THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK

Carbide Offers Analysis Service Using Neutrons

Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corp. is offering another service comparable in handling to its radioisotope distribution plan. Industrial, scientific, and medical groups can have samples analyzed for im­purities using a highly accurate method involving atomic energy.

Developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the analysis technique involves placing the test sample in the Oak Ridge graphite-uranium reactor. This exposes the test sample to neutron bombardment, mak­ing traces of impurities in the material ar­tificially radioactive.

Carbide, which operates ORNL for the

Substances to be irradiated with neutrons at the Oak Ridge pile are pushed in with a long rod through a carrier which is in line with one of the openings in the pile

Atomic Energy Commission, has found that the neutron-activation method of analysis detects and measures many ele­ments occurring in traces so slight they cannot be identified by other chemical and physical testing processes. By using highly sensitive instruments and radiation detec­tors developed at ORNL as little as 0.000000007 gram can be measured with an accuracy of 109i>.

The radiation characteristics of the ar­tificially radioactive isotopes produced are not duplicated in any two radioisotopes. They may be precisely measured, permit­ting identification of the material and de­termination of quantity.

The possibility of contamination that might interfere with testing is negligible in neutron-activation analysis, and exists only when the material contains large amounts that strongly absorb neutrons.

This method permits the examination of larger samples than the amounts usually used in conventional analyses, and has an accuracy of 10% or better.

The technique is expected to be useful

in determining minute. quantities of ele­ments in biological substances, fertilizers, fine chemicals, foods, fuels, insecticides, lubricants, metals, plastics, and toxicants.

Commercial aspects of the service are handled by the Radioisotope Control De­partment of the Laboratory's Operations Division, in a manner similar to the radio­isotope distribution plan.

Westînghouse to Develop Large Ship Reactor

Development work on a nuclear power plant suitable for propulsion of large naval vessels such as aircraft carriers will be conducted by the Westînghouse Electric Corporation under a contract with the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Westînghouse already is building the atomic power plant and associated pro­pulsion equipment for the Navy's first atomic submarine, the USS Nantilus. The existing contract between Westînghouse and the Commission has been modified to include work on the new project. The work will be centered at the Bettis Plant, near Pittsburgh, Pa., operated by the Westînghouse Atomic Power Division. Other Westînghouse divisions and wide­spread subcontractors will assist.

Shell Creates A g Chemicals Division

Shell Chemical Corp., which recently purchased the Denver firm of Julius Hy-man & Co., will centralize all of its agri­cultural chemical activity there. Denver will become the marketing headquarters for all of the firm's agricultural products, except fertilizers. Manufacturing and re­search activities are currently established at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal plant nearby. The new organization will be known as the Julius Hyman & Co. Division of Shell Chemical Corp. and will market aldrin and dieldrin, manufactured by Julius Hyman; Shell's soil fumigants, D-D and CBP-55; and its line of spray oils which are marketed on the West Coast.

In addition to the division office at Denver, area sales offices are being estab­lished in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, St. Louis, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Portland.

Pure O-Dichlorobenzene Avai lable f rom Solvay

Solvay Process Division, Allied Chemi­cal & Dye Corp., has perfected a pilot plant technique for the manufacture of an extremely pure o-dichlorobenzene. Commercial grades have contained rela­tively large proportions of impurities in the form of other chlorobenzenes. These impurities, 'which are difficult to remove, interfere with many organic chemical re­actions by inducing undesirable side re­actions. Solvay is now offering · samples for experimental use, of a grade of o-dicblorobenzene having less than 0.5% total impurities.

If a substantial market is developed for the new product as the result of experi­mentation by companies taking samples of the high-purity material, Solvay will install facilities for its manufacture in quantities to meet the demand.

It is prepared under carefully controlled conditions in specially designed equip­ment. For this reason it is possible to hold within rigid limits the dielectric constant and other physical properties which are influenced by the presence of contaminating impurities. The control and uniformity of the dielectric property may make it useful for solvent use in the measurement of dielectric constants of such materials as vegetable oils, natural resins, gums, and similar products.

Samples and technical information may be obtained by writing the Product De­velopment Department, Solvay Process Division, Allied Chemical & Dye Corp., 40 Rector St., New York 6, Ν. Υ.

Direct Solvent Extraction Process Chemical Plants Division of Blaw-Knox

Co. has made arrangements to market a filtration-extraction process for the re­covery of oil from cottonseed, rice bran, and other oil seeds.

