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INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
Vol. 22. No. 1
The Chemical Kaleidoscope for 1929
I
T WAS the year of the Graf Zeppelin’s flight around the world, of Light’s Golden Jubilee in honor of Edison’s first modest electric lamp, of the death of Baron Auer von Welsbach who, among other things, made the gas light of yesteryear practicable. It was also the year when physical chemists, breathing hard on the trail of the mathematical physicists leading into the Land of Wave Mechanics, found that the once fundamentally simple gases, oxygen and hydrogen, were, after all, only mixtures of isotopes. It was the year when the Bureau of Standards announced the evolution of a self-extinguishing cigarette and a fireproof match, when the stock market crashed, and even coal was made blue. The Graf Zeppelin was not exclusively a chemical triumph; yet it is doubtful if it could have circumnavigated the globe without the help of various obscure persons in laboratories and plants. These obscure persons fueled it with ethane derived from natural gas for its first return trip to Germany from America. Later, when the Graf Zeppelin set out from Tokyo for its trans-Pacific flight, its fuel bunkers contained Pyrofax mixed with hydrogen; the last leg of the journey was made with a mixture of Pyrofax and natural gas. Nor was Edison’s electric light entirely a chemical dream come true. Nevertheless a great deal of chemistry seemed to have inextricably merged into its history by the time Henry Ford staged its fiftieth anniversary in Dearborn for his old friend, and brought Einstein into a million American homes through a barrage of intercontinental static in the first international broadcast of its kind. On the other hand, Bonhoeffer, demonstrating the existence of parahydrogen to an amphitheater of cheering chemists a t Minneapolis, seemed t o be dealing only obliquely with chemistry as it used to be known, while Giauque and Johnston, determining the existence of an oxygen molecule containing atoms of different atomic weight, would have been crucified as heretics by the chemical fundamentalists of a previous generation. A contemporary bidding for fame in the fair field of modern alchemy apparently must have a triple personality, and be not only a chemist but a mathematician and a physicist as well. Lest anyone point the finger of scorn a t the Bureau of Standards for their dalliance with cigarettes and matches in these days of attenuated science, it should be noted that fag ends and matches discarded by smokers cause an annual loss of 90 millions in the United States. Almost any concern would authorize its research laboratory to develop means for reducing such a loss. Whether the countless followers of Sir Walter Raleigh will consent to smoke self-extinguishing cigarettes is another matter, however. The stock market in the midst of great prosperity staged a decline which for rapidity, severity, and inclusiveness established a record. While economists still seek the cause, the President and his advisors, as well as industrial and labor leaders, failing to find anything fundamentally unsound in business, invited groups to conferences intended to devise ways and means for continuing business a t full activity. The President has long been interested in a “prosperity reserve” or in “planned prosperity.” The situation which developed late in 1929 afforded an ideal opportunity to put into action the plan of expanding and furthering public works when private industry hesitates. Blue coal, a development of the year, typifies the impossible
task which the chemist in his everyday work is called upon to do. If 1929 is reviewed seriously with the idea of attempting to point out its achievements of a chemical nature, or of interest to chemically-minded men, a most bewildering state of mental unequilibrium results. I n picking its way through AND EKGINEERING the happenings of the year, INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY here attempts to balance itself with the best dignity available among the clamoring items of a most kinetic world. For all sins of omission and commission may we be forgiven. The Exposition of Chemical Industries-now a biennial event-held its twelfth session in May, 1929. It was a better exposition than its predecessors in point of varied exhibits better displayed and in attendance of those whom the exhibitors wished to reach. But, as before, the products of the chemical industry itselfwere not adequatelyrepresented. It is devoutly hoped that the manufacturers of chemicals will add their whole-hearted support to the thirteenth exposition in May, 1931. The tariff played a decisive role in the chemical industry in 1929, but principally as a disturbing element. Notwithstanding the solemn announcement made to the President by a committee of Congress to the effect that the special session had completed the work for which it had been called, everyone knows that, so far as the tariff is concerned, not only was nothing accomplished, but the regular session of Congress has left to it by the special session a situation that can be described scarcely otherwise than as a political mess. The threatened uncertainty, the unjustifiable attacks in the Senate upon the chemical industry, the general indication of lack of knowledge of the situation, combined with the threat to persecute as “lobbyists” those who might endeavor to put expert information a t the service of the lawmakers, produced an unsettled situation which remains in that condition as this is written. The sound advice given Congress on many sides toward the close of 1929 was to adjourn, .go home, and stay there, and give business an opportunity to care for itself along rational industrial and non-political lines. Preliminary figures for exports and imports will not be sufficiently complete until February, and a discussion of their importance will be offered as soon as possible after they are available. Such statistics as have been published, however, indicate that the chemical industry has imported more largely than heretofore of both raw materials and semimanufactured products, and also in 1929 enjoyed an increase in export trade. Improved economic conditions in the large chemical-consuming countries were doubtless responsible for the increase of 13 per cent in exports of chemicals and allied products to $158,730,000, in the first nine months of 1929 as compared with the same period of 1928, whereas imports increased 4 per cent or to an extent of $176,419,000. Although Muscle Shoals received some political attention during the year, its status as this is written is just what it was a year ago. There is one notable exception-namely, that as a result of questioning by the Senator from Alabama, Mr. Ford is reported to have said that he is no longer interested in the project. Perhaps it is fair to say that there is a growing conviction, even among politicians, that Muscle Shoals is what the chemists said a decade ago-primarily a power proposition. It is fair to assume that the subject
January, 1930
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
6
