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American Potash and Chemical Corp. plant a t Trona, Calif.
Division of Fertilizer Chemistry of the American Chemical Society F. S. Lodge. National Fertilizer Association. 616 Investment Bldg., Washington, D. C.
T
HE Division of Fertilizer Chemistry
of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
was authorized in 1908, shortly after the SOCIETY inaugurated the divisional system, being one of the four divisions authorized that first year. The organization of the division was perfected in 1909 with F. B. Carpenter, Chairman, and J. E. Breckenridge, Secretary. The officers of the division throughout the years have been: DATE 1909-10 1911-13 1914-18 1919-27 1928 DATE 1909-10 1911-12 1913 1914-15 1916 1917 1918 1919-37 1937
CHAIRMEN F. B. Carpenter Paul Rudnick J. E. Breckenridge F. B. Carpenter E. W. Magruder SECRETARIES J. E. Breckenridge J. P. Street J. E. Breckenridge E. L. Baker F. B. Carpenter L. L. Van Slyke F. B. Carpenter H. C. Moore Η. Β. Siems
An executive committee selected from chemists in state and government service and from the fertilizer industry has func tioned throughout the years, particularly in program arrangements. Although the division held meetings between 1909 and 1916, no record of the attendance or programs seems to have been published; in fact, the attendance was usually small and the papers pre sented were few. In 1916, for instance, at the spring meeting held at the Uni versity of Illinois, Urbana, only three members were present—J. E. Brecken ridge, then Chairman, F. B. Carpenter, and the author of this history. Free informal discussion, at that meeting, of the chemical problems of the fertilizer industry resulted in a definite outline for future meetings of the division. Inasmuch as the spring meetings of the SOCIETY generally take place at the height of the fertilizer shipping season, when it is very inconvenient, if not im possible, for industry chemists to be
absent from their laboratories, it was proposed that meetings of the division should be held only during the fall meet ings of the SOCIETY and this policy has since been maintained. In order to stimulate interest in the meetings of the division and ensure larger attendance, it seemed desirable, as far as possible, to have some one topic pre dominate a t each meeting. Believing that the question of obtaining, for the purpose of analysis, representative samples of fertilizer shipments by state officials administering fertilizer control laws was of the first importance, this subject was decided upon as t h e major topic for discussion a t the 1916 fall meeting. T h e availability of the nitrogen in organic fertilizer materials w a s to be a secondary topic for discussion. At the 1916 fall meeting a report was made on the sampling devices and methods used by the control officials of practically all the fertilizer-consuming states. In many cases the methods and implements used were so crude and s o inadequate that representative samples were im possible from their use. Approximately 100 were present at tfais meeting, includ ing many state control officials. As a result of this presentation, a committee
Bagging ni trate of soda in Allied Chemical ancâ Dy© Corp.'s plant at 3iop©well 223
composed of control officials and industry chemists was appointed t o carry out collaborative work on sampling for the purpose of developing standard methods of sampling fertilizers that could be recom mended to be made "officiai" by the Association of Official Agricultural Chem ists. Such methods were reported and ap proved at the 1917 meeting and were later adopted in substance by the A. O. A. C. Many states at once adopted these methods and sampling ceased to be a major problem. Attendance was light at the division meetings during the war period and papers and discussions generally centered around analytical methods and technique. Since 1920 the meetings of the division have been uniformly well attended when held in the eastern half of the country. N o meeting of the division was scheduled in 1925 when the fall meeting of the SOCIETY was held in Los Angeles. Meet ings of the division, attended as they are by scores of industry chemists and official state and government chemists, provide a forum where problems of fertilizer chemistry may be threshed out. Meetings of the division, coming usually a few weeks prior t o the annual meeting of the A. O. A. C , afford an opportunity
A P R I L 10, 1939
N E W S EDITION
229
t o discuss pressing problems for presenta tion for consideration b y that body. Technical workers in fertilizer manu facturing processes and scientists engaged in agronomic and chemical research o n plant foods find in the Division of Fer tilizer Chemistry meetings interested and sympathetic audiences, t o whom, they are welcome to present their problems and research findings and with whom they m a y be discussed with mutual under standing and advantage. In addition to sampling, among the m a n y subjects originally presented and discussed before the division and later receiving consideration and final action by the A. O. A. C . may be mentioned: 1. Chemical methods for evaluating the activity of organic nitrogen in fertilizer materials. 2. A change in the size of sample used in the determination of available phosphoric acid, so as more accurately to measure the phosphoric acid content available to plants as food. 3. Method for the determination of the amount of potash in fertilizers that is avail able as plant food, in place of the amount that is water-soluble potash. 4. Recognition of the role of the so-called minor plant food elements in plant nutrition and their determination in fertilizer materials and mixtures. 5. Discussions resulting in the establish ment by the A. O. A. C. of its Committee on Definition of Terms and Interpretation of Results on Fertilizers and Liming Materials. 6. Study of the problems involved in producing fertilizers of predetermined residual reaction in the soil, now spoken of as "acid-forming" and "nonacid-forming" mixtures. These and many similar problems have been the subject of papers and open dis cussions before the division. The results growing out of such discussions have been of incalculable benefit to agricultural and fertilizer chemistry and hence to agriculture itself. In addition, such meet ings on common ground of official chemical workers and researchers with industry chemists faced with practical production problems have estabUshed cordial relations and broadened the viewpoints of each and every one, with advantage to all. Industrial Utilization of Sur p l u s Brazilian Coffee HE surplus crop of Brazilian coffee, T which amounts in some years to 4,000,000 bags, has in times past been left t o rot, dumped in the sea, or mixed with oil and burned in locomotives. Experi ments for the industrial utilization of this surplus are encouraged by the Brazilian Government, and the recent developments of the H. S. Poiin Laboratory, 405 Lex ington Ave., New York, Ν . Υ., give some promise of attaining this goal. Starting with green coffee, the Polin laboratory has produced resins, oils, and cellulose, all of which are being further investigated for industrial applications. The plastic m a y be produced as either a thermoplastic or thermosetting material. I t is molded at 2000 to 5000 pounds per square inch, has low water absorption, and is resistant t o alkalies, weak acids, and m a n y organic liquids. There is a good possibility that the plastic will be used as a road and flooring material. The oil produced from the green coffee has been found rich in vitamin D , and has yielded an excellent peptizing material. One 132-pound bag of coffee will produce 40 square feet of plastic 0.5 inch thick and approximately 1.25 gallons of coffee oil.
