INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERISG CHEMISTRY
September, 1924
Scandinavian Letter By C. H.A. Robak HORTEN, NORWAY
THENITROGEN INDUSTRY The Norwegian production of synthetic nitrates is likely t o be considerably increased in the near future. At present negotiations are in progress between the Royal Department for Public Works and the Norsk Hydro-Elektrisk Kvaelstofaktieselskap, the latter on certain conditions offering to buy the power of a Government water-power plant a t Glomfjord with a capacity of 100,000 horsepower, for the purpose of manufacturing calcium nitrate by the Birkeland-Eyde process. Notwithstanding the competition of the German synthetic ammonia industry, the nitrate market is now rather favorable. If this new plant is built, the production will be increased by approximately 40,000 tons nitrate a year, being now about 100,000 tons. NEW POSSIBILITIES
FOR THE PRODUCTION O F PYRITES
At present the production of pyrites in Scandinavia is very low. Not a single mine can be worked with profit. The cause is not so much the competition of the Spanish pyrites as the new methods employed in the sulfur mines of Texas, making the sulfur quite as cheap as pyrites for use in the sulfuric acid industry. In a recent article in Teknisk Ukeblad a-mining engineer, Kirsebom, points to the new possibility appearing through the development of the so-called Eustis process, which aims to produce electrolytic iron from the pyrites, from which an eventual copper content is separated by a new efficient flotation process, and sulfur is obtained as a by-product. With a possible production of 1,000,000 tons a year of pyrites, nearly 300,000 tons of iron and 400,000 tuns of sulfur can be produced in this way.
R E$STABLISHMENT
OF
ARSENICORE PRODUCTION
The world’s demand for arsenic has been increasing for some time owing to the extensive use of arsenic trioxide in agriculture, and so the prices on arsenic ores have shown a rising tendency. I n northern Norway there are several large deposits of arsenopyrites containing 25 to 35 per cent of arsenic. After the war it was not possible to work the mines with a profit., but recent higher prices caused a change in this situation, and the owners will start working some of the mines in the near future. It has not been decided, however, whether the ore is to be exported as such or in the form of manufactured arsenic. OIL FROM BITUMINOUS COALSOF SPITZBERGEN On the Arctic isles of Spitzbergen, which recently have become a Norwegian dominion, are located a great many rich coal deposits. The coals appear in various qualities, one of which, the coals from the Kings Bay mines, has turned out to be typical cannel coal with a rather high content of ashes and sulfur, but nevertheless very promising as a material for obtaining oil as a by-product by burning in producers. Technical experiments are now going on a t the power plant of the Sydvaranger mining company a t Kirkenes in Finmarken, particularly aiming to produce an oil which can replace the solar oil used as a motor fuel by the fleet of fishing vessels. AMMISRICAN INVESTMENT IN THE ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY Recently a reorganization has been accomplished within a great aluminium company in Norway, the Hoyangfalclene. The company’s factories were built during the war and got too expensive. Then the raw material had to be imported from France, and during the war it was impossible to get a license for exportation of aluminium oxide from that country. So the company could make no profit from the high prices, and when peace time arrived and raw materials could be had the capital was lost and the prices dropped. The company has striven against the economical difficulties till this year, when some American moncy was invested in the enterprise, buying half of the aluminium factories whereas the original company still owns the other half as well as the appurtenant water-power plant. The production is now about 6000 tons of aluminium a year and can be increased to 10,000 tons.
EVALUATION OF WHALEOIL Each year huge quantities of whale oil are carried to Norway from various places on the globe by the Norwegian whalers. The finest qualities of this oil can be refined to a high-grade solid fat by hydrogenation and can then be used as a human food-in
979
margarine and pastry. During the fat emergency of the war practically all the margarine consumed in Norway was manufactured from hydrogenated whale oil, and although most people in those days would turn up their noses a t the “whale taste,” the refining processes have now reached such a degree of perfection that I find myself wondering if we do not now eat more whale fat in our margarine and pastry than we should like to know. One of the large hydrogenation factories which for a couple of years has been out of work owing to economic troubles, recently has been started again with fresh capital invested by the whaling companies.
