July 20, 1927
INDUSTRIAL
AND ENGINEERING
Chemistry in the Argentine B y M A R K R. LAMB Buenos Aires
I had thought to entitle this contribution "Manufacturing in the Argentine" and then include the studies we have made in other lines of industry which, while not exactly chemical, are nevertheless closely related to chemistry. M y object in writing this is to give the reader a general picture of the industry of this country outside of cattle and sheep raising and agriculture. The conditions controlling chemical industries are very closely applicable to other manufacturing industries. Our contact with chemistry as it is developing industrially in this country begins with an inquiry into the prices of chemicals, or of a plant in which to make them, or else with a request for funds to finance the manufacture of some chemical. I should perhaps explain that as the country is so small chemically (compared with America) it is unable to support a specialist who confines himself to one line of chemistry or engineering
V i e w of F u r n a c e E n d s of t h e T w o A c i d P l a n t s
construction (except civil engineering). An organization which expects to be kept busy here, must have the necessary experience among its combined personnel in America, Europe, and the Argentine to handle intelligently any ordinary inquiry. Before going into details of the work being done and t o be done here, I desire to paint the picture of one phase of industry which is common to new, undeveloped countries. On account of the many opportunities to implant new industries, and the ease with which these opportunities can be seen by even a superficial observer, we receive requests for quotations on complete plants with a disproportionate frequency. So much energy is wasteçl in this way that we find that we must be careful to avoid being constantly pessimistic. I t is not the impecunious promoter, or the ignorant layman who gives us our disappointments, but rather the man who has been successful in one line who wishes t o get into another business, or else the rich rentista, living on t h e unearned increment of inherited property, who is not an industrialist and who has no intention of being one. He is called here, euphoniously, a macaneador, meaning a man not to be taken seriously though he is able to draw his check for seven figures. It is simply astonishing to note how many very wealthy, idle people there are in South America. Our first job of importance was the building of a plant for the recovery of gasoline from the natural gas at Comodoro. As this was to be the first plant of its kind in the country, it was not possible to point to a previous installation or even to a competitor's plant, and in a Spanish country, oui· wonderful American oil publications are not very effective. The more positively the arguments are presented the greater the distrust, and no project can be brought to a successful climax in less than a year or two. Witness the cracking process. There is but one in the country and that belongs to the government, and in a country where gasoline sells for 47 cents per gallon. The particular phase involving unfamiliarity with what we offer is overcome sometimes by sending the prospective client to see a plant in the States. At other times, we succeed in getting the required signature by selling o n terms of "100% payment on acceptance." This requires a n unusual capital investment, and of course requires a perfectly sound customer but it makes the nicest kind of a job. One of our early jobs was the construction of a small sulfuric acid plant for one of the government departments and one of the very best, so far as engineering capacity, prompt payments, and careful supervision are concerned. The department had been buying 55 ° Β acid from private companies, which,
CHEMISTRY
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during the war and afterwards, had combined and were making 300% on the acid. The department had no desire t o manu facture acid, but even a government official objects to such enormous profits, especially, a s in this case, where every other section was working at low costs, in which they took much pride. So anxious was the department to avoid owning the plant, that the call for bids asked for alternative bids—one for the plant t o be sold t o the government, and the other for the con tractor to retain ownership, and operate on the basis of a ten year contract for acid. This is where w e made the mistake of a lifetime, through ignorance of the character of the National Department of Sanitary Works and in fact, of the Argentine Government itself. We built and sold the plant instead of owning and operating it, with the result that it is the Depart ment and not ourselves who receive over 50 % on the investment. When it came to the building of the second plant of twice the size a hint from us that we would be glad to make the alternative proposition was received with silent mirth. We have just completed this 60-ton plant, designed by the Chemical Construction Company and have done better than the guarantees, in spite of a start in mid-summer and 95° weather. The acid is required for making aluminum sulfate for co agulation of the city water. It is made from American sulfur as the Italian sulfur is not imported, due to the combine. The sulfur sells for a higher price than would be justified by Ν. Υ. price plus freight, but the price is just right and justifiable on the basis of t h e international trust. T h e remedy, however, is in the hands of the Argentine, as soon as it is decided to bring on sulfur from trie Andes Mountains. The sulfur is there, but is a discouraging distance from the railroad. The plant has no radical improvements, though a number of small ones add greatly t o the capacity per cubic foot, and to ease of operation. Two properly proportioned Gay-Lussac towers reduce the nitre loss to such an extent that within 20 days of starting, the nitre consumption has reached a minimum