The process uses a horizontal rotary vacuum filter for the direct solvent extrac­tion of finely divided oilseed meats. It is suited to the needs of the small cottonseed processor. The process utilizes conven­tional equipment for linting, hulling, roll­ing, and cooking.

The development stems from work done at the Southern Regional Laboratory of the Department "of Agriculture, with "whom Blaw-Knox has concluded an agreement covering commercialization.

The Blaw-Knox Chemical Plants Divi­sion is also supplying its own earlier de­veloped Rotocel extractor for cottonseed cake processing. Several large installa­tions of the Botocel (used in conjunction with prepressing facilities) are now in operation or under construction in the South.

Trend in Refinery Was te Ac id Regeneration

A new trend in sulfuric acid reworking was indicated last year (C&EN, Oct. 22, 1951, page 4453) when Consolidated Chemical Industries announced plans for a new $3.5 million unit at its Baton Bouge, La., plant. Refineries regenerating their own acid sludge, always faced with low efficiencies and possible disposal and pol­lution problems, have been hoping to get out of the business of hydrolyzing and concentrating acid sludge. Consolidated thinks it has at least part of the answer.

Increased efficiency, possible in Con­solidated^ new concentrating technique, will be an important step in sulfur con­servation. Where hydrogen sulfide is avail­able from refineries, it may b e possible to make the refineries entirely independ­ent of outside sources of sulfur. The plant

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Parke-Davis Exhibit

Parke-Davis recently presented a perma­nent exhibit to the Detroit Historical Museum. Homer C. Fritsch (right), Parke-Davis, shows George W. Stark, De· troit Historical Commission, a bas-relief dramatizing 13 major events in the firm's 86-year history

under construction at Baton Rouge ad­joins the Esso Standard refinery. A $500,-000 conversion unit tied onto Esso Stand­ard's hydrogen sulfide lines has already been completed.

The idea sounds so good that Consoli­dated is negotiating with Humble Oil and Refining Co. to do the same thing at Bay-town, Tex. No final agreements have been reached, but Consolidated has received a $5.9 million certificate of necessity for a Baytown unit across the ship channel and 10 miles downstream from its Houston works. Additional acid as a result of Con-solidated's increased efficiency in regen­eration, plus acid which would be made from sulfur recovered from hydrogen sul­fide from Humble crude oil processing, would essentially balance Humble's re­quirements.

Koiser-AEC Hanford Contract The Hanford Operations Office of the

Atomic Energy Commission has com­pleted negotiations with Kaiser Engineers Division of Henry J. Kaiser Co. for con­struction of a large part of the expansion program on the Hanford plutonium-pro-ducing project.

Construction work in the expansion pro­gram will be divided into two or more projects. Contracts for designing the plants have been signed with Vitro Corp. of America, New York City, and ' the Charles T. Main Co. of Boston. The Gen­eral Electric Co., operating contractor of Hanford Works, -will furnish basic engi­neering design for the program and will do complete design of certain complex features of the expansion.

Kaiser is scheduled to begin work late

JVews about B. F. Goodrich Chemical jraw materials

fit 1!

YOUR examination of the descriptive table below may point out applications for Good-rite aromatic amines

in your development programs, or current production. Like all Good-rite chemicals, they have a long-standing reputation for purity and dependability.

Commercial quantities are available. For further in­formation, prices and experimental samples, please write Dept. CC-1, B. F. Goodrich Chemical Co., Rose Building, Cleveland 15, Ohio . In Canada: Kitchener, Ontario. Cable address: Goodchemco.

Product and Formula Description Suggested Uses

Phenyl β-Naphthylamine

Octylated Arylalkylated Dipheny lamines

Trimethyl-dihydroquinolîne Polymer

C H 3

N A K A C H 3

p-Hydroxydiphenylamine

Set point 106°—dis­t i l l s b e t w e e n 180° -200°C @ 3 mm.; avai l-a b l e in commerc ia l g rode, flakes or pow-der ;packed 250lbs. in 61-gallon fiber drums.

A viscous oil soluble l iquid consisting pr i ­mar i l y o f oc t y l a ted dipheny la mines; com­m e r c i a l q u a n t i t i e s avai lable—400 lbs. in 55-gal lon steel drums.

Softens a t 75°C; clear amber pellets avai l­ab le commercial ly— 225 lbs. in 61-gallon fiber drums.

Melting point, approx­imately 50°C; commer­cially available as a gray sol id—200 lbs. i n 2 5 - g a l l o n s t e e l drums.

Antioxidant, polymer- 1 ization inhibitor, stabi- ] lizer and chemical in­termediate.

Anti-oxidant, stabilizer —especially for petro­leum based oils and greases.

