THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK

exchange lectureship between the Swedish Forest Products Laboratory at Stockholm and the Institute of Paper Chemistry. Under this plan, one of the leading Swed­ish junior staff members will spend six months at the institute lecturing and con­ducting a research program while an in­stitute staff member or student spends a similar period in Stockholm.

In his comprehensive survey of the year's activities, Steele mentioned that the Institute of Paper Chemistry had experi­enced the greatest growth in membership since its origin in 1929. Ten paper com­panies were added during he past year, he said.

The Papermaking Fiber. The complexi­ties of the wood fiber used for papermak-ing were brought out in a panel discus­sion by staff members of the institute. Participating were: D. J. MacLaurin, pulp and papermaking; E. E. Dickey, organic-chemistry; W. M. Van Horn, biology; J. A. Van den Akker, physics; Kyle Ward , cellulose chemistry; and R. P. Whitney, chemical engineering. Discussion leader was John G. Strange, vice president of the institute.

In a discussion of the chemical structure of the fiber, Ward emphasized the impor­tance of the hydroxyl groups. They signi­ficantly affect the way in which the paper-making fiber reacts with water and the way it bonds during the papermaking process, he said.

The question of bonding came in for considerable comment. It was pointed out that although there are electrostatic forces in operation, the important factor is hy­drogen bonding. The use of melamine resins as bonding agents was discussed and MacLaurin emphasized the impor­tance of a better understanding of the bonding mechanism. "Materials which now do not bond to the cellulose fibers, such as many of the fillers, which are capable of hydrogen bonding under cer­tain conditions could be made to bond to the fibers if we knew more about the nature of such forces," he said. Van den Akker spoke of the influence bonding has on the physical properties of the paper. Consensus of the panel seemed to b e that the whole question of bonding would bear considerable investigation in the coming years.

C&EN REPORTS: Hannover Trade Fair

international Trade Cooperation Urged to A id European Progress

German manufacturers see high tariffs as bar to trade and technical relations with U. S.

HANNOVER.- In te rna t iona l cooperation in foreign trade was the theme empha­sized at the Halle der Chemie of t he Hannover Trade Fair held here April 27 to May 6. International cooperation in trade and marketing must come about if the European economy is to make prog­ress, said W. A. Menne, president of the Verband der Chemischen Industrie, t he federation of the German chemical indus­try which organized the exhibition. Trade barriers, he said, in speaking before a reception for the foreign and domestic press, must be reduced not merely by small percentages, but down to the point of freeing trade. International free trade in chemical products would virtually open a new world of chemical development, he implied.

For the first time in many years the German chemical industry presented a full section of its own and in doing so reached a new high in the art of presenting chemi­cal products to the trade. Occupying one complete building, the Halle der Chemie stood out like a gem among the extensive exhibits at the fair and set an exceptional level in quality, tone, and dignity.

Export Trade Freedom. It is t ime that Europe freed itself from the "green table" approach, said Mr. Menne, with attempts to solve problems by theoretical ap­

proaches, and turned to practical combined efforts against problems of production, finance, and economic politics.

Before 1914, said Mr. Menne, one third of the world's chemical production was traded internationally. This has decreased discouragingly, he declared, even though production is now far higher than ever

before. Speaking of the German industry, he stated that before t h e war it had put on the market some 3 0 % of the chemical products internationally traded and this has now shrunk to one half. This year's exports of about $500 million should be doubled next year, he urged.

East-West Trade. I t is obvious, said Mr. Menne, that the U. S. is taking a stronger place in world chemical trade. Thus the circumstances become less favor­able for Germany. T h e strong German role in the East-West trade has lost its effectiveness through the political situa­tion; this commerce with the eastern and southeastern European countries and China, which once comprised one fifth of German foreign trade, has now shrunk to a negligible point. It is to be hoped, said Mr. Menne , that West Germany soon may b e allowed to resume the develop­ment of these traditional markets for their very obvious value to the European economy.

World-Wide Markets. Mr. Menne said that his study of the situation has con­vinced him that an open world-wide chemical market is t he most desirable. International cooperation is called for. Some beginning of such cooperation has been m a d e in Europe with the Organiza­tion for European Economic Cooperation and the liberalization of trade, bu t these have not yet proved to be the entire an­swer. Progress must be made stepwise, he agreed, b u t care must be taken that ac­tions go beyond mere theoretical consider­ations. T h e t ime for direct practical ac­tion, he contended, has come, and that action should be directed toward inter­national free t rade.

Research Expenditures. Research to­day is the production of tomorrow, de­clared Dr. Haberland, head of Farben-fabrik Bayer, and the German chemical industry must invest more in research. Last year the investment was about 150 million D Marks (about $36 mill ion), he declared, which does not compare well with the investment of 161 million marks

Coordinated styling and a well-integrated layout characterized the chemical exhibits and set the Halle der Chemie off as a prominent section of the recent Hannover Fair

2200 C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S

Mo/ten Sulphur flowing into the storage vat

Thousands of tons mined daily, but where does it all go?

L took around you in any grocery store and what do you see — canned goods of all kinds! Soups, vegetables, fruits, berries! Believe it or not, you're looking at merchandise that consumed a lot of Sulphur in the making.