The Standard Oil Company of New Jersey has entered into an agreement with the German I. G. Farbenindustrie, whereby a jointly owned corporation will take over the patents of both parties in connection with the commercial development of The International Chemical Situation the hydrogenation of coal and oil for operation in all countries Three events of major importance occurred during the outside of Germany. The corporation thus formed will be year in the field of international relations between chemical managed by the Standard Oil Company. The significance of industries. The omnipresent and allegedly omnipotent I. G. thenew contract as applied to the United States is that the hyFarbenindustrie figured largely in all three. These events drogenation process will now be developed commercially in were the signing of a sales agreement between the German, this country under the guidance of American oil interests with French, and Swiss dye producers, an unexpected peace treaty the full cooperation of originators of the process. between the natural and synthetic fixed-nitrogen producers, Other international combinations are being planned or and the establishment of the American I. G. Chemical Cor- extended. An international zinc cartel has been under disporation. cussion during the year, and the aluminum cartel of the The international dye cartel has been operating informally principal producers in France, Germany, Great Britain, for the past four years, but in 1929 a formal agreement was and Switzerland has extended its agreement through 1931. signed for the purpose of adjusting markets, regulating Imperial Chemical Industries and the du Pont Company prices, and providing for the exchange of information, al- are cooperating in the establishment of a plant at Melbourne, though no pooling of profits was indicated. The German Australia, for the production of artificial leather materials. I. G., the French Jhablissements Kuhlmann and Societ6 An International Office of Chemistry has been organized des Matihres Colorantes, and the Swiss Basler I. G., with in Paris with twenty-three countries participating, chief its English, Polish, French, and Italian subsidiaries, were of which are France and Belgium. the parties signing the agreement. I n this connection it I n Belgium the Union Chimique Belge continues to abis interesting to note that Germany has, in rough figures, sorb chemical plants. During 1929 this group acquired half of the coal-tar-dye production capacity of the world, majority control of the Pharmacie Centrale de Belgique, the United States one-quarter, and the rest of the world formerly a strong competitor, and completed negotiations one-quarter. for the absorption of Societe Ostendaise Lumiere et Force The sales agreement among the producers of fixed nitro- Motrice, S. A.; Societe Anonyme Franco-Belge Nadox; gen, exclusive of those in the United States, was, as usual, Nouvelles Industries Chimiques, S. A,; Soci6t6 Anonyme de initiated by the I. G. through its subsidiary, the Deutsches Produits Refractaires de Saint Ghislain; Cie. Belge de ProduStickstoffsyndikat. It includes Imperial Chemical Industries its Chimiques de Schoonaerde, S. A.; Cie. Progil Belge and the British producers of ammonium sulfate, the Chilean et Extraits Tennants de Colorants d’Hemixem, S. A.; Sonitrate producers, and the I. G.-controlled Norsk Hydro, ciete Anonyme Cuivres; Metaux et Produits Chimiques while negotiations with the French Comptoir de 1’Azote d’Hemixem; and La Mutuelle Solvay and Soci6t6 Generale and the Italian Montecatini interests are said to be under de Belgique with subsidiaries. way. The agreement will cover 70 per cent of the world Tariff revision in the United States has been causing interproduction of fixed nitrogen, and makes a very notable exnational discussion, with a reaction abroad toward a “united ception of the interests in the United States. It is someEurope.” The vicious cycle of events which is separating what paradoxical to find the Chilean producers allied with the synthetic group which a t one time appeared likely to the United States from the rest of the modern world thus continues. While complete international cooperation is the put them completely out of business. The answer apparently probable ultimate solution, it can come only in one of two lies in the fact that, with the rapid development of synthetic nitrogen fixation, industry became so “nitrogen-conscious” ways: Either American industries will become powerful that the increasing demand exceeded the supply of the syn- enough to meet other groups on equal terms, or they will be thetic products and made it possible for the natural product completely subdued by foreign competition. The second to stay in the picture. The commercial production of syn- alternative does not seem to be popular in this country a t thetic sodium nitrate a t Hopewell by the Allied Chemical the present time. The Dead Sea project, which has been discussed interand Dye Corporation introduces a new factor which should strengthen fixed-nitrogen production in the United States nationally for several years, came to something of a head against probable competition with the new international during 1929, when a concession was granted by the British cartel. Announcements of greatly increased capacity for Parliament to a mining engineer, M. Novomeysky of London, the Du Pont Ammonia Corporation and of a new plant to be and Major T. G. Tullock, a transport engineer. A comerected under the auspices of the Shell Petroleum Company pany titled “Palestine Potash, Limited” has been registered in London as a public company with a nominal capital of on the West Coast are also important. The formation of the American I. G., while logical enough f400,000, which the Chemical Age characterizes as a dison second thought, literally took the breath away from va- tinctly modest sum in view of the objects of the company, rious interests which have been fighting for the development which are “to prospect, examine, explore, and develop the of independent American chemical industries. By the time natural mineral resources of the Dead Sea and the surroundthis breath had been recovered, a representative of the I. ing area, to win, refine, prepare for market, and deal in mineral G., skilfully concealed behind American principals, was salts of all kinds, including potash and common and other arguing before the Senate Finance Committee for large re- salts, etc.” ductions in the tariff rates on dyestuffs. Some more breath Nine directors have been named-five British subjects was lost a t this point. At present the American I. G., os- and four who appear to represent American interests. The tensibly a holding corporation for the interests of the I. G. American representatives are Israel Brodie, of the Interin the United States, is the object of much concentrated national Finance Corporation, B. Flexner, of the Palestine and slightly fearful attention. Among the concerns in this Economic Corporation, F. M. Warburg, of the Palestine country now controlled by the I. G. are the Agfa-Ansco Economic Corporation, and E. Freedman, a manufacturer, Corporation and the General Aniline Works, Inc. all of New York, N. Y. will not escape the attention of some members of Congress during the coming year.
