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SYMPOSIUM ON THE FUTURE. OF CERTAIN AMERICAN-MADE CHEMICALS I
I
Papers presented at the 57th Meeting of the AMBRICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, Buffalo, N. Y . , April 9, 1919
SOME PRESENT-DAY PROBLEMS OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY BY RAYMOND F. BACONAND WILLIAMA. HAMOR
A century ago the research chemist walked forth upon the then limited American industrial world to attempt the improvement of commodities and the development of new branches of manufacture. Notwithstanding his displayed diligence and skill, however, it has been only in the last decade that technochemical investigation has become recognized by industry as the instrument of its extension; and now a welcome public support has come, for no section of the community remains unaffected by properly executed, carefully planned research. The financier has become its paraclete, because by means of scientific discovery there may be opened up new and promising fields for investment and reliablc methods of safeguarding iiivestments which he has already made; the manufacturer recognizes it as the parent of his technical practice, for it has either founded or facilitated his plant p r o c e s s a n asset which enchances his standing and enables him the more readily to raise capital for his business; the educationalist is its enthusiastic advocate, because research activity develops new fields for study and demands novel methods of training; while the artisan is benefited by the fact that the more extensive the investigational work, the greater the probability of maintaining the lead in industry and the greater the ultimate national prosperity. It is, of course, impossible to form even an imperfect estimate of the monetary equivalent of the colossal value to which the accumulated scientific inquiries of mankind have given rise; one fact is demonstrable, however, and that is that by far the greatest part of the summated value of the manufacturing industries of the present owes its existence to and depends for its continuance upon the labors of the scientific investigator. Of the vast annual income which is realized by our industrialists a constantly increasing amount is finding its way back to furnish the means of providing fresh discoveries and fertilizing the field upon which reliance must be imposed for the production of fresh growths of industrial enterprises. Manufacturers who have been benefited by the application of science to industry have not been content to await chance discoveries, but have established well-equipped laboratories and strong research staffs. Then, too, a tendency toward national economy and a fear of the depletion of certain natur?l resources have directed attention to the importance of the scientific conservation of these unreplaceable assets. Moreover, some large industrial corporations have found it expedient to keep before the public the fact that investigations on a large scale ultimately bring considerable benefit to the community generally; that every scientific discovery applied in industry reacts to the public gain; and that consequently great industrial organizations are justified, since i t is only where there are large aggregations of capital that the most extensive and productive research facilities can be obtained. American industrialists are now spending approximately $~o,ooo,ooo annually on technochemical investigation. There are a large number of manufacturing corporations and associations of manufacturers whose annual expenditures on research range from $go,ooo to $500,000, and the tendency for each important industrial firm is towards the establishing of its own research laboratory. Certain of our research laboratory forces have been increased from 250 to 500 per cent in the last I O years, and since August 1914, the staffs of a number of the largest laboratories have been
enlarged from 25 to roo per cent. The research work thus commenced by corporations appears t o develop through certain more or less well-defined stages, according to the character of the industry. These stages have been discussed elsewhere1 and need not be referred to here a t length. The following outline is indicative of their general scope: I-Research applied to the elimination of difficulties in manufacture. a-Research having some new and specific commercial object. 3-Research in pure science with no specific commercial application in view. 4-Research applied to public service. 5-Research for the purpose of establishing standard methods of testing and standard specifications connected with the purchase of raw materials. This paper presents a resum6 of the types of techno-chemical problems which are a t present engaging research attentionproblems which several years ago were either accorded no consideration or were unknown, but which are now the subject of contemporary concern 2 SOME METALLURGICAL PROBLEMS O F TO-DAY
The attention of present-day steel investigators has been especially attracted to the nature of @-ironand the question of the existence of &iron. The form of the solidification diagram for iron-carbon alloys has not been definitely fixed, and in addition to the former double diagram, based on the labile equilibrium, there is also an unique diagram based upon the pseudobinary equilibrium. In the theory of steel solidification, efforts have been made to explain the nature of martehsite and to assign to it a place in the diagram. The iron-carbon system is one of the most complex, if not the most complex, known to metallography. Present theories are faulty and incomplete, but have eventuated in valuable practical results. In blast-furnace practice there is needed some method of increasing the basicity of the slag without increasing its temperature; very little information is available regarding the amount of sulfur which can be