Refined N a p h t h a l e n e J O H N H.
Tahle
SKEEN
ΝβΛν u s e s f o r r e f i n e d n a p h t h a l e n e p i n s l a r g e d e m a n d s f o r t h e crude product have resulted.in shortages despite sharp increases in production ... A more normal situation may soon materialize -Γ OR the past six years there h a s been in sufficient refined naphthalene to serve the constantly increasing demand. Produc tion rose sharply in 1941, a n d five years later was nearly double the annual prewar rate of 50 million pounds. While there will be no large increase this year, the deficit will be sharply reduced and possibly elim inated in the event that the anticipated lower output of dyes, already indicated, materializes. As refined naphthalene, melting a t 79° or higher, is simply a purified form of the lower melting crudes, production is limited by the amount of crudes available after other demands have been supplied. T h e prolonged shortage has been due t o the expanded market for dye intermediates, /3-naphthol, and moth repellents at a time when the unprecedented demand for phthalic anhydride has competed for the common raw material. Refined naphthalene was first offered in commercial quantities in 1S73 in order to prepare naphthoic for the new dye indus try. Consumption was small, grew slowly, and was confined to Germany and Eng land. In 1914 there were only two d o m e s tic producers and consumption was a l m o s t exclusively for moth balls. When the war made necessary the establishment of
T a b l e I.
an intermediate industry, refined naphtha lene was required to make a-nitronaphthalene, the sulfonated naphthalenes, j3naphthol, the amino naphthalene disulfonic acids, and m a n y others. Thus, the seven small dye plants existent in 1914 re quired no naphthalene a t all. Four years later, 78 dye makers used nearly all of the 34 million pounds of the refined output. Although the White T a r Co. produced refined naphthalene shortly after 1909 at Kearny, N . J., the Barrett Co. was domi nant in this field. Before the war ended, 10 more distillers were also refining the crude and there were, in addition, an un certain number in the by-product coke and gas industries. Naphthalene had quickly arrived as an important industrial chemi cal. However, it was believed that a seri ous over-production existed and the dis tillers reduced operations nearly half in 1919, while some discontinued entirely. This was premature, as an unexpected ex port market for dyes appeared and with it a surprising shortage of refined naphtha lene. A year later, production was once more at wartime levels. I n 1923, the Bakélite Corp. organized the Halo wax Corp. to m a k e the new chlorinated naphthalenes. These synthetic waxes attained no significant impor-
R e f i n e d N a p h t h a l e n e : New S u p p l y a n d P r i c e
New Supply
0
Unit: 1,000 pounds Production Other Distillers &
c
Imports'*
Price
β
Producers number/
12 SO.094 35,343 1917 n.a. 10 5,590 0.098 28,112 1918 7 2,763 0.072 17,625 20,396 1919 "V.7 9 2,921 3,698 0.127 30.231 36,850 1920 9 115 442 n.a. 13,554 14,111 1921 10 76 0.061 1,811 17,420 19,307 1922 10 9.6 0.071 1,140 28,184 29,334 1923 1932 25,825 25,825 n.a. 0.048 7 0.059 42.708 42,708 1933 6 0.061 38,730 38,730 1934 * b*. ι 8 0.1 0.049 46,564 46,564 1935 9 0.1 0.068 52,694 52,694 1936 9 5.1 0.073 52,194 52,199 1937 8 0.068 38,259 38,259 1938 8 0.060 ' 0*. 2 59,465 59,465 1939 1940 58,250 9 0.069 58,250 9 0.074 70,802 70,802 1941 9 0.080 81,584 81,584 1942 9 0.080 83,372 83,372 1943 9 0.080 81,588 81,588 1944 "b.2 9 0.080 77,811 77,811 1945 9 252 0.087 96,307 96,559 1946 9 454 0.102 97,416 97,870 1947 9 0.102 25,656 1948 (1st quarter) ° Production plus imports. bc Tariff Commission "Annuals," 1917-4:5; 1946-, Facts for Industry, series 6-2. Includes refined naphthalene from by-product coke oven and gas works operators; reported by Bureau of Mines for period 1918-26; Anthracite and Coal Section feels certain that no refined naphthalene hasd been made by these operators since 1932. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce; 1948, Report No. F T 110, Bureau of the Census. β 1913-28: Wholesale Prices, Bull. NO. 493, 1929, Bureau of Labor Statistics, flake, bbl., Ν . Υ.; 1913—2.3 cents, 1914—2.7 cents, 1915—10.0 cents, 1916—11.0 cents; 1932-39: B.L.S., flake, bbl., Ν. Υ.; 1940-: contract prices. / Distillers only.
2894
CHEMICAL
Ii. Refined N a p h t h a l e n e : Approximate Consumption" I'nit: million pounds 2.947 1941 1943 1944 1.5 1.3 2.5 1.2 Agriculture»*» Dyes and interc 9 . 9 1 2 . 6 15.0 «^16.0 mediates 6.5 3.2 3.9 6.0 Leather·' 9.8 19.0 19.0 1 8 . 1 Moth repellant Miscellaneous surface active, 6.2 2.0 2.1 3.0 textile 6 2.7 2.4 2.0 1.0 solvent, other/ Chemicals 31.0 3 4 . 5 44.8 2.3 ο ο other" a A composite of several surveys hut nicxlified by recalculation of chemicals as reported, a-llocations reports, and trade estiiuates. & Naphthalene acetic acid; direct usons f utili sant and insecticide; fungicide. c α-nitronaphthalene, sulfonated naplithsuleneB, amino naphthalene disulfonic acids (12) ; ct
