VOLUME24 NUMBER 5
Industrial AND ENGINEERING Chemistry
MAY 1932
J
HARRISONE. HOWE,EDITOR
The Editor’s Point of View
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OMMERCIALIZING RESEARCH., Chemical engineering moves forward little by little through the efforts of many men who are forced by circumstances to hide their lights under the bushel of plant secrecy. Yet an occasional glimpse of what has been done within the confines of manufacturing plants gives one a distinct impression of the rapid strides being made in commercializing research. Such a glimpse into the hydrogenation of petroleum yields striking evidence of accomplishment in a young industry, illustrative of progress in many others. A catalyst in its chamber promoting the hydragenation of oil has been continuously in operation for a full year under a pressure of more than three thousand pounds per square inch and a t a temperature higher than seven hundred degrees Fahrenheit without a moment’s interruption ! A catalyst sufficiently active to be commercially useful, yet so inert to poisoning as to continue efficient for such a period, is an event in catalysis. A metal for the construction of the chamber, capable of continuously withstanding the severe strains of such performance, was unknown a very few years ago. In addition to this remarkable development, the preparation of hydrogen for this operation by an industrially new process possesses points of distinct interest. Although hydrogenation is yet considered, in terms of the petroleum industry, to be on merely a large pilot-plant scale, its hydrogen requirement has already reached a point equal to that of a hundred-ton synthetic ammonia plant. The process is based on the catalytic reaction in two stages between steam and hydrocarbon gases, the first stage yielding carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and the second converting the monoxide into easily removable carbon dioxide. This operation has now been conducted in the first commercial unit without interruption for a period of sixteen months. Interesting as these processes are in thernselves, a broader and much more important conclusion to be drawn from these facts about them relates to the rapid progress ofAmerican chemical engineering. The technic involved goes far beyond these particular applications. Not only those directly interested, but the whole profession of chemistry and chemical engineering has just 419
reason for pride in such accomplishments and the promise they give of the future. D.H. KILLEFFER
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H E CHEMICAL APPROACH. Many stubborn problems have successfully resisted attacks made frpm a single vantage point, only to yield when approached from a fresh angle and when the attacking party has been equipped with new theories and data. The outstanding examples of this class are to be found in the field of medicine. No one has a more difficult subject with which to work than has the medical man, for we know something of the extremely fine balance that characterizes the human mechanism. It is not surprising, therefore, that the physician is rarely a good chemist as well. Where, fortunately, such a combination is found in a single individual, great things may be confidently expected. In our own generation we have found encouraging evidence that the medical man appreciates more than ever what chemistry can contribute, and proceeds to make the most of it. It is to be regretted that in some quarters there is still resistance, and apparently the feeling that no good can come out of any other profession. Papers before the National Academy of Sciences and in the Journal of Physical Chemistry have disclosed details of a remarkable experiment that has been under way in Ithaca, N. Y., where, with the active coiiperation of Wilder D. Bancroft, an effort has been made at a local hospital to attack from a new point of view those diseases caused by protein disturbances. Apparently some disorders are due to a too highly dispersed protein condition in the cell, while others are attributable to a state of excessive coagulation. Some of the latter are believed to be addiction, alcoholism, and possibly asthma and hay fever. Following experiments with the lower animals, a confirmed case of addiction was located in December and the subject found willing to undergo the experiment. After three weeks, the habit appeared to be effectively broken. This case has been reported in the literature. Since then many more cases have been treated, but the number has not yet
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reached the arbitrary one hundred, without which the medical fraternity is not prepared to take the experiments seriously. The chemical compound used is sodium rhodanate. The chemist, who knows this as sodium thiocyanate, wonders why the older term is used, and the complete answer is that it avoids any possible confusion with sodium cyanate or with any of the cyanides. This is important, especially when the term may be employed by those inaccurate in their chemical phraseology. Fifty years ago the rhodanates were applied, but no distinction was made between potassium and sodium. Bancroft and his associates have found only the sodium salt useful for this purpose. The potassium salt cannot be safely used. There was also a reluctance to administer enough of the salt. One-half gram a day was previously thought to be the maximum. I n these later experiments, as much as four grams a day have been used with adults without hazard. Because they are not chemists and have dificulty in appreciating the value of this chemical approach to the problem, many physicians have been reluctant to cooperate, or are even adverse to the experiment. What has been done clearly indicates the great value of the undertaking. I t also emphasizes the need for the simultaneous attack of these diseases by the chemist, the physician, and the psychiatrist. No one of the three can expect victory unaided. The concept of the chemist as to the reactions involved and the provision of the necessary reagents is essential to the success of the enterprise. The supervision of a physician of the research type with broad modern training is an obvious Zequirement. In cases of addiction and similar diseases, it is recognized that psychological exercises and supervised mental hygiene must follow complete withdrawal, if the patient is to develop a healthy and normal set of new habits. But it seems that the first essential is the chemical approach to some of these age-old problems.
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UCCESS CAN BREAK YOU. Chemists should
understand the sound economics of industry. Without deserting their scientific standards they should give attention to such thoughtful and important matters as are being ably presented to the various sections of the SOCIETY by President Redman. We only wish that their employers might also sit a t the feet of this able interpreter of the economics of chemical research for industry and absorb his words of wisdom, as do the members of the various sections fortunate enough to hear him. Industry more often “goes broke” on its successes than on its failures in research. This seems paradoxical; but it is clearly demonstrated by a striking set of curves used to stress the effect of chemical investigation upon expenditure and profit. President Redman shows, for example, that the conduct of the research
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rarely requires more than ten to fifteen per cent of the expenditure which will be essential by the end of the industrial development. Hence, it is not the success of the research, but the cost of developing it to a commercial scale, which depletes the resources of a chemical enterprise. And, if such successful researches follow each other in too rapid succession, it is obvious that the financial demands of development may become excessive. Indeed, they may grow beyond the capacity of even the most prosperous companies to meet without delay. A recognition of this factor-the cost of translating successful research into profit-making business-is important to chemists. It will explain why at times employers seem loath to undertake new projects, even when they promise most encouraging results. And still more clearly it explains why the successful investigation cannot always be carried forward at once through plant development and product-marketing to full commercial fruition. I t is proper for the chemist to be ambitious, to be aggressive in fostering his ideas, and to seek the application of his results for profit-making business; but it is equally important that he take account of those items of cost which lie beyond the completion of his laboratory investigations. He should have sympathy with, and understanding of, the management’s financial responsibility. He should be willing at times to sit comparatively idle and see his successful brain child apparently neglected like an orphan. This probably will not be the desire, but may be the necessity of his management. In such a case the chemist should bide his time and not be unduly discouraged by the restraining laws of economics, which are just as compelling as those of physical science.
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T
HE DIBASIC ACIDS. The progress of syn-
thesis is marked by the availability in commerce, one after the other, of a number of compounds, some of which but yesterday were placed in the museums. Succinic acid is already an article of commerce and has proved interesting as one of the raw materials in the ever-expanding field of synthetic resins. We are soon to see glutaric and adipic acids marketed in substantial quantities. One of the leading chemical manufacturers is already producing these higher molecular products in small quantities and it is anticipated that adipic acid will shortly be available a t a price in the neighborhood of 50 cents per pound. It is believed to have resin possibilities, among other uses. The rapid transition from museum curiosity to a raw material for the chemical industry, offered in great quantity, is repeatedly borne in upon us. We must think of raw materials in terms of properties, and it would appear that, if the demand is suficiently insistent, they will be forthcoming.