expelled with the top gases; the control of manganese is comparatively incomplete; little is known of the general subject of the effects of variation in the carbon content of the different kinds of iron, and consequently we are unacquainted in detail with methods for the systematic control of carbon; and there is a lack of experimental knowledge relating to the action of a considerable percentage of vanadium in the blast-furnace charge Reference may also be made here to the problem presented in the production of ferrovanadium alloys directly from iron ores containing vanadium; this is difficult because vanadium goes into slag very readily. The following are some of the many other problems in siderurgy: the recovery of manganese as an alloy from slags high in manganese; the extension of the commercial uses of open-hearth and converter slags, particularly a broad study of their use in ceramics; the improvement of the quality of cast iron or pig iron of ordinary coke grade, to make it the equal of higher-priced charcoal iron; the iduence of p-iron on the hardening of steel; the rela1 Hamor, Sci. Mon., 1918, p. 324. 2 On M a y 14, 1915, I addressed the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society on “Some Problems of Chemical Industry,” and the discourse was duly published, in condensed form, in THISJOURNAL, 7 (19151, 535. However, a number of omissions occurred in that brief report, and, at the request of my colleagues, I endeavored t o supply, principally for the research workers in our universities, the additions necessitated for completion of the presentment. This paper appeared in J . Soc. Chcm. Ind., 36 (1917), No. 1. The present contribution is supplemental t o these earIier reports.-R. F. B.
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tive merits, as regards corrosion, of various iron products, and especially pure iron, as compared with ordinary open-hearth and copper-bearing steels; the cause of internal transverse defects in rails; and the recovery of by-products From blastfurnace gases. In spite of the success already attained with acid-resisting irons, there are still factors of difficulty to be overcome. All alloys OF low silicon content, say under I O per cent, are attacked very readily by sulfuric, hydrochloric, acetic, and citric acids. These alloys are not exceedingly brittle, but alloys containing from 16 to 18 per cent of silicon, while they are very resistant to sulfuric, hydrochloric, acetic, and citric acids, are extxemely brittle, and are so very hard that it is impossible to machine t h e n in any other way than by grinding with highspeed abrasive wheels. These points are decided drawbacks in many cases against the utilization of acid-resisting iron, and ,experiments are still being continued to improve the tensile strength of the metal, and produce an alloy that will be both malleable and machinable. I n the field of non-ferrous metallurgy the flotatiqn process continues its phenomenal growth, and not only is it being constantly applied in new plants, but substantial additions are being made to the knowledge of its action. Not only is flotation having its effect on ore-dressing, but also the metallurgical processes are being revised because of the different characteristics of flotation concentrates from the former material which the metallurgist had to treat. The weak spot in flotation continues to be the handling of complex ores involving differential flotation. Some progress has been recorded, but there is still a long way to go to reach the ultimate solution. Preferential flotation is one of the most pressing problems in connection with flotation in the United States. I n Australia the separation of lead and zinc is common practice, and likewise in this country the same separation is made with fair success in some districts; but where a complex ore contains lead, zinc, and iron, flotating can as yet be said to be unsuccessful as far as anything approaching a complete separation is concerned, especially the flotation of zinc from iron. Sometimes where the iron sulfide has become tarnished i t does not float as rapidly as the zinc sulfide. While a universally accepted flotation theory has not been evolved, the constant advances being made along this line are bringing 11snearer to this end. In no branch of the metallurgy of zinc’ is there more need for improvenient than there is in means and methods for desulfurizing blende. The increase in the supply of flotation slimes has simply served to emphasize the old difficulties It has become increasingly evident that the greatest troubles in the electrolytic extraction process for zinc precede the electrolysis itself. With the proper electrolyte there is no serious difficulty in performing the electrolysis; but it may prove expensive to remove impurities in the hydrometallurgical part of the process for the purpose of obtaining the right kind of electrolyte. There may also be difficulties in making an adequate extraction of zinc in leaching the ore. Little progress has been made in the flotation of gold ores during the past several years, and the newer but less complete process is now considered unlikely to become a serious rival to established methods of treatment. The major tonnage of gold ores is treated by a leaching process, and the substitution of flotation would probably necessitate additional reduction plant to insure a. finer product than is now economically practicable. There is, however, a possibility for the introduction of flotation for the concentration of the residues from some cyanide mills treating gold ore, in the same manner as has been found beneficial in Canada. In the few instances where the tailings from amalgamation plants are too refractory for cyanide treat1
On other problems encountered in the metallurgy of zinc, see Bacon,
Science, N. S., 40 (1914), 8 7 7 ; and THISJOURNAL, 7 (1915), 535.