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INDUSTRIAL AiVD ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY American Mergers and Agreements
VOl. 22, No. 1
Green Blower Company. The Whiting-Swenson Company was created by the Swenson Evaporator Company, subWhile important developments have been taking place in sidiary of the Whiting Corporation, to enter the field of chemiinternational industrial relations, the consolidation of Ameri- cal-plant design. Michiana Products Corporation took over can industries has been progressing steadily. During 1929 the plants of Chrobaltic Tool Company and Sheet Steel several large corporations added to their lists of subsidiaries, Products Company a t Michigan City, Ind. The Pressed and smaller concerns in the same line of business combined Steel Tank Company bought the Seamless Steel Products to increase their effectiveness. Corporation. I n the chemical manufacturing field the following combiIndustrial combinations in fields related to chemistry or nations were among those reported during the year. Ameri- chemical engineering included the acquisition by the B. F. can Cyanamid bought the Calco Chemical Company with Goodrich Company of the Hood Rubber Company, and of its subsidiaries, Crown Chemical Company, King Chemi- the Celite Products Company by the Johns-Manville Corcal Company, Textile Chemical Company, Williamsburg poration. The Spreckels Sugar Corporation bought the Chemical Company, and Kerin Manufacturing Company; Federal Sugar Refining Company. The United Feldspar the Kalbfleisch Corporation, which had recently taken over Corporation acquired Tennessee Mineral Products CorporaJohn C. Wiarda Company; the Selden Company; and the tion, Oxford Mining and Milling Company, Perham Crystal American Powder Company. Monsanto Chemical Works Feldspar Mines, and United States Feldspar Corporation. acquired the Rubber Service Laboratories Company with The Kasebier-Chatfield Shellac Company consolidated with its subsidiary, Elk0 Chemical Company; the Merrimac the Mac-Lac Company to form the Mac-Lac-Kasebier-ChatChemical Company; the Commonwealth Division of the field Corporation. Bemis Industries, Inc., acquired control Mathieson Alkali Works; and the Graesser-Monsanto Chemi- of the Craftex Company. The National Carbon Company cal Works, Ltd., North Wales, which in turn purchased the assumed control of production and distribution of the radio British Saccharin Manufacturing Company. Union Carbide tube output of the Raytheon Manufacturing Company, bought the Meraker Smelting Company, Ltd., of Norway, Combination was also prevalent in the food industries. and acquired the Vanadium Alloys Corporation through its Postum took the name of “General Foods” after acquiring subsidiary, the United States Vanadium Corporation. the smaller group operating under that name, and on acquirDavison Chemical Company took over the Fremont Cotton ing the Diamond Crystal Salt Company had twenty-three Oil Company through its subsidiary, the Eastern Cotton subsidiary concerns. Standard Brands, Inc., took over Oil Company, and purchased the Washington Alexander Fleischmann’s Yeast and Royal Baking Powder, among other and Cook, and the Oxford Packing Company. concerns. The Borden Company bought the Casein ComAmerican Commercial Alcohol bought the Industrial Sol- pany of America, together with its subsidiaries, Erinoid vents Corporation and took over the Kessler Chemical Com- Company of America, Dry Milk Company, Rosemary Creampany, which is to be reorganized as the Kessler Chemical ery Company, and is reported to be negotiating with Standard Corporation. U. S. Industrial Alcohol bought the Kentucky Creameries, Inc., and Maricopa Creameries. Alcohol Corporation, and with the Air Reduction Company, Inc., acquired control of the Pure Carbonic Company of Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Engineering America, which had previously taken over the assets and business of Compressed Carbonic Company, Inc., Pure The year just past was marked by significant advances Carbonic Company of Illinois, and Pure Carbonic Company in the development of processes and equipment and in the of California. American Solvents and Chemical Corpora- utilization of products. Sulfuric acid, acknowledged as the most important industrial chemical, was profoundly affected tion bought the Cragin Products Company. Laaote came under the sole control of du Pont during by the announcement of the contact process using the vana1929 and is now known as the Du Pont Ammonia Corpora- dium catalysts of A. 0. Jaeger and the converter equipment tion. Hercules Powder Company bought the Virginia Cellu- of the Selden Company. Large reductions in cost have been lose Company, which it had previously controlled. The promised as a result of this development, which is claimed t o United Chemical Company, Inc., which controls Westvaco give an extremely high efficiency of conversion, coupled with Chlorine Products, acquired the Monarch Chemical Com- immunity from catalyst poisoning. Helium has risen during the space of a few years from a pany. Kewport Chemical Works, Inc., bought the Rhodia Chemical Company. J. T. Baker Chemical Company pur- laboratory curiosity to an indispensable commodity. Durchased the assets of the Taylor Chemical Company. Sharp ing 1929 the new plant of the United States Government and Dohme, Inc., took over the H. K. Mulford Company. went into production a t Amarillo, Texas, and the old plant Industrial Alloy Products Corporation, a holding company, at Fort Worth was closed as a result of the exhaustion of the acquired 50 per cent of the stock of Duriron, and also controls field on which it had been operating. At Amarillo great adthe stock of Industrial Welded Alloys (successor to Industrial vances have been made in the recovery of helium, both in Welded Products), and the William J. Sweet Foundry. The the purity of the product and in the cost of operations. Dursales of the last two organizations will be handled by the ing September 847,840 cubic feet were produced with an averDuriron Company. The new group is closely associated with age purity of 97.7 per cent a t a net cost to the Government Ludlum Steel, Central Alloy Steel Co., and Transue and of $14.01 per thousand