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EDITORIALS CHEMICAL INDUSTRY AND THE UNIVERSITY It seems quite proper t h a t a representative of t h e
mechanical engineering profession should be heard on t h e subject of t h e development of chemical industry, because, in t h e ordinary course of events, t h e mechanical engineer must follow t h e chemist, t o provide t h e means for doing on a suitably large scale what has been found chemically necessary. A chemical industry centers in a factory plant, t h e machinery a n d mechanical equipment of which constitute t h e means whereby chemistry is transformed into chemical industry. T h e test t u b e becomes a huge t a n k ; t h e Bunsen burner a furnace fire or a steam boiler; t h e filter paper a n d glass funnel, a pump-operated filter press; t h e hand mortar a power-driven crusher a n d grinder; t h e rubber hose a complicated system of piping; a n d t h e movements of t h e hand are replaced b y a power plant with a transmission system. T h e chemical industries a r e distinguished from t h e other allied manufacturing industries b y t h e sort of processes used t o convert r a w materials into finished products. These processes are partly chemical in nature, never wholly so, a n d frequently are chemical t o only a minor degree, t h e rest being purely mechanical, thermal or perhaps hydraulic. Most of t h e apparatus for t h e execution of these processes is practically standardized, being made a n d sold in a variety of forms in standard sizes for other purposes t h a n purely chemical ones, b u t , as a rule, each establishment must, a n d does, have some special equipment peculiar to its own processes a n d not used elsewhere. Discussions of t h e equipment of chemical factories or their processes tend t o revolve about these special parts t h a t are purely chemical, or peculiar t o only one branch of t h e chemical industry, a n d ignore t h e fact, so easily established, t h a t , taking t h e chemical industries as a whole, their equipment is largely made u p of more or less standa r d machinery or mechanical appliances. T h e significance of this is especially great in a n y investigation of progress in t h e chemical industries, whether t h e object be t o discover t h e cause of lack of progress, o r , assuming t h e cause to be established, t o discover a remedy. Any lack of development in t h e chemical industries in America cannot be traced t o lack of suitable standa r d machinery of t h e sort t h a t must necessarily make u p so large a n d important a p a r t of a n y manufacturing establishment. because such American machinery enjoys a world-wide reputation as a class, second t o t h a t of no other nation. This includes all equipment a n d methods for generating or transmitting power; for combustion of fuels; for absorption, exchange and dissipation of heat, including refrigeration; for changing t h e physical state of, or moving, transporting, mixing a n d separating solids, liquids a n d gases; for crushing, pulverizing, consolidating, pressing, molding or cutting solids, a n d many others equally fundamental in importance a n d common in
use. Improvements in this sort of equipment in quality, cost, capacity, or efficiency, arising from researches on their basic processes, on t h e principles of design, or on t h e use of new materials, are all available t o t h e chemical industries, provided first, t h a t t h e y are known, a n d second, t h a t t h e y are adopted a n d intelligently installed in cooperation with t h e other equipment of t h e plant. This citation will serve t o show t h a t t h e welfare of chemical industries, while of course fundamentally resting on a chemical basis, is not exclusively a chemical question, a n y more t h a n i t is exclusively a n engineering, or in general a technological question. Contributions t o chemical industry along such general engineering lines may properly be classed as indirect. This indirect class is a very large one a n d includes activity in all t h e basic sciences, in economics, sociology a n d law, and in all related industries or industry in general. It is very easy for one vitally concerned in t h e chemical industries, or one branch in particular, t o forget these indirect yet powerful aids, a n d to be led into impatient complaint because of a lack of specific direct contributions t o his own immediate needs. These indirect contributions are just as necessary in their way as a healthy body is t o a successful lawyer, who, however, m a y properly be expected t o know some law. We of t h e modern university are students of t h e industries, a n d of t h e conditions t h a t concern their general, as well as their specific welfare-students, not in t h e old absorptive sense, b u t in t h e new reactionary sense. T h e university of to-day is not a safedepository of learning nor a cold storage warehouse of facts a n d principles t o be carefully guarded from t h e world for fear someone may use them. I t is, on t h e contrary, t h e digestive t r a c t of t h e community, receiving all sorts of mental food, rejecting t h e bad, a n d transforming t h e good into those forms of energy t h a t can be given out as new sources of vitality’to all forms of activity t h a t m a y be suffering from t h e common complaint of general debility. Industrially, t h e university recognizes t h e primary wealth-producing industries of mining, agriculture, forestry a n d fisheries; t h e secondary producing industries of t h e manufactures, of which t h e chemical industries are b u t a p a r t ; a n d , finally, t h e industries of transportation a n d communication, all associated with commerce, merchandizing and, banking. Our organization does not follow just these lines of division b u t is arranged on t h e divisions of typical basic studies, or t h e fundamental sciences, a n y one of which m a y concern itself with several or all of t h e industrial applications. This is one reason why t h e contributions of t h e university are not more often recognized by t h e industries concerned, as so many of t h e m are indirect, bear a n unfamiliar label, a n d require interpretation a n d adaptation t o become directly available. Even this function of interpretation a n d adaptation of its general contributions t o industrial use is