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ment it has been shown that flotation May be adopted with a fair chance of success. The leaching of gold ores in open vats is, in fact, one of the leading methods of metallurgical treatment, but there has been little recent technological progress to report. Copper metallurgists have adopted the method extensively, and installations like the Ajo leaching plant of the New Cornelia Copper Company indicate that the last word has not been said as to improved and economical leaching practice. The principle involved is often the same with both metals, though conditions differ. The applicability of leaching to gold ores is extensive, although there has been an inclination in some quarters to consider the method out of date, and to reserve research and improvement for other and more complicated processes, which necessitated more frequent readjustments to the varying conditions encountered. There is no question as to the comparative cheapness per ton capacity of a large leaching plant, as compared with the equipment necessary for any other wet-chemical method. The resulting low cost of operation would be an added incentive to the inclusion of a large tonnage of gold ore reserves, now considered as unprofitable because of the expense of reduction to slime, the difficulty of entirely isolating, for precipitating purposes, dissolved gold associated with slime, and the high cost per ton when operations are carried out on a small basis. In copper metallurgy there is predicted the substitution of the electric for the fuel-fired furnace; the production of matte from ore, its solution, and production directly into metal-or, again, the extension to all copper ores of hydrometallurgical methods. Our achievements in 2 5 years, the changes wrought in methods, indicate still greater results to Follow. There continues to be little market for tellurium and a correspondingly small production. Tellurium, like selenium, is a by-product from the electrolytic refining OF copper. The domestic production is capable of large expansion if market conditions should warrant, as almost all blister copper contains recoverable quantities of tellurium. Much of this would be saved, if a demand existed, a t prices of, say, $I .50 to $ 2 . 5 0 a pound. Glassmaking took about one-third of our supply of arsenic in 1917. substituting some arsenic for antimony; but, in view of the lowered price of antimony, this demand has fallen off and new industrial applications are wanted. Its use in insecticides is now the most important for arsenic The uses of antimony are very limited, which is especially surprising in view of the fact that it can be employed as a substitute for tin in certain cases. The position of tin is such as to warrant research to determine whether antimony could not replace the quantity of tin used in many industries; to illustrate, antimony can be used in the place of tin in electric cable work. The supply of antimony is capable of taking care OF a much larger demand than exists a t the present time. Since tin has become scarce, cadmium has been increasingly used as a substitute for tin in solder, such as the “half-and-half” lead-tin solder. Though cadmium is worth half as much again as tin, it can be profitably substituted for that metal in some solders, for less czdmium and more lead is used; moreover, the tin available is normally required for uses for which there is no substitute. The supply of cadmium can easily be increased to meet any reasonable demand. It is therefore highly desirable that some research laboratory undertake an intensive study of cadmium, particularly of cadmium alloys, to determine fully the availability of cadmium as a substitute for tin and to discover new uses for it. Among the less used metals, the alkaline earth elements are begging utility. There is no doubt that calcium could be produced economically even by methods now known if it were manufactured on a large scale to fill an extensive demand, but markets therefor must be established by the discoverv of important new uses. Results of commercial significance might
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be obtained by the investigation of the alloys of calcium and its application as a chemical purifying agent in melting and casting metals. Calcium has been used abroad as a substitute for ferromanganese in the de-oxidation of steel. In the cases of barium and strontium, uses could be developed if methods were known by which these metals could be isolated cheaply; while with magnesium there is now a plentiful supply and novel applications are being sought for the metal and its alloys. Beryllium is another metal whose properties should receive broad investigation, for at present its known uses do not justify its cost. Metallic columbium and tantalum are now being manufactured, and additional uses are desired for them and their derivatives. The production of boron and ferroboron of uniform quality requires expert study. The application of boron in the metal industry has just been touched; it is used as a scouring agent for copper and in making aluminum bronzes. Cheap and pure chromium is now unobtainable; the electrolysis of its fused salts is difficult on account of their high melting points, but perhaps the electrolysis of aqueous solutions of chromium salts could be so controlled that heavy deposits would be produced. Then, too, chromium electroplating is for many purposes superior t