cubic feet. I n connection with the American domination of helium production, it is interesting Williams. Among the important changes in the field of chemical to note the report that other nations are seeking earnestly equipment manufacturers was the combination of the Joubert to develop other sources of this element, which is destined and Goslii Machine and Foundry Company and the Birming- to play such an important role in the development of air comham Machine and Foundry Corporation to form the G o s h - munication and national defense. The development of fuels for automotive engines is more Birmingham Machine and Foundry Company, Inc. A. W. French and Company was consolidated with the Blaw- of a problem in Europe than it is in the United States. DurKnox Company. The Btacey Engineering Company was ing the year the use of “Gasogene” derived from the carorganized to take over Stacey Brothers Gas Construction bonization of wood was reported from Switzerland, while Company, Connersville Blower Company, and Wilbraham- in England experiments were made in the utilization of a
January, 1930
I S D CSTRIAL ALVD ENGINEERILVG CHEMISTRY
7
fuel fraction recovered from the crude oil obtained in the of fiber, even when wet. Phenomenal success met efforts to low-temperature carbonization of coal. While this product spin the finest counts and further progress was made toward has an objectionable odor, it is believed that it may be re- producing a thread identical with that derived from the silkduced by more efficient scrubbing methods. Even in the worm. United States, where the price of gasoline appears to be Solid carbon dioxide continued to be of both scientific stabilized a t a moderately low level, experiments have been and economic interest. The identification in a substantial made during the year looking toward the use of fuel oil di- way of the Liquid Carbonic Corporation with the DryIce rectly in the engines of large busses. Twenty busses operated Corporation led to a program of expansion and to a daily under Mitten management in the city of Philadelphia have production of approximately 170 tons during the summer been equipped with the Godward device, which allows the of 1929. Other groups have become somewhat interested engine to operate equally satisfactorily on gasoline or fuel in the possible future market for this new refrigerant and oil. another year or two may see additional manufacturers in Nitrogen fixation and the oxidation of ammonia to pro- the field. The new competition which carbon dioxide offered duce nitric acid continued to develop during 1929. I n the in the refrigerating field itself finds a rival in silica gel for the United States the production of synthetic sodium nitrate absorption type of refrigerator, which has been adapted in a t Hopewell by the Atmospheric Nitrogen Corporation has a large m y to refrigerating cars and is the basis of the safety competed successfully with Chilean nitrate in spite of the refrigerator car in us e in the transportation of perishables, agreement between the latter interests and the producers notably fish, now undergoing some rather important experiof fixed nitrogen outside of America. Pressures are going mental tests. up in the field of ammonia oxidation as the result of advanced Vinyl compounds as vinyl resins became much more imengineering and more and more nitrogen is being sucked from portant during 1929 and added their competition in the the air to appear ultimately combined in lacquer, artificial field of synthetic resins and plastics. Besides adaptability leather, fertilizer, or movie film. We have as yet nothing in molding compounds, they make certain claims to utility to compare with the giant plant a t Merseburg, which fixes as a component in lacquers where stability to light and 1500 tons of nitrogen per day, but we are coming along. weather is said to be a t least equal, if not superior, to that Many stories of industrial achievements came to be told of nitrocellulose lacquers. Among the processes that give promise of far-reaching during 1929, after years of development in seclusion. One of the best is that of the establishment of an independent industrial importance should be mentioned the Hale and American potash industry a t Searles Lake in California, Haldeman process for the direct production of acetic acid from ethyl alcohol. Methanol made synthetically took imreported in the June issue of IKDUSTRIAL AKD EKGINEERIKG CHEMISTRY, and told in full by John E. Teeple in Mono- portant forward strides in 1929, the capacity of the plant graph 49 of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. It is a story of the Commercial Solvents Corporation was materially of research backed by “educated patient money” and applied increased, and the important unit of the Carbide and Carbon by engineers in the best American traditions. Of potentially Chemicals Corporation a t Niagara Falls began commercial equal importance is the account of the large-scale experi- operations. The Du Pont Ammonia Corporation continued ments on the recovery of bromine from sea water described its production of methanol, and the outlook for 1930 is for by C. M. A. Stine, of the du Pont Company, in the May greatly increased quantities of this important chemical raw issue of INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY, while material, with no doubt substantial reductions in sales price the publication of an article by A. M. McAfee in the July as one of the resultants. issue describing the commercial manufacture of anhydrous During the year the Eastman Kodak Company announced aluminum chloride by the Gulf Refining Company has been great expansion of its work a t Kingsport, Tenn., where steps responsible for a renewed interest in the industrial possibili- are under way to provide the necessary raw materials for greatly increased production of cellulose acetate film. The ties of the Friedel-Crafts reaction. The availability of diphenyl on a commercial scale was U. S. Industrial Alcohol Company also announced a new announced during 1929 by the Federal Phosphorus Com- process for the manufacture of the same commodity. A plant for the production of tung oil started operations pany. For several years this material has been under investigation