THE C H E M I C A L WORLD THIS
WEEK
Hydrogen Sulfide Estimation. T h e Tutwiler method has been considered a d e quate for determining high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in gases. B e cause it is awkward and r e q u i r e s daily preparation of fresh reagent, R . W . Wager, Rollins College, has a p p l i e d a n d adapted t h e methylene b l u e m e t h o d , previously used only for d e t e r m i n a t i o n of low concentrations, t o a simple a b s o r p tiometry method for high h y d r o g e n s u l fide in industrial gases. Section Petition Approved. D u r i n g a portion of t h e meeting approval w a s voted to petition t h e appropriate administrative bodies of the ACS to ( 1 ) use the rprestige of the Society to improve t h e e c o n o m i c and professional position of t h e c h e m i s t and chemical engineer; ( 2 ) employ a full-time person to work w i t h thte ACS Committee o n Professional Relations a n d Status; ( 3 ) prepare a questionnaire to b e used b y employers in submitting information on working conditions t o job» applicants; a n d ( 4 ) require all employers a d vertising in t h e "Situations O p e n " column of C&EN t o state the salaries offered. Also a p p r o v e d was a proposal tliat t h e section publish a schedule of recommended salaries for various c h e m i c a l positions in Florida. The group voted -to table action o n t h e question of certifying chemists until t h e section membership i s better acquainted with the problem.
C&EN REPORTS: ACS Northeast Oklahoma Section
Chemical Industry Expansion Has M e t All Defense Needs Growth of chemicals has been major factor in preventing shortages in rearmament program BARTLESVILLE, O K L A . - T h e r e has been n o single instance where a shortage of a chemical has delayed a defense program, O . V. Tracy, director of NPA's Chemical Division told members of t h e ACS Northeast Oklahoma Section a t their meeting here on May 19. The extensive expansion of the chemical industry in the five-year period following World W a r I I a n d the $3.6 billion invested in chemical plants in t h e three-year period 1950-52 h a v e been major factors in preventing acute shortages in t h e rearmament program. In addition to increasing supplies of military items a n d increasing capacity t o m e e t direct military demands of a full scale war, Mr. Tracy said that one of the major objectives of the nation's three-year mobilization program is to increase industrial productive capacity of basic raw materials and services.
A useful chemical intermediate — available i n fankcars or drums
Rohm & Haas nonyl
phenol is a product o f high quality,
useful in the manufacture o f wetting a n d emulsifying agents, synthetic resins, o i l a d d i t i v e s , fungicides, germicides, rubber chemicals, dyestuffs, a n d pharmaceuticals. A liquid a t normal temperature, it is easier t o handle than solid alkyl phenols. A sample o f nonyl p b e n o l will b e sent ©n request.
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ROHM £· IMâS €€^ful P A M ¥ WASHINGTON SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA 5, PA. Rep mentalities in principal
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T h e nation is now at t h e midpoint in the three-year program, Mr. Tracy said. Production of military hard goods is at a rate of $5.1 billion a quarter. By the end of the year it will b e $10 billion. Production should level off at the latter figure and stay there through 1953 a n d 195Λ. Dollarwise, some $26 billion of equipment has been delivered, with $100 billion to be produced. G r o w t h of Basic Resources. T h e pro gram to expand basic resources, Mr. Tracy reported, is moving ahead rapidly. Of the estimated $12 billion required t o ex p a n d industrial facilities, some $6 billion was in place at t h e e n d of March. Ex pansion plans for steel a n d chemical ca pacities are illustrations of t h e program. Steel capacity, for example, is being in creased b y 1 8 million tons. Investments in new chemical plants totaled $771 mil lion in 1950, $1.3 billion in 1951, and $1.5 billion in 1952. W h e n completed, these plants will have increased chemical capac ity 1 2 % over 1951 a n d 2.5 times over the 1939 level. This progress h a s b e e n m a d e possible, Mr. Tracy stated, b y teamwork between Government a n d industry. T h e Govern ment, through such defense agencies as the National Production Authority, first worked toward relieving shortages of materials by limiting inventories and distributing