PR
GOODYEAR ATOMIC CORPORATION POSITIONS NOW OPEN IN PUNT ENGINEERINGPRODUCTION—DEVELOPMENT FOR ENGINEERS CHEMISTS TECHNICAL WRITERS METALLURGISTS STATISTICIANS PHYSICISTS Positions o p e n on several levels o f responsibility. Forward comprehensive resume to: EMPLOYMENT DEPARTMENT Y GOODYEAR ATOMIC CORPORATION BOX 628, PORTSMOUTH, OHIO
DEfOLORIZATION'S BEST For decolonization, deodorization,and purification of petroleum and the organic liquids, Floridin adsorbents are unequalled by other l o w cost natural minerals. Florex is prepared by a special processing, which greatly improves adsorptive efficiency and capacity. Standard meshes from 2 / 4 to 200/up are available. Our adsorption specialists can advise o n complex laboratory o r production problems.
FLO*mrNC0MPAM« Dept. B P.O. Box 9 8 9 f Tallahassee, Florida
4818
C&EN
OCT.
I.
1956
9_PU^iON
materials mean more potential health hazards from erratic fallout patterns or from accidental release of radioactive material. F . B. Barker and L. L. Thatcher of U. S. Geological Survey have developed procedures for determination of small quantities o f uranium and radium in water. They told the symposium on analytical methods for water and waste water, held by trie Division of Water, Sewage, and Sanitation Chemistry, that they use a barium sulfate-carrier precipitation, filtration through a molecular filter membrane, and counting of activity after a prescribed aging period for measurement of radium. They use an improved fluorometric method for determination of uranium. Total alpha and beta activities are measured without identification of the specific active materials by J. Sedlet and A. F . Stehney of Argonne National Laboratory, who take counts of evaporation residues and calculate disintegration rates from the count data. Improved methods of preparation of uniform residues from samples of l o w activity make this method more reliable than heretofore. Samples from different sources may h e compared for activity, thus making the procedure useful for rnonitoring natural waters for small increases i n the level of radiation from fallout or from the operation of nuclear installations. In the field o£ chemical contamination, ultraviolet light promises t h e most precise determination of phenolics, according to E. F . Mohler and L . N . Jacob of Sun Oil. Phenolics in the parts per million and parts per billion ranges are now being considered b y many communities as the maximum tolerable concentrations in their waters. Cyanates, which usually result from the treatment of cyanide plating waste liquors, can be determined in waste waters, sewage, and river waters b y means of a procedure developed by J. D . Resnick and W. A . Moore of the Public Health Service; ammonia interference is rninirriized by an ion exchange step. The presence and levels of phosphates from detergents and water softeners can b e determined -without t h e extended period of boiling previously required, according t o R. S. Robertson of National Aluminate, who uses more effective acids for reversion of complexed or condensed phosphates to orthophosphates. Robertson has chosen nitric acid as t h e most effective means of accomplishing this, obtaining complete reversion i n about five minutes. T h e n e w methocl >yiH;be most useful as a quick field test, Robertson says. According to J. G. Morris, division chairman, "The methods presented at
this- symposium reflect the continually increasing concern o n the part of legislative bodies for t h e control of pollution of water supplies and wastes, i n addition to the increasing need o f chemical processors for more complete in the water they use."
Low Heating Value Gas Koppers takes the lid off a new cyclic, noncata lytic process for manufacturing city gas A Koppers r e search team h a s converted natural gas and propane into low B.t.n. gases without a catalyst. This w a s done for the first time in cyclic, thermal reforming tests in t h e KoppersHasche furnace. "Laboratory results also indicate tfie feasibility of applying this process t o reforming of oil gas, refinery off-gases, and butane—for production of either high or low calorific sendout gases/* says J. F. Farnsworth. This disclosure, m a d e before t h e E>ivision of Gas and F u e l Chemistry, gave pilot plant consumption figures p e r thousand cubic feet of 540-B.t.u. g a s (exclusive of heating g a s requirements) : • 4 9 7 cubic feet of natural gas a n d 2 1 pounds of steam. or • 1 9 7 cubic feet of propane and 2 4 pounds of steam. Heating requirements for the pilot plant are equivalent to 25% of the f e e d consumption for reforming, Farnsworth says, but calculated commercial values are lower—15 to 20%. ^Natural Gas Substitute. Operators can also manufacture a natural g a s substitute from propane b y direct r e forming. T o produce 1 0 0 0 cubic feet of substitute gas b y this method, propane requirements are: • 4 2 0 cubic feet for the manufacture of a 1000-B.t.u. gas. • 5 0 0 cubic feet for the manufacture of a 1300-B.t.u. gas. Cold enrichment of l o w heating value, reformed gas is another possibility worth considering, Farnsworth i n dicates. This operation consumes 3 7 8 cubic feet of propane and 18 pounds ox sE.eani p s r tixousanvx CUL/IC *GGI C I
1000-B.t.u. sendout gas.