as a medium of heat transfer to replace steam in Florida during the year, and 4000 acres of Florida land are a t temperatures where high pressures are required. The now planted to tung trees. development of new series of organic plastics, solvents, and During 1929 various manufacturers of alloy steels in the dyes from this material has been prophesied. Another new United States announced their licenses under the Krupp organic material announced during the year was ethylene Nirosta patents of Renno Strauss for the heat treatment glycol monoethyl ether, produced commercially by Carbide of chromium-nickel steels. Almost at the same time a nickeland Carbon Chemicals Corporation. This material is a silicon alloy was announced by the Duriron Company with solvent for cellulose acetate as well as nitrocellulose; its the claim of great resistance to attack by hot dilute sulfuric development reflects the increasing trend toward acetate acid. A chrome-iron tank car for nitric acid was put into rayon in this country and abroad. operation by the du Pont Company. All-aluminum tank The manufacture of rayon again proceeded a t a record- cars for acetic acid have been constructed for the Niacet making pace and preliminary estimates for the year indi- Chemicals Corporation. .4luminum and its alloys also cate a production of 125,000,000 pounds in the United States figured largely in the air as the Navy ZiWC-8, all-metal alone. The four familiar processes continue to be employed dirigible, made its successful maiden voyage. The frame but the year saw a distinct tendency toward an increase in of this air cruiser is of duralumin, while the covering of the the proportion of cellulose acetate. New plants were erected, gas bag is fabricated from Alclad. Westinghouse announced additions were made to some of the older plants, and plans a new alloy of cobalt, nickel, titanium, and iron, called Konel, made for additional facilities in an effort to meet the phe- which a t red heat exhibits a tensile strength greater than nomenal demand for this fiber. Progress was also made that of steel a t ordinary temperatures. Welding as a means of fabrication has found increased in the production of fashionable color effects in rayon, including the cellulose acetate fabrics which require special favor during recent years. The reduction in weight of strucdyes and special treatment. Gains were made in the strength tures possible by this method was brought home by the
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INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
record-breaking dash of the Eremen on her maiden voyage. The all-welded construction of this ship is alleged to have contributed largely to her speed by reducing the weight necessary to carry a given power p l k t . At fiiagara Fills the Union Carbide Company erected the largest gas-welded structure in existence, a research building 75 by 260 by 42.5 feet to the lower chord of trusses. New types of chemical engineering equipment announced during the past year included several developments in evaporation, the Swenson forced-circulation equipment, a recompression unit by Zaremba, and an inclined high-velocity machine by Struthers-Wells. Tolhurst announced a new centrifugal thickener, and Elmore a continuous centrifugal. Efforts continued to be put forth to promote safety in the chemical industry, which can claim as creditable a showing as any other industrial enterprise. The National Safety Council, through instructive illustrated literature, posters, safety campaigns, and other means, continued with the help of an earnest group of safety engineers in the effort to reduce not only the frequency but also the severity of accidents in all industry. Chemistry and Human Life
The two greatest achievements of 1929 in the chemistry of life processes were the isolation of a toxic sugar produced by the tubercle bacillus and the synthesis of the respiration ferment. The deadly polysaccharide was isolated by Treat B. Johnson and R. J. Anderson, of Yale University, from bacilli grown by Parke, Davis and Company and the H. K. Mulford Company. W. C. White, of the Hygienic Laboratory of the U. S. Public Health Service, tested the sugar and found that it immediately killed tubercular animals and had a noticeable effect upon healthy ones. To Hans Fischer, of Munich, goes the credit for the synthesis of the respiration ferment, a haemin. This synthesis is classed as one of the most important contributions ever made to the field of biochemistry. The problem of post-operation respiratory complications and in some instances pneumonia due to the presence of peroxide or aldehyde in ether used for anesthesia has come to the front during the past year. While ether for hospital use is prepared with scrupulous care, and extensive work has been done on antioxidants and containers, a considerable quantity has been seized as unfit for use owing to deterioration. Analysis just preceding use rather than on purchase has been suggested as customary hospital procedure. The Cleveland disaster caused by the careless storage of x-ray films impressed chemists in two ways. It was first of all a forcible reminder that nitrocellulose should really be treated with respect; and it was just as forcible an example of the terrible things that newspapers can do when attempting to describe chemical phenomena in the absence of competent chemical advice, in spite of the great progress that has been made in the popular dissemination of chemical knowledge during the past few years. I n view of what is known and published regarding nitrocellulose storage, it is difficult to understand why safety measures were so completely disregarded. Deaths in Chicago due to methyl chloride leaking from multiple-unit refrigeration systems caused almost as much excitement as the Cleveland tragedy. While some agencies sought to ban methyl chloride, forgetting that other refrigerants are also poisonous, more analytical minds suggested that perhaps the problem of improving the mechanical equipment was the logical point of attack. The Bureau of Mines in cooperation with industry conducted a thorough piece of research on the toxicity of certain household refrigerants, which was reported in Public Health Bulletin 185.
