THE CHEMÏCAL WORLD THIS WEEK
INDUSTRY
"WJMACa-TICALS
)
H E T ' t n O E CHWRrOE
Bottom Bend. Subsequently, National Aniline, an associate division, started construction of a plant for manufacture of nitrobenzene a n d aniline o n a site adjacent to the Solvay c h l o r i n e installation. Later (C&EN, Dec. 8, 1952, p a g e 5158) National Aniline started construction o n a maleic a n h y d r i d e a n d fumaric acid plant. T h e projected p l a n t for Solvay marks its entrance into a n e w field of organic chlorinated chemical products. The plant will have facilities to p r o d u c e methylene chloride, methyl chloride, chloroform·, and carbon tetrachloride. Solvay's chlorine-caustic soda plant, which is expected to b e completed late this fall, will supply t h e chlorine required lor the chlorinated m e t h a n e products.
W. R. Grace Acquires Thurston Fertilizer
C1HBOH TETRACHLORIDE
Present uses of chlorinated methanes
Solvay Plans Methyl Chloride at Moundsville Chlorinated methane products are t h e most recent ones planned by Solvay Process Division for Moundsville, W . Va. It is expected t h a t investment for b u i l d ings and equipment will exceed $2 million and that construction will b e completed in about 10 months. T h e plant will b e located on property already owned b y t h e parent company. Solvay's chlorinated methane products constitute the fourth development in Allied Chemical and Dye's construction program in this area. Initial project publicized over a year ago (C&EN, J a n . 2 8 , 1952, p a g e 3 3 2 ) comprised the large chlorine-caustic soda plant now being completed at Round
Negotiations have been completed toward the acquisition of the business of Thurston Chemical Co., b y W . R. Crace & Co. Each 2.29 shares of Thurston stock will b e exchanged for 1 s h a r e of Grace. Thurston is a m a n u f a c t u r e r a n d distributor of superphosphate fertilizers and mixed commercial fertilizers in t h e Middle West. T h e concern's plants are located in Atlas a n d Trenton, M o . , W e s t T u l s a , Okla., and Lawrence, Kan. W h e n this m o v e is approved b y the stockholders of T h u r s t o n Chemical, William R. Thurston, c o m p a n y president, will become president of Naco Fertilizer Co. ( W . V a . ) , a wholly o w n e d subsidiary of Grace. Naco m a k e s mixed fertilizers, sulfuric acid, s u p e r p h o s p h a t e , a n d concentrates, and b l e n d s insecticides for agricultural purposes. Last year Thurston sales were $7 million while those of GraceNaco were $6 million. Another subsidiary of G r a c e is now building a $19 million fertilizer plant near Memphis, T e n n . ( C & E N , Oct. 20, 1952, p a g e 4 3 8 3 ) . Originally consideration was
This scale model shows the chlorine plant, now nearing completion, which will supply Solvay Process Division's projected chlorinated m e t h a n e plant at Moundsville
given to h a v i n g Davison Chemical operate t h ^ plant. ( G r a c e owns 239o of Davison stock. ) However, this p l a n seems t o be off, a n d recently Grace decided neither to increase nor decrease its Davison holdings.
Hercules Lips Production Of Pentaerythritoi A 3 3 % expansion is p l a n n e d for p e n t a erythritol production b y Hercules Po^wder. This expansion program now under way and scheduled to b e completed b y the end of t h e year will m a k e t h e company one of t h e world's largest producers of the p r o d u c t . T h e project is designed to boost the Mansfield, Mass., plant oxitput from 18 million to 2 4 million p o u n d s per year. Some of the increased production will be available b y t h e end of this summer. Although Hercules has its own captive use for pentaerythritol in the manufacture of its Pentalyn resins, a greater portion of the current production is now being sold.
Alcoa Plans to Build Lignite Dryers Plans a r e being made for t h e construction of extensive drying facilities for l a r g e scale use of lignite as a major rpower source at Aluminum Co. of America's plant at Rockdale, Tex. T h e drying facilities will provide dried lignite to heat three large steam boilers of t h e Sandow P o w e r Plant which will serve Alcoa's plant. The drying process was developed b y the Bureau of Mines at its Denver, Colo., laboratories in cooperation with Texas Power and Light Co. T h e dryer units, in groups of t h r e e , are scheduled for completion a month apart with the final group to b e ready for operation toward t h e end of this y e a r , according to Rust Engineering, the constructor. Lignite is difficult to store, a n d its heating value of 7000 B.t.u. per poLznd is about half that of bituminous coal ( 12 to 13,000 B.t.u.). However, the d r y i n g and carbonization m e t h o d s developed b y the B u r e a u of Mines raises the h e a t i n g value of t h e char, or residual lignite ( after volatile tars h a v e b e e n removed) to about 11,000 B.t.u.
