INDUSTRY QUTOMACEOUS
EARTH
OVERBURDEN
^
..
^T
PLANTED
YEARS.
AFTER
OPERATIONS
FOR
ABOUT
1;
TRENCH
OPERATION
HAS
ϊίΐΗ
REACHED.
OPERATIONS BACKFILLED.
MOVE
ACROSS
THE
HILL
THE
AND
,1953
AT THE ENO OF OPERATIONS THE HILL STANTIALLY ITS PRESENT CONDITION.
FLOOR
OVERBURDEN
OF
THE
IS
Novel Cat Cracker
LEVEL
IS
RESTORED
TO S U B -
Diagram of the borrow pit system of quarrying devised by Edward A. Harris, opera tions manager of Great Lakes Carbon's Dicalite division, to remove diatomite ore from the new deposits of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, some 25 miles southwest of Los Angeles
More Crude Diatomite W a y is cleared for Great Lakes Carbon to quarry — by an unusual method —a new 165-acre source of diatomite A FTER many months Great Lakes -*** Carbon has acquired control of a further supply of crude diatomite to ensure continued operation of its Dicalite division Walteria plant. Following confirmation of a quarry ing permit by Los Angeles County, the way is cleared for Great Lakes to oper ate a 165-acre source of diatomite. In addition, its subsidiary, Rancho Palos Verdes, and the Capital Co., Transamerica subsidiary, have acquired stock control of 6800 acres of land on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, 25 miles south west of Los Angeles. Only three miles from the Walteria processing plant, the diatomite deposit will be worked b y a n e w type of opera tion which will raise no dust, make no noise, and be completely hidden from 574
b e used to fill in back of t h e working trench. In early stages of negotiations on the project, t h e company realized that a commercial operation could not b e pro posed in a n area w h i c h , although not substantially developed, was potentially residential i n character, without proper planning for t h e entire community. Ac cordingly a planning g r o u p was en gaged to devise a master plan to pre serve the n a t u r a l b e a u t y of t h e area. It makes provisions for both the quarry and a parklike residential section con taining over 10,000 homesites. Estates, homes a n d apartments, and shopping, cultural, arid recreational facilities a r e included in t h e planner's proposals. Construction and expan sion of basic utilities, including a 30million gallon water reservoir, water, and sewer lines, and primary and feeder r o a d s , was also encompassed in the p l a n n i n g analyses.
residents in the locality. It is a trench ing method, or borrow pit system, con sisting of trenching t h e earth, extract ing t h e diatomite ore, then refilling t h e trench behind the operation. Site of the deposit is a hill roughly circular in shape, consisting of a t o p layer of overburden and alternate layers of diatomite and overburden. T h e en tire hill will be encircled with a b a n d of trees and shrubbery before opera tions begin. First operating phase will be to start at one edge and excavate a segment to reach the bottom limit of the diatomite deposit. This will be t h e floor of the borrow pit. Next step con sists of quarrying and backfilling, mov ing across the deposit from the starting point. Diatomite ore will be trucked to t h e Dicalite plant. Overburden will C H E M I C A L
Carbon monoxide gases from regenerator uti lized for auxiliary steam production at Sinclair's Houston refinery
-pvssiGNED to improve quality a n d out*-^ p u t of gasolines a n d other petro leum p r o d u c t s (including petrochemi cals ) , a series of n e w units are n o w op erating at Sinclair Refining's Houston plant. Facilities costing $35 million: 50,000 barrel-per-day fluid catalytic cracker for increasing high octane gasoline yields —both motor and aviation; crude and vacuum still to produce better lubricat ing stocks; additional vacuum stills to minimize residual fuel output, to give maximum catalytic feed stock recovery. Project is part of long-range program for obtaining highest possible yield of top-value products. G r a n t e d certificate of necessity as a defense project, facilities will enable refinery to double aviation gasoline out put. Almost 5000 barrels a day of aviation fuel c a n b e produced, if needed. Government-owned synthetic rubber plant nearby, w h i c h is operated by Sinclair Rubber, will receive 2000 barrels a day of butylène feed stock. AND
E N G I N E E R I N G
NEWS
