JOHN F. BOHMFALK, JR. Clark, Dodge & Co., 67 Wall Street New York, Ν. Y.
PETROCHEMICALS Chemical companies are promised plenty of com petition as the vigorous, 25-year-young petro chemical industry begins to flex its muscles and realize the growth long predicted for it
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I N RECENT years, petrochemicals have shown an annual increase of about I4f/c in physical output, as compared with a chemical industry average of 10r/c. Ac cording to Η. Β. McClure, vice president of Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Co., total tonnage produced has approximatelydoubled in each of the past three five-year periods. Tihere is every reason to believe that this growth rate can be maintained. N e w uses will b e found for old products. Present uses will be expanded. New prod ucts will come into prominence. There is no end in sight. There is already on hand considerable evidence pointing the way to the future growth of products using petrochemical raw materials. Certainly, plastics and syn thetic fibers are in the forefront of the petrochemical parade. Polyethylene and polystyrene are among the fastest growing plastics. Polyester resins (combinations of alkyds with styrene or allyl alcohol) laminated with glass fibers show consider able promise, as do polyketone polymers made from ethylene and carbon monoxide. Production of synthetic fibers of the polyamine, polyacrylonitrile, and condensation type" may reach 750 million to 1 billion pounds by 1960. Amd there will be other synthetic fibers, perhaps polyurethans
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based on isocyanates or polyamines based on caprolactam. The growth rate for synthetic detergents has yet to level off. Synthetic rubber and rubber-plastic blends, agricultural chemi cals, synthetic lubricants, motor fuel addi tives, flotation agents, and other use prod ucts offer attractive markets for increasing quantities of petrochemicals. What Are Petrochemicals? Chemicals derived from petroleum and natural gas, such as ammonia, carbon black, and thousands of organic chemicals, are classified as petrochemicals. The catalytic or thermal cracking of petroleum yields such gases as ethylene, propane, propylene, butane, butylène, and isobutylene. These gases provide starting materials for the major petrochemical activities today. Natural gas, containing methane, ethane, propane, and butane, is also finding important uses. Tens of thousands of compounds could be synthesized commercially from these basic petrochemicals if suitable applications could be found. Latest Developments World War II heightened the interest of the chemical industry in the use of petroleum and natural gas raw materials.
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The pressing need for synthetic rubber and toluene (for T N T ) stimulated the expansion of the petrochemical industry. Today, the list of petrochemical end-products includes plastics, detergents, alcohols, antifreeze, solvents, synthetic rubber, paints, lacquers, packaging materials, synthetic fibers, drugs, dyes, and many others. A promising n e w development is the growing demand for aromatics, particularly benzene, from petroleum. The coal tar industry is unable to keep up with the demand for benzene, used in nylon, detergents, plastics, and aviation gasoline. Consequently, petroleum companies are engaged in the construction of facilities which will annually provide 8 0 million gallons of benzene b y the end of 1952, to add to some 250 million gallons a year available from by-product coke ovens and imports. Annual benzene production of 400 million gallons b y 1955 and 1 billion gallons b y 1962 is visualized, a large share of it to come from petroleum sources. Such companies as Atlantic Refining, Shell Oil, and Standard of California have planned sizable b e n z e n e programs to fit in with their production of detergents. The fastest growing detergents, alkyl aryl sulfonates, require benzene and propylene as raw materials. The petroleum companies, as consumers, s e e m destined to play a larger role in the future growth of the petrochemical industry. Acetylene Developments One of the most significant developments in petrochemicals today is the commercial production of acetylene from methane by the Sachse process. The advent of potentially low-cost acetylene broadens immensely the base of the petrochemical industry, for it adds a n e w "degiee of freedom" to petrochemical combinations. Acetylene is a preferred raw material for acrylonitrile (for Orion, Acrilan, dynel synthetic fibers) and, in addition, is used in the production of vinyl chloride plastic, neoprene rubber, and intermediate chemicals. Finally, highpressure reactions of acetylene with other chemicals, largely undertaken b y General Aniline & Film Corp., open u p still another field of great potential. Much of the basic research in this area w a s carried out by Walter Reppe in Germany during the past war, and the results are freely available. There is considerable evidence that successful production of organic chemicals from natural gas can be accomplished outside the Southwest through use of longdistance gas transmission lines. T h e savings in freight costs on the shipment of chemical products to eastern markets offset thé cost of transmitting natural gas. Mathieson Hydrocarbon at Brandenburg, Ky., and National Petrochemicals at Tuscola, 111., are representative companies engaged in this t y p e of operation. There is some indication that several chemical manufacturers, such as Pittsburgh Coke & Chemical, Koppers, and Food Machinery & Chemical, are thinking seriously of undertaking joint ventures into organic chemicals with gas transmission companies. V O L U M E
