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importance on account of the difficulty of complete condensation, while working under the high vacuum. The design of the condensing apparatus, therefore, in this case,‘ should involve a considerable length of path for vapors and gases before the noncondensable gas is allowed to escape from the apparatus. 3-The prevention of entrainment is important on account of the possible contamination of the distillate by a small amount of tar which might be thrown over and which causes difficulty in the later drying of the acetate of lime solution. Hoods, built within the evaporator body, itself, where the evaporator tubes are vertical, have lately been found to be of great advantage in this regard and permit rapid circulation in the boiling chamber, without fear of entrainment. Again, in the concentration of the dilute acetate of lime liquor, the introduction of the vacuum evaporator has brought about great savings in steam and coflsequent lowering of costs. Here, also, the possibility of losses by entrainment was present, but has been completely eliminated by the use of horizontal tubes in the construction of the evaporator. The particular type of evaporator introduced has depended upon the saving t o be brought about, in other words, upon the availability of exhaust steam or sawmill refuse. Hence, the single- or doubleeffect evaporator would be introduced where considerable exhaust steam was available or where fuel was cheap, while the triple-effect would find its place where coal a t a high price was used for fuel. Combination evaporators have been introduced with success in several plants. Thus, a common type is a double-effect evaporator, the first effect of which is a n iron pan, equipped with horizontal tubes, serving to concentrate the acetate of lime solution, while the second effect, operated by the vapors from the acetate pan, is a copper pan with steam chest equipped with vertical tubes for the distillation of the pyroligneous acid. Further economy has been secured by the introduction of preheaters for the crude liquors, which use the various waste condensates as the heating medium. The final drying of the concentrated acetate of lime solution from the evaporators is now carried out very efficiently by means of mechanical driers which have eliminated the high labor costs of the old dry floor process. Rotary cylindrical driers, operated with steam within the cylinder, with the concentrated solution without, and fitted with scrapers t o remove the acetate mud, have been eminently successful, the final drying taking place on horizontally moving canvas belts traveling over a series of pipes heated by exhaust steam or, better, the wet material is fed into a continuous wire belt moving vertically counter t o a current of waste gases from blast furnace stoves, or boilers, reduced to the proper temperatures for drying. The latter arrangement produces a uniform product, especially free from dust, with one-quarter the labor previously used on dry floors and with a considerable saving of steam. Returning t o the second step of our process, the separation of the volatile components from the acetate of lime solution, we find that the introduction of continuous columns has halved the amount the steam formerly used in the old Lime-Lees and the distillate is brought to high proof in one operation, thereby eliminating the step-up process of intermittent distillation. These continuous columns are of various types, frequently of plates equipped with boiling pipes and caps, the preheated neutralized liquor entering at the middle part of the column, the lower half then serving to deprive the neutralized liquor of the volatile products, the upper half concentrating the volatile distillate continuously. An improved arrangement which has been put in successful operation during the last few weeks consists of two separate columns, the first one serving only t o remove the alcohol from the neutralized liquor and discharging a low-proof vapor into the middle of the second column, which, operating on this vapor, produces a high-proof distillate, miscible with water, while discharging waste oil? and watery
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condensate from its base. This latter arrangement is a considerable improvement over previous columns in that this latter discharge will not dilute and contaminate the acetate solution, as has been the case heretofore. In refining the crude wood alcohol, continuous columns have, in some plants, replaced the intermittent stills t o a considerable extent. Columns are now in successful operation which separate the acetone from the methyl alcohol, so that a 5 0 per cent solution of acetone and, simultaneously, methyl alcohol containing under 0.1 per cent of acetone, are obtained continuously. The chemist’s ingenuity in the production of various special solvents and mixtures has been of great value in the creation of new uses for methyl alcohol, which to-day are of great importance in disposing of the product, when the market for the regular grades is poor. It is not within the scope of this paper to mention the work that has been done in the further development of wood distillation products, namely the manufacture of acetone and acetic acid from acetate of lime; of formaldehyde from methyl alcohol and of wood creosote from wood tar. We need only mention t h a t these are purely chemical developments and their increasing importance to-day is a tribute to the American chemist. Thus, the work of the chemist is apparent at every important step of the hardwood distillation industry and it may safely be said that the introduction of the improved apparatus described and its successful operation would never have been accomplished without the guidance of the Chemist. MANCELGNA,
MICHIGAN
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE CHEMIST TO THE PACKING HOUSE PRODUCTS INDUSTRY B y ARTHURLOWEN5TBIN Technical Director, Morris and Company
