World-Wide Chemistry Scandinavia C. A. ROBAX, Horlen, Norway RESEARCH BY THE SWEDISH INSTITUTE OF SCIENT I F I C ENGINEERING. At the annual meeting of the Swedish Institute of Scientific Engineering, which was held in -traditional form in Stockholm on October 24 the director of the institute, Axel F. Enstrôm, gave a general view of its present activities. A new division has been established—namely, the Institute of Heat and Steam. Among the problems to be studied by this division is the intensifying of combustion to attain better utilization of the space in the burning chamber. I n this connection the use of combustion accelerators will be investigated. Preliminary experiments have already been carried out with success. It is expected that research on the technic of combustion will also contribute to an improved technie in t h e application of wood fuel. An increase in the use of domestic fuels is considered very important, especially at this time. For like reasons, a special commission has been appointed to investigate the use of producer gas to run motor cars, t h e gas being produced from wood or charcoal in a small apparatus mounted on the car. The division of industrial chemistry has conducted research o n the carbonization of wood and the production of oil from wooden materials. Valuable results in improving the technic of charcoal production have been obtained, and the research is now being directed towards the possibility of gaining suitable raw materials for the production of oil by means of certain modifications of the charcoal-burning process. For experiments with the hydrognation of wood a set of apparatus in technical scales has been procured. In the cement laboratory continued investigations have been made concerning water-binding in relation to t h e properties of cement. Particular attention has been devoted to finding a cement especially suited for constructions in water, and a material has been produced possessing some remarkable properties. I n addition, heat economy in the cement manufacturing process bas been the object of other investigations. NEW CEMENT MILL STARTED I N SWEDEN. Operations have been started a t a new Portland cement plant a t Hâllekis in southern Sweden. The plant, which belongs to the Skaanska Cement Co., is built for an annual production of 500,000 barrels. Only a single rotary furnace has been installed, which is, however, the largest cement furnace in Sweden, being 9 4 meters in length. The other plant machinery is also of extraordinarily large dimensions. The total construction cost of the plant amounts to approximately 3.5 million kroner. Cement production, on the whole, is strongly developed in the Scandinavian countries, where there is a considerable surplus for exportation. FOODS AND BEVERAGES IMPORTANT PRODUCTS O F DANISH CHEMICAL INDUSTRY. Denmark, although having the largest exportation of natural butter in the world, also produces a very largeq u a n t i t yof artificial butter—margarine. The first Danish margarine factory was established in Aarhus i n 1883, in the face of determined scepticism of the majority of the Danish population. Today Denmark's annual consumption of margarine amounts to approximately 23 kilos per person, which is more than that of any other country. The output is valued at about 82 million kroner per annum, and a quantity of butter that, in round figures, may be valued a t 232 million kroner is released for exportation. Naturally, the equipment of the principal factories and their methods of handling the products are entirely u p to date, particular attention being paid to hygienic conditions. Another important product of the Danish chemical food industry is condensed milk, which is manufactured chiefly for exportation. In 1930 exports of this product amounted to 12 million kroner, or about 27,600 tons. The manufacturing process is kept under very rigid chemical and biological control b y a common laboratory. Yeast and spirits are manufactured on a large scale b y the Danish Distilleries, a company formed by t h e fusion of a number of older distilling companies. This organization has concluded a n agreement with the government for the sole right to manufacture spirituous liquors in Denmark, home consumption being only about one-eighth that of pre-war times. Although the production of spirituous liquors has declined, t h e quantity of industrial alcohol, both denatured and pure, has increased very heavily, and the sale of these products, now constitutes about
45 per cent of the company's total turnover. The various uses t o which spirits can be put are the subject of constant research work in the laboratories of the company, and in an effort t o maintain close touch with important spirit-consuming industries i t has also taken up the production of explosives and nitrocellulose lacquers. Yeast is made at two large, up-to-date factories in Slagelse and Randers, where the methods of production are those devised about 1920 in the company's laboratories, and which now form the basis of yeast-making in most countries. The sale of yeast comprises about 45 per cent of the total output of the company. Considerable quantities of yeast are sold to England, although dry yeast is marketed mostly in the tropics, where fresh yeast i s difficult t o obtain. The laboratory of the Danish Distilleries in 1918 became a n independent concern under the name of Aktieselskabet Dansk Gaerings-Industri. Besides t h e technical control of the company's own operations, this concern also has technical control of establishments abroad. Comprehensive scientific research work is constantly proceeding at t h e laboratory. GROWING INDUSTRIAL· CONNECTION BETWEEN SCANDINAVIA »AND SOVIET RUSSIA. The Danish Board of Industry, recognizing the «increase in the trade between uennxark and Soviet Russia, has proposed t h a t a delegation selected from among the prominent industrial people be sent t o the* Soviet Union to study conditions there. This nroposition lias been received with great interest, and the authorities decided that fche delegation should leave for Russia before the end of 1931. The party will visit Moscow, Charkow, and Leningrad, and tlie large power plant of Dnieperstrog. The report t h a t oil stoxage tanks are to be built a t two different places in Norway for importers of Russian oil may be considered in the same connection. These enterprises are regarded as the first steps towards the establishment of an organization for the sale of Russian gasoline in Norway. A substantial increase i n trade activities between Russia and the Scandinavian countries h a s been observed during 1931. FORMULA AND SYNTHESIS OF VITAMIN C D I S COVERED BY NORWEGIAN CHEMIST. Before a recent meeting of the Norwegian Society of Science in Oslo, a young Norwegian chemist, Ottar Rygn, presented a report of his research work carried on for a couple of years and resulting in t h e discovery of the formula and constitution of vitamin C. According t o accounts in the newspapers, this remarkable work has been conducted chiefly in the laboratory of the Norwegian drug firm, Nygaard & Co., and with its financial support. Ottar Rygh and bis assistants not only have been able to prepare t h e actual vitamin C substance in pure crystalline form and t o determine its empirical formula, but they have also succeeded i n finding t h e constitution formula of t h e substance and accomplishing its synthesis from the alkaloid narcotine, of which t h e vxtamin C substance is found to be a relatively simple derivative. December 5, 1931
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