W. 0. BROOKS A. T. BURTSELL R. K. CARLETON ~
E
L. DYAVIS
HOWARD G RAHAM CLIFFORD HENDRICKS J. W. HOWARD
ABSTRACTS R. A. BAKER,
D. C. LICHTENWALNER GRETA OPPE
Geman industrial fat. 1. Hmzen. C h . - Z t a . , 60, 405-7 (Mav 16. 1936).-A survey dealing with the Goduction of ;yn&ticfats t& the chemical industry, the recovery of industrial oils and fats from waste water3 of the household, citirs, e t c . .n,l industrial ~- waste wnrers. thc retinina of fats and oils, and the of resins in herman forests. L. S. A bean worth knowing. ANON. Ind. Bull. Arthur D. Little, Inc., 116,24 (Sept., 1936).-The bean worth knowing ts the soy nr --,on", bm rlirirovered - - ~some 25.000 . -vears aco - and almost unknown in this country twenty years ago. Its cash trans&& I&fall erccrdcd those d corn and the number of bu.ihcls produced wsa approximately 40,000,000. This article summariocs ths recent soya I m n symposium of the American Chemical w. i. e, t v and -S.. . - - ~is ~- a -renrint of E. F. hlarsiglio's editorial in 7'he Chewid Analyst of the j. T. Baker Chemicd Co. The soya bean or its Droducts have already found the following uses: Paints Varnishes Plastics
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Abstract Editor
C. M. P RSuCHEPLAN ln LEOPOLD A. A. VERNON E. D. WALTER M ARY ELVIRA WEEKS SIDNEY WEINHOUSE G. H. WOOLLETT
presents t o the qualified chemist an exceptional opportunity. A new term has been proposed-namely, that of "Food Engineer." This new field functions as a liaison between the less tangible food chemistry and the more practical industrial applications of food chemistry. As a cognate of food chemistry, food engineering expresses food chemistry and technology in terms of practical production, thereby enhancing the commercialworth of food chemistry and the food chemist. Conditions in recent years have shown the food manufacturer's need of a food manager. Where could he find such a man? What are the qualifications of such a specialist? The amount of chemical training required for the fwd engineer is that prerequisite for the food chemist. Basic training should include a knowledge of fwd factors, including vitamins, etc. Several years of personal food research are necessary in order that the food engineer may have a first-hand understanding of food constituents. General engineering knowledge is of great importance. Specifically, food engineeringhasits foundation in (1) unit operations and (2) unit processes. The entire food manufacturing field may be reduced to fifteen groups or unit operations as follows: 1. Cleaning 2. Coating 3. Controlling Cooling u. Decoratins 6. ~isintegraiing 7. Drying 8. Evaporating
9. Forming 10. Material handlina
4.
14.
Sep&at&g or concentrating 15. Storaging
A food engineer should he able to step into any f w d plant and take charge, once be has studied the flow-sheet of that plant and reduced it t o "unit operations" or "unit processes." A mast important function of the food engineer is, of course, t o effect economies in the plant. It can readily he seen that the f w d engineer can cross-index the food manufacturing field. reducing i t t o the simplest unit operations and unit processes, to the end of improving his own plant by borrowing from similar unit ,operations or processes, or to equip himself t o fit profitably.into any f w d plant. While this field of specialization is entirely new, i t offers a tremendously appealing future to the executive type of trained food chemist with many years of practical experience and with a fair knowledge of the principles of chemical engineering. A. A. V. The chemist in warfare. L. C. ELMORE. The C h i s t , 13, 499-505 (Apr., 1936).-The use of chemicals in warfare has developed greatly within recent years. The U. S. Chemical Warfare Service was created on June 28, 1948. The organization includes Office of the Chief of the Chemical Warfare Service, Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland; the First Chemical Regiment and detached companies; the Edgewood Chemical Warfare Depot; the Chemical Warfare Board; the Chemical Warfare School; procurement districts; units of the organized Reserves; two units of the Reserve Officers Training Corps; and officers detailed as additional members of the General Staff. The work assigned t o the C. W. S.js t o put intopracticalapplication the chemical agents issued for combat and to instruct members of other branches of the service in protective measures against chemicals. The following facts are pertinent. 1. Chemical agents are greatly influenced by weather conditions. Wind is mast important. No enemy enn launch a cloud pas attack efiectivelyif the wind is blowing toward them. 2. Clouds have an important esect, erpecia!ly on non-persistent gaeea. 3. Heavy rains wash away and destrpy permtent agents. , 4. Humidityand pressure have gractlcallyno .Sect on perslstmt gases. Classes of agents used by the Chemical Warfare Service are based upon: physiological effect; tactical employment; per-
sistency; physical state under ordinary conditions They include lung irritants; vesicants or gas"$ which burn the tissues. Int~hrmnarors:stmmutatorror zasesshirh oroduce violent snrwine I n tactical employment there are four classes: (a) Casualty agents?raduce injury or death. (6) Harassing agents-force donning ofmasks-slow up t h e enemy.
(c) Screening agents.
( d ) Incendiary asentr. (c) Non-lethal agents.