Chemica 1 intermediate, anti-oxidant, inhibitor, especially for petro­leum based oils and greases.

Anti-oxidant, chemical intermediate especial­ly in the dyestuffs in­dustry for synthesis of azo , carbazo le and sulfur dyes, polymeriz­ation inhibitor.

B. F. Goodr ich Chemical Company A Division of The B. F. Goodrich Company

{^©od-rite > ^ - ^ C H E M I C A L S {

GEON polyvinyl materials · HYCAR American rubber · GOOD-RITE chemicals and plasticizers ο HARMON organic colors

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THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK

Bullion Balance

One of the largest balances ever built has just been completed by Voland & Sons. It has an over-all weight of 3500 pounds. With a total capacity of 200 kg. in each pan, it has a sensitivity of better than 100 iag, Knife edges are tangtung alloy; beams are also tangtung, in slabs polished optically flat. When the 34 ST rolled aluminum beam is supported, the space between the knife edges and bearings is about 0.005 inch

this fall with hiring of construction workers commencing not before September 15. This program will get under way just as the present construction phase nears com­pletion.

The maximum construction force re­quired for the total new expansion pro­gram, including the work to be done by Kaiser, is expected to be approximately 11,000. This peak will be reached late in 1953 or during the first half of 1954.

Beckman Instruments Buys Berkeley Scientific

The business and assets of Berkeley Scientific Corp. of Richmond, Calif., have been bought by Beckman Instruments, Inc., South Pasadena. Operations will con­tinue as the Berkeley Scientific Division of Beckman Instruments, Inc. No changes in personnel are contemplated.

Berkeley made electronic counting d e ­vices and related equipment. The com­pany has just expanded into a new addi­tion to its present plant in Richmond, which more than doubles floor space and triples productive capacity.

NEWS BRIEFS Bellows Co., Akron, Ohio, has acquired

exclusive sales and distribution rights for the Locke Drilling and Tapping Unit . Sales and service will be handled b y the more than 8 0 Bellows field engineers i n the U. S. and Canada.

Howley Products Co . of St. Charles, 111., has developed a method of preserv­ing cut glass-fiber strand integrity in aque­ous slurries. This allows re-enforcement o f pulp molded articles or of paper.

Fiberite Corp. has appointed West Coast Plastics Inc. to act as exclusive representative for the sale of Fiberite high impact molding compounds in the Cali­fornia area. West Coast Plastics has just moved to a new address at 4113 West Jefferson Ave. in Los Angeles.

Computer Corp. of America has in­augurated a service which furnishes solu­tions to complex problems in dynamics for industrial organizations, government

bureaus, and researchers. Studies in aero­dynamics, servo-analysis, mechanical engineering, chemical processing, thermo­dynamics, and other fields, wil l b e ac­cepted for analysis and solution whether the use of a computer is required or not.

Blow-Knox Co.'s West Coast Office at Monadnock Bldg., San Francisco, is in­creasing its scope to provide sales repre­sentation for the services o£ Chemical Plants Division, and the prodncts of the Process Equipment and Gas Conditioning Departments of Blaw-Knox Division.

Ampco Metal, Inc.. has appointed West­ern Oxygen Co., 2949 Sixteenth Avenue, S.W., Seattle, Wash., as distributor of Ampco Weldrod products in the Seattle sales area.

Union Industrial Corp. of Carlsbad, Ν. Μ., has signed a distributorship agree­ment with Worthington Corp., Harrison, N. J., to handle Worthington's line of Multi-V-Drives and Allspeed Selectors, serving Charles, Lea and Eddy Counties in New Mexico.

Westing house Electric Corp, has started on a $32 million expansion program at its South Philadelphia Works. It involves re-occupancy, under lease, of t l ie adjacent Navy-owned Merchant Marine plant. A $6 million steam and gas-turbine research and development lab will be built.

Tennessee Products & Chemical Corp. has established five scholarships, renew­able for four years, to b e awarded each year to deserving high school graduates who are son and daughters of; employees.

Commercial Solvents Corp. · Industrial Chemicals Division and Anintal Nutrition Division have been consolidated. The new Industrial Chemicals and Animal Nutri­tion Division, will have two separate sales

Soil Samples M a y Yield Drugs Soil samples taken at varying depths from Socony-Vacuum's oil drilling opera­tions are added to Lederle Lab's collection. John C. Case (right), Socony-Vacuum, recendy turned over samples taken in Egypt, Turkey, India, and Canada t o Benjamin M. Duggar. Others present were Nestor Bohonos (left) and J. H. "Williams of Lederle. The soil will be tested for antibiotic activity not already known

330? C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G NEWS

departments, one handling industrial chemicals and the other animal nutrition products.

