MARKETS
Methylamines Market Is Growing Smartly Output was 91 million pounds in 1963; demand is growing 8% a year; expansions are likely Output of Monomethylamine Will Grow Faster Than That of Di- or Trimethylamine During the Rest of the 1960's Millions of Pounds
Dimethylamine 60 Monomethylamine 40 Trimethylamine
V 0i 1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
Source: U.S. Tariff Commission and C&EN estimates
Surface-Active Agents and Agricultural Chemicals Will Be the Big Growth Areas for Methylamines Consumption (millions of pounds) 1963 1970
Monomethylamines Surface-active agents Agricultural chemicals Monomethylhydrazine Intermediates and miscellaneous uses SUBTOTALS
3 12 1 4 20
12 24 8 10 54
7 7 17 12 9 3 55
12 9 22 6 24 8 81
11 2 13 88
17 2 19 154
Dimethylamines Agricultural chemicals Rubber chemicals Solvents Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine Surface-active agents Miscellaneous uses SUBTOTALS Trimethylamines Choline salts Miscellaneous SUBTOTALS TOTALS Source:
32
C&EN estimates
C&EN
MAR.
23,
1964
Methylamines producers may soon be hard-pressed to meet the fast growing demand for their products. Plans to expand present plants or build new ones seem likely to get under way shortly. Methylamines consumption should grow about 8% a year during the rest of this decade, and, at that rate, new facilities would be needed within two years. Potential candidates for entering the methylamines field are Union Carbide, Olin Mathieson, FMC Corp., and General Aniline & Film, but expansions by present producers cannot be ruled out. Today, methylamines are produced by Commercial Solvents, Du Pont, Pennsalt, Rohm & Haas, and Escambia Chemical. The combined capacity of these companies' plants is 106 million pounds a year. All producers make the three methylamines—mono-, di-, and trimethylamine. Escambia Chemical is the only fully merchant producer. The other producers use their production captively and sell on the open market as well. About 60% of total methylamines production is used captively. Last year, output reached 91 million pounds, roughly 17% more than in 1962. Production should rise to about 98 million pounds this year, and to about 160 million pounds in 1970. Consumption, which reached 88 million pounds last year, should climb to 154 million pounds in 1970. The main reason for this year's increased production and consumption is the rising demand for monomethylamine, which is used to make Union Carbide's insecticide, Sevin. Major Share. Dimethylamines make up the major share of the methylamines market. Last year, they accounted for more than 60% of methylamines' total market. About 55 million pounds of dimethylamines were consumed in 1963 and in 1970 consumption should hit 81 million pounds. The most significant new outlet for dimethylamines is their use in detergents. Last year, 9 million pounds of dimethylamines were used to make surface-active agents. The biggest user of the surfactants is Procter & Gamble, whose new lauryldimethylamine oxide plant went into fullscale production at the end of 1962. Lauryldimethylamine oxide is used in Gain, Thrill, and Joy liquid detergents made by P&G. The amine oxides act as foam stabilizers for liquid detergents. P&G has several patents on the use of the amine oxides, and this
U.S. Methylamines Capacity Is 106 Million Pounds a Year Producer and Location
Annual Capacity (millions of pounds)
Commercial Solvents Terre Haute, Ind. Du Pont Belle, W. Va. La Porte, Tex. Escambia Chemical Pace, Fla. Pennsalt Wyandotte, Mich. Rohm & Haas Bristol, Pa. Philadelphia, Pa. TOTAL Source:
20 35 10 10 12 7 12 106
C&EN estimates
could deter other producers from going into the business. Solvents are the major outlet for dimethylamines. In 1963, about 17 million pounds of dimethylamines were used to make dimethylformamide and dimethylacetamide, which are used as spinning solvents for fibers. Du Pont is the major producer of the solvents and uses most of the dimethyIformamide it produces as a spinning solvent for its acrylic fiber, Orion. The company also exports dimethylformamide to its plants in other parts of the world. Chemstrand uses dimethylacetamide for spinning its acrilan fibers. Agricultural chemicals, another big outlet for dimethylamines, should continue to grow at a steady pace. In 1963, about 7 million pounds of dimethylamines were consumed in pesticides. The market should expand at about 6% per year, which is roughly the expected growth rate for agricultural chemicals. Rubber chemicals such as thiuram accelerators and carbamate salts, used to stop polymerization at a predetermined stage, took about 7 million pounds of dimethylamines last year. This outlet should increase at about 3.5% per year for the next six to seven years. The outlook for dimethylamines in unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) is the one uncertain area in the dimethylamines picture. Most UDMH, a component of jet and rocket fuels, goes to the Air Force's Titan missile program. The Air Force passes on some of its supply to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for its Apollo program. There has been some discussion by the Air Force and by NASA of changing part of
their xuel requirements from U D M H to monomethy lhydrazine (M M H ) . Therefore, the outlook for dimethylamine is somewhat in doubt. NASA's needs for U D M H could decline rapidly after 1964. This year, NASA will take about 2.5 million pounds of UDMH but by 1970 NASA's requirements may be less than 500,000 pounds. Total use of U D M H may drop to 6 million pounds in 1970, compared to 12 million pounds in 1963. Fastest Growth. Of the three methylamines, monomethylamine will show the fastest growth. Consumption will probably rise from 20 million pounds in 1963 to 54 million pounds in 1970, an increase of more than 150%. Monomethylamine's growth is mainly tied to Union Carbide's Sevin. Consumption of Union Carbide's Sevin insecticide should continue to increase by about 15% a year, providing a tidy outlet for monomethylamine for some time to come. The company is operating its 100 million pound-per-year Sevin plant at Institute, W.Va., at close to capacity. The use of monomethylhydrazine for jet and rocket fuel is increasing. Olin Mathieson, for example, has signed a contract to deliver 200,000 pounds of MMH to NASA between March 1964 and March 1965. This much MMH calls for about 100,000 pounds of monomethylamine. MMH is being used in the reaction control system command module of Apollo and also for the Gemini spacecraft. It may also be used in the reaction control system of the SIVB stage of the Saturn vehicle, and in the Surveyor program. Surface-active agents, such as General Aniline & Film's methyl taurine, will also provide a growing market for monomethylamines. A new use which could create a sizable demand for the products is that in methylisocyanates for making specialty urethane foams. Nematocides, such as Stauffer Chemical's Vapam, offer another growing outlet. The largest outlet for trimethylamines is for making choline salts. Last year production of choline salts totaled 23.5 million pounds and about 11 million pounds of trimethylamine went into this application. Choline salts are added to poultry and animal feeds to stimulate growth. The other markets for trimethylamine are fairly static.
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•RTM DuPont Co. fRTM Union Carbide Corp.
MAR. 23, 1964 C & E N
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