“TITAN WHITE,”A NEW WHITE PAINT Two Norwegian chemists have developed a process by which the black material ilenite can be transformed into an intensively white powder consisting of titanium dioxide. A large factory has been built and the new paint is now conquering the world market because of its superiority in covering value and durability, although it costs a little more than lead and zinc white. I n the United States a similar process has been worked out independently by American chemists, who have started the production in the States. The Norwegian and American companies have agreed to divide the market between them, the latter covering the two American continents while the former takes care of the rest of the world market. July 31, 1924
Tokyo Letter By
I(.Kashima
792, IKEBUKURO, N E A R TOKYO, JAPAN
LIMITATION O F DYESTUFFS IMPORTS Since the Great War the dyestuff industry of Japan has made great progress. About twenty important dyes of good quality are being supplied by the domestic dye companies. She therefore needs to import only about 2,500,000 pounds of special dyes from foreign countries. The dye industry plays an important role in t h e organic chemical industry and also in the national defense of every country. It is therefore natural t h a t every country is striving to develop this industry. Europe was a central market for. the dyes, but now the balance is changed. The oriental market is being disturbed by the dumping of the foreign dyes. Therefore, the Japanese Government has wisely taken the policy to protect her dye industry. An ordinance was issued from the Agricultural and Commercial Department requiring merchants who wish to import coal-tar dyes and chemicals derived from fractionally distilled compounds from coal tar, except medicines and phenol, to get permission from the minister of the department. The substances limited are as follows (the numbers correspond to those given in the table of the Japanese Customs Tariff Law): No. 135, artificial musk; No. 1607, salicylic acid; No. 203, saccharin; No. 215, chemical compounds derived from fractionally distilled compounds from coal tar, among which are perfumes, with the exception of benzaldehyde, nitrobenzene and nitrotoluene, phenol, salicylic acid, Bakelite, and medicines; No. 221, p-naphthol, methyl and ethyl ethers, cinnamic acid, benzyl and salicylic esters, etc. ; No. 237, artificial indigo; and No. 243, other coal-tar dyes. JAPAN’S
PAPERINDUSTRY
Since olden times Japan has been manufacturing her own special papers. Among these we can mention “Torinoko,” which because of its durability was used for printing the Versailles Treaty. This paper is considered to be an art production like British esparto paper. Its manufacture needs special material and technic and the amount of production is therefore limited. Japan is consuming a large amount of papers manufactured by her own and by foreign methods. The former production is called “washi” (Japanese paper), while the latter, “ybshi” (foreign paper). There is a tendency for the production of “ybshi” to exceed that of “washi,” since “pen and ink” is taking the place of “hair pencil and India ink,” and the modern printing is almost limited to “ybshi.” The amount of match paper and colored paper is decreasing. Perhaps in the near future almost all papers will be manufactured by modern mechanical methods. Since the war Japan’s paper exports have greatly increased as is shown in the following table:
b
I N D U X T R I S L A Y D ENGI-VEERI-VG CHEXISTRY
980
Export Import (Unit 1000 oounds) 13,334 56,241 16,282 59,270 18,193 41,308 30,910 19,957 62,744 28,538 65,321 13,163 70,819 28,306 59,086 46,603 54,446 46,810 57,731 37,063 56,306 92,627
1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922
About 45 per cent of “y6shi” manufactured is used for newspaper and a considerable proportion is used for printing paper and high-quality printing paper. The classified production of “ybshi” in 1923 is as follows: 1000 Pounds Paper for news. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330,149 Printing p a p e r . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108,443 High-quality printing paper. . . . . . . . . . . . . 100,915 Imitated “Torinoko”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,798 Wrapping p a p e r . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,029 Roll p a p e r . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,796 “Renshi-TBshi” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,403 .... 9,125 Match p a p e r . , . . . . . . . ., ,. 8,872 Colored paper, . . . . . . . Miscellaneous. . . . . . . . . . . . 57,974
Printing paper was imported from the following countries in 1921: 1000 Pounds Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4296 4162 United States.. Germany. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3778 Great Britain. . . . . . . . 2417 Norway.. . . . . . . . . . . 99 Canada. . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 936
.......
Although some special papers are manufactured from the paper mulberry and Edgeworthia chrysantha, the material for manufacturing these papers is mainly pulp made from fir and larch, etc., produced in Hokkaido, Kabafuto, the foot of the Mt. Fuji, etc. A large amount of pulp is being imported from Canada. A t present the method of rqanufacturing paper in Japan is greatly improved, and almost all papers except heavy paper such as is used to cover books are manufactured. Recently a company was started for making Kraft paper, which will be put on the market this year. A corporation has been formed by twelve paper-making companies, and is manufacturing about 90 per cent of the total production. JAPAN’SCOALPROBLEM Electric power is gradually taking the place of coal in every direction. Japan may be mentioned as one of the countries rich in hydroelectricity. The hydroelectricity utilized a t present is about 1,000,000 kilowatt-hours, which corresponds to 6,000,000 tons of coal. The annual consumption of coal is as follows: Railroads. ...................... Ships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Manufacturing iron. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Salt industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Miscellaneous industries, . . . . . . . . .
