World Wide Chemistry PRODUCTION
and
de-
liveries of heavy chemicals have fallen off lately owing to the holidays, b u t demands and o u t p u t s continue a t satisfactory levels, with t h e fuel supply as the chief limiting factor. Long-term cuts m a y be inevitable in winter unless coal o u t p u t rises above the l a t e s t target figures; on the basis of likely c o a l production a n d present percentage allocations to chemical manufacturers, chemical plant capacity will be utilized a t a r a t e of S 5 % only during the cold season, disregarding cuts due to transl>ort difficulties a n d demands from new works now under construction. Heavy
Chemicals
Market
British chemical exports continued to i m p r o v e during J u n e , and at £5,5S0,0GO a p p r o x i m a t e d the best figures of last a u t u m n . T h e t o t a l of £30,970,000 for chemical exports in the first half of 1947 is £700,000 short of the corresponding
figure for 1946, in face of a further rise in export prices. The heavy call for chemical manufactures from the home market will make it increasingly difficult to give to exports the concentrated attention required to expand them. Heavy chemicals makers in the north of England report increasing difficulties in marketing bulk products in the big Empire markets. T h e need for a return to competitive prices is generally realized. Nexv Chemical Works In Scotland it is reported that Sadler & Co., Ltd., is erecting a soft soap factory a n d Sunshine Bleach (Hiilington), Ltd., a bleaching products factory at Glasgow. Boots Pure Drugs Co., Ltd., is building at Aidrie, I. C. I. a t Airdeer, Distillers Co., Ltd., a t Broxburn, Auchentoshan Distillery a t Clydebank, and Cooper MacDougall & Robertson, Ltd., an insecticides factory at Glasgow. Boots Pure Drugs, Ltd., also intends to erect a factory at Irvine. Factories under construction on the
WANTED: 7,000 Research Chemists To Test BARBER GILSONITE Because of the exclusive combination of properties of this pure natural mineral hydrocarbon, many new and valuable uses of BARBER GILSONITE have yet to be discovered.
We
do know that it has been indispensable for years in —
- acid, alkali and waterproof coatings
— dielectric varnishes
- black paints, enamels, varnishes
— waxy coatings
-wire insulation compounds
— wood & fabric stains
- fabric saturants &. preservatives
— asphalt floor tile
- molded products, of rubber, plastic, resin
— printing inks
New uses are continually being discovered in which BARBER GILSONITE perfects old or new products. To aid your research, we will gladly send samples, typical analyses, prices, detailed information related to YOUR needs. Address our nearest office.
BARBER GILSONITE is supplied uniformly clean in bags — in grades larger or smaller than W—by
carload shipment direct from Utah mines, or I.e.I. from local warehouses.
AMERICAN BITUMULS COMPANY 3 0 0 BUSH STREET · SAN FRANCISCO 4, CALIF*
2522
CHEMICAL
northeast coast of E n g l a n d include projects by Washington Chemical Co., Ltd., for the manufacture of magnesia and magnesium carbonate, International Paint a n d Composition Co., L t d . , I. C. I. for nylon polymer, De L a R u e Insulation, Ltd., for laminated plastic board, Glaxo Laboratories, Ltd., for penicillin, I. C. I. for nitric acid and benzidrene, a n d another I. C. I. scheme for other chemicals. Eaglescliffe Chemical Co., British Titan Products, Ltd., and Consett I r o n Co., Ltd. (silica refractories), are among the firms which have s t a r t e d production in new plants in this area. Barium
Chloride
Athole G. Allen, Ltd., Stockton-onTees, reports t h a t i t has doubled the outp u t of barium, ferric, and ferrous chloride during the past two years a n d intends to increase the make of barium chloride by a further 50%. T h e company has also increased production at its barites mine a n d converted part of its T N T p l a n t . I t is now regularly producing dinitrotoluene, 7J-nitrotoluene, o-nitrotoluene, a n d o-toluidine. £750,000 Oil Blending
Plant
