LABORATORY OF THE MONTH
The first laboratory-pilot plant unit to be built opened in September 1960. Laboratory is on left and pilot plant is on right. This is the main lab where basic research is conducted. Last year a second lab—pilot plant unit was finished; eventually there will be five such units
Hoechst Assembles Its Diverse Research Activities •""PARING S H A P E J U S T SOUTH OF T H E M A I N R I V E R a few
miles west of F r a n k f u r t , G e r m a n y , is F a r b w e r k e Hoechst's new research center. Slated eventually t o house t h e firm's entire research effort in a 2.5-millionsquare-foot complex, the center now contains two completed laboratory buildings together with their connected pilot wings. Total cost of each building with its pilot plant was D M 13 million (about $3.25 million). T h e cost of t h e entire center is expected t o run about D M 150 million ( a b o u t $37.5 million). M a i n idea behind t h e center is t o concentrate Hoechst's research efforts in one area. Before, some (500 scientists worked i n 50 different buildings scattered throughout a 1.5 square-kilometer manufacturing site on the n o r t h b a n k of the M a i n River. T h e new site on t h e south b a n k , a virgin area, will give seclusion, shield researchers from t h e turmoil of production. A t t h e same time, i t will free badly needed areas for production. T h o u g h isolated, t h e center is readily accessible from t h e p a r e n t site across t h e river by a companyowned bridge. T h e basic plan calls for five identical l a b - p i l o t p l a n t units for basic research a n d for research on inorganic chemicals a n d nitrogen fertilizers, dyes a n d intermediates, plastics a n d petrochemicals, and plastic fiber and sheet. These, plus pharmaceuticals, represent Hoechst's m a i n products. T h e plan also includes a chemotherapeutic a n d virological lab, agricultural research building, analytical lab, and a chemical engineering complex. T h e basic lab unit within each building is a t w o - m a n l a b o r a t o r y designed for two chemists and their five a s sistants. T h e r e are 12 such units on each floor, 36 per building. I n addition, each t w o - m a n unit has a soundproofed writing room and a special-purpose room along side. A b o u t 110 sq. meters of usable floor space a r e available in each t w o - m a n lab.
Hoechst settled on two-man labs as its basic unit for several reasons. Such a l a b gives t h e chemist a place where he can work more quietly t h a n in a large lab. H e can develop his own approach without interference. A t the same time, he doesn't become a hermit. H e can exchange ideas with his l a b mate. T h e t w o - m a n l a b also permits continuous manning and is thus safer t h a n a one-man unit might be, the company feels. Although the firm has standardized its basic lab unit, it also has provided for a great deal of flexibility. F o r example, walls c a n be arranged in different ways a n d various layouts are possible. T h e middle row of supporting columns (there are three) is mounted off center to permit variable dimensions. And between two fixed twin l a b benches is a t e m p o r a r y or movable bench which can be replaced with floor-to-ceiling scaffolding. Hoechst hopes flexibility such as this will allow its l a b to meet new and changing requirements. T h e c o m p a n y n o t only h a s standardized its basic layout, b u t also uses standardized a n d prefabricated construction throughout. F o r instance, t h e buildings themselves a r e constructed from prefab concrete sections. And all lab benches, hoods, tiling, and pipelines, together with insulation, are prefab. Such standardized construction, of course, helps reduce costs. Also, standardized layouts m a k e i t easier t o switch personnel around. Supplementing t h e large s t a t i o n a r y a n d movable benches a r e t w o small window benches, one for each chemist. Here, with 85 chemicals ( a t least one import a n t chemical from each group) a t his fingertips, t h e chemist can perform micro-scale experiments t o t r y out new ideas. Prof. D r . Werner Schultheis, V.P. for r e search a t Hoechst, feels t h a t 2 0 % of all ideas a r e n o t tried because the chemicals are not a t hand. Safety, too, h a s been stressed. I n addition to t h e VOL. 35, NO. 1, JANUARY 1963
