INTERNATIONAL
More British Phosphorus Output from new A & W plant to be used to make sodium tripolyphosphate, replacing imports BRISTOL.—Britain's newest phosphorus plant is now in production at Portishead, near here. Built b y Albright & Wilson, the n e w factory has an annual capacity of 4 0 million pounds of phosphorus; design is such t h a t production can be greatly increased on short notice. Capacity is greater than current United Kingdom production and output is expected to be used almost entirely in the preparation of sodium tripolyphosphate. Molten phosphorus is transported by special 24-ton railway tank wagons to Albright & Wilson's new works at Kirkby, near Liverpool. The Kirkby plant is producing both phosphoric acid and sodium tripolyphosphate. During the past five years Britain has been forced to import large quantities of tripolyphosphates from the continent, primarily for incorporation in nonsoapy detergents. In 1953, imports amounted to over $5.6 million in value. This latest boost in output is expected to eliminate imports entirely. Phosphate rock, main raw material, is shipped principally from North Africa. In what is believed to be a unique installation, the fine rock is unloaded from ship holds pneumatically. Two suction pumps have been installed, each with a 330-horsepower motor. These operate simultaneously from mobile carriers in the holds of the same vessel or in two ships. Anthracite is also unloaded pneumatically. Granite chippings are brought in by rail and unloaded by tipper onto the same band conveyor
used for phosphate rock and anthracite. Raw materials a r e stored in eight 100-foot high circular storage bins with a total capacity of 24,000 t o n s . Heart of the new plant is t h e b a n k of six electric r é d u c t i o n furnaces, each taking a load of 7 5 0 0 kw. Each furnace has its own control room. Electrical control gear automatically maintains a constant furnace load, irrespective of variations in internal conditions within the furnace. Phosphorus vapor, mixed with carbon monoxide, is continuously drawn off througL· dust extractors to condensers. Condensers diseliarge t h e liquid phosphorus and allow carbon monoxide to pass through. Carbon monoxide is used in caJciners to dry raw materials or sent to steam boilers as fuel. Condensed phosphorus is stored in heated underground chambers and kept in a molten s t a t e . I t is pumped from there into specially designed railway tank wagons for transport to the Kirkby factory. Factory employs about 180, of whom 25 are staff employees. Of the remainder, 60 will b e employed on maintenance work. Tins is a n indication of the anticipated severity of corrosion and equipment depreciation in a modern phosphorus plant. Japan to Build Two Sali 1 Plants One of Japan's t w o ne\v large salt plants will be ready this summer and it is hoped that when both are i n operation Japan's dependence on foreign salt
Specially built 24-ton railway tank wagons are used to transport molten phosphorus to Kirkby works
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imports will b e considerably reduced. A large electric salt p l a n t will be constructed at Onohama a t a cost of $880,000, and the second p l a n t will be built on Yakushima Island off the southern tip of Kyushu. Last year the J a p a n Monopoly Corp. constructed a m o d e l pressure system electric salt plant in Fukushima Prefecture in Honshu. G e r m a n C o a l Chemicals Pass Peak German coke production this year has run about 10% below last year's level, a n d it is not now expected t h a t production of coal tar, benzene, a n d ammonia will b e maintained a t the high 1953 level. There was n o difficulty in disposing of the coal tar, c r u d e benzene, ammonia, nitrogen, naphthalene, anthracene, phenol, cresols and xylenols, coal tar oils, and coal tar pitch d o m e s tically produced last year; some of them, including phenol a n d coumarone, were in short supply a n d h a d to be supplemented by imports. Production of many organic chemicals made from coal derivatives is likely to increase because a n u m b e r of n e w processing plants were started u p last year. Coke-oven plant with daily outp u t of 880 tons of coke, opened by Hibernia AG at Buer-Hassel last S e p tember, also b e g a n making cyclohexanol, adipic acid, and dichlorobenzene. Another continuous coal tar distillation unit started u p last year with a daily throughput of 440 tons. T h e company, Gesellschaft fur Teerverwertung, also operates a new plastics plant at D u i s burg-Meiderich. Harpener Bergbau has opened a pressure refining p l a n t , capacity of 80,000 tons a year, at Bochum-Werne. Ruhrol has p u t a plant into operation at Bottrop for m a k ing maleic anhydride from benzene, a n d
Rear view of phosphorus furnaces in Albright and Wilson's new plant near Bristol
CHEMICAL
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ENGINEERING
NEWS
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INTERNATIONAL Rheinpreussen has been extending its plant for production of alcohols from olefins. Catalytic cracking units have been opened by Gelsenberg Benzin and Scholven-Chemie. Combined crude oil throughput of these companies, plus Union Rheinische Braunkohlen Kraftstoff, amounted last year to 1,838,600 metric tons, an increase of nearly 509k over 1952. The Fischer-Tropsch plant of Chemische Werke Bergkamen in creased by a similar percentage last year. OEEC Confers on U. S. Foreign Investment Conditions Conference of European a n d U. S. experts on questions about U. S. private investment in Europe was recently held by O E E C to discuss administrative and legislative obstacles in the way of private American investment. Need to develop private American investments was stressed because of their impor tance to international financial relations and economic development a n d spread of modern techniques in recipient coun tries. U . S. delegation pointed out that American capitalists had many oppor tunities for safe and profitable invest-
Nicholson S t e a m Traps
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CUT HEAT CYCLE 4 0 ; Primarily to solve the freeze-up problem on their jacketed kettles, an Eastern processor replaced mechanical traps with Nicholson thermostatic units. But, in addi tion, they found heating time was shortened 4 0 % . Credit is given the higher, more even temperatures which Nicholson traps effect. 5 types: size VA " to 2 " ; pressures
to 250 lbs.
