I/EC
Forecast
P O I N T I N G THE E D I T O R I A L F I N G E R AT T O M O R R O W ' S
Dollars Taught More Cents There'll be some brand new looks in costs determination in the chemical industry within the next year. T h a t ' s the forecast of a new costminded group, T h e American Association of Cost Engineers. Goals which the new association is working toward are expected to have a great impact on the chemical industry. Some items : a standard system of determining costs in the chemical industry, and a method for predicting profitability of a new product even at the research stage. t At its first annual meeting, the group had 400 members. Thirty per cent were either presidents or vice presidents of chemical firms and the rest were representative of top m a n agement.
Hot and Cold O u t with separate heating and cooling units— in with heat pumps. This might be the eventual impact on new plant construction of more efficient systems using t h e h e a t - p u m p idea. Amoco's new building in New York City uses the h e a t - p u m p principle and the Air Force has just bought 1535 heat p u m p s for a project in Arkansas. O n e manufacturer of heat p u m p s expects to sell 8000 p u m p s this year, as compared to 4000 last year. Basically, the heat p u m p is a device to remove heat from one place and to deliver it to another where it can be used. I n one application, even the heat given off in compressing the refrigerant goes into the w a r m water circulation (page 55 A). Right now the heat p u m p is more expensive than conventional heating and cooling, but within two years there is expected to be little or no price differential.
Chemistry and the Vacuum Tube V a c u u m tubes have been getting serious competition from solid state physics in the form of transistors. T h e r e may be even more competition coming from the field of chemistry. T h e Naval O r d n a n c e Laboratory in Silver Spring, Md., has a tiny device whose operation depends on the electrolysis of a potassium iodide solution. It can control a low-current relay, directly, without amplification from vacuum tube cir-
PROGRESS
cuits. National Cash Register Co. of Dayton, Ohio, is also edging chemistry deeper into the electronics field. T h e company has a way of processing photosensitive dyes, which could find use as a chemical memory or switching device in computers (page 23 A).
Air Force Solving Transition Problem Solution to the century-old problem which baffled Reynolds, Lord Rayleigh, Prandtl, and other scientific giants is closer at h a n d than ever before. Differences between observed and predicted flow rates for fluids in transition from laminar to turbulent flow still trouble engineers. But thanks to the stimulus of aerodynamics, advances in understanding transition by the Air Force and many laboratories here and abroad should soon lay this problem to rest.
Patience Rewarded T h e grain milling industry could be on the verge of a new era with perhaps the most important development in the past 50 years. Revolutionary grinding and separation techniques appear certain to solve the age-old problems of upgrading feed stocks and reducing surpluses. T h e new " t u r b o " grinding process is said to give high grade edible starch products directly rather than by the devious traditional route. This will undoubtedly result in reduced milling costs and should lead to more efficient handling of vital grains. Among the first to apply for patents: Pillsbury Mills.
Too Much Uranium? T h e d e m a n d for u r a n i u m is high now, but there's a possibility that it may be short-lived—for several reasons. T h e A E C is showing some interest in thorium as a fuel for reactors as it is believed to be more a b u n d a n t than uranium, and a thorium-fueled reactor isn't so complicated as one that uses uranium. Also, the development of fusion reactors could throw cold water on fission reactors. T h e main fuel ingredients for a fusion reactor are deuterium and tritium. Power from fusion has the exciting possibility of making electricity directly without going through the conversion of heat exchangers a n d turbines. VOL. 49, NO. 8
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AUGUST 1957
19 A
