Vol. 9, No. 14
NEWS EDITION
220
Celulosa Argentina, S. A.
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General View of P l a n t
The Argentine Republic, although a large user of various types of papers, has always imported its supply. Wood suitable for paper manufacture is to be found in t h e republic, but at distances too great from centers of consumption t o make its use economic. Three years ago a project was launched for the purpose of making in the Argentine a part of the paper used by the country. I t was proposed t o employ what is known as the Pomilio process and to use wheat and flax straw as the raw materials- Umberto Pomilio, t h e inventor o f this process and well known to a number of American chemists, i s the technical director of Celulosa Argentina, and under his direction a plant has been erected at Juan Ortiz, which is near Rosario.
Baled wheat and flax straw, £>er tort $15 Sodium chloride, per t o n . , , . $26 Fuel oil, per ton $30 Electric energy, purchased from t h e Sociedad Blectrica R- -ario, p e r kw-hr 3 to 4 cents Skilled labor, for eight hours' work $5 t o $8 Common labor _ $3.50 to $5
T h e plant s o far h a s produced acceptable papers containing from 25 t o 100 per c e n t cellulose from wheat straw. Papers show good strength, aire easily colored, and meet the demands of t h e Argentine mark&t. The present installation consists of power house and chemical plant, toe puip plant, and the paper mill. There i s also a storage for baled straw, and departments for cleaning arid recovering wheat from t h e straw, as well sas a rpump house, shops, houses for employees, and SL restaurant. The water from the Parana River, o n which t h e plant is located, is filtered for the -use of the mill.
The Rockefeller Institute has made a grant of S45,OO0 feo Columbia University in aid of research on the common cold. T h e work is being undertaken at the C o l u m b i a - P r e s b y t e r i a n Medical Center t>y A. 13.. Dochez and Yale Kneeland, Jr., of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Left—Electrolysis and Power Plants; Right—Three Floors, C a s c a d e Type, Cellulose Plant as Seen from River Parana
The present plant was erected during 1930 and began operation in February, 1931. At present it has a daily capacity of from 15,000 to 18,000 kilos of fine paper, and from 25,000 t o 30,000 kilos of rough wrapping papers. In addition, the plant produces a s useful by-products caustic soda, hydrochloric acid, a table grade of salt, and is prepared to supply liquid chlorine when a demand has developed. The process consists of a 1 or 2 hours' cook a t atmospheric pressure, using a 2 per cent solution of sodium hydroxide at 90° C. This is followed by chlorination in the cold, employing a continuous countercurrent process in specially constructed towers.
Conference on CËiemical Engineering Education The fourth Confereia.ee on. Chemical Engineering Education, under the auspices of t l i e American Institute of Chemical Engineers, was held in Ana. Arbor on July 10 and 11, immediately following the S . P. E. JE. suenmer session. The discussion centered around t h e selection, training, and assimilation of chemical engineering graduates t>y indtistry. Papers dealing with various phases of this subject T*rerc presented b y N. A. Shepard, Firestone Tire and Rubber «Co,, F \ W. Willard, Western Electric Co., A. H . White, and W. 3P. Wood, of the University of Michigan. A symposium on "Ho^v Ma/y Teachers Keep Growing Professionally?" led by J. C_ Qlsean, Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, induded papers by Des.n H. C. Sadler, University of Michigan, and W. P. Ryan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. T h e attitude of various universities toward consulting practice by faculty members was «discussed, -with special emphasis on the new plan in force a t M . I.T_ F. M. Turner, Chemical Catalog Co., discussed the utilization of the Chemical Engineering Catalog in teaching che-mical engineering.
International Heating and Ventilating Exposition Announced Electrolytic Cells
The pulp i s then washed, first with water and finally with a very dilute solution of sodium hydroxide (1 to 5 per cent). After further washing, the pulp is ready to be bleached. Working with wheat straw, the yield of bleached pulp containing 12 per cent of moisture is from 40 to 42 per cent, which is somewhat higher than is ordinarily obtained by those who use t h e soda process. For each 100 kilos of wheat straw t h e process requires 16 kilos of sodium hydroxide solution, 18 kilos of moist chlorine gas, 4 kilos of sodium hydroxide for the alkaline washing, and 3 kilos of chlorine for t h e bleaching process. In addition, some 2 kilos of steam are required. The chlorine and caustic are prepared from salt, of which there are great quantities i n the Argentine, in the cells devised b y Giordani and Pomilio. The cost of raw materials laid down in Juan Ortiz is a s follows, the values being expressed in Argentine dollars, o n e hundred of which are equivalent to $31.12 in American money a t the present time:
It is announced tha*; the -Second International Heating and Ventilating Exposition a s to t>e held in Cleveland, Ohio, January 25 t o 29, 1932. It will he in conjunction with the annual meetings of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers and the American Society of Refrigerating Engineers. It will be recalled that the nirst of ithese expositions was held in 1930 in Philadelphia. Alrea^dy over half the exhibit space a t Cleveland has been contracted for,, and there is every indication t h a t the exhibit will duplicate and that regulatory work may be ex tended to foods advertised as? containing vitamins.