Misrepresentation Warning About Liquid Fertilizers T h e National Fertilizer Association, in support of the position already t a k e n b y the Association of American Fertilizer Control Officials, h a s issued a w a r n i n g against fallacious claims being m a d e b y some manufacturers of liquid fertilizers for h o m e use. S o m e of the comments which NF.A has m a d e about claims include t h e follo/wing: It is untrue t h a t certain liquid fertilizers contain valuable radioactive materials, and even if they did, such materials w o u l d contribute little or nothing t o the value
VOLUME
3 1, N O .
24
JUNE
15,
1953
2495
THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK is interconnected by about 10 miles of piping. Use is made of some 80 pumps and over 100 recording and controlling instruments. The plant handles close to a million pounds of chemicals a month. Over 35 different raw materials are involved, in addition to some 20 intermediates, byproducts, and solvents. Minnesota Mining Buys A m e r i c a n Lava
Roosevelt O i l Platreaf-er Runs Continuously Excess hydrogen from Roosevelt Oil's Platformer, which runs half time to produce motor fuel and the other half to produce aromatics, is cycled through the Platreater to saturate the olefins into paraffins before charging the Udex unit for aromatics. Constant supply of hydrogen enables this first Platreater to be run continuously
of the products. NFA also says that although the plant food contained in liquid fertilizers may become available to plants somewhat more quickly than the plant food in dry fertilizers, it has no greater relative merits under most circumstances. NFA says that liquid fertilizers sold to the home gardener are generally the most expensive offered to the public. Du Pont Plans to S t o p Casting A c r y l i c Resin July will mark the end of Du Pont's making cast acrylic resin. Casting of sheets and rods of the plastic will cease then, but acrylic tube manufacture is expected to continue somewliat longer. The move will not affect the company's business in Lucite acrylic molding powders or methacrylate polymers. While operations will b e stopped in the acrylic casting area of the Du Pont plant at Arlington, N. J., production elsewhere in the plant will continue. The reduction in employment over the next six months will b e about 250.
in the USI procedure are allyl chloride and sodium ethyl acetoacetate, which are reacted to form allyl acetone. This compound is treated with diethyl carbonate to form ethyl-3-oxo-6-heptenoate, which, in turn, is reacted with pyruvaldehyde to form allethrolone. In the final step, allethrolone is reacted with chrysanthemum acid chloride to form allethrin. The production of chrysanthemum acid chloride is a multi-step operation involving such starting materials as acetylene, acetone, glycine, ethyl alcohol, and hydrogen chloride. In all, the process involves 18 basic steps. The plant requires some 130 reactors, receivers, and holding tanks, which vary in size from 5-gallon surge tanks to 2000-gallon reactors. The USI equipment
Minnesota Mining and Mfg. Co. has acquired American Lava Corp., Chattanooga, Tenn., through a $5 million stock transfer. Terms called for American Lava stockholders to trade their common and preferred shares for 3M common. American Lava produces more than 40,000 types of electrical insulating material most of which are used in the manufacture of radio and television components. The company also produces crucibles, nozzles, and chemical-resistant fittings for the thermal and chemical industries, and thread guides for the textile industry.