PRODUCTION Other 1000-B.t.u. substitutes can be manufactured b y blending high and low calorific gases obtained from prop a n e reforming. Blended gases consume 390 cubic feet of p r o p a n e a n d 9 pounds of steam per 1000 cubic feet. Maximum process efficiencies, says Farnsworth, were obtained at space velocities of about 600 and reaction temperatures of about 2500° F . Carbon contained in the reformed gas is 3 to 4 % by weight of feed, which is readily removed by conventional gas cleaning equipment. T h e research team, he states, ran test cycles generally of two minutes duration, divided equally between h e a t a n d make, with a short steam p u r g e after t h e h e a t cycle to clear t h e furnace of combustion products.
carbohydrates. T o separate t h e hgnin, processors have h a d t o use acids, alkalies, a n d high t e m p e r a t u r e , w h i c h result in severe c h a n g e s in the original lignin structure. Recent conservation a n d pollution pressures have p u t t h e h e a t on organic chemists to improve the p u l p i n g process so t h a t a high yield of Hgnin can be obtained without distorting t h e origin a l hgnin structure. At present, the production of vanillin is o n e of t h e few chemical applications for spent liquor lignin, according to E . Adler of Chal-
mers University of Technology, Sweden. As yet only a very small percentage of spent liquor lignins is subjected to chemical processing, the major p a r t b e ing used a.s fuel in t h e p u l p mills or just discarded as waste, Adler told t h e Division o f Cellulose Chemistry. Only recently, a Swedish chemist, Anders Bjorkmart, developed a laboratory method for isolating hgnin—no acid, alkali> or high temperature are involved. Also, t h e yield is u p to 5 0 % . If this lab method can be used commer-
CHEMICAL
SARGENT OSCILLOMETER
Improving the Pulping Process N e w milling methods may extract a Hgnin that is better fit for chemical processing N e w ^^^^^^^^^B milling I I I W I W H A l l ^ ^ S techniques, still 8ySdy£ffibSSS&8H o n a l a b s c a l e > t o S B B E Q S S S H H extract lignin H ^ ^ R K e n i i s f ^ H S fr°m wood may i l i i i i i ^ l ^ f e i ^ ^ ^ ^ m a k e for easier and better p u l p processing. To date, it has been extremely difficult to separate hgnin from other w o o d constituents, particularly
T
HE Model V Chemical Oscillometer, designed and manufactured by E. H. Sargent & Co., is especially recommended to analysts for development of improved procedures within their laboratories. Pioneer oscillometric research to date indicates two general fields especially susceptible to great gains in analytical efficiency — the measurement of water in fluid commercial products, and the direct measurement o f composition of two and three-component mixtures. Based on the measurements of electrical properties at radio frequency, without conductive contact with the sample, this precision instrument is of the null balance type in which the dielectric and resistive contributions made to the circuit by the sample are measured as tfc*e equivalent increments of calibrated capacitance required to compensate those effects. A multi-turn dial and five range multiplier switches provide a scale of 32,000 units, in which measurements of the dielectric and conductive properties of all materials from air to concentrated strong electrolytes including all organic liquids are accommodated. The scale may be made linear with respect t o dielectric constant by the accessory use of S-29196 range expander, and continuous recordings may be made with commercial recorders, using S-29198 recorder adapter. T w o sample cells with two corresponding interchangeable cell holders are supplied — one suitable for small samples, the other containing sufficient volume to accommodate usual titration procedures. S-29180 OSCILLOMETER—Chemical, Null Balance Precision Type, Model V, Sargent. For operation from 115 volt, 60 cycle A-C. circuits $650.00 S-29196 OSCILLOMETRIC CELL COMPENSAJTOR-iinearizing, Sensitivity Increasing, Sargent. With coupling $80.00 S-29198 OSCILLOMETRIC RECORDING ADAPTER—Zero and Sensitivity Adjusting, Sargent. With couplings for connection to oscillometer and recorder _ _ $9O.00
SARGENT J. C. P e w of Forest Products L a b , with mill h e is now using to obtain wood ground finer t h a n with vibrational mill. No yield d a t a yet available
SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY
INSTRUMENTS*
APPARATUS • SUPPLIES •
CHEMICALS
E. H. SARGENT & COMPANY, 4 6 4 7 W. FOSTER AVE., CHICAGO 3 0 , ILLINOIS .V»!CJ!!OAN DIVISION, S5SC WEST CHICAGO AVENUE, DETROJT 4, MICHIGAN7£