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usual hoods, showers, blankets, and the like, Hoechst has incorporated a number of its own ideas. F o r ex ample, v a c u u m vents are located at intervals along t h e benches to draw off s t r a y fumes. Chemicals are n o t stored on shelves in the middle of the benches, b u t in cupboards a t the side. Analytical work is carried out in a m a i n analytical lab on the north side of the river and in small analytical labs located on each floor of each lab block and in each pilot plant. The m a i n lab, stocked with such equipment as I R a n d mass spectrometers, electron microscopes, and C—Η—Ο analysis units, handles special problems. T h e master plan calls for a new analytical lab a t t h e research center. B u t the present facility, still relatively new, will s t a y in service some time yet. T h e small labs are designed to handle routine analyses and are equipped with instruments specific to the particular needs of the area served. Connected by a closed passage to each s t a n d a r d lab building is a pilot plant where experiments between one gallon and 250 liters are run. (Upper limit in the 88 A
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t w o - m a n labs is 1 gallon.) These buildings, 48.5 meters long, 18.5 meters wide, and 23 meters high also have three floors. Again, flexibility is the keynote. T h e floors, for ex ample, consist of a number of concrete plates, each about one square meter in size, sealed with special re movable sealing material. These plates can easily be removed to accommodate tall equipment. A n d support ing framework for equipment and w a l k w a y s is assembled from erector-set-like parts. T h e new research center goes back to 1957 when Hoechst m a n a g e m e n t gave the go-ahead. F r o m then on, it was typical G e r m a n thoroughness; nothing was left to chance. A study group including construction engineers, architects, builders, and heating, ventilating, a n d power engineers was set u p . This group, collaborat ing with experienced chemists, developed the Hoechst lab a r r a n g e m e n t now in use. T h e group set u p a prototype lab in 1957 and gave Hoechst chemists a y e a r to examine it, pick it apart, and voice their opinions.
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FAR LEFT Partially built pilot plant building shows the removable concrete plates or slabs, each about 1 sq. meter in size. These can be removed for tall equipment FAR RIGHT Two-man lab shown here is almost com pletely built. Note the twin stationary benches with the movable bench in between and the louvre ceiling ABOVE Finished two-man lab shows how the movable bench can be altered. In this case, half of the space is taken up by scaffolding. To make the appropriate hook ups, there is a service compartment in the floor, contain ing four connections for power and a drainage outlet. In the ceiling there is a junction box. There are also screw sockets in floor and ceiling for holders that are needed LEFT Small analytical labs are located on each floor of each lab block. This one is located in the main lab. Analytical work connected with catalytic research is con ducted here. From left to right, the instruments are: Bausch & Lomb Spectronic 505 (partially visible); PerkinElmer Infracord (made in England); two Perkin-Elmer Vapor Fraktometers, Model 116 Ε (made in Germany); Beckman GC-2 Gas Chromatograph and two strip-chart recorders
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Along w i t h t h e building p r o g r a m a new research organization has been evolving. T h e research division (Sparte V I a t Hoechst) is broken down into six sections, —one for basic research, a n d five corresponding to t h e five H o e c h s t production divisions, or " S p a r t e n . " The heads of these sparte-research sections are responsible to b o t h t h e research director a n d t h e h e a d of each cor responding production division. B u t , in addition to these scientists doing divisional research, t h e research director h a s a group of n e a r l y 100 chemists in t h e basic research lab. These m e n are responsible only to t h e director. T h i s group contains four topflight experts in some field of divisional r e search, a lower echelon of 11 more special advisers in sparte research, a n d a m a i n group of 85 chemists. T h i s basic research group is a flexible t e a m t h a t does both general basic research and s p a r t e research. It's designed to give Prof. D r . Schultheis a set of divisional research t e a m s in m i n i a t u r e which will help him keep his finger on t h e research pulse. A t t h e same time, it provides for cross-fertilization of ideas.
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3 5 , N O . 1 , JANUARY 1 9 6 3
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