MEWS B R I E F S J. L. Hopkins & Co., botanical drug and medicinal chemical company, has liquidated its assets and sold its inventories and goodwill to S. B. Penick &: Co., New York. Nordberg Co., Milwaukee, Wis., has appointed Southern Engine & Pump Co. of Houston, Tex., as distributor for Nordberg 4FS Diesel engines in 117 Texas counties and southern Louisiana. Peerless Printing Ink Co., Philadelphia, Pa., is now operating under the new name of Acheson Dispersed Pigments Co. The company will continue as a unit of Acheson Industries, Inc. Christy Equipment Co., Omaha, Nebraska, has been appointed by Clark
Formal Ceremonies H e l d a t Dyestuff Plant Robert Kaeppeli, managing director of Ciba Ltd., Basle, and president of Ciba States Ltd., makes the formal address opening the company's $18 million dyestuff plant at Toms River, N. J., on June 4. Harry B. Marshall, vice president of Ciba States Ltd., and president of Ciba Co., Inc., is at the left of Dr. Kaeppeli
USI Allethrin Plant Hits Production S t r i d e Speaking at the first public tour of its 6000-pound per month allethrin plant, marking capacity output, W . P. Marsh, Jr., president of U. S. Industrial Chemicals, said that the product can be used effectively for nearly all the insecticidal purposes for which pyrethruro would normally be employed. He said also that raw materials are available with n o dependence on foreign sources of supply. The synthesis of allethxin used by USI is essentially the one developed by F. B. LaForge and M. S. Schechter of the Department of Agriculture (C&EN, Jan. 26, page 338). Among the starting materials 2496
CHEMICAL
AND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
FOR REAL VERSATILITY Equipment C o . of: Battle Creek, Mich., as dealer for their rork lift trucks, powered hand trucks, and towing tractors in South Dakota and parts of Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Robert F. Sheahan Co., Memphis, Tenn., is sales representative to the protective coatings industry for Hilton-Davis Chemical Co., division of Sterling Drug, Inc. It will distribute Hilton-Davis' line of flushed a n d dry colors to paint manufacturers and allied fields in Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi. Diamond Alkali Co. has completed construction at its Jersey City silicate plant which provides 24.000 square feet oi additional storage space for packaged chemicals. A similar project was recently completed at the Cincinnati, Ohio, plant. General Electric Co.'s silicone products department, Waterford, X. Y., has established warehouse facilities at 4 2 7 West Erie Blvd., Chicago, 111. The warehouse is stocking G E silicone rubber gums and compounds, fluids for waxes and polishes, resins, electrical insidation, and emulsions for m o l d release purposes. American Polymer Corp.'s plant at Peabody, Mass., was the scene of an explosion on April 30, contrary to information in the picture caption in C&EN, May 1 1 , p a g e 1986. Because of incorrect information supplied, the area -was erroneously identified as the ruins of the American Resinous Chemicals plant. The latter is immediately adjacent to the American Polymer site and was not harmed. American Polymer is now rebuilding the Peabody plant and shipments are b e i n g made from its other facilities.
KOPPERS RESORCINOL
American C y a n a m i d Completes H 2 S 0 4 Plant First completed unit of American Cyanamid's Fortier Plant i n Louisiana is this sulfuric acid plant. Next to be completed will b e a lQO-ton-a-day ammonium sulfate unit. T h e plant will produce ammonia, acetylene, hydrocyanic acid, acrylonitrile, and ammonium sulfate w h e n completed
• K o p p e r s Resorcinol i s a w a t e r soluble, crystalline, dihydric phenol. P o s s e s s e d o f very high reactivity, it u n d e r g o e s m o s t o f the typical reactions o f p h e n o l s including nitration, alkylation, c o n d e n s a t i o n , etherification, a n d o x i d a t i o n . R e s o r c i n o l is u s e d extensively i n the p r e p a r a t i o n of room-temperature-setting resorcinol f o r m a l d e h y d e resin a d h e s i v e s f o r the b o n d i n g of reinforci n g fibers to synthetic and natural To show you the wide variety of important uses to which Resorcinol is admirably fitted. Koppers has prepared an interesting illustrated booklet. T o obtain your copy, just fill out and return the coupon.
KOPPERS
rubber. I n d u s t r i a l belting, h o s e , ancl tires are a m o n g the m a n y p r o d u c t s m a d e s t r o n g e r by resorcinol-based resin a d h e s i v e s . T h e s e a d h e s i v e s have found wide application also i n wood b o n d i n g w h e r e waterproofing and p e r m a n e n c e a r e m a n d a t o r y . I n addition, K o p p e r s R e s o r c i n o l is u s e d in the p r o d u c t i o n o f dyestuffs, p h a r m a ceuticals, textile and leather c h e m i cals, e x p l o s i v e s , and plasticizers. Koppers Company, Dept. CEN-63 Pittsburgh 19. Pa. Please send m e your Resorcinol Booklet.
.State
Koppers Chemicals KOPPERS COMPANY, INC. Chemical Division, Dept.CEN-63, Pittsburgh 1 9 , Pa.
V O L U M E
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JUNE
15,
1953
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