of 2 % and we have great hopes of reducing that figure, since the old plant was below 1.5% for long periods. The special design of the air lifts for acid makes a very clean plant and one simple to operate. The intermediate tower, spiral packed, between each pair of chambers, with acid sprays, has added to capacity while slightly reducing costs. To the contractor, however, the importation of spirals and acid proof brick, by the hundred thousand, with freight more than first cost, is heartbreaking. One of the clauses which was considered most important in the first contract obligated our engineer to remain four months to instruct the personnel, and to stay longer if required. This clause was based on an unfounded fear, since the employees of the Department were very soon doing better with the plant than the temporary American crew. In the new plant, the old crew made short work of getting t o capacity in seven days, to the delight of everyone concerned. As the photographs show, the building enclosing the plant is of brick, the chamber supports being Oregon fir. Chemical lead was supplied by National Lead Company and all other materials and supplies except sand, lime, cement, and building bricks came from the States. Cooling -water is supplied from a drilled well, being raised b y a Pohle lift. We have been permitted to experiment with ultra-violet rays in flues and chambers, and with the Paoli system on the first chamber, with very interesting results, which will be de scribed in another article. In spite of t h e fact that the Department, which was the heaviest consumer of acid, no longer buys it, the price is still too high, being for acid 53—55° at the rate of forty cents per unit. That is, 7 5 % acid sells for $30.00 in ten-ton lots, though the cost of manufacture is only increased by the increased cost of sulfur. As a result of t h e building of these two plants, the acid business is not very flourishing. There is little use for acid, because there is little industry. Some is used for carbonizing wool, some for making hydrochloric acid for the cane sugar mills in summer time, some for making a small amount of tartaric acid for the Mendoza wineries, and finally a little is used in galvanizing. Any suggestion of a use which would fit this country would be hailed with delight b y the four private plants (one of which has been sold i n bankruptcy proceedings, and will go for the cost of the bare land). T h e soil is too nearly virgin to require fertilizer—there is no steel or tin plate or galvanizing industry, and of course n o t a sign of organic chemistry. One of the largest industries which can be seen in the near future, is the drying of milk. There are so many tons of milk produced per minute, yet no milk powder or condensed milk made, that a very low grade prophet can see the future of this industry in the Argentine. T h e Secretary of War has recently contracted for the con struction of an explosive factory, more with the idea of prevision than as a profitable enterprise. T h e contract is novel, in that the contractor retains ownership, has some military men on {Concluded on page 5)
July 20, 1917
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
TriURSDAv, JUI^Y 28 Chairman: H. C. Sherman, Columbia University. Recent Advances in the Chemistry of Vitamins—J. C. Drummond, Pro fessor of Biological and Physiological Chemistry, University of London, England. Discussion: R. Adams Dutcher. FRIDAY, JULY 29
Biochemistry. Chai/ma^: R. Adams Dutcher, Professor of Biological Cfaemistry, Penna. State College. The Future of Vitamine Research: Its Problems—Walter Ή. Eddy, Colum bia University. Discussion: J. C. Drummond, Professor of Biological and Physiological Chemistry, University of London, England, H. C. Sherman, Columbia University.
Evening Lectures WEDNESDAY, JULY 20
"The Research Worker as an Artist," by G. L. Wendt, Dean of The School of Chemistry and Physics, The Pennsylvania State College. THURSDAY, JULY 21
"The Abuse of Water," by James Kendall, F. R. S„ Dean of the Graduate School, New York University. FRIDAY, JULY 22
"Some Biochemical Aspects of Organic Evolution," by J. C. Drummond, D. S c , Vice Dean of Medical Sciences and Professor of Biochemistry, Uni versity College, University of London. MONDAY, JULY 25
"The Practical Preparation and Uses of Rare Gases," by F. P. Gross, Jr., Air Reduction Sales Company. TUESDAY, JULY 26
"Synthetic Clothing," by Professor Pauline Beery Mack, The Pennsylvania State College. WEDNESDAY, JULY 27
"A National Institute of Health," by Dr. Charles H. Herty, Advisor to The Chemical Foundation. THURSDAY. JULY 28
"The Role of Ultra-Violet Light in Nutrition," by Alfred F. Hess, M.D.
Wisconsin Section That few university chemists appreciate the value of patents as a protection against the unsupervised commercial exploitation of the products of their brain-work, was the substance of the ad dress delivered by C. S. Miner of Chicago before the Wisconsin Section May 11. Dr. Miner advanced the opinion that pure research is entitled to remuneration, and added the thought that it is, in a sense, a gift to industry which in turn should pay a tax for the utilization of such knowledge. Such a tax, it was stated, could well take the form of a specific royalty to the university, or a particular department thereof for the encouragement of further research. This meeting marked the close of the activities of the Section until October.
Analyses of Water of Colorado River Analyses of weekly composites of daily samples of water from Colorado River at Grand Canyon and at Topock, Ariz., are given in a short report by W. D. Collins and C. S. Howard issued by the U. S. Geological Survey as Water-Supply Paper 596-B under the title "Quality of Water of Colorado River in 1925—1926." A few analyses are given of samples from other points on the river and on tributaries. This report may be obtained on application to the Director, U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C.