Οχι© ο£ t h e f o u r u n i t s in. a c i d p h o s p h a t e p l a n t of D a v i s o n C h e m i cal Corp. s h o w i n g overhead crane with 4-ton bucket. Dens and mix ing machinery in background.
Cost of Sleam for Chemical Plant Purposes Humidifying, Creating Drafts,
Atomizing
W . F. S c h a p h o r s t , 4 5 A c a d e m y S t . , N e w a r k , N . J · VERY chemical plant engineer who E uses steam should be entirely familiar with Napier's famous ' 'steam flow rule." It should be jotted down, or, better still, memorized. Napier's very simple and valuable rule is used a s the basis for many computa tions pertaining to the use of steam. It is applicable to any problem where steam flows directly from high boiler pressure into the atmosphere, as for humidifying, creating draft in furnaces, in soot blowers, heaters, oil-burner atomizers, and so on. The rule as applied to steam flowing through a given opening is: "To the steam gage pressure in pounds per square inch add 14.7. This gives us the so-called absolute pressure. Then multiply the absolute pressure by the area of the opening in square inches. Then divide by 70." The result is the weight of steam in pounds flowing through the opening every second. S o that the rule can be more readily applied t o most actual cases of steam flow it has been converted into the following form: "Multiply the absolute pressure in pounds per square inch by the area of the opening in square inches. Then multiply that by the cost of fuel in dollars per ton of 2000 pounds. Then multiply that by 0.257 and divide the re sult by the number of pounds of water evaporated into steam in the boiler or boilers per pound of fuel." The result is the cost of the steam flowing through the opening in dollars per 10-hour day. Example. What is the cost per 10-hour day of steam flowing through a Vî-ineh round opening for creating draft in a furnace where the gage pressure is 100 pounds per square inch? Fuel costs $4.00 per ton; and 8 l A pounds of water are evaporated into steam per pound of coal. B y means of tables or by computation it i s easy to find that the area of the Vi-inch round opening is 0.196 square inch. Then, substituting in the above rule, it will be found that the cost of the steam is $2.72 per 10-hour day. For instance, where oil is the fuel, the rule has been converted into the following form: "Multiply the absolute pressure in pounds per square inch by the area of the opening in square inches. Then
multiply that by the cost of the oil in dollars per gallon. Then multiply that by 64.3 and divide the result by the number of pounds of water evaporated into steam in the boiler or boilers per pound of oil." The result is the cost of the steam flowing through the opening in dollars per 10-hour day. Example. What is the cost per 10hour day of steam flowing through a 1 / 2 -inch round opening in an oil burner where the gage pressure is 100 pounds per square inch? Oil costs SO.05 per gallon: and 15 pounds of water are evaporated into steam per pound of oil. As before, of course, the area of a Vr* inch round opening is 0.196 square inch. Then substituting in the above rule as applied to oil combustion we get $4.83 per 10-hour day as the cost of the steam. N e w C h e m i c a l Developed for Wool Processing HE Monsanto Chemical Co. announces T the development of a new chemical for use in wool processing. It is known as dipotassium phosphate and is said t o perform the service heretofore rendered by olive oil, which, under unsettled European conditions, has been something of a worry t o the wool industry. Even when suplies have been available, prices have been igh, not to say almost prohibitive. T h e use of dipotassium phosphate, which is readily soluble in water, eliminates the necessity of putting spun yarn through the rigorous soap scouring operation which is necessary to remove olive oil. Consequently, the fibers are left more nearly in their original soft and fluffy state. Tests made on actual spinning operations during the past year indicate that dipotassium phosphate is fully as good a lubricant as olive oil and that worsted thread of the finest count known can be spun with the same facility as when olive oil is used. The announcement was made by William M . Rand, vice president in charge of t h e Merrimac Division of Monsanto, who points out that American chemists have not only succeeded in developing a substitute for an imported material, but have produced one that is both better and cheaper than the product it replaces.
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