The modern large packing house is composed of a group of industries. The packing phase itself consists usually of the slaughter of animals, resolving the carcasses into various commercial cuts, curing, smoking, canning, assorting the various by-products and their conversion into finished products, the manufacture of sausage and other meat food products, etc., etc. In addition to this phase, however, many of the large packers are engaged in a number of specialized industries on a goodsized commercial scale, which are distinctive in themselves. Some of these are: the cottonseed oil industry; the poultry industry; manufacture of “compound” (a substitute for lard), oleomargarine, fertilizers-both animal and mineral (acid phosphate), sulfuric acid, glue, hair felt, curled hair, anhydrous ammonia (from ammoniacal liquor from coal), creamery butter, canned specialties, soda-fountain products, soap and toilet specialties, pharmaceuticals-from animal products, glycerine refining, etc., etc. The contributions of chemists to some of these specialized industries referred t o have already been ably discussed in papers presented earlier in this symposium and others are t o be discussed a t this meeting. That which follows in this paper will therefore deal largely with the contributions of the chemist t o essentially the packing house phase of the subject rather than its allied industries in which the packing house chemist and chemical engineer today actively participate. It may be interesting to quote from a book entitled the “Modern Packing House” by F. W. Wilder under the caption “Chemical Department:” “This is a department which in all of the large well-regulated packing houses is considered very essential and the information obtained therefrom in the saving and the turning into commercial value of the by-products, as well as in determining the value of the products already produced is turned to good account. Laboratories in the larger plants are fitted up for making exhaustive tests as t o the value
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of the products as well as for ascertaining the most practical methods for manufacturing, and many of the departments of the modern packing house had their origin in the chemical laboratory.” Another book entitled “Packing House Industries” of the International Library of Technology, after discussing the importance of the application of artificial refrigeration t o these industries says : “ I n addition to artificial refrigeration, another most potent factor in developing the modern scientific packing industry is applied chemistry. Were it not for the ingenuity of the chemist in finding a way t o utilize the offal of slaughtered animals, the price of meat would necessarily be very high. The chemist has turned into practical channels of incoqe what was in former times not only waste, but a source of expense for its removal.” This group of industries, certainly from the time when it can be termed “modern,” does not date back more than thirtyfive to forty years. Chemists and chemistry have played a n important part in its development almost from its inception. It is interesting t o note that the leading pioneer chemists in this industry are living to-day. They have generously responded t o the request of the writer for authentic information relative to the early contributions of the chemist to this industry but unfortunately, owing t o the limited time and space provided for this paper, only a small portion of this evidence can be included. In 1886, H. B. Schmidt was the first chemist to be regularly employed by a packer in the Union Stock Yards, Chicago. I n the same year Dr. Rose was employed as a consulting chemist by another packer and prior t o 1886 one of the packers had employed Prof. Haynes in a consulting capacity in a suit brought against them by the owners of the Liege h4ouries patents for the making of oleo oil. This date, then, marks the beginning of the application of chemistry to the packing house industry in this country by the packers themselves through their own chemists. Prior to this date, however, they disposed of some of their by-products in a crude or unfinished state to concerns who employed chemists. Pressed, undried tankage and blood, glue in jelly form, evaporated tank water commonly termed “stick” are examples. Also steam-rendered lard which in those days was frequently discolored, was first improved by a chemist, W. B. Allbright, in 1879-1880, although not a t that time identified with a packing house. hir. Schmidt’s description, with dates of installation of improved machinery for evaporating, drying, pressing, refining, etc., of various byproducts is exceedingly interesting. These improvements generally were the result of the combined efforts of the chemical, engineering and operating staff. The installation of vacuum evaporators, first single-effect, and later multiple-effect, stimulated the recovery of boiled beef liquors. These evaporated liquors were a t first further concentrated into paste of “solid” beef extract by drying on castiron steam-heated revolving roll evaporators, and it was not until some years later that vacuum kettles with agitators supplanted them. It is rather interesting to note that practically since the days of Liebig the development of the extract of meat manufacture has been under the direction of chemists. The recovery of tank water, containing dissolved nitrogenous constituents resulting from the cooking of various kinds of packing house offal, marked an important step forward both from a sanitary as well as economic viewpoint. A concern in Hammond, Indiana, employing a chemist, Dr. Van, Ruymbeke, are said to have been the first to develop the evaporation of tank water, which was evaporated in a Yar Yan double-effect evaporator t o a jelly form. This work was done under the supervision of Dr. Van Ruymbeke, who was the first to do this work in the Stock Yards. The material was then shipped t o Hammond and mixed with copperas and dried in pans. This