available supplies. NPA then began r e stricting consumption for nondefense needs. Finally, in cases of products in critically short supply, all-out controls w e r e imposed. Postwar expansion b y t h e chemical indus try was sufficient to meet many of t h e mo bilization needs, a n d at present only four products are u n d e r allocation: naphthenic acid, Thiokol, methylene chloride, a n d polyethylene. Mr. Tracy emphasized the need for con tinued authority t o control materials a n d production for at least t h e next 18 months. NPA, h e says, has tr^ed to keep t h e con trols flexible t o cope with changing needs. To date, there have been 30 cases where controls on materials and production have been relaxed or removed. Expansions of Individual Chemicals. Schedules to expand production of many of t h e important tonnage chemicals, such as chlorine, benzene, ammonia, phenol, and acetylene products, were drawn u p early in t h e mobilization program. B e cause much of the increased expansion of these chemicals w a s needed only after other basic industrial expansions h a d been completed, it w a s possible to schedule plant expansions which did not interfere A N D ENGINEERING
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primene alkyl aminess
CnH2n-1nh2 n-12-15 n-18-24
low cost intermediates
Available Grades
Primene 8F-T 12-15 carbon ί-alkylamine Sp. Gr. 0.835 at 25°C. B. P. 5-95% at 225-271°C. (760 mm.)
Desirable Properties
Reactions
Free-flowing liquid (not ιυαχγ) Soluble in hydrocarbons (non-gelling) Good color stability
[
Primene JM-T
|
18-24 carbon ί-alky lamine Sp. Gr. 0.853 at 25°C. B. P. 5-70%atl33-191°C. (15 mm.)
] Ι
Free-flowing liquid (not ivaxy) Soluble in hydrocarbons (non-gelling) Good color stability
A n u n u s u a l r e a c t i o n is t h e f o r m a t i o n of s t a b l e , d i s t i l l a b l e a l d i m i n e s with a l d e h y d e s . T h e monoirieric a z o m e t h i n e s from formaldehyde (RN = CH2) are exceptionally s t a b l e . Although there is some degree of steric hindrance, the Primene prod ucts undergo most of the usual reactions of primary aliphatic amines. Reactions such as alkylation and cyanoethylation may be controlled easily to give mono-substitution products. Salt formation occurs readily.
Suggested Uses
T h e oil s o l u b i l i t y a n d color stability o f trie P r i m e n e a m i n e s m a k e t h e m particularly attractive in o i l addUtive f o r m u l a t i o n s . Other suggested uses include the manufacture of surface active agents, bactericides, fungicides, corrosion inhibitors, anti-oxidants, textile chemicals and pharmaceutical products.
Also Available
Primene 81-R and Primene JM-R—Refined grades of Primene 81-T and Primene JM-T Primac JMA-T—Acetate salt of Primene JM-T ί-octylamine—Boiling Point 137-142°C. (760 mm.) CHEMÎCALS
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THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK with the need for steel and aluminum and other items needed for military and atomic energy purposes. What the chemical industry has done to meet needed productive facilities is ex emplified by expansions of production ca pacity for nitrogen, sulfur, sulfuric acid, fertilizers, plastics, and synthetic fibers. The goal for nitrogen capacity by 1955 has been set at 2.9 million tons annually, about double* the 1950 production. The goal has been set so high because of esti mated increases in need for fertilizers, which use 75f/c of all nitrogen production. The Agriculture Department has esti mated that 1955 needs for nitrogen for nitrogenous fertilizer will be 1.4 million tons greater than the World War II peak, or a threefold increase. The increased ex pansion will cost nearly $350 million. In the case of sulfur, annual world con sumption is about 11.5 million long tons, three fourths of which is used in produc ing sulfuric acid. Although U. S. con sumption of 4.1 million tons ( 1951 ) is less than domestic production (5.2 million tons), exports take up nearly 2 5 % of pro duction. Export quotas to friendly nations are being reduced as these nations convert from brimstone to other forms of sulfurbearing materials. Foreign needs, how ever, will continue to be high for a long time to come. Manufacture of soluble phosphatie type fertilizers, such as superphosphate, uses one third of all sulfuric acid production. The expansion goal for superphosphate will require a 2 5 % increase in the need for sulfuric acid by 1955 unless the process by which nitric acid is used to acidulate the phosphate