Tons 3,200,000 5,000,000 2,200,000 800,000 12,000,000
TOTAL.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,200,000
I n addition, coal is used for manufacturing coal gas, dyes, paints, medicines, and as domestic fuels, etc. There are also heat-engine power stations in small towns, whose power is about 490,000 kilowatt-hours and corresponds to 2,940,000 tons of coal, and whose chief source of power is coal. The total production of coal in recent years is as follows : Production 1897 1907 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923
5,230 13,840 23,902 26,361 28,029 31,271 29,245 26,221 27,702 28,678
Import Export (Unit 1000 tons) 77 2123 36 2972 556 3017 713 2813 2197 768 700 2001 797 2130 777 2388 1691 1169 1651 1574
Consumption 4,091 10,858 18,579 20,707 23,026 24,801 25,665 24,610 27,180 28,762
As shown above, the annual production of coal is gradually increasing, and it will be seen that the production is doubling every ten years, comparing those of 1897, 1907, and 1917. Its maximum amount o€ production, according to an economist, will be about 35,000,000 tons. On the other hand, the
Vol. 16, No. 9
consumption is also increasing and it is expected that the amount will reach 50,000,000 tons within ten years. According to the report of the Agricultural and Commercial Department, the amount of coal buried is about 8,700,000,000 tons, among which the utilizable amount will be about 3,700,000,000 tons. Up t o 1923, about 300,000,000 tons had been mined. I n Manchuria, the South Manchurian Railway Company is mining in Bujun about 5,500,000 tons annually, but this amount will be increased t o 7,000,000 tons in near future. The Sant6 Mining Company has opened their works in the District of Santb, and their production is expected t o be about 800,000 tons. A part of the coal from these mines will be imported to Japan for controlling her production. July 2S, 1924
Washington Letter MILLS APPOIXTEDCHIEP CHEMISTFOR C. W.
S
The Chemical Warfare Service is t o be congratulated upon its selection of John E. Mills as chief chemist. He received his chemical education in the South, but soon after the war broke out he resigned his professorship in a southern university, and early in the fall of 1917 entered the Chemical Warfare Service, being one of the very first officers in the First Gas Regiment. He was designated as engineer officer for the regiment. I n that capacity he served throughout the war. He went to France with the Headquarters in January, 1918, and as a consequence into training with the British at their headquarters for training gas troops at Helfaut in northern France. Within a month Captain Mills was in the front-line trenches with the British. After the war closed. he returned t o his position as professor of chemistry in the University of South Carolina, where he remained until July, 1923, when he accepted the position of technical adviser or chief of the Technical Division at Edgewood Arsenal. I n May, 1924, he was sent to Europe, where he spent three months visiting England, France, and Germany. A t one time, Dr. Mills owned and managed a small cotton plantation. This knowledge is of particular value a t this time when the Chemical Warfare Service is charged with experiments looking to the further control or elimination of the cotton boll weevil. Dr. Mills brings to the Chemical Warfare Service a knowledge that no othpr man possesses. Starting out as a highly trained research chemist and teacher, he had the good fortune to go through the entire war with the Gas Regiment on duty a t Headquarters. That duty brought him in contact with every battle and phase of training. H e thus learned at first hand an extremely practical use of gas in the field. His work of the past three years in the technical direction and coordination of chemical research a t Edgewood has given him the deepest and broadest possible knowledge of the work now being carried on at Edgewood. Dr. Mills was not only the first choice of the chief of the Chemical Warfare Service for the position of chief chemist, recently made vacant, but was the unanimous choice of the Committee of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SDCIETY Advisory to the War Department. PART
Iv
OF THE
NITROGENSURVEY
This report, prepared b y Harry A. Curtis, of the Bureau or Foreign and Domestic Commerce, will be issued in the near future as a Trade Information Bulletin. It discusses the principal features of the nitrogen situation in a number of European countries. The rapid growth of the air-nitrogen industry in Europe is making fundamental changes in the position of the United States in the nitrogen market. Chile has long been the chief exporter of fixed nitrogen. Within recent years, however, because of the development of the airnitrogen industry, and the relatively small domestic demand, Norway’s exports of fixed nitrogen have exceeded her imports. Great Britain likewise exports more fixed nitrogen than she imports, having but a moderate agricultural demand and a relatively large production of by-product nitrogen from the coal and gas industry. Since the war, Germany has been practically selfsustaining with regard to fixed nitrogen, although under stable economic conditions she would probably become an exporter of nitrogen. Most of the more thickly populated countries of the world are buyers of fixed nitrogen in the world market, and even where domestic sources of supply h a r e been developed, the increasing domestic demands of agriculture and industry have usually more than absorbed the supply. The nitrogen situation
