Thus, according to FDA's interpretation of the color additive amendments to the 1960 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the agency can disapprove of the petitions and order production stopped. Why FDA probably won't is part of the legal tangle. This past January, Judge H. R. Tyler, Jr., of Federal District Court in New York, ruled against FDA's interpretation of the amendments. In effect, Judge Tyler said the industry was not legally bound to supply such formulas. He said if Congress meant them to, the amendments would clearly have said so. FDA has appealed. It says the combination of additive plus formula could itself pose a safety threat. The federal regulators continue to insist on formula data. At press time the petitions had not reached FDA, although Mr. Goulden thought the deadline would be met. TGA, through a contract with Hazleton Laboratories of Falls Church, Va., is completing some toxicity studies of these compounds.
Air Products to build large H 2 and CO plant at La Porte In the midst of the Houston Ship Channel's growing chemical and petrochemical industries, Air Products & Chemicals, Inc., is building what may well be the largest hydrogen- and carbon monoxide-generating facility in the U.S. aimed solely at the merchant market. Although production and capacity figures for the $6 million La Porte, Tex., plant have not been disclosed, the plant's location attests to the mounting interest of chemical producers in getting their industrial gas supplies by pipeline. The plant will go on stream in two stages. Hydrogen startup is slated for September, carbon monoxide for early 1969, according to William R. Kerler, Air Products' marketing manager for process industries. The pipelines from the plant will be laid as required by the customer. Plans call for eventual extension of the lines south into the Bayport area, and west to the western end of the Houston Ship Channel. Also, merchant liquid carbon monoxide facilities will be installed from which distribution will be made throughout the U.S. by tank trucks. The base-load customers will be Du Pont and Upjohn. Each has signed a long-term contract, but neither will discuss its contract duration or the quantity of gas being bought from the Air Products facility. Du Pont will use hydrogen in a new
process to make tetrahydrofuran (THF) which will be based on raw materials derived from petroleum. THF, sometimes used as a chemical intermediate, is widely used as a solvent in making plastic products, transparent films, adhesives, cements, and printing inks. Upjohn's polymer chemical division, also located in the Houston suburb, will buy carbon monoxide to make phosgene, which is used in making polyisocyanates. Upjohn's plant is located on the Houston Ship Channel about a half mile from the Air Products facility. Although the hydrogen and carbon monoxide plants in the complex will be somewhat similar to those built by other companies, such as Sun Olin, Borden, Rohm and Haas, and Mobay, the cryogenic purification of the carbon monoxide will be accomplished by an Air Products process, Mr. Kerler says. Basically, the La Porte complex will include three reforming furnaces which react steam with natural gas to make a crude mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. After preliminary treatment of the crude stream, the unit, designed and built by Air Products, will separate the gases to about 99% purity. In an alternate process,
Mr. Kerler points out, hydrogen can be made without using the cryogenic unit. This could be useful if a customer wants lower-purity hydrogen (97%, for example) or if the cryogenic unit is shut down. Prices of the hydrogen and carbon monoxide produced in the new facility will take advantage of economy of scale—one large plant with low unit costs to serve the needs of a number of chemical and petrochemical companies, Mr. Kerler says. Thus, even customers who use small quantities of the gases will get the benefits of a large facility. Air Products feels that it will have a competitive edge over other producers of the gases, considering availability of raw materials, proprietary process, scale economics, and methods of delivery, for example, by pipeline. The company says that when volumes and purity are comparable, its hydrogen will compete in cost with refinery hydrogen. The price of refinery hydrogen varies depending on volumes, purity, and the availability of off-gas, Air Products says. Meanwhile, Air Products is negotiating with potential customers in the area and with some interested in locating there.
First ACS publication on microfilm delivered Forty-five volumes of JACS on 16-mm. microfilm have been delivered to Allied Chemical Corp., initial subscriber to the new ACS service, as the first step in making available all of the ACS publications on microfilm. The entire ACS backlog of more than 800,000 pages will be available on microfilm by September of this year. Here, Catherine B. McKee demonstrates how the film is used in a readerprinter to Charles L. Morris, Allied Chemical's corporate research administrator; Dr. Richard L Kenyon, ACS Director of Planning for Information Systems; and George G. Kazan, Allied Chemical's corporate director, research and development.
JUNE 10, 1968 C&EN
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