Engineered to stress low maintenance cost and high operating efficiency, cat cracker has unusual steam plant which recovers^waste heat from catalyst regenerator gases. Carbon monoxide boiler produces enough steam to run the entire fluid unit, including the gas plant and all auxiliaries. One third of its capacity is excess steam supplied to other units in the refinery. As a conventional unit, boiler can operate at two thirds of design capacity using an auxiliary-fired natural gas heater; hence, fluid cracker is entirely independent of any refinery steam upset. Under design conditions, boiler gets a third of its heat from b u r n i n g natural gas; about a third as sensible heat of the regenerator gases in cooling from 1000° F. to 500° F., t h e boiler operating temperature; and the other third in the combustion of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. Boiler design consists of several essential features. A primary cylindrical furnace (all-refractory, pressurized) receives carbon monoxide gases from the regenerator. These are thoroughly mixed with auxiliary fuel a n d air by tangential firing. Here the mixture is raised to combustion temperature. Combustion is completed in a secondary pressurized furnace e q u i p p e d with a water wall section for h e a t absorption. Steam is generated in a singlepass, pressurized, two-drum boiler. H e a t from t h e boiler exit flue gases is recovered in a pressurized economizer by exchange with incoming boiler feed water. A forced-draft, cold air fan supplies necessary air for combustion of the auxiliary fuel and carbon monoxide. Since the entire unit operates as a pressurized boiler, an induced draft fan is not needed. Although n o t exactly a sixth unit, all instrumentation and standard appurtenances, such as gage
Boiler use* carbon monoxide gases from catalyst regenerator for steam production. Auxiliaryfired natural gas heater permits operation a t two thirds of design capacity as a conventional unit
glasses, feed water control valves, pressure g a g e s , meters, stack, and t h e like, are conveniently located for efficient operation. At least five advantages are attribu t e d t o this t y p e of boiler. I t can, so to speak, lift itself by its o w n bootstraps; t h e unit can start u p a n d shut down without assistance from an external source of steam. Boiler conserves a major portion of the sensible heat p r e s e n t in exit flue gases from the re-
Latest addition to Sinclair's Houston plant will enable refinery to double its output of aviation gasoline. Almost 5000 barrels a day can be produced, if desired
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1954
generator. All potential h e a t in the carbon monoxide is b u r n e d and conserved. Unit also precludes possibility of u n b u r n e d gases escaping to the atmosphere. Substantial fuel savings result, as only a third of the entire heat duty is supplied b y auxiliary fuel. R e s p r a y S u p e r h e a t e r . Carbon monoxide boiler is not e q u i p p e d with a steam superheater; instead, a four-stage series superheater is immersed in the fluid b e d of t h e regenerator. Steam, as it passes through t h e superheater, can be desuperheated at the outlet of each stage b y spraying condensate into a desuperheater or steam attemperator. These desuperheaters permit complete control of the steam temperature. It is also possible to control the regenerator bed temperature carefully. Automatic regulation of steam flow through thé superheater, c o m b i n e d with controlled desuperheating, gives an optimum regenerator t e m p e r a t u r e . Respray steam superheater actually performs a double task; it controls b o t h the steam temperature and regenerator b e d temperature. Several convenient features have been installed to ensure low maintenance costs. E a c h t u b e b u n d l e in the heat exchangers can b e h a n d l e d separately; exchangers are laid out at grade level. Most p u m p s are accessible to light hauling equipment. All lines are installed overhead except water lines. 575
INDUSTRY Centrifugal gas compressors Lave bot tom suction and discharge. Main a i r blower on the unit-a ireal whopper— has its own permanent hiandling e q u i p ment installed in place. It can cleliver 134,000 cubic feet per minute, has a 12,400 horsepower drive. To top it off, the c a t is only 190 feet high. Regenerator built close t o the ground saved a loi; of structural steel. This unit will circulate SB tons per minute of catalyst w h e n operating at full capacity.
