Isocyanafes from M o b a y in Y e a r Monsanto-Bayer firm will turn out several hundred tons per month in first full scale plant in U. S. npHE
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America for production of isocyanate chemicals will be built near N e w Martinsville, W . Va., by Mobay Chemical. Mobay was formed recently by Monsanto and Farbenfabriken Bayer A. G. (C&EN, June 7, p a g e 2 2 6 4 ) . T h e plant will be able to p r o d u c e several h u n d r e d tons of isocyanate chemicals a month and an equivalent amount of polyester resins. Construction starts in a month and the plant will be in operation in 12 to 15 m o n t h s . Five general types of end products result from combination of isocyanates and polyester resins—flexible a n d rigid foams, lacquer formulations, m a g n e t wire enamel, adhesives, and solid r u b berlike materials. I n Europe, isocyanate foams are frequently used for applications where rubber foams are used in the U. S. Isocyanate foams are a b o u t half t h e weight of foam rubber of equal volume. T h e y are used for m a k i n g many articles which cannot be made suitably from foamed rubber. Starting from basic r a w materials, Mobay will manufacture isocyanate and polyester resins as well as other ingredients for conversion to finished goods. M o b a y will not make finished
products, b u t will supply resins, activators, modifiers, catalysts, and other chemicals, as well as the know-how and machinery for producing foam to its customers who in turn will manufacture finished products under license agreements with Mobay. As yet, no license agreements have been signed, but some probably will be signed within the next month. Until the new plant is in operation, Mobay will supply the chemicals from a small-scale interim plant Monsanto operates in Anniston, Ala., and from imports from Germany, where Bayer has been in commercial production for more than two years. T h e plant will b e constructed o n a 200-acre site seven miles north of N e w Martinsville on the Ohio River. It will be adjacent to Columbia-Southern's rjlant which will supply some of the raw materials by pipeline. Twelve structures are to be built, including production facilities, an office, and service buildings. W h e n completed, it will employ about 150 persons, at an estimated annual payroll exceeding three quarters of a million dollars. T h e plant will have railroad facilities via the Baltimore & Ohio and dockage for river barge transportation on the Ohio.
M y l a r Plant Opens Du Pont"! new plant for manufacture of Mylar polyester film (C&EN, Sept. 20, page 3718) is now in commercial production at Circleville, Ohio. The five-story chemical building, of open construction, operates continuously to produce the polymer from which film is made. Anticipating lower costs as production goes up, company reduced prices 15 cents a pound on all types and gages of Mylar, except 25 gage, the thinnest film
Thompson-Hayward Expands, Acquires O t h e r Plants Embarking on a $1.5 million expansion program, Thompson-Hayward Chemical has completed a new unit a t Dallas, Tex., and has acquired three other Texas plants formerly owned by Carman Co. T h e company recently completed a $160,000 chlorine tanking station at Dallas to supply bottled chlorine for distribution in the Southwest. Its outp u t of bleach concentrate, supplied to the laundry and dry cleaning industry, has also b e e n increased. With the acquisition of Carman's Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston plants (distributors of laundry and dry cleaning supplies ), Thompson-Hayw a r d h^s probably become the top distributor. These plants are estimated t o have cost somewhere between $500,O00 and $1 million. An arrangement with Columbia-Southern will permit Thompson-Hayward to supply chlorine for industrial and municipal use in t h e Lake Charles, La., and Corpus Christi, Tex., areas formerly served by Columbia-Southern. Courtaulds to Double Viscose S t a p l e C a p a c i t y in A l a b a m a Courtaulds' viscose rayon staple plant at Le Moyne, Ala., completed only last year, is now preparing for additional expansion. Designed to prod u c e 50 million pounds of rayon staple per year, the plant's capacity has b e come inadequate to satisfy demand. T h e London textile manufacturer says its subsidiary, Courtaulds (Ala.), will start immediately to raise output t o 100 million pounds by next spring. Possible expansion to 150 million pounds, now being considered by company officials, will be decided within the next few months. Mew $33 Million Uranium Plant To Be O p e r a t e d by Maflinckrodt Mallinckrodt will operate a new $33.3 million uranium processing plant for the Atomic Energy Commission as part of a major construction program revealed by AEC last week. A $6.5 million addition will be made to the existing uranium feed materials plant in St. Louis, which the company also runs. Total cost of t h e three-year project is estimated at $67 million. Processing facilities at Fernald, Ohio, operated by National Lead, will b e expanded at a cost of $20.1 million. Union Carbide's operation at Paducah, Ky., rates a $7 million expansion. AEC's new construction program should substantially increase the nation's supply of uranium, although the commission disclosed no figures. T h e new program also may help to provide