BULLETIN 853
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ment in the U. S. or neighboring countries free from governmental restrictions, and that European countries desiring similar investment should try to make conditions more attractive. South A f r i c a n Refinery To Process Shale OH A new $100-million plant, to open this summer near Johannesburg on top of a vast coal field, will make the first full scale commercial attempt to process directly low-cost shale coal into gasoline and other petroleum products at competitive prices. South African Coal, Oil and Gas Corp. (Sasol) will operate t h e plant; funds were provided through t h e nation's Industrial Development Corp.; and builder is T h e M. W. Kellogg C o . of U. S. In full production the plant will reach an output of about $28 million worth of products annually. Daily liquid production will come to 5000 barrels; solids, 110 tons. Annual gasoline production is estimated at 55 million gallons, or about one fifth of South Africa's requirements. Output will also include 4.5 gallons of Diesel oil and more than 1 million gallons of fuel oil a year. By-products will include ammonium sulfate for fertilizer, ammonia, alcohols, ketones, phenols, coal tar products, and waxes. Most of the resulting by-products will be marketed locally, though phenols, acids, and dyes will be exported. The enterprise covers a synthetic oil plant, a colliery, waterworks, sewage and industrial waste disposal plant, railway sidings, roads, and administrative buildings. It will also include a village which is planned for a population of about 11,000 Europeans. Sasol estimates that it will be possible to process one ton of coal, costing about 84 cents, into fuel and chemical products worth about $9.10. Italian L a b o r a t o r y to Produce C a r o t e n e Patent rights concerning a method of extraction of carotene from fresh vegetables, especially carrots, and concerning exclusive right to such production in Europe, have been sold by H. M. Barnett, manager of the Conselvan Laboratories, Long Beach, Calif., to Armando and Ubaldo Conselvan for use in Italy. New factory built in Latina will utilize carrots grown in the vicinity a n d help to eliminate the crises of ovcrproductivity that frequently take place in that agricultural region. It can absorb 20 million pounds of carrots in the first year and double this figure in successive years. T w o or more branches will b e created in other counCHEMICAL
tries in Europe according to agricultural possibilities and to demand. Stepping u p r a w material supply will require steady labor supply and thus should have a beneficial effect in backward areas plagued b y unemployment. Studies are being made on the enrichment of macaroni with vitamin content. Conselvan Laboratories of Padua have developed vitamin-enriched flours through use of carotene. Other outlets will b e to the cosmetic industry for use in soaps, rouge, cold creams, sunburn oils, pomades. Drug industry will absorb part of t h e output as an anti-infectious agent, in addition to use in manufacture of vitamin A. This enterprise will also have great economic importance, as it will stop the escape of hard currency required by importation of vitamin A. Burma t o Develop Bamboo Pulp and Paper Industry Government of Burma, without outside financial aid, has awarded a contract to Howard T . Fisher & Associates and Robert · E. Hattis—Consulting Engineers, of Chicago, for prelimimary engineering of a pulp and paper industry development t o be constructed near Akyab in northern Burma. T h e project will represent the first in a series in Burma's new diversified industrialization program, which will also include construction of plants for manufacture of steel products, jute, and textile bags. Pulp and paper mill will use bamboo as raw material. All the supporting industries which will supply necessary chemicals for production (i.e., chemical salts, caustic soda, lime, and sulfuric acid) will b e developed at the same time. Project includes planning of the site to provide for an entire new community for personnel. All of the industry will be developed in an area distant from existing transportation, power, industrialization, and communications. When the contemplated pulp and paper mill industrial development is completed, an area with no roads, communications, and civilization in the modern sense will have been converted, through use of a product formerly considered waste, into a modern industrialized area with port facilities, enabling the Burmese economy to conserve hard currency, supply local demand, and expand its export business.
C & E N Foreign C o r r e s p o n d e n t s C o n t r i b u t i n g t o This Issue:
A. P. SOM, Japan G. ABRAHAMSON, Germany GIOVANNI COPPA-ZUCCARI, Italy W. L. SPEIGHT, Africa
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