Vol. 22, No. 1
While criticism of the Belgian monopoly on radium wm being voiced in this country, admirers of Madame Curie raised a fund of $50,000, which was presented to her on her visit to America and which wiU be used to purchase a gram of radium for use in the Curie cancer hospital and laboratory in Warsaw. During the year the suitability of ethyocaine borate for local anesthesia was demonstrated by extensive experiments a t the dental school of Northwestern University, ethylene oxide was found to serve as an excellent fumigant against insect pests, and it was discovered that the sodium salt of malic acid may be substituted for sodium chloride in the diet of people suffering from high blood pressure, dropsy, or Bright’s disease. Some Important Patent Decisions and Court Actions
The “patent club” suit of the Government against Standard Oil of Indiana, the Texas Company, Standard Oil of New Jersey, the Gasoline Products Company, and forty-six secondary defendants was sustained by a special court in Chicago which handed down a decision on June 11 reversing the report of Mr. Martindale, the master who had previously exonerated the defendants, and held that their patents were valid en bloc. The court held that the system of licenses and cross licenses involved in the patent club and the pooling agreements arranged between the parties were within the condemnation of the Sherman law, and particularly described the arrangement whereby each participant gave a blanket acknowledgment of the validity of all patents held by other participants. The Supreme Court refused to review a judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in the case of the General Electric Company us. DeForest Radio Company and Robelen Piano Company on Coolidge patent 1,082,933. The Court of Appeals had held that the four product claims involved were invalid. The Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the previous decision of the Circuit Court for the Southern District of Texas, which held that the Thompson and DeBrey patents for the stabilization of natural gasoline were invalid. These patents were contested in an infringement suit by the Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corporation against the Texas Company. Subsequently the appellate court of the Fifth Circuit affirmed the invalidity of these patents in a parallel case in which Phillips Petroleum was the defendant. The process claims of the patents were rejected on the ground that they involved merely the application of an old process to a new subject; the product claims, on the ground that they merely covered the products of the rectification of gasoline in an ordinary way. A decision defining the rights of chemical inventors was handed down by the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in the case of Monsanto Chemical Works us. A. 0. Jaeger and J. A. Bertsch. This case involved the vanadium catalysts for the production of sulfuric acid developed by Doctor Jaeger and Doctor Bertsch during and subsequent to their employment by the Monsanto Chemical Works. It was held by the court that contracts between the Monsanto Chemical Works and Doctor Jaeger and Doctor Bertsch covered only inventions existing on the date of contract, and ownership in subsequent inventions was refused on the ground that a contract which mortgages a man’s brains must be absolutely specific, since it is against the conscience of the court and will be enforced only when its terms are inescapable. Another significant decision of the court was that the sale of an invention in no way binds the inventor to abstain from future competi-
January, 1930
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
tion in the same field with different inventions. The decision of the court gives the Monsanto Chemical Works exclusive rights to certain catalysts covered by patent 1,657,754 pending application for patent, serial number 95,771, which were conceded in the answers of both defendants, and refuses rights under patents 1,675,308 and 1,675,309. This decision has been appealed and a decision by the appellate court will soon be issued. During 1929 the Deutsches Kalisyndikat and the SocietB Commerciale des Potasses d’Alsace were enjoined from further operation under agreements concerning the distribution and sale of potash in the United States, as their operations were held to violate the antitrust laws. The multiple seizure of drugs that are adulterated or misbranded was sustained by the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. Trade Associations and Cooperative Groups
Several significant movements toward cooperation were made in various industries during 1929. Perhaps the most important was the establishment of the Solvents Institute, Inc., by American Solvents and Chemical Corporation, E. I. du Pont de h’emours and Company, Franco-American Chemical Works, Kessler Chemical Company, Merrimac Chemical Company, U. S. Industrial Chemical Company, and Van Schaack Brathers Chemical Works. The objects of this institute are the establishment of standards and the coordination of research. Other groups formed during the year were the Lacquer Institute, supported by the manufacturers of 75 per cent of the domestic lacquer, and the Wood Chemicals Institute, Inc., comprising most of the concerns in the hardwood distillation industry. An Institute of Paper Chemistry has been organized a t Lawrence College, Wisconsin, financed by 90 per cent of the paper mills of that state. It is intended as a graduate school for the training of chemists for the pulp and paper industry. It is also reported that the rag paper manufacturers are organizing for the establishment of a paper research laboratory. International Meetings