rock is utilized. As long as there is unlimited production of low-priced sul fur ( Frasch process ), the economic as pects will discourage the use of nitric acid. Production of plastics, a relative new comer to the heavy chemicals field, has had a phenomenal growth. For the past 10 years, annual production has increased as much as 20r/c over the preceding year. Production in 1950, for example, was of the order of two billion pounds, compared with 700 million pounds in 1946. Re quirements in 1955 may exceed 4.6 mil lion pounds. The synthetic fibers industry, likewise, is undergoing a substantial expansion to meet ever-increasing demand. Exclusive of cellulose derivatives, total production (1951) of synthetic fibers was 200 million pounds. Much of the expansion of plastics, syn thetic fibers, synthetic rubber, and syn thetic alcohol industries is geared to sources of raw materials obtained from petroleum. Whereas in 1930 petrochemi cals were the source of less than 1% of organic chemicals, the 1950 figure is esti mated to be 60 r /r. Current production of chemicals from petroleum uses only about one day's domestic production of crude oil. If all organic chemicals were made from petroleum, corresponding consump tion of crude oil would be two days' out put. 2198
Interesting session was the panel on the papermaking fiber, composed of seven members of the Institute of Paper Chemistry staff: D. J. MacLaurin (left), E. E. Dickey, W. M. Van Horn, J. G. Strange, J. A. Van den Akker, Kyle Ward, and R. P. Whitney C&EN REPORTS: Institute of Paper Chemistry, Executives Conference
Shortage of Technical Personnel Close ί ο N o t i o n a l Calamity DuBridge offers solution in three-point headed by better salary scale APPLETON, WIS.-The seriousness of the shortage of scientifically trained personnel was again publicly aired last week when Lee A. DuBridge, president of the Cali fornia Institute of Technology, termed the situation "close to a national calamity." Dr. DuBridge, an outstanding physicist in his own light, spoke before the sixteenth annual executives conference held by the Institute of Paper Chemistry. DuBridge offered a three-point pro gram, punctuated with the dollar sign, for attacking the problem. First, industry must adjust its salary scale for engineers and chemists. Constrasting the future of a young technical man with that of a doctor, lawyer, or salesman, DuBridge declared that there was little likelihood that the technical man could expect ever to be in the $15,000 to $20,000 class. If the high school students believed there was a bright financial future in the field there would no longer be a problem, he said. Turning to the actual training of per sonnel, the CalTech president suggested that industry promote a program of scholarships for qualified and deserving children of employees—a tax-deductible expenditure. His third point emphasized the financial plight of many colleges and universities and suggested that industry help by allocating substantial contribu tions in the form of endowments, fellow ships, and other grants. To emphasize the importance of a steady CHEMICAL
program
flow of scientists and engineers DuBridge mentioned major problems which will confront future generations. Of prime im portance will be a dependable source of energy, he said. He wasn't convinced that atomic power offered the complete solu tion. "It is not yet clear that nature has provided enough uranium on the earth, for this purpose," he said. He hinted that solar energy may develop into our most dependable and inexhaustible source of power. The theme of more trained personnel was carried further in the annual report presented by the institute president, Westbrook Steele. He cited statistics on supply and demand of engineers and chemists. 'Tn June of 1951 there were 3600 first degrees in chemical engineering conferred. This year the number will certainly not exceed 2800. In 1953 the figure will not exceed 2300 and the class of 1954 should provide about the same number," said. Steele. Situation in England and Sweden» Steele declared that there are more stu dents who attempt to major in science in. England and Sweden, percentagewise» than ever before. He told the executives that there is a desperate shortage of facili ties for their training and that efforts a r e being made to farm them out to institu tions of higher learning in other parts o £ the world. Steele announced that preliminary a r rangements have been completed for a n AND
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