o nickel, but the technique of constantly producing perfect plating has not been accomplished. Since there is no lack of raw materials, broad study should be made of the methods for producing pure titanium, zirconium, and uranium, and of their prospective uses. The same statement also applies to molybdenum, although the greatest need of the molybdenum industry a t the present time is a more economic utilization of its sources of raw material; in general, the deposits have been neither properly prospected nor opened up, and too often not wisely worked. A very important electrometallurgical development awaiting a successful solution is the direct manufacture of steel from iron ore. Another branch of chemical manufacture which would assist in helping to consume electrical power is the fertilizer industry. This includes the nitrogen-fixation industry and the electrical extraction of soluble phosphates from phosphate rock. The electrical method is stated to afford completely soluble phosphates, while with the old sulfuric acid process only a relatively small percentage of phosphorus is rendered soluble. PROBLEMS IN REFRACTORIES
Of all the anxious inquiries coming in from our manufacturers, those pertaining to refractories are perhaps the most generally important. Why is it that roof brick oEten wear away from the sides, forming “stalactites;” is the destructive agency slag or spawling? How can dolomite be treated so that its slaking tendencies will be reduced to those of magnesite? Can brick be made to give longer service in the rotary cement kiln? Can more resistant brick be made for the checkers of enameling furnaces-brick which will resist the slagging action of iron scale and yet be refractory? What are the most desirable percentages of iron oxide to be added in making “synthetic magnesite” for basic bottoms? And is the addition of Ferric oxide absolutely necessary? What are the most undesirable impurities in silica brick and how can silica brick be treated so as t o eliminate excessive spawling? What are the primary reasons for the failure of graphite crucibles? A pyrometer tube is desired which will not warp at high temperatures, and which will be strong, dense and impervious to gases Can electric-furnace products ever be used in blast furnaces, heating furnaces, etc., or will failures occur because of erosion, spawling, or causes other than heat? Still other queries relate to the mechanical aspects of the manufacture of refractories. Can more efficient machinery be invented in order to remove the great personal factor in the making of fire clay and silica brick? And will more efficient kilns be more generally adopted? Several problems from the iron and steel industry are also of consid-
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erable interest. Can alumina be satisfactorily made (sintered) into a dense, hard refractory without the aid of a bond, thus obviating the troublesome shrinkage which occurs a t temperatures far below the melting point of alumina? And finally, there are the troubles in the case of refractories for open-hearth furnaces. The principal source of difficulty is the slagging tendency of the dust, which is derived partly from the producers and partly from the charges Perhaps a satisfactory means of suppressing the dust might be devised, but another way out of the trouble consists in replacing the acid bricks of the checkerwork by basic ones. In this connection a pertinent question is, what constitute the best checker bricks-light and porour or hard and dense products? Magnesia and silica brick have been tried with good results, while dolomite brick, which have been suggested for experimentation, have not been made successfully. It is becoming increasingly evident that the greatest single problem in chemical technology is the one of refractories. There are many industrial problems that now appear to be impossible of commercial solution, which could be immediately solved, provided we had some ideal refractory substance which would retain its shape and strength a t high temperatures, would not be acted upon by the acid or alkaline constituents of a charge or by the gases evolved during the reaction, and would be sufficiently strong and tough to resist erosion, etc. OTHER PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRIAL INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Many problems exist in the field of mineral technology. The American strontium industry is still in its infancy; there is a more difficdt road to travel here than in the now well-developed barium industry, although the demonstration of the commercial possibilities of strontium products has been made and rapid expansion may be certainly expected. A more plentiful supply of fluorite should cheapen and improve the lenses and prisms used in the construction of optical instruments. The present demand is limited, but will increase, and optical fluorspar brings $I .oo per lb Perhaps suitable crystallized calcium fluoride could be prepared by a synthetic process. The grading of asbestos has not been standardized; consequently it is difficult to compare prices, except as between the same grades of the same producer. This condition is aggravated by the fact that the grades are numerous, passing gradually from one to the other, and varying in value from $ 5 . 