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being fulfilled by t h e newer elements of t h e university organization through its engineering division in general a n d more specifically, for t h e chemical industries, by its chemical engineering department. Those members of t h e university staff t h a t are charged with industrial responsibility are not merely students, b u t are really participators a n d direct contributors, t o a degree t h a t is limited, not by a n y lack of interest, ability or energy, b u t solely by available time a n d money. It is freely admitted t h a t t h e direct contributions t o t h e advance of t h e chemical industries in America b y t h e university have, up t o t h e present, not been what t h e y should be, b u t i t can be proved t h a t t h e fault is only one of degree and not of kind. Everything t h a t should, or could, reasonably be expected, in both t h e direct or indirect classes, is being done t o some degree, a n d t h e problem is one of ways a n d means of increase of activity of t h e same sort, rather t h a n one of creation of a new kind. However great t h e indirect contributions may be, t h e y will never serve so useful a purpose, nor receive so much recognition, nor warrant so much support, a s a n even moderate increase in direct contributions made in a form directly available for immediate use, a n d requiring no explanations or interpretations t o manufacturers concerned, for a n appreciation of value. T h e most immediately available, a n d hence useful a n d valuable contribution t h a t a n y one can make t o t h e chemical industries, is new apparatus, mechanical equipment, or machinery, of proved capability t o produce new a n d valuable results in lessening costs of present procedure, in making new products from t h e same materials, or t h e same products from different materials, or combining all three-new products, new materials, a n d reduced costs. Next in direct order of immediate value, come new processes, which, however, must be incorporated into apparatus before becoming usable. N o improvement in either apparatus or processes can be attained without a n initial step of conception of need on the one hand, or of possibility on t h e other, a n d in point of time either may lead t h e other. Recognition of defects or needs may be a part of common experience, or such may be t h e result of t h e critical searching b y test and computation t h a t should characterize t h e work of t h e engineers of t h e apparatus manufacturer, a n d of t h e chemical factory using t h e apparatus. AS a matter of fact both of these interests are so occupied with routine a n d so inclined t o rest on t h e tradition of old practice t h a t a n outside man, continuously engaged in investigating faults in all classes of apparatus, can find things worth improving in almost a n y plant t h a t the regular staff often regard as sacredly perfect. This initial step of fault discovery by investigation and comparison is one of the regular contributions of t h e university staff engineer t h a t his independence of thought, breadth of interests a n d soundness of scientific training particularly fit him t o perform, a n d t h a t he does perform well. This requires, however, sufficient freedom from t h e university routine t o permit travel for inspection or
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tests, a n d a n invitation a n d welcome by t h e manufacturers. T h e conception of a remedy for a discovered fault or need, or t h e conception of an improvement even when no need has been particularly felt or fault admitted, is t h e second step, t h e result of which is a n idea, a scheme, a promising possibility. Such a conception may come t o t h e factory man either producing or using t h e apparatus, or t o a n independent individual, or t o one of t h e regular university staff constantly engaged in studying practices a n d comparing with possibilities. It is often in t h e form of a patentable invention though just a s often it is not. This conception may be concerned with either a design form for a piece of apparatus, or with a method or process for which apparatus must later be designed. I n a n y case, its value remains a matter of speculation until apparatus is constructed and tried t o prove t h e soundness of t h e idea a t least qualitatively. This step of experimental construction is t h e first in t h e series generally termed devetopment. It necessarily costs money, and often a large sum, t h e investment of which is in t h e nature of a pure speculation, a n d hence subject t o many limitations, especially when associated, a s is usually t h e case, with t h e question of legal property rights in t h e invention involved originally, or t o be developed. It is right here t h a t t h e real barrier t o great a n d material advancement in t h e chemical factory is usually t o be found; this is the neck of t h e bottle which restricts t h e flow. Any number of splendid ideas have never been admitted t o this first development step of experimental construction t o demonstrate their soundness a n d the possibilities of success, or having been permitted one trial, have been rejected a n d development stopped through mistakes due t o lack of skill rather t h a n t o wrong ideas, a n d just a s many bad ideas, t h a t were never worth i t , have received experimental trials. As a result t h e world is full of disgruntled inventors, manufacturers, promotors a n d bankers, t o whom a new idea of this sort is a thing shunned, instead of sought. Here the staff of t h e research laboratory of t h e university can, a n d t o some extent does, contribute most valuable aid in sifting t h e promising from t h e hopeless, a n d in studying out t h e cheapest, best a n d most convincing experimental construction a n d demonstration. Especially effective is such cooperation when shop a n d engineering research laboratory facilities are available, so t h e whole procedure can be kept well in hand during this anxious time of perplexities a n d trouble. At t h e present time, this sort of work, which is a clearing-house operation, equalizing t h e debits a n d credits of t h e men of ideas a n d the industry concerned, a n d which should be undertaken on a large scale with financial support t o t h e full extent, is now, however, being carried out on only a small scale, supported more by enthusiasm t h a n by money or industrial appreciation. This first step in experimental development ends with a demonstration of the soundness of the idea qualitatively, or of t h e bare possibility of t h e desired result, but still leaves open t h e commercial value.
