I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
October, 1924
PSICAIN,A NEW COCAINESUBSTITUTE After more than sixty years, investigations on t h e production of synthetic cocaine have been brought t o a close by the work of Professor Willstatter and his associates. They have succeeded in producing cocaine alkaloids in three different ways, and the acid tartrate of d-+cocaine has been proved t o be a valuEble drug. It has been put on the market under the name Psicain.” It is a microcrystalline powder, which is extremely example, on sterilizing in stable on heating with water-for steam for a n hour at 110’ C. it remains unchanged. I t s use is the same as t h a t of cocaine hydrochloride, although Psicain can be used in solutions of half the strength, or less, needed in t h e case of cocaine.
SIZINGWITH LATEX Latex has recently been variously recommended for the sizing of paper. The paper is said t o be not only better than when sized with rosin, but improvements in sizing are usually followed b y new uses for paper. I n a n address a t t h e summer meeting of Vereins der Zellstoff und Papierchemiker und Ingenieure, in Stuttgart, Herr Fenchel states t h a t his investigations have proved t h a t latex is a good sizing, and that, for example, paper sized with latex may be folded with little danger of cracking, and, moreover, the strength of the paper is improved. B u t these improvements are not permanent; i t was shown by a n examination of test papers after fourteen months t h a t t h e rosin-sized paper had kept well, while the rubber-sized paper had deteriorated considerably in strength. Under these conditions the rubber sizing just now so highly recommended can hardly be taken into consideration in Europe, as it is much too expensive for ordinary paper-costing about ten times as much as the rosin sizing, without getting permanent results. August 20, 1824
London Letter By Hugh Griffiths 15 N s w BRIDGEST.,LONDON,E. C . 4
COALAND POWER The importance of t h e coal industry of Great Britain has always been recognized b y politicians, and one of t h e greatest obstacles t o the development of a n y national scheme including t h e coal arid power industries is t h a t these may very easily become shuttlecocks in the political game. I n March of this year, Mr. Lloyd George formed a committee t o inquire into the problems t h a t faced these industries, and a book has appeared which is being sold freely, containing in popular language t h e results of t h e investigations of this committee. This book purports t o present a statement of t h e difficulties of t h e coal industry and t h e obstacles t o a settlement of the industrial problems of t h e coal-mining industry, not only from the point of view of the miner b u t from the standpoint of the owner, and concludes with a series of proposals for the reorganization of t h e coal and power industries which are very interesting. Apart from the suggested methods for acquiring t h e coal mines, t h e essential part of the scheme lies in a suggestion t h a t super-power stations be erected t o replace existing electrical generating stations. The Mining Association has promptly issued a reply t o “Coal and Power” in which the scheme is condemned as impractical and unjust. The proposal t o erect super-power stations at the pit head is of course not new, b u t technical opinion in this country is by no means decided as t o which is t h e best method of treating the coal and producing the power. Just a t t h e present time a n immense amount of research into methods of treating coal is in progress, low-temperature carbonization and other similar schemes involving recovery of by-products being very fashionable. Even steam-raising practice may any day show a new tendency. Although there is a n inclination on the p a r t of power engineers toward higher steam pressures, practical application is a long way behind present-day research. A new power station is being erected in t h e North of England which will employ pressure of 450 pounds per square inch, while a t the same time we are hearing of successful plants abroad which generate steam at 900 pounds per square inch, and a n experimental station has been established in this country for steam generation a t the critical pressure. Low-temperature carbonization still offers a large field, and while some of the schemes look most attractive on paper, when attempted on the industrial scale the advantages do not seem t o
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materialize. Tho difficulties of most low-temperature carbonization processes appear t o be chiefly mechanical, and any distinctly new procedure which offers prospects of reducing mechanical troubles is interesting. A process known as the pure coal briquet process is being developed, and looks promising. Small coal and coke breeze are briquetted without the use of any binder at a high pressure. The briquets are then carbonized, and i t is stated t h a t as they do not break up, mechanical carbonizing plants of large size can be erected and a finished fuel obtained containing less than 1 per cent of volatile matter in addition t o the usual by-products. It has been announced t h a t the Government Fuel Research Department has decided t o make a survey of t h e properties of the various coals available, and to offer special encouragement t o all promising new processes for the carbonization of coal a t low temperatures which have reached the stage of commercia! production. It is therefore likely t h a t critical and comparative technical d a t a concerning a large number of processes will shortly be available. Great interest is being taken in this country in the use of preheated air in fuel-burning plants. Several systems of air preheating are already in use, these for t h e most part depending upon the transmission of heat from the flue gases leaving t h e plant. A more interesting installation is t h a t of Ljungstrom, in which a system of rotating plates is employed, which are heated by t h e waste gases, subsequently giving up their heat t o t h e air used for t h e combustion. Test results have been published which show that this apparatus is highly efficiegt, and it promises t o become an important accessory of combustion plants.
THE BRITISH CHEMICALPLANTMANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION The British Chemical Plant Manufacturers Association, which recently held its fourth annual meeting, has in the past devoted itself chiefly t o propaganda and t o standardization. We now have in this country standard specifications for filter presses and for jacketed pans, so t h a t replacements are facilitated and comparison of quotations is made easier. At the last meeting t h e retiring chairman, I,. G. Fraser, made a n interesting speech on recent progress in chemical engineering. A vast number of subjects were mentioned, one of the most interesting being t h e circumstance t h a t one firm is using electrolytically prepared sodium amalgam for the reduction of organic compounds. THEDYESTUFFSPOSITION The distribution of the dyestuffs delivered from Germany as reparations is being bitterly criticized. It is indisputable t h a t before t h e war this country was able t o purchase dyestuffs as cheap as any other country in the world, whereas at t h e present time, when color prices depend chiefly upon the sale of reparation colors, the user is in a worse position and has t o pay more for dyestuffs than his foreign competitors. It is considered in some quarters t h a t the Government should not make a profit on the sale of these reparations dyestuffs, and it is even suggested t h a t some of the proceeds of the sales should be used t o subsidize the British dye-making industry. From the point of view of the color user the position is no doubt unsatisfactory. Importation of colors is not permitted unless a British equivalent dyestuff is unobtainable at three times t h e pre-war price, whereas t h e prices of materials for dyestuff manufacture are by no means unduly high, and the users are very naturally liable t o conclude t h a t they are not being fairly treated. BEET SUGAR At the present time there are only two beet sugar factories in this country, which had a combined production of about 13,000 tons during last year. A third factory is t o be erected near Nottingham, and it is rumored that in the autumn several additional factories will be started. ALUMINIUM DEVELOPMENTS The British Aluminium Company is preparing for a large development, and a new hydroelectric power plant of about 100,000 horsepower is t o be erected near Fort William, Scotland. This would be t h e largest in the country. The power will be used almost exclusively for the manufacture of aluminium. CHEMICAL ~ N G I K E E R I N G CATALOG An advertising firm in this country has in preparation a chemical engineering catalog on t h e lines of the American production, b u t dealing with British-made chemical plants. Up t o t h e present nothing of this description, of a really comprehensive kind, has been available. September 1, 1924