0 0 to &goo.ao per ton. The buying of tungsten ores in accordance with definite grades and specifications also requires standardization. The changing of specifications and the uncertainty respecting the marketability of tungsten ores and concentrates have made i t difficult for some producers to satisfy themselves regarding the prices received for their products. Under conditions such as have prevailed during 1917 and 1918, nearly any grade of flake graphite is salable, and there are no definite standard governing specifications Consequently the buyer may now prefer the imported graphite, for which there are fairly well recognized standards. It would seem advisable for the domestic producers, either to adopt standards for different grades of flakes, in order that when imported graphite comes on the market more freely they may be better able to meet the competition, or so to regulate their milling methods that they may be able to prepare special grades based on the purchaser’s specifications. It is probably impossible to standardize grades for the whole country, owing to the different methods of treatment necessary for different types of ore; but where conditions are essentially the same over a large area. as in the Alabama field, cooperation among the producers might result in the establishment of two or three standard grades, based on the percentage of graphitic carbon and size of flake, with a guaranteed minimum of silica and iron. This would give the producers a far stronger position in the market and make the crucible manufacturers more ready to use domestic flake. Graphite
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for other uses, such as for lubricants, pencils, foundry facings, and paints, will probably continue to be in good demand, but unless the deposits are large and cheaply mined, the prices of the grades required for these uses do not make them profitable to the producer. Here again the expected competition of the graphite dust from Madagascar and Ceylon and amorphous graphite from Mexico, as well as artificial amorphous graphite, will be difficult to meet. Bctter milling methods, resulting in a higher graphite content of the dust produced, will materially aid the situation. For instance, dust as ordinarily produced at flake graphite mines carries about 40 per cent of carbon and is sold at less than I cent per lb., but the same dust, when refined to a degree of purity suitable for use as a filler for dry batteries, commands many times this figure Perhaps it may be found feasible to manufacture many graphite products in the vicinity of the mines. New uses are desired for tripoli and gypsum; and the employment of slate in the manufacture of blackboards and school “slates” has so decreased that new applications are wanted to replace this loss of market. Then there are the problems in connection with the use of the natural abrasives, emery and corundum; with these there is wide variation in the composition of different shipments; but since the development of highgrade artificial abrasives and the exploitation of larger corundum deposits in Ontario, little corundum has been produced and only a small quantity of emery has been mined in the United States, and accordingly new uses are being sought for these minerals. The abrasive garnet market is also limited and shows little tendency to extension a t present. Reference may be made here to several problems in the technology of fuller’s earth, the literature of which is unsatisfactory. Little is known regarding the qualities of fuller’s earth which adapt it to its applications; there is a needless obscurity concerning the changes which it occasions in oils and to which it is itself liable; it is not clear why certain earths possess a tendency to cause spontaneous combustion in the material from the filter presses; and what is the cause of the malodor which sometimes accompanies the use of a particular earth? The utilization of the waste products of various chemical manufactures is in need of investigation. How can sulfide of arsenic residues from the purification of sulfuric acid and residues containing appreciable amounts of selenium be most advantageously used? Then we have the waste hydrochloric acid from metal pickling, the waste chromium sulfate liquors resulting from the oxidation of organic substances, the residue from the manufacture of acetic anhydride, the maize residue from the manufacture of butyl alcohol, chrome leather scrap, and Mimosa bark residue. PROBLEMS OF lNDUSTRIAL ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
The organo-chemical industry holds out engaging opportunities for chemical research and the inquiries which it submits are well illustrative of the opportunities which exist for cooperative investigation as well as explanatory of the prevailing anxiety for new ideas in manufacture. More numerous, perhaps, than any others are queries regarding coal products and their manufacture; these problems1 and those of the related petroleum industry2 have been considered at length elsewhere, arid accordingly will not be discussed here. The problems awaiting investigation in the field of experimental phytochemistry are quite numerous. In fact, the formation of an organic raw-material research association would seem to be desirable in order that there might be systematically studied the many problems connected with the cultivation, breeding, and diseases of plants, and the furnishing of raw materials in rela‘Bacon, THISJOURNAL, 7 (1915), 535, and also J . SOC.Chem. I n d . , No. 1. * Bacon and Hamor’s “American Petroleum Industry,” 2 (1916),
86 (19171, 798.