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latter treatment with sulfate of iron was patented by Jobbins and Van Ruymbeke. Later 0. T. Joslin, a chemist for one of the packers, substituted a process of his own, wherein the evaporated tank water was coagulated with a ferric sulfate solution and dried on the roll invented by him. This roll system was devised in 1892-93 and is in general use to-day. “The refining of tallows was started in 1886 and the pressing of tallow; into tallow oil and stearine and the refining of the tallow oil into acidless grade was started possibly a year later in 1887. The refining of tallow and oils by means of the fuller’s earth treatment was then coming into vogue in the Stock Yards and in the next year or two became universal.” Somewhat later naphtha extraction of tankage and bone was experimented with and a t first met with obstacles in the way of insurance restrictions, but was later developed to its present status. I t s general adoption was somewhat slow because of the low grade of grease recovered and the fact that there was only one concern in this country a t t h a t time capable of refining this product. In 1887-88 one of the other packers engaged hlanwaring as their first chemist and in 1889 0. T. J o s h was engaged as the first chemist for another packer. J. P. Grabfield and A. G. Lianns were also active pioneer chemists in the early days. E. K. Nelson became identified with the industry a little later on, as did W. B. Allbright, some of whose early contributions to this industry we shall describe briefly in a moment. It has been principally under the direction of these men and of the chemists actively connected with the industry today, that the contributions of the chemists to this industry have been made. As previously mentioned, in 1879-80 W. B. Allbright first applied chemical treatment (in this country) to Prime Steam Lard to improve its color. This treatment consisted in the use of caustic soda. To quote Mr. Allbright: “This made so much soap, that in studying for a more economical method I hit upon fuller’s earth.” This is the first record of employing fuller’s earth for this purpose. h r . Allbright very interestingly describes the origin of “compound,” a substitute for lard, which resulted from the gross adulteration of cuban lard by eastern refiners, until one of the large western refiners put a product on the market consisting solely of cottonseed oil and oleo stearine. This product was so well received that, with subsequent improvements in its manufacture, notably the invention of the lard roll or cooling cylinder by Allbright, and of the deodorization process for cottonseed oil, this firm discontinued the refining of pure lard entirely. To give some idea of the extent of this compound industry to-day, in 1910, the Bureau of Animal Industry reported 671,526,107 pounds to have been inspected and passed by them. The following paragraph of a letter from Dr. J. P. Grabfield is of interest: ‘‘Most of the discoveries and improvements in the packing house on the various by-products was brought about by necessity to find utilization for same. Referring to fats and oils, it was always an effort to manufacture a product t h a t would bring a better price. I t was really the chemist who first began to develop the various products in the packing industry. There was so much for the chemist to do in those days that it was simply a question of what pleased him best to work on. There was scarcely a line in the entire packing industry that was not open to an improvement by the chemist,” The following excerpt from correspondence with A. G. Manns bearing on this subject is of interest: “The employment of chemists by the packers was of course the means whereby it became possiblt for the packers to progress along the various lines that have been developed. The activities of the sales departments were, however, the real stimulant. Without this cooperation, or I might say their leadership, little would have been accomplished.” E. K. h-elson says: “The manufacture of neat’s foot oil
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in its various grades, lard oils, tallow and tallow oils, etc., was improved if not by the chemist, a t least with his cooperation. All the daily runs were checked up constantly in the laboratory until the quality of the products was worked up to a high standard. This same thing applies to all by-products as you know. ” The work of the present-day chemist, chemical engineer or technologist in these’ industries in addition t o analytical work for control of product and supplies, may be summed up as follows: I-Waste prevention. XI-Improvement of existing methods and processes of operation. 111-Utilization or recovery of products in a more valuable form. IV-Initiation of new processes. V-Direction of industrial research and application of the results of the researches until placed on a commercial basis. VI-Investigation of and putting on a commercial basis new industries and lines of activity allied and associated with the packing industry. UNIONSTOCK YARDS,CHICAGO
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE CHEMIST TO THE ELECTROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY By W. S. LANDIS Chief Technologist, American Cyanamid Company
