INTERNATIONAL
W O R L D W I D E CHEMISTRY Production of I G Farben polyacrylonitrile fiber arranged . . . N e w Filipino rubber company organized large-scale production of a new THE fully synthetic fiber is envisaged under arrangements between Cassella Farbwerke Mainkur, one of the IG Farben successors, and Kunstseidefabrik Robingen, one of the present producers of Perlon in Germany. The fiber is Panfaser, a polyacrylonitrile fiber, similar to Orion, developed by IG Farben in the latter part of the war. Dr. Rein, who played a prominent part in developing Panfaser and Prof. Zerweck, who has likewise done considerable scientific work in connection with synthetic fibers are both now working at the Cassella works. The production of Panfaser on an experimental scale started this year, and the plans which have now been drawn up are partly based o n the results of this small-scale production. It is proposed to erect an entirely new plant with an output capacity of about 3000 tons in the Regensburg-Kehlheim region where the local authorities have promised their support because of the importance of the new works for the labor market. The plant is to be built in three stages at a total estimated cost of more than $7.5 million and government aid has been promised for the issue of a loan of $2.5 million required for the first stage. While cooperation with Kunstseidefabrik Bobingen will assure that the spinning operations connected with the new fiber will be carried out inside the group interested in the new venture, it is not apparently intended to have the raw material made by Cassella. The Cassella -works, it is learned, would not be able to make the aerylonitrile required and could at best start from the polymerization process. On thorough consideration it has been decided to rely on outside supplies for the raw material. Farbwerke Hochst, another IG Farben successor company, will probably be the principal acrylonitrile supplier for the n e w undertaking.
Philippine Rubber Company Organized A new Philippine rubber company, the Marvex Industrial Corp., has been organized by a group of prominent Filipino businessmen. With an authorized capitalization of $500,000 the company expects to produce 10,000 bicycle tires and tubes monthly. This quantity will be more than sufficient to supply the present requirements of the Philippines, Santiago E . Yap, president, estimates. As machinery and equipment for the plant will be purchased from Japan, Filipino technicians and engineers will undergo an initial training period in Japanese 256
rubber factories. Mr. Yap plans to seek further financial assistance from ECA.
ACTH from Whale Glands Early in 1951 Norwegian whaling expeditions brought back considerable quantities of whale hypophysins from the Antarctic, which the Oslo pharmaceutical firm Nyegaard & Co. has converted into ACTH. T h e whaling concerns and Nyegaard & Co. have now donated ACTH worth about $56,000 to Norwegian hospitals for research. T h e quantity handed over t o hospitals corresponds to 625,000 international units. Hitherto ACTH has chiefly been made in the United States using hypophysins mostly from pigs—an expensive proposition. Nyegaard & Co., however, devised a method of utilizing the hypophysins from whales, and during the 1950-51 whaling season not only Norwegian but also British and South African expeditions to the Antarctic cooperated in collecting t h e raw material. During the season starting in January 1952 a further supply will b e collected for this Norwegian company.
Synthetic Rubber from Petroleum Basis in Germany The production of synthetic rubber has been resumed in Western Germany. The first consignment of buna left Chemische Werke Hiils GmbH, Marl near Recklinghausen, before the end of November, and the production of perbunan has been resumed by Farbenfabriken Bayer at Leverkusen from butadiene produced b y Hiils. T h e present output, however^ is very small and does not exceed 5 0 0 metric tons of buna and 120 tons of perbunan a month. $1.1 million have so far been spent on rebuilding the buna installations at Hiils, and a substantially larger sum—$3.5 to S5 million—will be needed to raise capacity to 1500 to 2000 tons a month, the output target of the Hiils company. The acetylene process of butadiene manufacture, though still in use, is considered obsolete. If the projected expansion is carried out, it will be on the basis of butylene obtained b y cracking Middle East crudes. Negotiations are now under way with American interests to secure rights to a U. S. process. There is a possibility of butylene being obtained from Scholven Chemie AG with which Hiils has long been cooperating. Scholven now again supplies Hiils with methane and ethylene through direct pipeline while Hiils augments the Scholven output of hydrogen through another pipeline. Scholven only recently resumed the dispatch of liquid ammonia which is to b e C H E M I C A L
produced at a rate of 30,000 tons a year. The reconstruction work on the hydrogenation plant at Scholven will probably be sufficiently far advanced by the spring of 1952 to permit a throughput of about 400,000 tons of crude oil; later the capacity is to be raised to 750,000 tons a year. Work has also begun on a 20-mile pipeline from the inland port of Duisburg to the Scholven plant. Production of styrene was resumed at Hiils a short while ago. The output further includes solvents, plasticizers, detergents, and primary products for synthetic fibers. About half the output is being exported; buna is also to be sold abroad although output at Hiils covers only a fraction of German rubber requirements.
Oil Refining Catalyst Plant in Britain A plant for the manufacture of catalysts for the fluid hydroforming process was opened at Warrington, England, on Dec. 4 and is n o w in continuous operation, supplying the oil cracking catalysts required by Esso (Standard Oil N . J.), Anglo-Iranian, Shell, Trinidad Leaseholds, and Bahrein Petroleum for fluid catalytic crackers already in operation or about to go into operation. The plant was erected at a cost of about $3 million at the Bank Quay Works of Joseph Crosfield & Sons, a subsidiary of the Unilever combine, under an agreement with Davison Corp. of Baltimore which provided technical advice and guidance in the design and operation of the plant. Some equipment w a s obtained from the United States but most of the plant was made of British materials. The equipment includes two Swenson Evaporator Co. stainless steel dryers made in Britain under license which are described as the largest dryers of this type ever to have been made. Joseph Crosfield & Sons are the principal makers of sodium silicate, the main raw material in the manufacture of the catalysts, in Britain. Only about 2 0 men will be needed on each eight-hour shift to operate the plant. T h e total labor force will be about 120, including maintenance men. . It is expected that several million dollars annually will be saved in imports as a result of operating the n e w plant.
Rayon and Plastics From Eucalyptus A paper company in Australia reports that extensive research into uses of eucalyptus pulp has shown that materials to make acetate rayon and certain plastics can be produced satisfactorily under laboratory conditions. However, further research will be necessary before the process can be used commercially. C&EN Foreign Correspondents Contributing to This Issue: G. ABRAHAMSON, Germany, V. S. SWAMINATHAN,
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England
Norway
ENGINEERING
NEWS
