INDUSTRY & BUSINESS
New Acrylonitrile Process Sohio uses propylene and ammonia in one step, hopes to commercialize process in U. S. and abroad A SINGLE step, catalytic vapor-phase reaction makes up Sohio Chemical's new acrylonitrile process (C&EN, Feb. 16, page 19). Propylene, ammonia, and air react below 500° C. at low pressure (less than three atmospheres) over an undisclosed catalyst. Major product is acrylonitrile, with "minor*' amounts of acetonitrile and hydrogen cyanide also produced, says Sohio. By making some process details public, the totally owned subsidiary of Standard Oil Co. (Ohio) has ended a lot of speculation about the nature of the process. Still under wraps, though, is the nature of the catalyst. It's used as a fluidized bed, according to Franklin Veatch, who headed the research team that came up with the new process. Veatch says the catalyst is durable, depends on high concentration rather than trace amounts for activity. Sohio's plant is going up at Lima, Ohio, will be on stream early in I960. The plant's cost and capacity are still not public, except that it will be a multimillion dollar installation. Prime contractor is Badger Mfg., Cambridge, Mass. • Two Raw Materials. The process uses only two starting materials: a refinery propylene stream and fertilizer grade anhydrous ammonia. Sources for both of these are located at the Lima site. Propylene concentration isn't critical, says Veatch. Anywhere from 40 to 90rA is okay. Air furnishes necessary oxygen. Oxygen itself can be used, but it isn't necessary. Stoichiometric amounts of ammonia and oxygen are used. Carbon monoxide and dioxide are produced, too, and make up the major unusable by-products. Lower hydrocarbons like propane and ethylene are inert under the reaction conditions, says Veatch. But butylène and some higher hydrocarbons do react, thus have to be removed from feed streams (trace quantities., though, do no harm). Sohio claims that product recovery and purification are comparatively simple. Fixed gases and unreacted hydrocarbons either go to a stack or to recovery equipment, depending on feed
composition. Acrylonitrile is finished by drying and distilling. By-product acetonitrile is similarly cleaned up, and Sohio will also sell this chemical. T h e hydrogen cyanide stream can also be processed, although Sohio doesn't sa)' whether or not it will do so. The new process, says Sohio, compares favorably with existing acrylonitrile processes. This holds for investment, raw materials, and operating costs. The economic studies were made together with Badger. Advantages claimed: • Small plants can be competitive with those larger ones using older processes and which had to be integrated with hydrogen cyanide and acetylene or ethylene oxide production. • Plants need not be at raw materials site since both propylene and ammonia are easily transported. • Conventional materials of construction are used because all operations (except making high pressure steam) are only slightly above atmospheric pressure. • Catalyst can be made locally; particle fabrication and calcining are the major manufacturing steps. Overcapacity is still a problem. What rlpmanrl there will be for acrylonitrile by the time Sohio's plant goes on stream is anybody's guess. But at the end of 1958, capacity was about 7 0 ' ; above actual production (/6-EC, Jan., page 2 5 A ) . Sohio, however, is betting on the future, feels that its process will b e an important factor in future production both here and abroad. In fact, Sohio plans to commercialize the process outside the U. S. By-product acetonitrile runs smack into an overcapacity problem, too. But the Ohio firm says that marketing studies indicate more could be sold if prices dropped below the current 4 3 to 45 cents a pound range.
Pfizer Foresees Growth Chas. Pfizer is enjoying a sharp rise in sales so far this year. All company plants are operating at full capacity. And thanks largely to gains by the chemical and agricultural chemicals divisions and to rising sales abroad, total volume for the year's first six months is expected to run about 15'< ahead of the like period of 1958.
Profits, though, are not following a similar pattern. First-half earnings are expected to be just about the same as the $11.6 million rung up a year ago, president John McKeen predicts. Ethical drug business is about on a par with last year. McKeen told the N e w York Society of Security Analysts, in part because of price weaknesses for penicillin, streptomycin, bulk vitamins, and steroids. Competition in antibiotics is severe. In addition, manufacturing costs are continuing to rise. And the company has run into temporary importation problems in several foreign countries, McKeen adds. To counter these negative factors, Pfizer is banking on new products. "It is our hope that products recently introduced or about to be marketed will tend to offset lower prices and higher costs," says McKeen. One of the products Pfizer bopes will give a shot in the arm to its earnings during 1959*s second half is Niamid. Niamid (chemically, nialamide) will probably hit the market this summer. Although initial emphasis has been on its use in treating mental depression, Pfizer sees it being used to treat a wide range of ailments. Other new products: Abminthic, for treating worm infestations; Vistaril, a psychotherapeutic agent; Marax, for asthma; two anti-ulcer agents, Daricon and Enarax. The company also has developed an improved Salk polio vaccine which it hopes to market soon. Pfizer hopes to solve foreign trade restrictions by expanding its overseas operations. It now manufactures in 18 countries (biggest operation is in Britain) and has sales branches in 35. N e w basic manufacturing plants in Brazil and Argentina should be in full production this winter; another new plant is η earing completion in Colombia. Overseas business accounted for nearly 40% of Pfizer's total sales of $222.7 million last year; the percentage could be even greater this year. Capital outlays over the next two years, both in the U. S. and abroad, are budgeted at over $40 million. Last year's outlay: $28 million. included in the program are new facilities for Vi tamin C, an expansion in Vitamin A capacity, and additional capacity for synthetic organic chemicals, all at Groton, Conn. At Groton, too, Pfizer is putting finishing touches on its $ 1 0 mil lion research laboratory prior to open ing it this fall. « JUNE
2 2, 1 9 5 9
C&EN
23