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Character of the Industry The petrochemical industry is hughly competitive, and the major companies are moving in the direction of a more extensive integration. T h e trend in these companies is toward the production of everything from raw materials to final products. Moreover, their raw material base i s being extended to include the newer petrochemicals, such as acetylene and hydrogen cyanide. The major petrochemical companies today are Carbide and Carbon Chemicals (Union Carbide), Dow, Shell, Esso Standard, D u Pont, Monsanto, Jefferson ( Ajnerican Cyanamid and the Texas Co. ) , Ceianese, and Mathieson. Somewhat specialized petrochemical ventures have been staked out b y Ethyl, Hercules, Phillips, Rohm & Haas and Stanolind. Producers of ammonia should also b e counted and include Mathieson, Lion Oil, Spencer, and Commercial Solvents. Perhaps, the most controversial venture of all is the Carthage Hydrocol petrochemical plant at Brownsville, Tex. Among the newcomers to the petrochemical field are Allied Chemical, Koppers, Diamond Alkali, Texas Eastman, National Petrochemical ( o w n e d 60% b y National Distillers and 40?ό by Panhandle Eastern Pipeline), and American Petro chemical (jointly owned by Cities Service and Firestone). In addition, private com panies operating government synthetic rubber plants, as well as the oil companies supplying petrochemical raw materials to these plants, may be considered i n the petrochemical field. The company that has perhaps contrib uted most to petrochemical development is Carbide and Carbon. D u Pont a n d Esso have less diversified, yet well-conceived, petrochemical operations. Dow has made
tremendous progress in recent years and is currently emphasizing the expansion of such higher profit-margin products as vinyl chloride plastic, saran, and polystyrene. Shell Chemical is as far advanced tech nologically as Carbide and consistently takes out more patents on petrochemical processes and products than any other company in the field. Already a leading factor in carbon black, ammonia, and syn thetic rubber, Phillips is planning to make acetylene from natural gas, as well as vari ous high-pressure acetylene derivatives. Union Carbide and Carbon Corp. Carbide and Carbon Chemicals, with an investment in petrochemicals and plas tics approaching $500 million, carries out its petrochemical operations at Texas City, Tex., Charleston and Institute, W. Va., and Whiting, Ind. Carbide pioneered the development of organic chemicals based on petroleum raw materials and recently contributed another "first" in the success ful commercial production of acetylene from natural gas via the Sachse process. Carbide's products include a broad range of chemicals derived primarily from ethyl ene, as well as plastics composed of phenolformaldehyde (Bakélite), vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate ( Vinylite ) , and polyethylene. A major portion of Carbide's plastics production, some 3 7 0 million pounds a year, is petrochemical-based. Polyethylene capacity at Texas City will be doubled, and a new petrochemical center to b e built near Seadrift, Tex., costing $43 million, will probably include additional polyethylene capacity. Over the years, Carbide and Carbon has produced more than 300 synthetic organic chemicals in commercial quantities. Currently, the research and product
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Ethylene finishing towers used in the production of polystyrene at Dow's Midland plant. T h e company is one of the largest producers of petrochemicals development groups team u p to produce some 2 0 ehemieals a year warranting tankear shipment for the Hist time. Chemicals produced in large volume from natural gas sources include ethyl alcohol and several higher alcohols, ethylene glycol, organic acids, aldehydes, esters, glycols, ketones, and nitrogen compounds. Carbide's development of ethylencamines has moved rapidly and has led to profitable markets for numerous derivatives. Product development integrated with research and process development has keynoted the company's petrochemical progress. The company's petrochemical position will b e further fortified by the commercial production of acetylene from natural gas, which complements and supplements the use of ethylene in a variety of end-products.