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tion t o the requirements of the various chemical manufacturers concerned, a special department or division thereof being organized for each industry, or raw material. In this way, for example, the plant products industries could be greatly strengthened by the interconnection of economic botany and chemistry. Many of our plants are wasted either because of a lack of knowledge regarding their possibilities or because of a deficiency of interest in their industrial development. The processes for obtaining rubber from guayule sap could be improved by further research; the method employed for extracting wax from candellila is crude; algerita and Osage orange contain dyestuffs, but have received practically no attention; the commercial possibilities of mesquite seed and wax are unknown, and the same statement applies to the wax or gum from prickly pear cactus; no suitable process is known for degumming ramie fiber and making it suitable for spinning; there is no knowledge of the industrial possibilities of bear grass; the use of rice straw and cotton stalks as paper-making materials requires more study; and the castor bean, sunflower, and camphor tree are well adapted to the coastal plain of Texas and should constitute the bases of well-established industries. A study of the best time of cutting the wood, the best type of tree, and its conditions of growth in relation to the wood cellulose produced from it would be of real material value in paper-making and the manufacture of artificial silk. It has been predicted that, in time, special crops may be cultivated for the production of paper-making materials. For nitration purposes, the uniformity of the cotton used is of the greatest importance. It has been claimed that cotton produced in a cold, wet season does not nitrate as readily as cotton grown under more favorable weather conditions. Consequently, improvements tending to afford cotton of greater uniformity will also affect favorably the uniformity of the waste cotton. The following are some of the problems which confront the planter of cotton: What is the action of various fertilizers on the yield of cotton and on the quality of the fiber produced? Are there available any fertilizers which can be substituted for potash, and, if so, what conditions must be observed in their application to the s a i l ? And then there are the problems in preventing the production of stained cotton during seasons of excessive rain and in bleaching stained cotton a pure white. An elaborate research into the physiological processes involved in the formation of tannins in the barks of various woods would probably yield full information as to the best periods arid methods of harvesting. There is much need in the essential oil industry for the correlation of the conditions of cultivation and brecding with the quantities and qualities of oils obtained. The metabolic processes underlying the production of the various constituents of the essential oils, which in many cases render them so valuable, are not understood. Another field, rich in opportunity, which exists in the domain of chemical dendrology, is the investigation of the conditions necessary for the formation and exudation of all resins and the changes undergone by them, whereby they become of value as raw materials for the manufacture of varnishes and lacquers. Then, too, the origin, nature, and functions in the tree of the latex, which carries the rubber, are not known precisely. So-called “natural coagulation” was a failure in the earlier days of the plantation rubber industry, but recently a system of carrying on “natural coagulation” under anaerobic conditions has been experimented with and may be developed into a useful process. It is still believed by some that fine Para is superior to plantation, but it is probable that further knowledge and experience will alter this view. And, finally, there are many vegetable dyestuffs which, by improved methods of cultivation, breeding, and selection of the plants, or of the extraction of the coloring matters, might be successfully exploited. Ethyl alcohol is made in quantity by the action of yeast on
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sugar and starch; amyl alcohol is produced by the fermentation of protein substances, and there is a bacillus for obtaining butyl alcohol from starch. The question accordingly arises, why should we not find or develop cultures for the production of propyl alcohol, and, especially, methyl alcohol? T t is known that n-propyl alcohol is among the products of the fermentation of starch by the anaerobic Amylobacter butylicum and A . aethyliEUWZ of Duclaux, and that it is also a secondary product of the alcoholic fermentation by Sacchaiomyces, occurring in most fusel oils; but no technical process has been devised for its zymochemical production. A similar condition exists with respect to methyl alcohol, which is among the products of the fermentation of glycerol by Bacillus boocopricus, of the bacterial fermentation of calcium glycerate, and of the fermentation of the juice of the sugar cane by a special (wild) yeast; perhaps extensive research would eventuate in the development of a commercially operable process. The desirability of systematic investigation of this nature suggests the initiation of attempts to find microorganisms for making certain higher alcohols in the factory. Some of these alcohols are excellent waxes, and, to illustrate, cetyl alcohol and melissyl alcohol are too exorbitant In cost when separated from spermaceti and beeswax, respectively. It is indeed probable that a number of processes now based upon chemical reactions could be more efficiently conducted by bacterial agencies. The chemistry of the production and utilization of vegetable oils is susceptible of expansion in several interesting and profitable directions: I-Extracting oil by solvent processes which will make greater yields and yet not extract deleterious substances along with the oil, and which will not be subject to great fire risk. 2-Treating the residue (cake) to free it from all traces of the solvent, to make it a proper cattle feed. 3-Rkfining oils by methods causing least possible loss, and producing the highest grades of edible oils, tasteless and odorless, both liquid and solid 4-Utilizing the by-product of relining to the best advantage to recover the fatty acids free from objectionable color and from foreign matter; and the further transformation of the finished product into the finest soaps and other useful merchandise. 5-Making cottonseed flour and bread therefrom that will be an acceptable and merchantable product. 6-Treatment of recovered fiber to make an infinite variety of profitable merchandise. Research in the margarine industry will continue to have for its object the production of a food identical with butter, and it will involve the investigation of the following problems: I-The production of a synthetic fat similar in composition to a butter fat, or of a mixture of natural fats physiologically identical with butter fat. 2-The production of an artificial or synthetic milk. 3-The production of a suitable butter flavor. 4-The production of a margarine not inferior to butter in vitamines or accessory substances.