C. C. Wakefield and Co., Ltd., has secured a site for a modern blending plant a n d storage facilities a t Stanlow, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. T h e work has not yet advanced beyond t h e stage of site preparation, a n d t h e p l a n t is not expected to be ready for operation before 1949. T h e Wakefield a n d W . B . Dick plants a t Liverpool will then be transferred to the new works which will involve a total expenditure of about £750,000. Phenols
for
Plastics
Low-Temperature Carbonisation, Ltd., is now offering samples of t h r e e proprietary brands of phenolics, described as oilsoluble modified, alcohol-soluble, 100% phenolic, and high melting p o i n t alcoholsoluble, 100% phenolic, o b t a i n e d from its pilot plant a n d announces t h a t commercial-scale plant is now under construction for the manufacture of a range of straight and modified phenolics from oil obtained during the low-temperature carbonization of coal. I t is claimed t h a t some of these are particularly suited to t h e manufacture of phenolic resins. Chemicals
from
Cane
Sugar
Investigations a t Birmingham University under t h e auspices of t h e Colonial Products Research Council h a v e resulted in the preparation of various substances from cane sugar a n d its i m m e d i a t e transformation products which promise to be useful in medicine, in the plastics industry, and as solvents, detergents, a n d emulsifiers. According to t h e council's annual report, levulinic acid can b e prepared in excellent yield by a comparatively simple economic process. S o d i u m levulina t e is suggested for use as an antifreezing AND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
agent superior in some respects to ethylene glycol. A sulfonamide derivative has been prepared which shows promise as a chemotherapeutic agent. Several sub stances derived from levulinic acid have been found to possess m a r k e d analgesic properties. Potash
Fertilizers
After careful consideration of the supply prospects for 1947-48, it h a s been decided b y the Minister of Agriculture in consultation with the president of t h e Board of T r a d e to withdraw all restric tions on the acquisition and use of potash fertilizers as from July 1, 1947. T h e im p r o v e m e n t in supplies which m a d e t h e change possible is largely d u e to larger arrivals, especially of potassium chloride from Germany. T h e Board of Trade has rescinded t h e order requiring individual import licenses for imports of gum dammar. Fertiliser
Extension
Schemes
Fisons, Ltd., the big fertilizer manufac turer, reports satisfactory progress on t h e major extensions decided on, but in view of t h e rise in construction a n d equipment costs it is expected that the total cost over three years of the extension scheme will be £ 4 million instead of £ 3 million a s origin ally calculated. Good progress has also been m a d e with the new factory a t Que bec, Canada, and extensions are under consideration in South Africa a n d Rho desia. Fisons has arranged to execute a large initial order for fertilizers for ship m e n t this summer which are to b e used in connection with the British government's groundnut development scheme in E a s t Africa. At home sales h a v e been fully maintained in the 1946/47 fertilizer year. Expansion in industry Held
Progress
Reported
plastics, etc., were also completed. Ground was broken for some entirely new proj ects, including t h e construction of a large synthetic glycerin plant employing a proc ess developed in the Shell Developmenl Co.'s research laboratories and a plant for the manufacture of synthetic ethyl alcohol. T h e new plant a t Thornton, Cheshire, is well on t h e way to completion, and work is also proceeding on the new synthetic soap plant, so t h a t the group's total pro duction of detergents will shortly amount to some 50,000 tons annually. As some of t h e important chemical products to be made in the new factories have not hitherto been manufactured in Great Britain, t h e y will form t h e basis of a new export trade. T h e Shell group plans to erect a synthetic soap plant in Holland to operate mostly on raw material derived from crude oil produced in D u t c h oilfields a n d partly from imports from t h e Netherlands West * Indies.