Between the World Engineering Congress a t Tokyo and the Xinth Congress of Industrial Chemistry a t Barcelona the attention of industrial chemists and chemical engineers was geographically well divided. The Society of Chemical Industry met nt Manchester with A. D. Little as president, which justifies international mention of the occasion. Doctor Little, incidentally, qualified so successfully for his position that he was dubbed “an English gentleman.” The Ceramic Society of England met jointly with the American Ceramic Society during the year. A group of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry met informally in Holland to discuss the adherence of Germany to the Union. New Research Laboratories
Among American educational institutions, Chicago, Princeton, Amherst, and New Hampshire achieved new chemical laboratories during 1929. Others, including Purdue, began construction. McGill University a t Montreal opened its cooperative Canadian Pulp and Paper Research Institute. H. W. Gillett assumed the active direction of the Battelle Memorial Institute a t Columbus, Ohio, in its program of cooperation between science and industry. The Philippine Research Institute was organized with L. 0. Colbert as director.
9
The American Chemical Society
Following its customary continuous upward curve, the membership of the AMERICAN CHEMICALSOCIETYreached the figure of 17,457 on December 1, 1929, an increase of 1200 over the total a t the same time in 1928. Two successful meetings were held, a t Columbus in the spring and a t Minneapolis in the fall. I n the spring of 1930 the SOCIETYis to follow industry south to hold its meeting a t Atlanta. All the publications of the SOCIETY showed definite growth during 1929. The Journal of the American Chemical Society expanded its waistline some 400 pages in an attempt to assimilate the increasing flood of American chemical research. Chemical Abstracts, as a result of the aid given by the Chemical Foundation and many industries, extended its Argus-eyed search to new fields, reaching a total of fifteen hundred periodicals and expanding its patent citations. INDUSTRIAL BND EKGINEERING CHmIsTRY, attaining lusty maturity with Volume 21, had an offspring during 1929 in the form of the new Analytical Edition devoted to articles on chemical analysis, physical and mechanical testing, and laboratory appliances. The four issues of the Analytical Edition comprised 233 pages exclusive of index and advertising; and these, together with the editorial content of the Industrial or Technical Edition gave a total for 1929 of 1568 pages. The News Edition continued to extend its service and growth in importance and esteem. Chemical Reviews, the Journal of Physical Chemistry, and the Journal of Chemical Education succeeded well during 1929. While the various journals of the SOCIETY have expanded their service, the quality of the material accepted has been even more stringently guarded than before. The increase in material offered for publication has more than offset the increase in publication facilities, and further expansion of the latter must be made in order to keep up with the vigorous progress of American scientific and technical research. Medal Awards
During 1929 the following awards were made in chemical fields: NOBELPRIZEJN CHEMISTRY-Awarded to Arthur Harden, of London University and Lister Institute, and Hans von Euler, of the biochemical institute of the Stockholm High School, for their studies of yeasts, sugars, and the fermentation of sugars. PRIESTLEY MEDAL-Awarded triennially by the AhlERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY.In 1929 the award was made to Francis P. Garvan, of the Chemical Foundation, for service in establishing and safeguarding independent American chemical industries and in promoting the education of the people of the country with respect to the importance of chemistry in modern life. Mr. and Mrs. Garvan were also honored by the American Institute of Chemists, who presented them jointly with the medal of their organization. PERKIN Lkkmn--akiw-ded jointly by the American Section of the Society of Chemical Industry, the AMERICAN CHEMICALSOCIETY,the American Electrochemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Societe de Chimie Industrielle, to E. C. Sullivan, of the Corning Glass Company. NICHOLSMEDAL-Awarded by the New York Section of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETYto William L. Evans, of the Ohio State University, for outstanding work on carbohydrates. WILLARDGIBBSMEDAL-Awarded by the Chicago Section of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETYto C. S. Hudson, of the Hygienic Laboratory, U. S. Public Health Service, in recognition of his researches on sugars and other carbohydrates.