It has been well said that “the dyestuff factory cannot progress nor even exist upon the cast-off products of other factories. The history of the dyestuff industry shows that financial SUCcess follows the research laboratory.” About 175 dyes are now being made in the. United States from American raw materials and intermediates; these products are equal in shade, strength, and working qualities to those of the pre-war types and include members of all groups of colors formerly used in American mills; but owing to the pressure of other work during the past 3 years, American research chemists have not been able to devote energy to the discovery of new dyes. Present methods of testing dyes are empiric and subject to a wide limit of error. To illustrate, chemical analysis may show a dye to be gg per cent pure and still inferior for dyeing to another sample of the same dye only 90 per cent pure. Dye tests are made in a manner that aims to duplicate, on a small scale, the actual application of the color. Slight differences in conditions, such as water used, may greatly influence the results of tests by two different laboratories.
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Colorimetric methods are more recent, but have many limitations, for the products of different factories may vary just enough to interfere with the use of the colorimeter. It is essential to devise methods to meet the objections mentioned and so facilitate the commercial development of the dye industry along proper lines of control. MELLONINSTITUTE
OF INDUSTRIAL
RESZARCH
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
THE FUTURE OF CELLULOSE ACETATE By H. S. MORK
Retrospect of the commercial history of cellulose acetate reveals that this material has had an up-and-down career. To the query why this should be so, the fundamental answer is cost; qualifying factors are patents and industrial “politics.” In general, the obvious characteristics of cellulose acetate products resemble those of cellulose nitrate products, whether films, fibers, plastics, or varnishes. The potent objection to cellulose nitrate products for general industrial purposes (excepting explosives) is their easy ignition and high rate of combustibility. Concomitant with this property due to the combined nitric acid is the destructive effect produced on one or another type of supports by the liberation of even small quantities of such a strong acid as nitric acid under conditions of use favoring slight or partial hydrolysis of the cellulose nitrate. As a general proposition nearly everything (except explosives) that can be made from cellulose nitrate can be made from cellulose acetate. The manipulations necessary for conversion into commercial products are similar as to processes but vary as to chemicals required, viz., solvents, “softeners” or camphor substitutes, etc. Utility in some instances is governed by cost of conversion and final effect, or in other words, the properties of the products resulting from conversion. At the present time and as a result of chemical developments during the war, conversion costs of the two esters are not materially different. All this is aside from the initial costs of the esters. Cellulose acetate has always been more expensive than cellulose nitrate because acetic anhydride, the effective acetylating agent, has always been more expensive than nitric acid, the effective agent of nitration. Also cellulose acetate contains more combined acetic acid than the industrial nitrates do of combined nitric acid. The spread between the prices of acetic anhydride and nitric acid is now and has always been too great to permit cellulose acetate products to be a direct competitor of cellulose nitrate products without regard to the differences in properties. It is the general belie€ that this difference in cost will always exist. On the other hand, statements have been made recently that it is not impossible to make cellulose acetate as cheaply as cellulose nitrate. That it has not been done does not necessarily mean that it never will be done. The recent large-scale developments in the manufacture of acetic acid from acetylene by way of acetaldehyde perhaps offer the best promise of very cheap production of acetic anhydride. By modification of this process it is possible to produce ethylidene diacetate, from which acetic anhydride can be made directly. If the manufacture can be conducted on a large enough scale and the process be brought up to a high state of efficiency, it is not impossible that acetic anhydride can be produced sufficiently cheap to make cellulose acetate a direct competitor of cellulose nitrate. The uses of cellulose acetate will be in part controlled by the development of this anhydride process or one equally as promising. The whole future of cellulose acetate is not by any means controlled by the necessity of price competition with cellulose nitrate products, for the obvious reason that the noninflammability of cellulose acetate products is a distinct and invaluable property. There are a large number of applications where
