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Some Alcohol Outlets Drying Up Ethylene dibromide and acetic acid take less More is entering rubber, aviation fuel, and resins A LTHOUGH an increase has taken place -"* in total use of specially denatured alcohol in chemical manufacture, there have been new and important shifts in its consumption. One of the outstanding changes is in the manufacture of ethylene dibromide, for which the use of alcohol has been curtailed considerably. This development, it might be said, ties in with the greater availability of ethylene from natural gas. Some iive years ago upward 4.5 million wine gallons of SD alcohol was utilized in processing ethylene dibromide for tetraethyl lead. On basis of the last report issued b y the Treasury Department, for 1953-54, this is now only 39,000 gallons. There has been an increase in the use of alcohol for the production of synthetic rubber. During fiscal year ended in 1949, consumption of SD al-
cohol for t h i s purpose totalled 1.4 million gallons. I t rose to 3.8 million in 1950, and to 17.4 million gallons in 1951. For the year ending with June 30, 1953, a m o u n t of alcohol entering rubber rose to 28.6 million gallons. Use of t h e petroleum materials, butane and butènes, has gained in the production of butadiene at the same time. Ethylene- Gas· There are still five manufacturers utilizing alcohol for their ethylene requirements. In the year ending w i t h 1 9 5 1 , there w e r e seven. Some 47,600 gallons of alcohol were consumed i n t h e preparation of ethylene in 1947. Last year the total had increased t o 202,500 gallons despite the fewer n u m b e r of processors. Displacement of natural gas as an ethylene s n p p l y for chemical manufacture is L·ardly likely, but its use b y those w h o s e plants are not favorably
Complaints to FTC Increase Working agreement reached with Food and Drug on enforcement of regulatory law administration N E W Y O R K . - F e d e r a l Trade Commission henceforth will assume more important role in enforcement of Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as result of "working agreement" between commission and Food and Drug Administration. In making this known in an address before a luncheon meeting of Drug, Chemical, and Allied Trades Section, Federal T r a d e Commissioner Edward F . Howrey said that work of two agencies as result will b e correlated more effectively, and that overlapping activities avoided. F T C , as previously announced, is undergoing thorough reorganization effective July 1, which Mr. Howrey feels will streamline agency and pave way for more effective work. It has initiated an integrated compliance program, including as a first step a systematic and selective review of some 4000 cease and desist orders, 8000 stipulation agreements with firms to "cease and desist" from certain trade practices. It has also participated in 2000 trade practice rules. F T C will continue to take sole jurisdiction over advertising practices, and 2650
through coordinated work with F D A it was indicated t h a t claims m a d e in advertising may figure in some food and drug actions as well as statements on labels. Commission some time ago launched an investigation of advertising claims, first of i t s kind on a large scale. Up to n o w it has acted chiefly on complaints. Tliere is almost a "staggering" total of complaints reaching the commission, M r . Howrey said, m u c h of it having to do with prices, this time mostly w i t h coffee prices. In their recent decisions, h e said, they're n o t extending t h e p e r se doctrine; t h a t is, the doctrine t h a t certain practices are illegal as such and that injury to competition may b e presumed. The job, which F T C is at least beginning to c a r r y out, is to look at all phases, legal and economic, of each case. It will ascertain amount of public interest, a n d injury to competition from such factors as economic usefulness, degree of competition, degree of market control, vertical integration, customer freedom of choice of goods and services, opportunities for small competitors, and prices and profits. CHEMICAL
situated to petroleum ethylene may undergo further increase. As derived from natural gas, ethylene is a pipe-line delivered commodity, whereas alcohol can b e hauled anywhere i n tank cars or drums. Costs, however, fa-vor the former by a considerable margin, Alcohol is also a costiy raw material in the production of acetic acid, which may partly explain the smaller use last year of SD alcohol for that chemical. The alcohol used amounted to 5,7 million gallons, in contrast to the 7,1 million consumed for acetic acid in 1950. Bulk of the industry's acetic acid is derived from ethylene, with one manufacturer deriving the acid from acetylene. Alcohol a s Fuel. An interesting part of the Treasury Department report is the one on the consumption of alcohol as an airplane and motor fuel. General idea is that methanol has come along rather fast for this purpose, principally as the ADI (antidetonant ingredient), a power assist in taking off. As a 50% alcohol-water mixture this outlet for methanol and alcohol has been expanding. SD alcohol for this purpose reached a total of 513,180 gallons during fiscal year 1951, and was somewhat smaller in 1953, at 497,763 gallons. More alcohol appears to he entering the manufacture of ethyl acetate and ethyl chloride, judging from the latest report. It shows that alcohol consumption for both products amounted to 14.7 million gallons, whereas the alcohol which entered both chemicals in 1949 was around 12.9 million gallons, All told, consumption of SD alcohol in chemical manufacture has expanded rather rapidly in the past few years, much faster than generally helieved. I n 1949 alcohol used in chemical processing amounted to 101.7 million gallons. Last year it had risen to 183.2 million, a gain of better than 80%. Dehydration N e e d s Less. There has been a gradual loss in the quantity of alcohol employed in dehydration of cellulose. In 1951 this use requirement amounted to over 5 million gallons. Last year it had shrunk to 3.3 million. On the other hand manufacturers of toilet preparations (hair preparation, deodorants, perfumes, dentifrices, etc.) have increased their alcohol consumption. Last year the total was 6.3 million gallons. Probably because of its importance, principally in synthetic resins and shellac, use of SD alcohol as a solvent r e mains at a high level. Amount consumed last year was 4.1 million gallons. Of this total, 2.5 million was taken for shellac. AND
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