by Shell
Notable progress of its chemical interests this year is reported by the Shell T r a n s p o r t and T r a d i n g Co., Ltd. Among further advances in the production of chemicals from oil during t h e year was the extension of the Shell Chemical C o r p / s production of ammonia and amnaonium sulfate in California where further expansion is under consideration to meet the demand created by the -world shortage of ferti lizers. The Shell process of "nitrojection," in which ammonia is fed direct into the soil, is said t o open new prospects in territories which are not artificially ir rigated, while D D , the new soil fumigant, is full of promise for crops damaged by nematodes. T h e new epichlorohydrin plant at Houston, Tex., began operations during the year under review, a n d units for making solvents for surface coatings,
Smaller
Chemical
Firms
Extension work under way for the Na tional Titanium Pigments, Ltd., is nearing completion. Lawes Chemical Co., Ltd., is installing sulfuric acid and ancil lary plant, for which new finance amount ing to £250,000 is required. T h e maize starch production, which is concentrated in three factories in the Paisley area of Scotland, is to he increased by about 10°£
^
UTILITY
OVEN
Rayon Up
Courtaulds, Ltd., the leading British rayon producer, reports t h a t at Sellafield, West Cumberland, acetate yarn will be made instead of tire yarn as originally intended, while the latter is to be pro duced a t Preston. There is a possibility of t h e whole Sellafield scheme being scrapped and revised if t h e government uses t h e former explosives factory at Drigg, near Sellafield, for a purpose con nected with atomic energy, as t h e avail able labor would be largely exhausted by this project. A year or so m a y elapse before Courtaulds proceeds with the plans for a new staple fiber works at Dun dee, Scotland. It is intended to install machinery for the continuous filament process of the Industrial Rayon Corp. of U.S.A. a t Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. I n general, however, it is the company's policy to increase production in existing factories, a method which is more economical in labor and helps to overcome delays in the delivery of ma chinery. Courtaulds is now making ma chinery of various types for different mills. V O L U M E
a n d the company has also its own chemi cals works a t Trafford Park, Manchester. At t h e new nylon factory at P o n t y pool, Wales, in which Courtaulds a n d I. C. I . hold equal shares, t h e pilot p l a n t is working, and every effort is being m a d e t o get on with t h e building of t h e main factory as fast as possible. In t h e mean time production continues at C o v e n t r y and Stowmarket. The British cellophane works at Bridgwater continue t o m a k e steady progress, and the enlargement schemes are gradually taking shape.
25,
NO.
35
»
B i g in value, big in performance, b i g in ruggedness, in its ability to d o a multitude o f laboratory jobs, in fact in e v e r y way but price, the "Precision" Thelco model N o . 1 6 is a b i g oven.
Featu
res
• All metal, double walled cabinet and door. ο Glass Wool, High Thermal Efficiency insulation. • Ventilation control is easily ad|usted. • Heating elements operate a t Black Heat. • Working chamber 11" χ 11" x 11". • Includes 2 adjustable latticed metal shelves, Thermometer holder, ventilating shutter, neon pilot light, hazard satedoor latch, cord and plug. Write for big, new 48 page Temperature Control Catalog No. 330 i
Precision Scientific Company
SEPTEMBER
1,
1947
2523
W Ο R L D
W ID
H a r d m a n & Holden, Ltd., which arc m a n u facturing: pigments, n a p h t h e n a t e s , sodium hydrosulfite, thiourea, etc., in tend to erect in t h e near future a fourth factory to meet increased d e m a n d s for certain of their products, for which between £200,000 a n d £300,000 of new capital m a y be needed. Ault & Wiborg, Ltd., h a v e extended their activities recently by t h e absorption of a number of other firms m a k i n g paints, in dustrial finishes, and metal decorating products. British Schering, Ltd., intends to build a factory for t h e m a n u f a c t u r e of pharmaceutical products a t Wilmslow, Cheshire. Ester
If ax from
Peat
A n experimental extraction plant for ester wax from peat is to b e set up b y Highland and Islands D e v e l o p m e n t , L t d . , at N o r t h Connel, near O b a n , after pre liminary investigations carried o u t in con sultation with t h e D S I R . T h e deposits to be used are t h o s e at Achnachree Moss, N o r t h Argyle, a n d it is thought t h a t after extraction of t h e wax the peat will st ill be usable as ordinary fuel. Suggested
Linseed
Oil
Substitute
T h e shortage a n d high price of linseed oil have given a stimulus to research in t w o directions: development of k n o w n m a terials with a view to their modification
E
C H Ε M l S Τ R Y
f o r paint trade requirements, which has been partially successful, arid investiga tion of colonial products with similar q u a l i t i e s with a view to their use in the place of linseed oil. A m o n g the l a t t e r seeds o f a West African vine (Tetracarpidium conophorum) have been studied a t Liverpool University, a n d i t is claimed t r i a t t h e oil p r e p a r e d from specially heatt r e a t e d seeds m a y prove to be a satis factory substitute for linseed oil. G. A B R A I I A M S O X
The Bend, NeaVs Lane TVyfold near Reading, England
French Method for Obtaining Alcohol A n e w method for obtaining alcohols b y r e d u c t i o n of acids or their esters, k e t o n e s , a n d aldehydes, w a s recently described b y G e o r g e s Darzens in a paper presented t o thte French A c a d e m y of Science. T h e auth.or notes t h e t w o general m e t h o d s h i t h e r t o known. T h e first, catalytic reduction w i t h hydrogen u n d e r high t e m p e r a t u r e ana 1 pressure, was announced in 1931 in G e r m a n y by Schrauth a n d others a n d a l m o s t simultaneously in the U . S. b y Adk i n s a n d Folkers. Darzens observes t h a t t h i s suffers from t h e inconvenience of re q u i r i n g a special autoclave. In t h e sec o n d , t h e method of Bouveault and Blanc
Jlotuf&iJliL FOR METAL CONTAJNERS Wdh "SNAP-IN "LINERS GOODALL "SNAP-IN" Loose Rubber Liners are made t o fit standard size metal drums, vats, kettles, etc., for lasting protection against acids and chemicals.
