! PRODUCTION
CONTAINERS A N D T R A N S P O R T A T I O N I ; Manufacturers of shipping containers w o u l d do w e l l t o establish the needs o f all their customers, as the problems of consumers are likely to vary f r o m those w h i c h a container—such as a d r u m — w a s designed to meet
The STRONGEST Shipping Bags Made
&AGS
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Cut packaging costs f o r many hard-to-pack products
Bemis WATERPROOF LAMINATED T e x t i l e Bags They're t o u g h !... r e s i s t punctures and t e a r s . Y o u r p r o d u c t can travel in a n y c o m p a n y . . . i n s e c t s a n d odors can't infest or c o n t a m i n a t e . U n w a n t e d m o i s t u r e i s k e p t o u t and needed moisture k e p t in. These bags can b e m a d e r e s i s t a n t t o acid, g r e a s e and oil. Y o u can't equal t h e economy o f W a t e r p r o o f B a g s for the k i n d o f p r o t e c t i o n t h e y give.
BEMIS BRO. BAG CO. 3ÏÏ3S£
MAIL THIS COUPON BEMIS BRO. B A G C O . , W a t e r p r o o f D e p a r t m e n t 4 0 8 Pine Street, Box 1 5 , St. Louis 2 , M o . Send information about Bemis W a t e r p r o o f Bags fo Name Company_ Street City
Zone_
343
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-pvERETT M. YOHK. chief chemist for -"-^ Anabolic Food Products. Inc, has written
to
CHEMICAL
AND
ENGINEERING
N E W S in regard to the packaging articles appearing: in the Nov. 2S. 1949. issue (pages S562-TO». His thoughts concerni n g the problem of fiber drums vs. bags are a s outlined in the following paragraphs. Commenting on a statement from page 3 5 6 S , "One of the outstanding features of the fiber drum . . . has been its excellent shipping performance with respect to freedom from product contamination/' York states that also it is possible to remove only a portion of the contents at a time and the remainder may be left in the original container for use later. W h e n bags are used the outside becomes s o soiled and dusty* (it is incapable of being cleaned ) that unusual care is needed in emptying the contents to prevent their contamination with dirt from the exterior o f the b a g . Such containers are of course suitable for industrial chemicals and cement, but their use for finer grades, such a s C.P. a n d U.S.P.. seems highly questionable. Apart from t h e hazard of contamination, they require transfer of their contents t o drums or cans, or similar easily reclosed, rigid containers; this handling adds t o the consumer's cost for the product. For many materials plain fiber drums are a definite improvement over bags, from t h e user's point of view, but contamination by t h e interior of the drum and loss of material through adhering to the walls is still a problem. For some materials, especially very fine and dry powders, bags are used as liners inside the drums, but whether these are of crepe or waxed paper, or even of polyethylene, a further difficulty arises: During transportation the drum has probably been as often bottom u p as any other way-, and o n opening i t the customer finds that much of the finely powdered contents has dusted out o f the b a g onto its exterior and into the inside of the drum itself, and it is a messy job t o clean up, with some loss of material always involved. With expensive ingredients this latter becomes an important factor. For most such materials it is suggested that the bag be omitted and that the drum be heavily waxed, or sized o n the interior w i t h a suitable resin, or better, where the value of the material shipped will permit, that the lining b e a film of polyethylene or similar insert plastic. One of C&EX's articles mentions recent wrork o n such a liner, hot-calendered onto the fiberboard. If t h e closure c a n be satisfactorily worked out, and of course the cost, this should prove to be a n excellent container. C H E M I C A L
It seems to be only too true that the supplier does not always "think of t h e receiving end." as one of your captions puts it. A homely example: Certain ready-to-eat breakfast cereals are packaged in oblong cartons with a waxed paper lining. The latter, however, produced o n automatic machines, is not in the form of a continuous bag, as is naturally expected. W h e n the package is held in t h e natural way and the flakes are poured out from one of the narrow sides of the package, the lining usually splits apart, and the flakes spill out in every direction b e fore t h e unwary user can prevent it. Why the joint in the lining should be placed just there, and w h y it should be open at all is a mystery that can only b e explained o n the assumption that the design of t h e packaging xriachinery took no account of the manner in which the package would b e held by the consumer.
Glass Containers Production Preliminary figures released by the Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce, indicate that shipments of glass containers in October 1949 totaled 7,945,000 gross, about 3 % less than shipments in September. Production of glass containers, however, showed a 10% gain over the previous month with preliminary figures published at 8,283,000 gross. Significant changes for individual types of containers were for narrow-neck food containers, down 35% from September; liquor tattles, u p 19%; and wine bottles, up 26%. Chemical, household, and industrial wide-mouth containers shipments totaled 108,218 gross.
Aluminum Tank C a r s In a review of developments in aluminum in 1949, the Aluminum Co. of America has reported the increased use of aluminum tank cars over any other year since their inception. Approximately 283 tank cars were built during t h e year, more than the total constructed in t h e prior three postwar years. O n e car builder delivered 98 allaluminum tank cars in summer of 1949; this order is said b y Alcoa to be t h e largest single production job in the industry's history. Each of the 9 8 cars required 11,300 pounds of aluminum in an allwelded construction. Ladings for which these cars are n o w being used include acetic acid and anhydride, formaldehyde, hydrogen peroxide, fatty* acids, nitric acid, nylon salts, and trichlorobenzene. AND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