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Proof of commercial value requires further a n d largerscale demonstration on apparatus carefully designed in either full commercial size, or truly proportioned models of smaller size, b u t still large enough t o permit tests for reliable d a t a . This is usually a n expensive procedure t o be undertaken as a t r u e investment on t h e prospect of financial returns t o follow adoption a n d use. While in most cases i t is a proper thing for a n engineering research and development laboratory, it usually involves larger equipment t h a n a n y existing university laboratory can care for, a n d in some cases, due to t h e nature or t h e size of t h e equipment, must be carried out in a commercial establishment. Such commercial demonstrations, being financial enterprises of direct concern t o t h e industries, must have industrial support, even if t h e work is done by t h e university staff, b u t in every case this staff can render valuable assistance by bringing t o bear its broader scientific a n d engineering judgment unhampered b y commercial traditions a n d jealousies. At t h e present time some work of this kind is being undertaken a n d carried through, limited only by t h e number of available men a n d facilities on t h e one hand, or, on t h e other, by t h e willingness or unwillingness of t h e industrial interests t o use what is t o be had. The last step in t h e development of new apparatus for t h e industries is t h a t of commercial perfection a n d installation, all of which culminates in a working plant, in which t h e perfected apparatus is correctly associated with the existing apparatus in a n old plant,
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or in a complete new plant with standard equipment selected so as t o cooperate best with it for proper results in quality or product a n d economy of production. I n this last stage t h e university laboratory can play no part, b u t its staff can, a n d a t present does t o a limited degree, partly in t h e designing of t h e final form of t h e apparatus, partly in t h e selection of t h e standard equipment t o be associated with i t a n d in planning t h e connections a n d controls, a n d finally in testing for full scale performance d a t a , publication of which creates a n industrial document, a record of results achieved, a n d a standard by which further suggestions for improvement must be judged. Such test results of complete plants a n d t h e division of performance factors between t h e several units, is almost wholly lacking for t h e factories of t h e chemical industries, though quite common a n d even standard practice for other kinds of establishments, notably central power stations, shops a n d many of t h e non-chemical manuf actures. I n conclusion i t is believed t h a t a n y correct analysis of t h e relations between t h e university and t h e chemical industries will show t h a t the industries are receiving from t h e university t h e right kind of both direct a n d indirect contributions, though t o a n inadequate degree, limited only b y financial support, a n d this limit, i t would appear, could be removed by t h e industries themselves, by contributions in t h e reverse direction from t h e m t o t h e university. C H A R L E SE. L U C K E ~
ORIGINAL PAPERS THE UTILIZATION OF AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS DERIVED FROM CRACKED PETROLEUM1 BY W. F. RITTXAN Received October 10, 1915
I n t h e course of t h e commercial development of the vapor-phase cracking process for t h e production of benzene a n d toluene from petroleum, numerous chemical problems have arisen. One of t h e most important is t h e utilization of t h e products obtained, since these necessarily differ from those derived from coal. T h e idea is widely prevalent t h a t petroleum-derived products are inferior and a principal object of t h e present work has been t o show t h a t this prejudice is due entirely t o a lack of knowledge concerning proper methods of utilization. T h e immediate cause for the present work has been t h e necessity of demonstrating t h a t petroleum-derived toluene can be successfully converted into trinitrotoluene in a commercially practicable manner. . D I F F E R E N C E S B E T W E E N COAL-DERIVED A N D P E T R O L E U Y D E R I V E D H Y D R O C A R B O N MIXTURES
A brief consiaeration of t h e sources and methods of production of t h e t w o types of commercial hydrocarbon mixtures serves t o indicate t h e nature of t h e present problem. T h e coal-derived products are t h e results of decomposition of t h e original material a t high temperatures, which fact influences t o a large degree t h e composiPublished with the permission of the Director of the Bureau of Mines.
tion of these mixtures. The aromatics are associated with varying quantities of such impurities as sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen bodies, as well as non-aromatic hydrocarbons of various degrees of unsaturation. Condensable paraffins are not, however, stable a t t h e temperatures which occur during t h e destructive distillation of coal a n d these hydrocarbons are, therefore, absent from products derived from this source. I t follows, therefore, t h a t aromatic products obtained from coal contain objectionable impurities, from which, however, they may be freed if subjected t o treatment b y proper physical and chemical processes. On t h e other h a n d , t h e cracking of petroleum yields aromatics which are entirely free from oxygen-containing impurities and which a t worst carry only minute quantities of sulfur a n d nitrogen bodies. T h e chief a n d practically t h e only impurities are olefins a n d paraffins. These paraffins are necessarily present because maximum yields of toluene a n d benzene cannot be obtained under conditions which entirely break down these saturated compounds and, furthermore, i t is difficult or even impossible t o get rid of t h e m completely. Methods of fractional distillation d o not effect complete separation a n d chemical methods are ineffective, since t h e aromatics are more reactive t h a n the paraffins. Thus, in attacking t h e present problem i t has been 1
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia Unive! sity