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
10
GRASSELLIMEDAL-Presented by the American Section of the Society of Chemical Industry to Bradley Stoughton, of Lehigh University, for his paper on “Light Structural Alloys.” ACHESONMEDAL-Awarded by the American Electrochemical Society to Edward G. Acheson, of the Acheson Graphite Co., for outstanding accomplishments in the electrochemical field, particularly the invention of carborundum and artificial graphite. JOHN SCOTTMEDALof the City of Philadelphia to C. P. Dubbs, originator of the Dubbs cracking process, for the discovery and development of a process for economically producing gasoline on a large scale. GOLDMEDALof the Society of Apothecaries of London to John J. Abel, of the Johns Hopkins University. HANBURY MEDALof the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain to Henry H. Rusby, of Columbia University, for
Vol. 22, No. 1
investigations in the field of botanical drugs in the river delta regions of the Amazon and in Colombia. COLWYN MEDALof the Institution of the Rubber Industry of Great Britain to G. Stafford Whitby, of McGill University, for services bearing on the improvement or development of rubber manufacture or production. GOLDMEDALOF HONORof the University of Hamburg to Francis G. Benedict, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. COPLEY MEDALof the Royal Society to Max Planck, of the University of Berlin, for originating the quantum theory. DAVYMEDALof the Royal Society to G. N. Lewis, of the Cniversity of California, for his contributions t o classical thermodynamics and the theory of chemical valence. ELLIOTT CRESSONGOLDMEDALof the Franklin Institute to Sir James C. Irvine, of the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
Distillate Yields in Cracking’ Stephen A. Kiss S T A N D A R D OIL
DEVELOPMENT C O M P A N Y , 26
B R O A D W A Y , K E W YoRK,
N. Y.
The law of the monomolecular reaction velocity has Note-Equation 1 and the enN PRESENTING some suing formula for x may be found in been applied to the calculation of distillate yields in formulas t h a t h a v e any textbook on physical chemistry. cracking. Several formulas have been developed coverp r o v e d satisfactory for The derivation has been repeated ing three types of cases: cracking without by-products the calculation of d i s t i l l a t e here on account of its close connec(Formulas 2 and 3), cracking with by-products (Formution with the following deductions. yields in the most important las 5, 8, and 9) ; and cracking with by-products and sectypes of cracking operations, If we agree to measure the ondary decomposition (Formulas 6 and 7). it is noteworthy that but a time in minutes and substiSome formulas (9 to 12) have been established giving single theoretical assumption tute 100 for xoJthen the perthe cracking rate as function of the temperature. in coniunction w i t h s o m e centage of cracked product well-known empirical facts is a t the end of t minutes is sufficient for the treatment of the problem. This assumption obtained by the formula is that cracking consists primarily in the decomposition of x = 100 (1 - e+t) (2) heavy hydrocarbon molecules into lighter ones by the law of The percentage y of uncracked product is equal to x, - 2, the monomolecular reaction velocity. or
I
Note-It is common experience in cracking that, not only lighter products than the original, but also heavier ones are invariably formed. The heavier products, however, are due to secondary reactions, such as polymerization of highly unsaturated light products, etc. The problem of calculating their yield will not be taken up in this paper.
The number of molecules, therefore, which undergo decomposition during a short period of time, dt, will be proportional to dt. Furthermore, if there are twice as many heavy molecules present, the number decomposed will be doubled. Therefore, if z designates the number of light molecules a t a given time, zo the original number of heavy molecules, and one heavy molecule decomposes into n lighter ones, then dz = k (BZ,
- Z ) dt
where k is a constant. Since nro and z are proportional to.the weights (or volumes) x. and x, respectively, the above equation may also be written d x = k (x,,
- X) dt
(1)
When x o - x = 1 and dt = 1, then dx = k. Therefore, k means the amount by weight (or volume) of cracked product formed in unit time from unit weight (or volume) of uncracked material. We shall call the constant k the cracking rate. The above equation gives on integration log ( x ,
and since t
=
- X)
x = xo (1 1 Received
= kt
+c
0, x = 0, it follows that C = log xo and October 25, 1929.
- e-kt)
y = 100 e-kt
(3)
For infinite time of cracking (t = 00) these formulas give y = 0 and 2 = 100, which means total cracking. Thus far we have assumed that only one kind of product, x,was formed during the cracking. However, it is a practical experience that a whole series of them are formed. When cracking a heavy stock-e. g., gas oil-there will be produced kerosene, gasoline, and gas. On further cracking, the kerosene decomposes similarly to the gas oil and yields gasoline, but the gas no longer yields gasoline, with the result that the yield of the latter does not reach 100 per cent on total cracking as required by Formula 2. With this in view the problem may then be treated as follows: When a stock y yields, in addition to a product x, another product, XI,which does not decompose into x on further cracking, then a t a certain time, t, the amount of the stocky will be 100 - (x 2‘). Reasoning as in the deduction of Equation 1, we find that
+
d x = k [lo0
and
- (X + x i ) ] d t
dxi = ki [lo0
-
(X
+ xi)]dt
where k and kl are, respectively, the cracking rates relative to the products x and xl. Adding these two equations we get dx
+ dxi = d ( x +
XI) =
(k
+ hi) [lo0 - + x i ) ] d t (X
which shows that the sum of the products 2 and x1follows the law of monomolecular reaction expressed in Equation 1. Hence by Formula 2,
