INDUSTRY & BUSINESS
This unit at Grace's Washington Research Center, Clarksville, Md., automatically controls and records temperatures in a cyclic catalytic cracking test unit
Grace, Monsanto O p e n Labs Two new research centers are now open for business. \V. R. Grace's new $5 million Washington Research Center will be the hub of the firm's research and development; it will supplement R&D at all operating chemical divisions. Monsanto's organic division, meanwhile, has a new agricultural research center whose prime job is to work on technical and economic solu-
Prime target of Monsanto's new agricultural research center in suburban St. Louis will be the nation's $13 billion annual pest problem
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tions to some of the problems that contribute to the nation's $13 billion annual loss to insects, weeds, fungi, and nematodes. Seven years ago, Grace was mainly a shipping, tr u spoliation, and Latin Kmeriean industrial complex. It was spending so little on research that the outlay wasn't even listed in profit and loss statements. Today, however, re-
search spending figures heavily as it races to the $10 million-a-year mark. The Grace center, which contains two main buildings and several smaller ones, emphasizes work on petroleum catalysts, agricultural chemicals, and polymers.. The catalyst research labs are set tip to do the work of an oil refinery on a small scale. Agricultural research focuses on new combinations of fertilizers, factors that stunt plant growth, i\nd pesticides. In polymers, the Washington center delves into polymerization studies. It carries out experiments in batch reactors, using low pressure processes. Lab facilities, not yet complete, will use high pressure and high vent equipment tor reactions which, the company says, may require special safety precautions. All of the Monsanto's ag research efforts arc consolidated in the new laboratory, made of porcelainized steel and ghiss. And there's enough room to expand operations by 75rf in the years to come. Typical equipment in the center includes four climate control chambers in which climatic conditions can be simulated and controlled for any practical combination of temperature, humidity, and sunlight. Also located in the laboratory is a room-size "insectary" where insects are housed in ideal rearing conditions. The center includes eight greenhouses. In addition to facilities for studying new chemicals and their effects on pests and crops, there is an area where formulations are developed and studied. Over -4O0 different emulsifiers. 50 solvents, and 3 0 inert dust and granular hases are kept on hand for testing purposes.
