gathering dust for the past four years. Olin will say only that the unit "is still idle." Propylene oxide is the starting material for Olin's process, and the route includes a monochlorohydrin step. Economics are probably the big gest factor in the unit's remaining idle.
End of glycerine shortage may be on the way An end to the glycerine shortage may be in view. All synthetic sup pliers report that their customers are no longer on allocation. But, as one producer says, "We aren't beating on any doors to sell any, either." A planned capacity increase by Dow Chemical and FMC Corp.'s entry into the market next year should keep the supply-demand situation in balance through 1969 at least. Only recently Shell Chemical com pleted a 15% expansion in glycerine precursor facilities, and Dow boosted glycerine capacity from 80 million to 100 million pounds annually at Freeport, Tex. However, Dow won't be able to use its full capacity until mid year, when the first phase of its 50% expansion for epichlorohydrin—a glyc erine precursor—is completed at the same site. Dow's precursor plant will have an annual capacity well in excess of 250 million pounds when the ex pansion is complete. It will have mer chant epichlorohydrin, allyl chloride, and allyl alcohol sometime after the middle of the year. By early 1969 Dow will have added further to its glycerine capacity by bringing on stream another 20 million pounds per year of facilities at Freeport. This will make Dow's glycerine plant the largest in the U.S. at 120 million pounds per year. Up the Gulf Coast at Bayport, Tex., FMC is shooing away the copperheads and clearing the Johnson grass from the site of its 40 million pound-per-year glycerine unit. The plant, which marks FMC's entry into the glycerine business, is scheduled to go on stream in December. Glycerine prices were raised last April by 2% to 24.25 cents per pound USP 96% in tank-car lots. The out look now is for price stability and possibly some downward pressure. This pressure will be due to threats to glycerine markets from other polyols. This is particularly true in the alkyd resin market, an outlet which accounts for about 20% of all glycerine con sumed in the U.S. Any slack in markets will probably be taken up by explosives as their use increases in Vietnam. Explosives now take about 5% of the U.S. glycerine output of about 380 million pounds in 1967. Other outlets are for urethanes, drugs, cosmetics, cellophane, and food and beverages, in addition to alkyd resins. Dow expects glycerine consumption to increase about 3% annually. How ever, based on data from the past seven years, C&EN's computer pro jections indicate a 4.5% per year in14 C&EN MARCH 4, 1968
Auto makers concede feasibility of new emission standards
Dow's glycerine unit Adding more
crease in consumption. With the in dustry capacity due to expand at a 15% clip a year, perhaps the Dow estimate is somewhat on the conserva tive side. The U.S. exported 43.3 million pounds of glycerine in 1966, down from 52 million pounds in 1965. In 1967, exports will be about 44 million pounds, near the previous year's level. Total synthetic glycerine capacity in the U.S. is now 260 million pounds annually. Another 150 million pounds or so of glycerine is produced by splitting fat and is tied to soap manu facturing. The major producers of the natural product include Procter & Gamble, Lever Bros., and ColgatePalmolive. Another U.S. producer of synthetic glycerine is Atlas Chemical. It pro duces 25 million pounds a year at Atlas Point, Md. This output is not the plant's primary product. Sorbi tol, mannitol, and other polyols are also produced there by hydrogenating carbohydrates. Atlas is planning no expansions. Shell's 110 million pound-per-year synthetic unit at Deer Park, Tex., and Dow's plant use a process that starts with propylene and chlorine (C&EN, July 31,1967, page 48). These chemi cals are combined to form allyl chlo ride, which is oxidized to epichloro hydrin. This, in turn, is converted to glycerine. Shell's other unit at Norco, La., a 35 million pound-per-year plant, uses a route based on allyl alcohol. FMC will disclose its process at a press con ference to be held later this month in Houston. A question mark in the synthetic glycerine picture is Olin Mathieson's 40 million pound-per-year facility at Brandenburg, Ky. This unit has been
Admission by the automobile industry that it is technically possible to meet the proposed one-third-lower federal exhaust emission standards for 1970 doesn't mean that the industry has thrown in the towel. But in making this concession, the Automobile Man ufacturers Association maintains that there is "no nationwide need" for the more stringent standards and cites a provision of the Clean Air Act that re quires the Secretary of Health, Edu cation, and Welfare to judge on the basis of "air pollution which endan gers the health or welfare of any persons." In a letter accompanying a 100-page report to HEW, ΑΜΑ president Thomas C. Mann calls the government proposals "the most comprehensive regulatory effort ever considered by the automobile industry." AMA's statement that better emis sion control systems are feasible as sumes that the Government will drop evaporation controls from the 1970 standards. The industry isn't likely to win on this point, but it may get changes it wants in the test procedures for evaporation losses. In attacking the nationwide need for tighter standards, the ΑΜΑ report cites data that show a sharp decrease in photochemical smog in six large cities outside California. It also re fers to reports that there is a general decline in the level of carbon monox ide. The 1970 standards would set a limit of 2.2 grams of hydrocarbons per vehicle mile and 23 grams of carbon monoxide per mile. Current stan dards, although officially stated in parts per million, specify the equivalent of 3.2 grams per mue of hydrocarbons and 33 grams of carbon monoxide. Another of AMA's major points is that the Government must distinguish between cars in the hands of the pub lic and those used for certification. The report says that 1970 standards should have a safety factor above the certification values to allow for "pro duction tolerances and owner operat ing variables." Otherwise, the test cars would have to reduce emissions 25% more than the general public's cars. The systems the manufactur ers plan to use in 1970 involve no new
