Chemical world This Week CHEMICAL ENGINEERS:
Higher jobless rate The American Institute of Chemical Engineers says a new survey shows that the unemployment rate among its members is nearly double the unemployment rate for chemical engineers given in a National Science Foundation survey earlier this month. The NSF survey, conducted by the Engineers Joint Council during June and July, found that 1.9% of chemical engineers were without jobs (C&EN, Oct. 4, page 11). This figure is similar to the unemployment rate of 1.7% shown by a January survey of AIChE members. But, says AIChE executive secretary Franklin J. Van Antwerpen, a survey during August shows 3.7% of members now unemployed. The sharpest increase in unemployment was in the Middle Atlantic
region (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), where nearly 26% of AIChE members reside. The unemployment rate there was 4.9% in August, up 3.6% from the January rate. The highest unemployment rate during August was 5.3% in New England, up 2.1%. Only about 6% of AIChE members live there. AIChE spent a great amount of effort trying to resolve the discrepancies between its figures and NSF's, Mr. Van Antwerpen says. The principal conclusion, he says, is that NSF's results were skewed somewhat because that survey let the respondents choose what professional category they were included in, while all AIChE members are assumed to be chemical engineers. But neither this discrepancy nor the unemployment increase were the result of new graduates, he adds. The January survey showed that 16.4% of the unem-
Gulf dedicates huge Alliance refinery in Louisiana Gulf Oil has dedicated its largest single building project ever undertaken—the new 160,000 barrel-per-stream-day Alliance refinery located near Myrtle Grove, La. Refining operations will begin next month, and shipments of aromatics are scheduled to begin during the first quarter of 1972 as the aromatics extraction unit will be one of the last units to be put on stream. Construction on the $220 million refinery by Brown & Root began in December 1969 although site preparation began earlier that year. Peak employment at the site by the contractor reached 2400 men. When the refinery is fully on stream, Brown & Root will handle the maintenance on contract with 100 to 125 people. The refinery is the largest grass-roots refinery built in the U.S. Its capacity will about equal capacity of Gulf's Philadelphia refinery—built more than 40 years ago—but because of more
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C&EN OCT. 18, 1971
modern equipment will require a staff of only about 250, a quarter of the operating personnel in Philadelphia. Besides the 160,000 barrel-per-day atmospheric and vacuum crude oil distillation unit, other major units are a 72,000 barrel-per-day fluid catalytic cracking unit, a 28,000 barrel-per-day HF alkylation unit, a 37,500 barrel-per-day catalytic reforming unit, and a 22,500 barrel-per-day aromatics extraction unit. Output of various units will depend on product demand. The refinery will operate largely on low-sulfur crude oils produced from offshore Louisiana areas. It will, however, have a sulfur recovery unit capable of handling 50 tons a day of sulfur even though at capacity sulfur production likely will be less than 30 tons a day. Carbon monoxide will largely be eliminated by burning in two 350,000 pound-per-hour carbon monoxide boilers.
ployed were 24 or younger (the age group of new graduates); this group accounted for 19.2% of the unemployed in August, he says, so its net contribution to the increase was only about 0.1%. CATALYST SYSTEMS:
Regulating reactions A group of Soviet chemists, headed by Dr. Vladimir Gryaznov, professor of chemistry at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba University, is developing commercial membrane/catalyst combinations. The basic idea is to combine selectively permeable membranes and heterogeneous catalysts to improve regulation of complex reaction systems. According to Dr. Gryaznov, a basic arrangement would be the application of a catalyst to one side of the membrane. By changing the pressure of a diffusing component on the opposite side of the membrane it is possible to regulate the rate of transport of the component into the catalytic reaction zone and, consequently, the surface concentration of the component on the catalyst. Dr. Gryaznov cites experience with several versions of the basic arrangement. The ratio of bulk to surface concentrations depends on the adsorbability of the reactants. In general, the surface concentration is variable along a catalyst surface in response to variations in temperature gradients and bulk concentrations. Membranes regulate surface concentrations and smooth out effects of temperature and concentration variations. It is now possible to proportion independently the surface concentrations of two reactants. Within limits, this permits simultaneous regulation of reaction rate and catalyst selectivity in some systems. The most intriguing possibility to Dr. Gryaznov is use of membrane catalysts in conjugating reactions. In the normal reaction sequences in a single phase, a multicomponent mixture forms that is difficult to separate. A series of membrane catalysts eliminates the need for interstage separations. The technique is similar to isotopic separations with porous media. Most of the current interest of the Soviet group is now centered on using the membrane catalyst systems for the production of monomer and aromatic hydrocarbons.