QUICKLY and EASILY APPLIED . . . "SNAP-IN" LINERS are readily dropped into place in the con tainer and securely held there by snapping the lip over the container rim. Lid" is then fas tened down with adjustable fasteners. Liner can be quickly removed at any time for repairs.
THE GOODALL-WHITEHEAD COMPANIES
2524
Seattle
·
Salt Lake City
*
Houston « Factory:
Bulgarian,
England
Industrial
City
T h e new industrial city t o be established near R a k o v s k i , Plodiv district, Bulgaria, will h a v e several chemical plants, scheduled t o be completed or u n d e r construction b y t h e e n d of 1948. One will m a n u facture nitrogenous fertilizers a n d a n o t h e r will produce sulfuric acid, copper sulfate, a n d pliosphatic fertilizers.
Russian
Science
Philadelphia © Trenton · N e w York · Boston · Pittsburgh · Chicago · St. Paul · ·
Princes Risborough,
Notes
Eighteen new plastics plants are scheduled t o be erected in t h e U k r a i n e in 1947. T h e y will be a t Staiino, Drohobych, U z h forod, P o l t a v a , Ternopol, a n d other cities. T h e first section of t h e factory a t D n e p r o p e t r o v s k has begun operations and will produce 350 metric t o n s of casein plastics this year.
You ship just one container to our factory . . . a big saving in shipping costs . . . for use as a pattern. V/ïth this, we can make liners for any number o f containers of identical size and shape. The job is entirely custommade, with t h e rubber especially compounded t o handle the specified product. Thousands now i n use provide evidence of their practicability and economy. Contact our nearest orancf» for further details and prices.
G O O D A L L RUBBER C O . , I N C . San Francisco
of a b o u t 1903, reduction b y sodium in t h e presence of a boiling alcohol, yields do not generally exceed 70 t o 7 5 % because of unw a n t e d side reactions. R e p l a c e m e n t of sodium by another metal does not give a n y reduction. In seeking an explanation for this special property of sodium the a u t h o r p u t s forward one or two h y p o t h e ses, including t h e possible formation of sodium hydride—which could be the a c t u a l reducing agent. I t is known that this p a r t i c u l a r hydride is relatively stable, and eas3 r to prepare by action of hydrogen on sodium a t a b o u t 360 °, as shown by M o i s san long ago; a n d like other hydrides i t is a n effective source of nascent hydrogen. E x p e r i m e n t s with s o d i u m hydride h a v e confirmed this view, and i t has proved a very convenient a g e n t for reduction of acids, esters, etc., w i t h high yields of corresponding alcohols. E s t e r s of fatty acids o r their glycerides could also be reduced in t h e s a m e way. The a u t h o r a d d s t h a t sodium h y d r i d e is now m a d e o n a commercial scale in t h e U. S. and t h a t other hydrides could also be studied for use in a similar way, t h o u g h calcium hydride so far has p r o v e d ineffective u n d e r t h e experimental conditions tried. W . G. C A S S
Los A n g e l e s
Trenton, N. J . · Est.
1870
C H E M I C A L
Graduates
A r e c e n t n o t e from the bulletin of t h e A c a d e m y of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. s t a t e d t h a t t h e D e p a r t m e n t of Technical Sciences had a t the e n d of 1945 152 P h . D . candidates a n d 95 other p o s t g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t s . T h e n u m b e r of graduate s t u d e n t s in chemistry c a n be assumed t o be smaller. Although graduate s t u d e n t s a r e working for a d v a n c e d degrees i n a n u m b e r of research i n s t i t u t e s a n d schools also, t h e n u m b e r was t h o u g h t b y observers to be small in comparison with t h e goals of the U.S.S.R. According to t h e c u r r e n t five-year p l a n 602,000 s t u d e n t s a r e t o be g r a d u a t e d between 1946 a n d 1950 from universities and special colleges. A N D
ENGINEERING
NEWS