When I was first requested to say something about the relation of the chemist to the electrochemical industry I thought I was being handed one of Goldberg’s Foolish Questions. The spontaneous answer that occurred t o me-he has been the foundation and is a t present the mainstay of the industry, however, o n mature thought requires reconsideration, for while his prese n t status is well provided for, we should pay some attention t o the growing tendency of the industry t o replace his services by other classes of engineers. An analysis of the industry, directing our attention only t o that part concerned with the production of compounds, in distinction t o the branch concerned with the extraction of metals, shows it t o be of comparatively recent origin, beginning largely with the installation of the Niagara power developments in 1896. Most of the men who founded the industry are still alive and occupying prominent positions in the operating departments of the present plants. No one seems t o have cared about compiling their biographies, though an attempt was once made in the first volume of “Electrochemical Industry.” For some reason only five Americans were included in the series before the work was abandoned. Of these five, three possessed special chemical training, and while the other two would be more properly classed as electrical engineers, they were men well versed in chemical principles and were closely associated with other well-known chemists. It is unfortunate that this series of biographies was so abruptly terminated, for i t would have made this note of mine superfluous. As before mentioned, the chemist played by far the most important part in the development cf the industry, and to-day I estimate t h a t he occupies over go per cent of the more prominent positions in the plants in the Niagara district, which I take as typical of the industry as a whole. He grew with the industry, and with a few exceptions where others have been brought in for office, sales, and executive positions as the plants enlarged, all the staffs are still predominated by men of essentially chemical training. B u t among the younger men now taking their places in the Niagara plants one notes an increasing number of men with mechanical training. This seems t o surprise many not directly informed as t o the present status of the industry, for next t o
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the chemist it is not unnatural to suppose that the electrical engineer would closely press the chemist for place. It must, however, be remembered that the power companies maintain most highly organized electrical engineering staffs, which a t all times are available for consultation, and many times force, I may add, almost unwelcome attention upon us when in our endeavor to push things we unbalance their circuits, or cause some other equally unintelligible trouble. It is thus seen that there is really no need for the chemical plants to carry highly specialized electrical departments. They have standardized their electrical equipment to forms of installation which demand little highly skilled attention. Most of them use low tension currents with simple distribution systems, and when the electrical equipment has once been properly installed there are very few electrical problems arising. They are much more concerned with the handling of solids, liquids and gases, the transportation and preliminary treatment of raw materials, the finishing of the product, than with their power departments, all of which emphasizes the fact that in the training of the newer electrochemists too much stress can be laid on complicated and involved alternating current theory at the expense of the elementals of chemical engineering. M y experience in this field is not large, but I cannot help but remark my discouragement with many recent electrochemical graduates who seemingly are well informed about high tension electrical engineering, but cannot instal a simple pipe line for delikering a definite amount of gas or liquid under given conditions, and a conveyor system for moving a given tonnage of raw materials in some new and unheard of device. When they come into the industry they will probably find that the 10,000 volt circuits are already installed and need no further attention from the plant management, but they will meet every day with problems of moving materials faster and more cheaply, particularly as plants enlarge and efficiencies increase. I n my opinion, it is therefore necessary t o the chemist, if he is to hold his own in the present development of the industry and not give way to the mechanical engineer, to familiarize himself with the advances of the industry along mechanical lines, preferably by leaving the narrow confines of the school laboratory and spending some of his time in the other departments of technical education. Analysts will always be in demand, for chemical control of the electrochemical industries is very rigid, and particularly in the field of electric furnace products is there an unlimited opportunity for highly trained analytical chemists. The chemical engineer possessing a representative training need have no fear on first entering the industry of finding himself in foreign parts. A t Niagara the sky is just as clouded with smoke as any similar chemical center in the vicinity of New York City, all of which goes to show that combustion, steam generation, heating, evaporating, crystallizing and other wellknown chemical operations haye not been completely replaced by electricity. The standardization of the electrical end of the plant can be assumed before his arrival, and the new agent electricity will be found a much more tractable reagent than many of the purely chemical ones he is familiar with. But this reagent rarely starts with a crude material as such, or turns out a ready finished product from the furnace or cell, and the chemical equipment used in the preparation and the finishing is the same old apparatus found in most other branches of the pure chemical industry. M y greatest regret is that the secrecy t h a t is maintained about the electrochemical plants cannot be withdrawn just long enough to bring in the chemical faculties of our schools, so that in the formation of the courses designed to train men for this industry a proper balance of chemical, mechanical, and electrical work may be incorporated. The future of the chemist in the industry would then be assured, and not a t the
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