Certain specific requirements which must be fulfilled by chemical compounds which the C. W. S. uses are: 1. Must be highly toxic. 2. Vaoor deositv must be ercater than air. 3. M ; E ~be compres&dand readily vaporized. 4. Must he capable of manufacture on a large scale.
separatiou of anodtc and cathodic products. characrrrircd l,v ~ h c provision in the electrolync crll of a combinntion of two salt. or < o n l ~ o u n dof$ the metal lo be ~ r a d r w t done , of which is initially decomposed by the electrolysk, and the other of which reacis with 1l.e initial anodic products to set free inert products am1 tu reconstitute the suhstancc initially decomposed. Arcordine to one Dart of thir invenrion described in the llritgsh specification, fused sodium hydroxide is electrolyzed in the presence of fused sodamide, by which the water formed according to reactions (1) and (2) below is fixed with liberation of ammonia, according to reaction (3). (1) NaOH (2) 2 0 H (3) HzO NaNH.
+
.A.. ... .
+
-
= Na f OH = H 0 = NaOH NH.
+ '/so2 +
The pmccss of rlcrtroly~ingraojtie soda in the prcience sodamidr. is claimed to bc o d r m t : i ~ r o u si n that the mcltirlg puinr of the e l ~ c t r o l ~ t bath r c is very much lowered and the sn.und:w reaction betwe& sodium and water a t the cathode with formation of hydrogen is suppmsscd, and thus all dander oi cxplosmn 13 avuid.4. Supprcrsim uf tlm d ~ n g ~ of r cxploiion pcmlits the constrllctiun uf t u t ~ l l vcncluscd larec units nirlr Dcrfccl safctv. Consumption of current necessary tomaintain the bath in a st& of fusion is reduced, and the number of kilowatt-hours consumed for each kilogram of sodium produced in the metallic state is A. T. B. correspondingly reduced. Gypsum as a chemical raw material. J. S. O P F U ~ . Chem. Industries, 39, 25S65 (Sept., l936).-Under the lash of wartime necessity, Germany utilized gypsum as a much needed source of sulfur for the manufacture of sulfuric acid. Her limited pyrites deposits were law in sulfur and difficult to use. Unable t o secure sulfur from other countries because of naval blockade, she quickly dewloped and I d t a plnnt u,here gypsum was mired w t h shall. and burned in a rotary kiln. Cement was formed from thr clinker and the sulfur dtoxidr. was mode into sulfuric acid. This undoubtedly is the most advanced chemical use of gypsum to date. The most important chemical uses of gypsum, where it intimatelv enters into chemical reaction. are as follows: cement retarde;, land plaster or fertilizer, w a t k treatment, calcium sulfide production, glass, neutral, inert drying agent, source of lime and sulfur, and in ammonium sulfate manufacture. Though it contains only 18.5 per cent. sulfur, because i t is found in vast deposits throughout the world gypsum can be considered one of the world's great potential sources of sulfur. In the United States the chemical utilization of gypsum has been small, largely because of the great deposits of pure sulfur available in Louisiana and Texas. While iron ovrites contains about twice as much sulfur as gypsum the depd$ts are not nearly so extensive. Germany demonstrated to the world some of the chemical possibilities of gypsum. At same future date, should the supply of pure sulfur fail, then gypsum, as a chemical raw A. T. B. material, will receive a great deal of considerqtion. Meet the adhesives. C. F. MASON... Chem. Industries. 39, 59-6.l (July, I936).-Constant introduction of new synthetic and $uric acid. J. W. H. Yeast, physiology, manufacture and uses. CHARIE~ N. FREY, mod~fiednatural materials in various forms into home and GEonoe W. KIRBY, AND ALEREDSCAIILTZ. I d . Eng. C h m . , industrial utensils carries with it the necessity of adhesives for repairing broken parts and attaching such materials either to 28, 879-84 (Aug., 1936).-In the highly mechanized industries in which yeast is used, the processes are so timed that it is almost themselves or to others. These problems are still being solved nrccsi3r; for the yeast t o ~ a c tns 3 ~hemicalmm~mund.with a by largely empirical methods with satisfaction, though little efconstant and unifunn fcnnrnration mie from day to day. The fort has been made to place adhesives upon a.strictly scientific main food rcuttirrments in addition to suears HTL.. N.. P.. and K. basis from the point of view of methods of application, time of N is furnishedas ammonia and the additional P requirements are drying, strength of bond, and the mechanism of the phenomena met with pho.iphates which also act as bufi~rs. i ' h t energy re- of cohesion and adhesion. Practical methods have resulted in the accumulation of over quirenwnls and thc aerohic and anaerobic curditions of growth of want and fermentation are diicu\scd. At :10" under mujt hvor- one thousand ~uhlishedformulas under the general headinas of &I; conditions veast will double its weight in slightly less than glues, mucilages, pastes, cements, binding-materials, csking two hours. he Hayduck, or modem process of-yeast produc- compourtdr, a i d sraling rumpositions, wirh the briefest dire& tion. is described, as well as the production of yeast of high vita- tions for furmul~tion,and ltsc in slwcificcnr