High Pressure Lob Being Built by Pan American Construction of a ne\*^ high pressure research laboratory was started recently b y Pan American Refinixig, Texas City. Ground was broken for the project a t the end of January; construction is ex pected to take four to Eve months. Chemical reactions u n d e r higli pres sure will b e studied in the new build ing, which will be located adjacent t o the n e w research laboratory. Research studies, including catalysis, in high pressure reactions will b e made in both petroleum and. petrochemical fields. Planned research projects will utilize pressures u p to 10,000 pounds p e r square inch with the possibility o f even higher pressure.
Eight reaction vessel cells, are pro vided in the 8 5 by 28-foot one story building, which will cost about $100,000. These cells are formed on three sides by one-foot thick reinforced con crete walls to ensure complete safety in case of defective reaction vessels. The concrete walls contain two layers of six-inch square steel mesh con structed of 3 / 4 - i n c h thick steel rods. The fourth wall is built of light mate rials and is designed to "explode" out ward in case of an accident. A short distance away from the light wall is a built-up earthen barrier reinforced with timbers and backed with riprap. Laboratory space for use in prepar ing and evaluating the experiments is provided in the area outside the reac tion vessel cells. Chemists will operate the high pressure equipment by remote control from outside the cells. Control rods run through special small holes in the reinforced concrete walls to the apparatus. Total area of the building, which will be constructed by the H. K. Ferguson Co., is 2000 square feet. Oil Process C a r b o n Black Plant Planned by Columbian Columbian Carbon will build an oil process carbon black plant with an ul timate annual capacity of 60 million pounds in St. Mary's Parish, La. The new plant will be located on the Intracoastal Canal near North Bend.
Climax N o w L a r g e s * Underground Mine Molybdenum mine at Climax, Colo., is now largest underground mine in North America—production rate? is 27,000 tons of ore a day. Mining by Climax Molybdenum is done by literally collapsing α mountain from inside and then drawing out ore, causing the huge "glory hole" from left to center of the picture. Over 8 million tons of ore will be extracted in 1954—supplying two thirds of the metal produced this side of the Iron Cuirtain
Application for permit to build t h e plant has been filed with the Louisiana State Conservation Commission and construction is expected to begin some time this month. First unit is expected to operate in November. More than $3 million will be in vested in the completed project. Raw materials of the new plant will b e nat ural gas from nearby fields and liquid petroleum products from Gulf Coast re fineries. The processes to be employed will embrace Columbian's latest re search and engineering developments in producing black. Products of the new plant will in clude Statex 125, a super abrasion fur nace black originated by Columbian. Dow Doubling N H 3 Output a t Freeport Expansion of Dow Chemical's am monia production facilities at Freeport, Tex., is under way. Scheduled to be completed late this year, expansion will approximately double the design capacity of the pres ent plant. Operation of the added fa cilities is expected to begin in early 1955. No large increase in the physical size of the ammonia plant will b e re quired for the increase in capacity, Dow says. New equipment to b e a d d e d at the plant will include compressors, converter, and refrigeration equipment. Relatively small additions are to b e made to the compressor building a n d the converter structure. Contractor for the job is the Austin Co. Vitamin B 12 Pilot Plant Test Project Completed Milwaukee Sewerage Commission and Vern E. Alden Co., entered into an agreement last June to go into the vitamin business. Under this exclu sive contract with the commission, t h e Chicago engineering firm has com pleted the construction of its pilot plant which is a small scale representation of a commercial producing unit. This pilot plant has completed its shake down operations and is now in con tinuous production of quantities of vitamin B 1 2 concentrates. Pilot plant operations have included redrying of Milorganite after extraction operations. Spray dried vitamin B 1 2 concen trate produced in the small scale test plant has exceeded expectations, both as to quality and quantity. T h e pilot plant in the Chicago area has been erected a n d operated during the past six months to extract the vitamin B 1 2 on a small scale at a cost of over $30,000. The commission has
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CHEMICAL
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ENGINEERING
NEWS
JNDUSTRY already supplied the pilot plant with more than 60 tons of Milorganite for these processing tests. Sufficient vitamin B 1 2 concentrate has now been produced at the pilot test plant and the Alden company has furnished samples to potential users. If the market is proved to be adequate, according to contract agreement with the Commission, the company will go ahead with the construction of a $1 million plant for production of up to 140 kilograms pure activity of B 1 2 concentrate at the sewerage treatment site on Jones Island. Reynolds Opens Aluminum Reduction Plant in Arkansas Reynolds Metals' new Robert P. Patterson aluminum reduction plant, located near Arkadelphia, Ark., now is in operation. Facility, n a m e d in honor of late company vice president and director, has an annual rated capacity of 110 million pounds of virgin aluminum. Its operation gives Reynolds an annual production capacity of 829 million pounds. Construction of the new plant, which cost an estimated $34 million, was entirely privately financed. It is located on a 780-acre site south of Arkadelphia. The pot rooms are 1827 feet in length. About 400 workers will be employed when the plant reaches full production. Accessory operations include a general administrative office, laboratory, carbon electrode plant, auto storage facilities, steam plant, and other structures. The main contractors were Dittmars-Dickmann-Pickens Construction of Little Rock, Ark., and W. S. Bellows Construction, Houston, who combined in a joint operation under the name Aluminum Constructors. Structural steel work was handled by the American Bridge Division of U. S. Steel and electrical construction by Fagin Electric, Little Rock. Midwest Construction, Tulsa, was a subcontractor on pipe work.