plastics is late, there is ample room lor growth with the development of vinyl flooring, upholstery, and other products. Films made of the vinyls have lower moisture and oxygen permeability than many other films and are finding ready acceptance in food packaging. Dow's development of styrene-butadiene resins for waterbase paints and paper coatings is one of the company's significant contributions and opens up new markets for styrene. A $13 million expansion of silicone resins and silastics has been announced by DowCorning. Ethyl-Dow is in the process of increasing its capacity for ethylene dibromide. D o w ' s progressive management and basic positions in chlorine and natural gas assure continued growth. Furthermore, D o w ' s preference for multiple-unit plant construction provides greater flexibility and lower average product costs. In addition, the company appears interested in acetylene and fluorine chemicals. Percentage-wise, Dow's business is concentrated t o a greater extent in petrochemicals than are the operations of any other company—its petrochemical investment approaching $ 1 5 0 million. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Petrochemicals produced by Du Pont include methanol, polyethylene, nylon, and scores of others. Orion is based on acrylonitrile, also a petrochemical. Dacroii fiber is the addition product of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol, both petrochemicals. Nylon production is shifting rapidly to a petrochemical base. Du Pont's Orange, Tex., plant utilizes benzene or cyclohexane. both petroleum-derived, while its new Victoria, Tex., plant synthesizes nylon intermediates from butadiene. D u Pont's petrochemical investment probably approaches $100 million,
which is small in relation to the company's total plant investment. Recently, however, the company announced a $100 million expenditure for a location south of Beaumont, Tex. American Cyanamid Co. Jefferson Chemical, joindy owned by Cyanamid and Texas Co., represents a $20 million investment in such products as ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, and ethylene dichloride. Texas Co. majrkets the ethylene glycol as permanent antifreeze, and Cyanamid uses ethylene oxide as the raw material for acrylonitrile, which is sold to other companies for conversion to either synthetic fibers or specialty rubbers. I n view of Cyanamid's development o f a n acrylonitrile fiber, the company's recent announcement of a $54 million plant to b e constructed near Avondale, La., undoubtedly involves the production of acrylonitrile and possibly other chemicals, such as urea and melamine, from natural gas. Recently, Jefferson reported that completion of a commercialscale nonyl phenol unit is expected in early 1952. This product has possible uses in non ionic detergent manufacture or as a plasticizer, lube-oil additive, or antioxidant. Monsanto Chemical Co. Monsanto's original petrochemical operation involved the production of styrene and polystyrene at Texas City. The plant, rebuilt for styrene production only after the disaster some years ago, is probably the nation's lowest cost styrene producer and i s being expanded. Monsanto also manufactures polystyrene resins. A $30 million expansion program at Texas City will provide acrylonitrile and vinyl chloride capacity, utilizing petrochemical acetylene ( Sacbse process ) as a raw mate-
Aluminum tank cars await load of synthetic glycerol from the Shell plant at Deer Park, Tex. Shell uses its ethylene and propylene by-products of adjacent petroleum cracking operations as raw materials in the production of a large line of petrochemicals
D o w Chemical Co. D o w is perhaps the second largest producer of petrochemicals and, in addition, holds large reserves of natural gas. A leader in the chlorination of hydrocarbons, D o w produces a wide range of products including chlorinated solvents, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, ethanolamines, chloroform, polyethylene glycols, and others. D o w also developed polystyrene, one of the leading plastics, w h i c h is about 25% petrochemical-based. Vinyl and vinylidene chloride derivatives are destined to play a larger role i n Dow's overall sales, since saran plastic and fiber will soon b e supplemented with vinyl chloride plastic. While Dow's entry into vinyl chloride
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rial. Most of the acrylonitrile will be con verted to Acrilan synthetic fiber by Chemstrand Corp. (jointly owned by Monsanto and American Viscose), which will also produce nylon from cyclohexane, obtained from petroleum. The development of Krilium, the soil conditioning polyacrylonitrile resin, has probably required an upward revision in capacity of the new Texas City plant. T h e company's total petrochemical investment, including its 5 0 % interest in Chemstrand, should amount to about $150 million upon com pletion of all proposed plants.