The industrial chemicals department will handle such products as: butyl, ethyl and methyl alcohols and derivatives, nitro-paraffins and derivatives, and riboflavin.*

The combined division will have head­quarters in the company's general offices located at 260 Madison Ave., N e w York 16, Ν. Υ.

Morehouse Industries, Los Angeles, started preliminary excavating and foun­dation work early in July for a plant ex­pansion. A new building adjacent to the present headquarters plant and office building will comprise approximately 10,-000 square feet. The additional plant facilities, which will house the laboratory and machine shop, will increase research facilities. Plant capacity will be doubled.

Leslie Co., Lyndhurst, N. J., manufac­turers of pressure and temperature regu­lators and controllers, has added a new wing to its engineering space. It includes a larger drafting room and test labora­tory.

Lone Star Producing Co. and Wil-shire Oil Co. have recently completed a natural gasoline refinery near Crane, Tex. It was designed as a gas conservation plant. Design capacity is 16 million cubic feet per day of casinghead gas; this can be made 32 million with the addition of compressor horsepower. Initially it will process 5 million cubic feet daily. From this it is expected to extract 5700 gallons of propane, 4800 gallons of butane, and 6500 gallons of natural gasoline. The resi­due gas will be sold to El Paso Natural Gas Pipe Line Co.

Allison L. Bayles has established an office to practice consulting engineering in the fields of product investigation and development, plant layout, and fine par­ticle techniques. This office is located at 713 Saint James St., Pittsburgh 32, Pa.

Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Co. is establishing a jet engine laboratory. They are setting up an electronic system, based around an analog computer, for simulating the characteristics of jet en­gines under all flight conditions.

Arthur D. Little. Inc., Cambridge, Mass., w.'ll move its engineering office and mechanical facilities to a 30,000 square foot building it is building in West Cambridge. Administrative offices and re­search labs will remain at 30 Memorial Drive.

Nethercutt Laboratories have moved from Santa Monica to the Merle Norman Bldg., 9130 Bellanca Ave., Los Angeles 45, Calif.

Buildex, Inc., has put into operation its lightweight aggregate plant at Ottawa, Kan. It will produce about 600 cubic feet per day from shale mined on the site.

Monsanto Chemical Co.'s feed-grade dicalcium phosphate plant at Tenton,

J&-~'

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m ¥4

for complete facts fast on chemicals and raw materials!

Whether you're a president or a purchasing agent, a technical director or assistant chemist, Chemical Materials Catalog is bound to provide fast, confidential answers to your chemical and raw materials selection problems. CMC's easy-to-use 5-way Index speedily directs you to the desired information in CMCs nearly 500 data-packed pages. You'll find facts on applications, chemical properties, specifications, even packing and shipping points. CMC is designed by process men for process men's use in their daily work... so consult your CMC often.

MR. SUPPLIER of Chemicals and Raw Materials: Remember, CMC is the ONLY source of technical information on commercially available chemicals and raw materials h existence. To make sure your product information is cataloged in the next edition of CMC call or write your Reinhold representative.

REINHOLD PUBLISHING CORPORATION 330 West 42nd Street, New York 36, Ν. Υ.

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THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK

Llandarcy Cracker Almost Complete

Mich., is expected to be in opexation about Sept. 1. The product will be made from 99.9% pure elemental phospliorus. A seventh electric furnace to produce phosphorus will be completed this Fall at Soda Springs, Idaho.

Syntron Co., Homer City, Pa., hss or­ganized a Canadian subsidiary, Syxitron, Ltd., and purchased a manufacturing plant in Stoney Creek (Hamilton area) Ont.

Selenium rectifiers will be the firs* item to go into production, although ultimately, the entire line of materials handling equip­ment, power tools, and shaft seals will be manufactured in the Stoney Creek plant. It is expected that production will start sometime in September or October 1952.

Le Roi Co., Milwaukee, Wis., has bought the rights to manufacture and market the continuous mining machine developed under the Mining Develop­ment Program of Bituminous Coal Re­search, Inc. The Le Roi Co. plans fur­ther development of the continuous min­ing machine prior to commercial sale.

Poxboro Co. was recently host to a group of 14 industrial specialists from leading chemical firms for a four-day gen­eral chemical instrumentation forum.

