumbo-sized ammonia plants planned Most of the talk in the ammonia business these days is about low prices and massive overcapacity, both today and for the next several years. However, everyone apparently doesn't share this gloomy outlook. In the past two weeks plans for three new jumbo-sized anhydrous ammonia plants—in Texas, C&EN:
Mike
John D. Hill Fastest growing fertilizer
Heylin
Venezuela, and West Germany—have been revealed. In the Texas panhandle, Hill Chemicals, Inc., will build its second 1000 ton-per-day unit near Borger. In Venezuela, subsidiaries of Sun Oil, Atlantic Richfield, and Texaco, together with the Venezuelan Petrochemical Institute (IVP), will construct a 1500 ton-per-day unit at Bajo Grande on the shore of Lake Maracaibo. And in West Germany, Badische Anilin-& Soda-Fabrik (BASF) will add an 1100 ton-per-day unit at its Ludwigshafen works. All three plants will be on stream by 1970. The new Texas plant is part of a $45 million nitrogen complex started by Hill Chemicals last year. M. W. Kellogg is already building the first 1000 ton-per-day ammonia unit (costing $18 million) and should have it finished in September—12 months after ground breaking. The second plant will also be built by Kellogg and should be on stream by December of next year. Both Hill plants will feed an 850mile pipeline to run from Borger to northwest Iowa. This line is being built by Mid-America Pipeline Co. Three hundred miles of it are already in the ground and it should be completed by August. John D. Hill, president and chairman of Hill Chemicals, says the location of his plants plus the use of the pipeline will enable his company to compete very well with locally produced and barged ammonia in many key farm areas of the Midwest. He points out that nitrogen is still the fastest growing fertilizer and that there are no signs of any topping out in demands for anhydrous ammonia. Mr. Hill says he has no plans to enter the retail fertilizer market. He is currently negotiating more long-term ammonia contracts with major fertilizer makers. Cominco American, Inc.—a subsidiary of Cominco, Ltd., of Canada, and owner of a 50% interest in Hill Chemicals—will take part of the output from the first ammonia plant for its 200,000 ton-per-year ammonium nitrate plant in Beatrice, Neb. Looking to the future, Mr. Hill says he is considering a urea plant. The new Venezuelan ammonia plant will form part of a $90 million complex that will also include a natural gasoline fractionating plant and a gas processing unit. Most of the ammonia from this plant will be exported. The Venezuelan market is relatively small and what there is of it is largely wrapped up by the governmentowned IVP. The new BASF ammonia unit will use Dutch natural gas obtained under a contract signed this February. BASF will build the $17.5 million unit.