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Celanese Corp. of America By the air oxidation of propane and butane, Celanese produces at Bishop, Tex., a variety of organic chemicals including fonnaldehyde, acetic acid, acetone, acetaldehyde, methanol, propyl alcohol, butyl alcohols, and glycols. Separation of these materials from a mixture of oxygenated compounds has been accomplished, and the process may yield many products at lower cost than is possible by alternative methods. The Bishop plant is being ex panded, and a similar but smaller plant is being constructed at Edmonton, Alta. At Pampa, Tex., a new and considerably smaller unit, which will employ another process, is being built to produce primarily acetic acid, also acetaldehyde, acetone, and, possibly, formic acid.
Propyl alcohol production and purification unit at Chemcel plant of Celanese at Bishop, Tex. From a mixture of oxygenated compounds obtained in the air oxidation of propane and butane a variety of organic compounds have been separated but it is unlikely that Rohm & Haas will jump into other petrochemical ventures unless forced to do so. The Deer Park investment amounts to about $10 million.
Rohm & Haas Co. Κυΐun & Haas has a small petrochemical operation at Deer Park, Tex., for the pro duction of hydrogen cyanide and sub sequently ethylene cyanhydrin and ace tone cyanhydrin intermediates required for acrylic and methacrylate resins. Profit margins were substantially improved by use of petrochemical hydrogen cyanide,
Carthage Hydrocol, Inc. Owned by nine major corporations, in cluding Texas Co., Chicago Corp., Hydro carbon Research (one third owned by Dresser Industries), Western Natural Gas Co., United Gas Corp., Stone & Webster, Inc., and others, Carthage Hydrocol con structed a $38 million plant at Brownsville, Tex., to manufacture gasoline and chemi-
Methyl ethyl ketone plant at the Baton Rouge Refinery, center of Esso Standard Oil Co.'s petrochemical operations. Esso is one of the nation's largest producers of synthetic alcohol, isopropyl alcohol. acetone, and several other organic chemicals
cals from natural gas. Plant operation has been impeded by serious mechanical dif ficulties. The process used, an adaptation of the Fischer-Tropsch process developed in Germany, is considered technologically sound, however. The plant is designed t o consume about 90 million cubic feet of natural gas a day to produce 9000 barrels a day of gasoline and Diesel fuels. Plans call for the annual production of 150 mil lion pounds of petrochemicals. Among the major problems are the separation and purification of the numerous oxygenated chemicals obtained. If these difficulties can be surmounted, the production of large volumes of basic organic chemicals is cer tain to have a marked effect on the whole chemical price structure. Ammonia Producers Using natural gas Mathieson operates an 87,000-ton-a-year ammonia plant at Lake Charles, La., and a smaller unit at Niagara Falls, Ν. Υ., with a total invest ment of about $10 million. Most of the company's ammonia goes to agriculture in the form of ammonium nitrate and sulfate and ammoniating solutions. But, in com mon with most ammonia producers, Mathieson is searching for chemical out lets for its ammonia output. Mathieson is producing semicommercial quantities of hydrazine, a reactive derivative that may be used in jet fuels and in the production of synthetic fibers. Mathieson has invested $25 million in plants at Brandenburg, Ky., and Saltville, Va., to produce such petro chemicals as ethylene oxide, ethylene gly col, polyethylene glycols, chloroethers, and ethylene dichloride from natural gas. These products are used as antifreezes and solvents and in the synthesis of fibers and detergents. Commercial Solvents is engaged in a $20 million expansion of its 61,000-ton-a-
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Distillation tower at Monsanto's Texas City, Tex., plant where the company began its petrochemical operations. A $30 million expansion program is now in the works year ammonia plant at Stcrlington, La., which will provide an estimated 70,000 tons of additional ammonia capacity. The company also uses its gas reforming process at Sterlington to produce methanol for anti-freeze and for the synthesis of various amines. Commercial Solvents' nitroparaffins, although not currently produced in large commercial quantities, are potentially important petrochemicals. CSC recently completed an extensive market study which may lead to a sizable expansion of the company's nitroparaffin facilities. Collaboration with a large oil company