in. virus and cancer research, nutritional a n d metabolic studies, and applied emzymology. Inquiries and requests should be directed to Dept. SR, Pentex Inc., 660 N. Schuyler Ave., KZ^nkakee, 111. Pittsburgh Coke Selects S i t e for Fine Chemicals Pittsburgh Coke & Chemical has acq-oired a 150-acre site a t Spartanburg, S_ C, and is beginning immediate construction of a building for its fine chemicals division. PC&C is making a long range industrial development study to establish the advantages of manufacturing dyestuffs and other chemical products in. the Spartanburg area in t h e future. Company's fine chemicals division rrnamifaetures a broad line of vat dyestxiffs for the textile industry a t its basic manufacturing plant at Pittsburgh. Facilities at Spartanburg will include a completely equipped service laborat o r y with a full staff of chemists and technicians. This laboratory will ena b l e the company to offer service to textile manufacturers in the South in tlxeir research and application problems. T l i e location will enable t h e division
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W y a n d o t t e Begins Building W e s t Coast Facilities This week Wyandotte Chemicals will begin construction of a new plant near Los Angeles. Plant site is at Los Nietos, some 16 miles southeast of the city of Los Angeles. Production of specialized cleaning products is scheduled for August. At that time manufacturing will be discontinued at the present Wyandotte plant on College Street in Los Angeles. This plant has been in operation since 1950. The new plant will provide increased product outlet and improved delivery for the entire Pacific Coast area. The n e w plant will occupy a fiveacre plot. Buildings will include research and technical service labs, manufacturing and shipping facilities, as well as a district sales office. A complete fine of public sanitation, maintenance cleaning, and germicidal
YOUR SPECIALIZED SOLVENT FOR SURFACE C O A T I N G S High-boiling point, slow evaporation rate, and excellent solvent action are the reasons isophorone is used. W h e r e ? In thinners for vinyl chloride-acetate
resins . . .
especially for vinyl metal finishes applied by roller coaters. In nitrocellulose lacquers . . ·
Pentex N o w Making 35 Bîochemicals f o r Research Pentex, Kankakee, 111., now has available 35 highly purified biochemical products of animal origin for medical, academic, and industrial research. Created early in 1953 as a manufacturer of specialty items and products not otherwise available commercially, Pentex is rapidly expanding its inventory and facilities to meet growing demands of individual research programs. Free samples of items are sent only to investigators who need them immediately for original, organized research projects. Highest priority is being given to requests for materials needed
to service and supply southern customers on an overnight basis. Richard M. Locke, sales manager for fine chemicals division, will supervise the Spartanburg facilities. He is planning to take permanent residence in Spartanburg within the next few months.
where it is used to prepare solutions with solids content as high as 45 per cent. For more information on Isophorone ask "Ketones" (F-4767). Write t o :
for
! CARBIDE ANÙ CARBONv
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7 » * FEBRUARy
Division