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INDUSTRY uranium for peacetime atomic power programs when they get under way. Supplies of uranium have been one of the major considerations faced by private firms interested in taking part in atomic energy programs. Any increase in supplies can be looked upon as a bright spot in the future of peacetime nuclear projects. The new Mallinckrodt processing plant will be located 30 miles west \)f St. Louis on the site of the Weldon Springs Ordnance Works. The 200acre facility is part of the manufacturing area owned by the Army's Ordnance Corps. The new plant really is an extension of the St. Louis operation. Designed for extraction and purification of uranium from uranium-bearing concentrates, the new plant consists of a purification unit, a uranium chemical unit, uranium foundry, and suitable auxiliary facilities. One big factor which AEC considered when planning the new plant was elimination of noise, odors, wastes, or other factors which would be objectionable to people living near the operation. AEC assures the plant's neighbors that the facility will not create a radiation hazard either. All of AEC's experience in maintaining high safety standards will be available to architects and builders of the plant, which have not yet been chosen. Expansion at the Mallinckrodt St. Louis operation will consist of modify-
ing and enlarging existing buildings and equipment. A new building also will be constructed, and plant utilities will be improved. The Fernald plant will be expanded by modification of several existing buildings and equipment. A new building with about 4000 square feet of floor space will be built at Paducah's gaseous diffusion plant. In addition, present facilities will b e expanded. Argonne Selects Engineer and Builder for EBW Reactor The architect-engineer for the design of the Experimental Boiling Water Reactor to be built for Argonne National Lab is to be Sargent & Lundy, Chicago. This reactor has been authorized as a part of the AEC's fiveyear program for development of competitive electrical power from nuclear fuel. Allis-Chalmers Mfg., Milwaukee, has been chosen to design, develop, construct, and install the power generation, heat transfer, and special equipment for the power cycle. The EBWR which will be built on the Argonne site in DuPage County, 111., will produce 20,000 lew. of heat and 5000 kw. of electricity. The reactor will use slightly enriched uranium fuel and wall b e moderated and cooled by ordinary water. Plans call for construction to start during the coming year with completion scheduled for 1956.
A boiling water reactor has certain advantages over the more conventional circulating-water reactor. The steam generator normally required for pressurized water reactors is eliminated; pumps can be much smaller and less expensive because the only pump requirement in the primary circuit is that of returning water from the condenser to t h e reactor vessel; the reactor will be operated at a lower pressure and lower ma-ximum temperature than pressurized water reactor systems, thereby simplifying fuel and structural materials problems. Argonne will coordinate the work of the project for the AEC and will design and construct the reactor core and the reactor control mechanism. Allis-Chalmers will develop components of a power system provided with special sealing devices which will make the components tight against leakage of steam, air, or water. Having the components tight will make possible later use of heavy water instead of light water in boiling water system. Carnation Orders All-Plastic Trailer-Truck Body
Latest development in making of prototype plastic trucks (C&EN, Sept. 13, page 3598) is Carnation Milk's ordering an all-plastic trailer-truck body from Strick Co., Philadelphia. Strick will use glass fiber reinforced polyester. The body itself will consist of two symmetrical parts belted together through a neoprene gasket. I M & C Opens N e w Control Labs in Georgia These halves will contain glass fiber The new analytical control lab International Minerals & Chemical has built in East: insulation, as will the floor and two Point, Ga., features a balance table designed by J. R. Archer, chief chemist. It revolves bulkheads. Strick predicts that because of their like a Lazy Suzan, permitting samples to move on three revolving tiers and making it: possible for five chemists to work on samples at once. The lab will run analyses foir gr eater insulating efficiency, plastic nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in various grades manufactured by each o£ milk truck bodies will cost less to reIMC's 26 plant food plants located throughout the country. Its capacity is 100,000 determinations per year. East Point, near Atlanta, was selected after a study of eight frigerate and corrosion will b e no problem. In pointing out the corrosion facother cities established its convenience as a mailing center tor, Strick says that despite condensation, wet ice, or broken bottles, moist u r e will not be able to leak into and attack the insulating material. N a t i o n a l Aniline to Manufacture Diisoeyanates a t Buffalo Plant Allied Chemical's National Aniline Division has started construction at its Buffalo plant of facilities for production of diisoeyanates in introductory commercial quantities. The new installation should go on stream during t h e first quarter of 1955. All raw materials will be provided by various divisions of Allied. The technology of production of diamines from which the diisoeyanates are made has been highly developed over the years by National Aniline through its dyestuff manufacturing operations. 4278
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