may be in the cards. Spencer Chemical has become a major factor in the ammonia field with an investment totaling $26 million and is building its third unit at Vicksburg, Miss., at a cost of $14 million. In addition to ammonia, Spencer makes methanol and its derivative, formaldehyde, and is evidently going into the production of urea and carbamates. Urea, used in agriculture, is also finding a growing outlet in urea-formaldehyde plastics. Derivatives of urea and the carbamates have shown considerable promise as selective weed-killers. Lion Oil operates a 208,000-ton-a-year ammonia plant at El Dorado, Ark., which, according to a recent announcement, will he expanded. Lion is one of the largest producers of synthetic ammonium sulfate and has a total plant .investment of $20 million in these facilities. The company recently began research on the synthesis of acrylonitrile and has the basic raw materials required for this product.
ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, ethyl chloride, allyl alcohol, and glycerol—all petrochemicals. Shell is the only producer of ethyl alcohol by the direct hydration of ethylene, which avoids the use of scarce and corrosive sulfuric acid required in a competitive synthesis. Shell also developed and commercialized a synthesis of glycerol and is the sole synthetic producer. Shell is also the major producer of ammonia on the West Coast and is expanding its ammonia production. In a cooperative venture with Diamond Alkali, Shell will produce vinyl chloride at 1 Ionston in a plant having an annual capacity of -45· million pounds. The output will be divided equally by both concerns, each of which will convert its share of vinyl chloride to resin. Hydrochloric acid, a co-product in this operation, will be used to double Shell's ethyl chloride output. Shell's relatively large investment of about $70 million in petrochemicals is responsible for about 109$: of its total sales. Esso Standard (Standard Oil of New Jersey) has a major stake in petrochemicals, being one of the nation's largest producers of synthetic ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, and acetone. Esso centers its petrochemical operations at Baton Rouge, La., where the company also produces such petrochemicals as methyl ethyl ketone, ethyl ether, isopropyl ether solvents, polypropylenes, diisobutylene, butadiene, and isoprene. Esso was the first oil company to use the German oxo process to produce isooctyl alcohol. T h e company has a long history in synthetic rubber development and produces a number of special rubbers, as well as butyl rubber, for the Government. The parent company has a joint interest (with General Motors) in the Ethyl Corp., which uses petroleum gases, primarily ethylene, in the production of tetraethyllead for gasoline. Ethyl, diver-
si tying its operations, has entered the production of agricultural chemicals, such as benzene hexachloride, and other products, such as amyl nitrate and calcium metal. Phillips has established an active petrochemical program, which includes the manufacture of synthetic rubber, carbon black, ammonia, and other products. Phillips brought out the first carbon black based on oil and is credited with the development of "cold rubber." Phillips' ammonia plant at Etter, Tex., is one of the lowest cost producers in the field. Production o f alkyl pyridines will be started. Vinyl pyridine will probably b e used as a treating agent in synthetic fibers, such as Aerilan, but in relatively small quantities. Control of Alamo Chemical has been acquired, and plans for this undertaking include production of ammonia, methanol» and 15 million pounds a year of acetylene for conversion to propargyl alcohol, butanediol, and methyl vinyl ether. Phillips" tremendous natural gas reserves of s o m e 15.2 trillion cubic feet provide the company with an almost inexhaustible petrochemical raw material and a hedge against the trend of rising natural gas prices. Standard Oil of Indiana has moved into the petrochemical field. At present, its Indoil Chemical, St-anolind Oil & Gas, and Pan American subsidiaries produce . polybutenes, benzene, and cresylic acids—all petroleum derived. Standard has announced construction of a plant at W o o d River, 111., to produce 10 million pounds a year of iso-octyl alcohol b y the oxo process. Pan American has announced construction of a plant to turn out 2 million gallons a year of polybutenes and 3.8 million gallons a year of propylene tetramer. Stanolind has made test runs in a plant at Brownsville, Tex., to separate oxygenated chemicals obtained from Carthage Hydrocol.