What Constitutes a Still under Prohibition Law In the case of the People vs. Morrison, charged with the possession of apparatus for manufacture of intoxicating liquor, a verdict of guilty was rendered promptly b y a jury in the Municipal Court of Los Angeles, despite the fact that the de fendant claimed that the seized equipment was not a complete still. The contraband outfit was confiscated while in a knockeddown condition, this point adding to the complication. While the collection included a boiler, Hempel column, valves and two water-jacketed condensers, it contained no burner, nor did it include certain additional fractionation apparatus which the defense maintained was necessary in order to make the outfit capable of converting commercial "rub-alcohol" into drinkable liquor. According to the testimony of a professional moonshiner, who had originally designed the equipment for the defendant, it was intended that ether, acetone, benzene, and diethyl phthalate were to be removed from specially denatured alcohol. It was accordingly claimed that the incom plete outfit in the hands of the law could not as a matter of scientific fact prepare a genuine beverage. In the trial, held April 27, under the Wright enforcement act of the state of California, counsel for the prosecution ignored the intricacies of the elaborate fractionation scheme, and estab lished the fact that an alcoholic beverage could be made by a re-arrangement of the equipment at hand, with application to some other alcoholic preparation. Dr. Ε. Η. Darby, Technical Supervisor of the Rome Wire Company, at Rome, N. Y., died on June 11, 1927, after an illness of six months.
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Report of Committee o n Occupational Diseases The Committee on Occupational Diseases makes a report of progress, again calling attention to its report of last year. A closer relationship with the National Safety Council and the American Public Health Association is highly desirable, and every chemical concern is urged to become an active mem ber of either or both of these organizations. The committee would urge that more attention be paid t o obtaining and record ing exact data regarding industrial poisonings wherever they may occur, and would be grateful for a report of each occurrence for analysis and future reference. To withhold information of this sort is evidently a mistaken policy, since the spread of such knowledge is useful in preventing similar happenings. The committee suggests a change in its name to the Com mittee on Industrial Hygiene or Industrial Toxicology, since that will more accurately describe the scope of its work. It is also desirable that a liaison be established between our com mittee and the Chemical Warfare Service. Your committee includes among its activities the effort t o have introduced into curricula of chemistry and chemical engineering lectures and demonstrations on industrial hygiene, and we therefore believe that occasional conferences with the Committees on Chemical Education and Chemical Engineering Education would be highly desirable. The committee also strongly urges authors to include in their texts and treatises such advice on safety and accident prevention as will plainly inform the student or plant operator as to the dangers to which he may become ex posed. Too early a start in the inculcation of accident pre vention measures cannot be made, and it is evident that students should be thoroughly instructed in these matters. This year the committee has refrained from including in its report abstracts from the literature on chemical hygiene, due to difficulty of publication. The committee still urges that a section or subsection on industrial hygiene be included in Chemical Abstracts.
Prize Offer for Recording Devices The Esterline-Angus Company of Indianapolis, Ind., has offered a cash prize of $1000, to be given to the person who can devise a practical method of recording on graphic meter charts without the use of ink. Such a method would be applied t o meters on airplane engines, and on freigbt trains, where there is considerable jarring. A second prize of $250 is offered for a rela tively nondrying ink, one which will dry rapidly on the chart paper but not in the pen. It must make a line that will blue print, at a speed of 3 feet per second.
Silicate as a Softener of Water George Otis Smith, Director of the U. S. Geological Survey, states that the only satisfactory way of softening water for domestic use is by an exchange silicate softener. This type of softener requires only a small amount of attention about once a week when a few pounds of salt must be used for regeneration. The cost of the salt is the only operating expense. The water is delivered completely softened. "The hardness of water can be decreased somewhat by the use of chemicals such as lime, sodium carbonate, or sodium phosphate," Dr. Smith explained. "Tri-sodium phospJ^ate is probably the most satisfactory chemical to add. It is d». rable to add the chemicals in definite quantities proportional to the hardness of the water and the amount of water treated. The exchange silicate softener automatically removes all the hardness from any amount of water flowing through it up to the time its exchange capacity falls off so that regeneration is necessary."
Special Lectures at Princeton The Cyrus F. Brackett series of lectures at Princeton Uni versity next year will include a lecture by H,. H. Kinnard, presi dent of the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania on October 15 on "Development of Long Distance Telephony;" by the president of the National Broadcasting Company of New York, M. H. Aylesworth, on "Radio—The University of the Air;" by Frank B. Jewett, president of the Bell Telephone Laboratories on "Cooperative Research;" and by James T. Wallis, assistant vice president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, who is to speak about the "Development in Motive Power on the Pennsylvania System."
Chemistry i n t h e Argentine (Concluded from page 3) the board, and is given an increase in duty on commercial ex plosives and a price higher than the market for the explosives used by the War Department. It will be profitable for the contractor and very advantageous for the War Department.
