INTERNATIONAL World Nitrogen Output on Rise - Total Output
10 Free World
- Industrial
9
Agricultural
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Chemistry Research in U. K.
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Source: Half-yearly report of Aikman, Ltd.
1952-3 1953-4 1954-5 1955-6 1956-7 1957-8 1958-9
Nitrogen Market Improves W o r l d n i t r o g e n o u t p u t is u p , b u t is b e l o w e s t i m a t e s b e c a u s e o f slack LL S . steel m a k i n g X HE
WORLD
NITROGEN'
M A R K E T luiS
improved this year, according t o Aikman's latest half-yearly report ira Lon don. Production was less t h a n had been estimated because U. S. steel production was down while consump tion was u p . Except for ammonium nitrate and liquid fertilizers in the U. S., there is no surplus on the world market. This indicates, says Aikman, that present production does not ex ceed requirements, and E u r o p e a n nitro gen producers enter the fertilizer year 52
C&EN
that delayed purchases. And although conditions during recent months have been better, Aikman doubts the lost ground can be made u p . U. S. sales this season are estimated at 2 million metric tons (nitrogen basis) for agriculture and 900,000 tons for industry. Present production is about 75(/c of theoretical capacity. European production this year is estimated at 4.63 million metric tons, up about ll r /f from last year. Home consumption a n d exports are absorb ing the increased output. In the East, Japan is the greatest nitrogen producer, b u t its supplies have been absorbed by h o m e consumption and exports to other eastern countries. Some stocks, however, will b e carried forward to the new season, says Aik man. U.S.S.R. production figures now re leased are below previous estimates. O u t p u t (nitrogen basis) ranges from 470.000 metric tons in 1952-53 to 750,000 in 1957-58.
JULY
2 8,
1958
without stocks of any importance. And this probably applies to U. S. produc ers also, says Aikman. A few m o n t h s ago nitrogen fertilizei prices d r o p p e d to a low level on the international market—about $40 a metric ton f.o.b. (nitrogen b a s i s ) . But prices will probably be firmer from now on. Sales at low prices by Europeans h a v e not affected prices in the U. S. Consumption in theLT. S. has proved less than expected, largely because of t h e very w e t weather i n early spring
Great Britain's Chemistry Research Board urges expansion of the present in organic chemistry program, particularly for research on high-purity materials, in its 1957 annual report to the Coun cil for Scientific a n d Industrial Re search. T h e board and the director of the Chemical Research Laboratory also report progress in a n u m b e r of areas. The new radioisotope research unit has occupied its laboratories at Harwell where it will work with U. K. Atomic Energy Authority on uses for radioac tive isotopes. Most of the work going on is in stations of the D e p a r t m e n t of Scientific a n d Industrial Research and the grant-aided research associations. The unit has already completed a sur vey of problems awaiting attack in the organizations it will serve. Chemical Research Laboratory has set up three experimental circulation systems to study corrosion of metals in flowing water. The work now concerns effects of w a t e r speed on mild steel pipe. Future work will test the effec tiveness of soluble inhibitors on corro sion of mild steel and other metals un der various heat transfer conditions. Pure samples ( 9 9 . 9 # ) of most of the rare earths have been isolated us ing large ion exchange columns. Also developed was a chromatographic method for concentrating the less plen-
tihil constitutents. C R L has studied zone refining as a way to turn out the highly pure elements needed by the electrical industry. With some elements, such as tellurium, indium, and tin, t h e method does not remove all impurities, and prior chemical treatment must b e used. Both resin-in-pulp a n d solvent processes for extracting uranium and thorium from ores have been commercial for several years, b u t work continues in Britain on improvements. One result noted b y the Chemistry Research Board is a phosphorylated cellulose that serves as an ion exchange medium to recover thorium from ores. Drawbacks with this medium are maintaining low phosphorus thorium ratios in the extract and getting good flow rates through t h e columns. These problems, however, are being satisfactorily worked out. Other research with radiochemicals has uncovered a geochemical prospecting method that determines down to 1 part per billion of uranium in river water. A solution ol dibenzoylmethane in aqueous pyridine containing E D T A is a d d e d to the water. The resulting complex is extracted in carbon tetrachloride and the color compared with a set of standards. On t h e organic front, research has covered measurements of specific heats and latent heats of vaporization of highly purified compounds. Work on truly selective ion-exchange resins has permitted new sources of chelating and complexing resins to b e examined.
Atomic Hazard Study How best can t h e public and the atomic industry, in the U. S. and abroad, be protected financially against the risk of accidents in atomic plants abroad? One answer, proposed in a preliminary report by the Atomic Industrial Forum, is a multilateral treaty dealing with all important phases of the problem. At t h e core of the problem is the type of legal liability to which American and other industrial reactor suppliers may b e exposed under foreign law. Harvard Law School is doing research on this problem in a year-long program supported financially by the forum. The preliminary report marks the halfway point of t h e study. T h e report was prepared by Robert Eichholz and staff, former counsel to the U. S. foreign aid program under
For detergents of consistently high quality, start with thiophene-free SUNOCO BENZENE Sunoco benzene surpasses A S T M p u r i t y specifications for n i t r a t i o n g r a d e benzene. I t s m i n i m u m freezi n g p o i n t (5.2 C ) , in fact, is n e a r l y a half degree h i g h e r t h a n A S T M n i t r a t i o n - g r a d e specifications. T h i s h i g h e r p u r i t y m e a n s less c h a n c e of c a t a l y s t poisoning, b e t t e r q u a l i t y c o n t r o l , and i n c r e a s e d yield. Ask
y o u r Sun representative
for
complete specifications on thiop h e n e - , olefin-, a n d p a r a f f i n - f r e e For further information
S u n o c o benzene. Or w r i t e D e p t . C!N-7. industrial Products Department S U N OIL C O M P A N Y , Phila. 3, Pa.
SUNOCO © Sun Oil Company. 1968
In Canada: Sun Oil Company Limited, Toronto and Montreal. Other Sun petrochemicals: Anhydrous ammonia, toluene, xylene, Sulfonate OS, Sunaptic® (naphthenic) acids, propylene trimer, propylene t e t r a m e r , PDO-40 (petroleum drying oil), suifur.
and a list of Sun offices, consult Chem ical Materials JULY
28,
1958 C & E N
Catalog. 53
INTERNATIONAL
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^xnier execut> m 1950 on w h a t .ut regime has now H e is trumped-up charge, *tion. deviation. donir To-
ι Comniu .t p a r t y in S e p t e t station h a d one cu.4 ector for political affairs, hose job it was to oversee trie political education and trust-
Ληο·^νη B u l -
Alherene Stone Table Tops Provide Natural Surface for Space Research