Part of General Aniline's acetylene pilot plant setup. Advent of low-cost acetylene b y high-pressure and other methods should broaden base of petrochemical operations
The Petroleum Companies Shell entered the petrochemical industry by capitalizing on its ethylene and propylene by-products of petroleum cracking. The company is a major producer of 1846
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Standard Oil of California's subsidiary, Oronite Chemical, which began as a marketer of cresylic acids, naphthenic acids, and similar refinery by-products, has become a major factor in the field o f detergents and wetting agents of t h e alky] aryl sulfonate type. In its manufacture of phthalic anhydride, the company uses o-xylene as a raw material. Oronite also markets p-xylene, which may be oxidized to terephthalic acid used in the manufacture of Dacron. Standard of California plans to build a $4 million plant capable of producing 35 million pounds a year o f phenol by the Hercules-Distillers process. The raw materials will b e benzene, to b e obtained from a $14 million Platfomier being built at the company's El Segundo, Calif., plant, and propylene, a refinery by-product. Synthetic Rubber Industry The synthetic rubber industry is composed of several major petroleum companies, all of the major rubber companies, and many chemical manufacturers. Their operations range from the extraction o f butane-butylene mixtures from refinery streams to the polymerization of monomers, such as butadiene and styrene. The products of the synthetic rubber industry include numerous variations of GR-S, a s 'ell as such specialty rubbers as butyl and butadiene-acrylonitrile types. The recent develoi&nerit'of high-styrene latices and isoprene-styrene polymers, together with the advent of rubber-plastic: blends, point to the profitable exploitation of new polymeric materials and combinations. Phillips dehydrogenates butane t o butadiene and manufactures GR-S in a government-owned polymerization plant a t Borger, Tex. Phillips has been interested in a butyl rubber venture. Standard Oil Co. of N e w Jersey is the other major participant in synthetic rubbers. Other oil companies, which operate governmentowned butadiene plants, include Shell, Humble, Sinclair, Neches Butane, and Cities Service. Rubber companies involved in the synthetic rubber program are U. S . Rubber, Firestone, Goodyear, Goodrich, General, and several smaller combines, all operating government copolymer plants. When and if private control of the butadiene and copolymer plants becomes a reality, further development of synthetio and plastics can be expected on a n expanded scale. Newcomers Eastman Kodak's Tennessee Eastman and Texas Eastman divisions have been exploring various petrochemical processesTexas Eastman has erected a $30 million plant at Longview, Tex., to produce ethyl alcohol and butyric acid from natural gas. The alcohol supplements purchases o f ethyl alcohol from Esso and, after conversion to acetic acid, is used in the manufacture of cellulose acetate rayon and plastics. Butyric acid is required f o r cellulose acetate butyrate plastics. Tennessee has investigated the Wulff process which V O L U M E
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produces acetylene from natural gas. In addition, the company has produced experimental quantities of an acrylonitrile synthetic fiber. Diamond Alkali has begun to branch out into products m a d e from petrochemical raw materials, such as vinyl chloride plastic, carbon tetrachloride, chlorinated paraffin, and perchloroethylene. The vinyl chloride project will b e undertaken in cooperation with Shell Chemical, a leader in the petrochemical field and an important chlorine-caustic customer of Diamond. Acquisition of Kolker Chemical gave Diamond a prominent position in the manufacture of such agricultural chemicals as D D T , benzene hexachloride and 2,4-D, which are partly petrochemical-based. National Petro-Chemicals will produce 3 6 to 40 million gallons a year of ethyl alcohol and 50 million pounds a year of ethyl chloride in a $32 million