Subjects for discussion included fre­quency response, oxidation-reduction po­tential, differential vapor pressure meas­urement, batch reactor processing, elec­trical capacity measurement, and. also Consotrol Instruments for graphic panel use.

J. M. Huber Corp. has increased pro­duction facilities for its oil furnace black, Aromex 115. This super black is being produced at the company's new plaint near Baytown, Tex.

Atlas Mineral Products Co.. 2Mertz-town, Pa., now has commercially avail­able its Ampcoflex rigid plastic lbne. A

sales development program has been car­ried on during the past year in the Phil­adelphia area by the Coward-Eastman Co., who will have an exclusive represen­tation on Ampcoflex fabricated structures in that area. Hemisphere-wide distribu­tion through other outlets are now under development.

Chester-Kent, Inc., St. Paul, Minn., have taken over exclusive rights to the manufacture of a water phase oil emul­sion as a vehicle for medical products. Croleum Vehicle is an emulsion of castor oil, distilled water, boric acid, glycerol, and surface tension depressants. It has a pH of about 6.8.

American Chemical Paint Co., Stoner Mudge, Inc., and Orchard Brothers, Inc. were represented at the Protective Coat­ing Exhibit held recendy at the Statler Hotel, Washington. Purpose of the dis­plays viras to show Government personnel how protective coating techniques used in civilian production can be adapted to military production.

Kenneth H. White Co. of Detroit, Mich., has been appointed agent for Witco naphthenate, tallate, and octoate driers in the Detroit area by Witco Chemical Co.

Ampco Metal, Ine., Milwaukee, Wis. has appointed H. J. Shockey and Asso­ciates, 294 Commercial Bldg., Dayton 2, Ohio as exclusive distributor of Ampco Resistance Welding Products in the Day­ton area.

Merritt-Chapman & Scott Corp. has leased the second floor of the office build­ing at 260 Madison Ave. in a move to provide consolidated facilities for its ex­panded New York headquarters.

The company now occupies space on eight floors of the Whitehall Bldg., 17 Battery Place. The move to 260 Madison Ave. will permit the conjolidation of all

departments on one floor with a total area of approximately 26,000 square feet.

Warwick Wax Co.. subsidiary of the Sun Chemical Corp., has appointed Van Waters and Rogers, Inc., as exclusive dis­tributors in the Pacific Northwest. They will carry stock of Warwick's waxes at Seattle and Spokane, Wash.; and Portland, Ore.

Patents Avai lable for Licensing or Sale

A number of patents have been placed on the Register of Patents Available for Licensing or Sale by industrial firms and by government agencies. Those of chemi­cal interest are listed below. Details of the arrangements under which licensing or sale can be accomplished are available from the patent owners.

Alkali-Metal Pentaalkyl Tripolyphos-phates as Stabilizers for Vinyl Resins. Pat. 2,499,503. A plasticized resinous co­polymer of vinyl chloride and vinyl ace­tate is stabilized, against discoloration, and fabric-rotting upon exposure to light or elevated temperatures, by admixture with a penta alkali-metal triporypnos-phate. U. S. Rubber Co., 1230 Ave. of the Americas, New York 20, Ν. Υ.

Method for the Separation of α-Methyl Naphthalenes from 0-Methyl Naphtha­lene by Azeotropic Distillation. Pat. 2,-581,398. An entraîner consisting of 2-amino-3-methylpyridine is added to a mixture of α-methyl and £-methyl naph­thalenes and the resultant mixture is dis­tilled at a subatmospheric pressure. This pressure is selected in such a way that the entraîner forms a dilute azeotrope -with /8-methyl naphthalene but virtually no azeotrope with α-methyl naphthalene. After separation, the entraîner is removed by distillation. TJ. S. Department of the Interior, Washington 25, D. C , Attn.: Solicitor.

Separation of Individual Phenols from a Mixture of Isomeric, Homologous, or Other Closely Related Phenols Pat. 2,-581,406. A mixture of isomeric, homol­ogous, or · other closely related phenols is separated by a method of counter-current distribution employing a solvent system of an immiscible organic liquid and an aqueous alkaline buffer. U. S. De­partment of the Interior, Washington 25, D. C , Attn. : Solicitor.

Salt-Water Battery* Pat. 2,474,716. This battery, in which sea water can be used as the electrolyte, is adapted for total immergence in salt water on a buoy, for instance, to illuminate the buoy over a long period of time. Raytheon Mfg. Co., 138 River St., Waltham, Mass. Attn.: E. J. Gorn, Patent Section.

Water Treatment Pat. 2,565,321. The apparatus for purifying water by precipi­tating dissolved salts includes an elon-

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