plant near Tuscola, T!l. Most of the output will be sold to D u Pont on long-term contracts. U. S. Industrial Chemicals (wholly owned by National Distillers) has erected facilities at Brownsville, Tex., to handle an estimated 100 million pounds a year of chemicals, including ethyl alcohol, provided Carthage Hydrocol can deliver the needed materials to the adjoining Stanolind plant for separation. American Petrochemical is still in the blueprint stage, but may well develop into a relatively large petrochemical producer. Ethylene glycol for antifreeze will start the venture, and it is probable that vinyl chloride for Firestone's Velon plastics and Exon vinyl resins may be produced later. Not to be forgotten is Cities Service's basic position in petrochemicals, extending back to 1926 with the construction of a plant at Tallant, Okla. Other petrochemical producers include Sharpies, W y andotte, Hercules, Koppers, and Allied. Still in the researching stages are Continental Oil and Olin Industries. What of the Future? Several petrochemical trends are almost self-evident. The increasing popularity of acetylene synthesis from natural gas is high on the list. This is so partly because of the complementary relationship between acetylene and ethylene as raw materials. The major factor is the demand for acrylonitrile for a multitude of u s e s synthetic rubber, plastics, synthetic fibers, and agricultural chemicals. Acetylene and acrylonitrile together may very well be considered the foremost petrochemicals of the current decade. Considerable interest has been generated by the Reppe high-pressure reactions of acetylene, and the next few years should see commercial production of an increasing number of Reppe compounds. Another field to watch is that of ammonia derivatives. Expansion in the conversion of ammonia to hydrogen cyanide, urea, melamine, hydrazine, carbamates, isocyanates, and urethans can be forecast. Butadiene, a tonnage product for synthetic rubber, has almost limitless possibilities as a cheap and plentiful starting material for other syntheses. The new D u Pont synthesis of M A Y
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Representative of the large market the synthetic fibers represent for petrochemical producers is the Du Pont plant for the manufacture of Orion acrylic fiber near Camden, S. C. adiponitrile is based on butadiene. Phillips has patented a process in which butadiene and furfural are condensed t o a lactone, which is then hydrogenated and finally oxidized to adipic acid, another nylon intenuediate. Synthetic fibers will require huge amounts of petrochemical starting materials. Even though the growth trend of the newer fibers is exceptionally strong, the severity of rayon production cycles, together with the advent of the FischerTropsch process, suggests that the market for some of the more common oxygenated organics, such as acetone, acetic acid, and anhydride, may very well exhibit the same weaknesses as does that o f formaldehyde. The petroleum companies have a logical stake in petrochemicals. Consider that a barrel of West T e x a s crude is worth $2.65, equivalent to 6 cents a gallon, and that, after cracking and reforming, the gasoline obtained is worth only 12 cents a gallon to the refiner. O n the other hand, with crude valued at roughly 1 cent a pound, by-products o f the petroleum cracking operation may b e upgraded to petrochemicals worth 10 t o 5 0 cents a pound. Certainly, there is a better average profit margin in petrochemicals than in motor fuel. However, a petrochemical operation is entirely different from petroleum refining in t w o respects: T h e volume of output obtained and the research effort required. Despite these differences t h e petroleum companies that have pioneered in chemical development have learned t o adjust themselves successfully t o t h e special requirements of the chemical industry. There is every reason to believe that these companies will take every opportunity to give the chemical companies plenty of stiff competition in t h e burgeoning petrochemical developments o f the future. 1847