Tin cans are made of tin plate. Tin plate is made of sheet steel. Sheet steel is made with the help of sulphuric acid—pickling, as they call it, the process that removes scale preparatory to plating. In 1 9 5 1 , the sheet division of our great iron and steel industry is estimated to have consumed 140 ,000 long tons of Sulphur in the form of sulphuric acid. That in itself makes quite a dent in our supplies of Sulphur. Add to this almost as much more for treating wire rod, plate, strip, bars, etc., and you can see that to make finished steel, regardless of form, the iron and steel industry must use lots of Sulphur in the form of sulphuric acid.

Right here is an excellent example of the interdependence of all of our industries. To produce steel requires a lot of Sulphur. To produce Sulphur and other mined products requires a lot of steel. This inter­dependence oi industries is one of the country's sources of strength.

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THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK

in research in 1927, when the buying power of the mark was three to four times what it is today. The German chemical industry must invest at least 300 million D Marks a year in research, declared Dr. Haberland.

Coal as a Raw Material. II. Trainm, Ruhrchemie, spoke on behalf of the coal products industries, which were not spe­cifically represented in the exhibitions of this year's fair. . Dr. Tramm pointed out that while petroleum and natural gas are rapidly rising as raw materials for the chemical industry in the U. S., in liurope, where lie 39% of the world's coal re­sources and 80% of the brown coal as compared with only 1.7% of the petro­leum, coal is likely to continue for some time as the basic raw material for organic chemical manufacture.

In speaking of the Fischer-Tropsch syn­thesis, Dr. Tramm pointed out that it is now being taken up in France and that extensive use is being made of it or planned in South Africa.

Trade Interest Highlighted. The Halle der Chemie, designed as a trade exhibi­tion under the direction of an industry committee led by H. Stiege, of Degussa, and H. Stork, of the Verband der Chem-ischen Industrie, was unique in that the entire motif and general layout were de­signed by a single architect, Mr. Volhard, who was obviously a master of the art. The largest stands of the largest com­panies were located in the center of the main floor surrounded by booths along the entire wall. Stairs to the upper level led directly to the displays of Farbwerke Hoechst, one of the largest companies. From both ends of this position a single line of displays lined the walls around the hall. In general the style of display was to show a few of the major products of the company with graphic illustrations of application, which also indicated a range of other products about which in­formation was readily available from the company representatives. The result was a departure from the not infrequent clut­tered attempt to display all available products. This, with the remarkable in­dustry cooperation which permitted an in­tegrated plan and design, produced an exhibition of exceptionally high tone and dignity. The fair was designed for the interest of the trade rather than the gen­eral public and appeared to achieve its goal very well.

The general aim and atmosphere of the Halle der Chemie placed emphasis on foreign trade. The consensus seemed to be that trade was strong, often stimulated by lack of dollars in many countries which were thus limited in their power to buy all they wished from the U. S.; the lack was frequently credited to the inability to sell there because of high tariffs. In fact almost any discussions from the American point of view led to the prob­lem of tariffs. German manufacturers in almost all lines expressed a strong desire to establish trade and technical informa­tion relations with the United States but

2202 C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S

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V O L U M E 3 0, N O . 2 1 . » . » M A Y 2 6, 1 9 5 2 2203

THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK

Sir Harold Hartley ( le f t ) , president of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, dis­cusses the chemical engineers shortage in Grea t Britain with Lady Hart ley, Lady Woolton, Rt. Hon. Lord Woolton, and J. Roberts, Sodety of Chemical Industry president

C&EN REPORTS: Institution of Chemical Engineers

ICE President Stresses Need for Chemical Engineers in Britain

contended that the U. S. tariffs made the situation virtually hopeless.

Fluorine Polymers. A number of new products or important new developments of existing products were in evidence. Plastics were among the leaders. Only two days old on the market was Farben-labrik Bayer's new fluorine-chlorine vinyl polymer, PF, which has high resistance to temperature and chemical corrosion. Not only is it fireproof, but specifications call lor freedom from damage to electrical or mechanical properties at temperatures be­tween + 2 0 0 ° and —200° C. Samples were displayed of pieces formed by press­ing, calendaring, and injection molding.

Ilostafion was the polytrirluorochloro-cthylene polymer offered by Farbwerke I loechst. It is transparent, moldable, highly resistant to alkalis, acids, and high temperatures. Attention is now being given to its adaption to uses in chemical equipment protection.

Pu fifed Styrene . Styrene beads which puff on treatment with live steam to fill a given form with a very light weight material was featured by Badische Anilin und Sodafabrik. This product, with the name Styropor, has a density of 0.02 to 0.03 and can b e prepared in either rigid or flexible forms. Samples shown included insulating tape and a solid rod. Another BASF product was Emupulver, a styrene powder mixture which needs only mixing with water to prepare a paint.

Other Plast ics . Polyurethanes, put on the market about six months ago in the form of injection molding materials by Bayer, were in evidence with the report that larger than research quantities an* available. The foremost early use has been in machine parts, where good abra­sion resistance and absence of need for lubrication make them very useful. Studies are in progress to make more use of these qualities besides acid and alkali resistance. The price still limits the polyurethanes to specialties, but an effort is being made to bring it down.

Polyester resins, from Bayer, are so new that specific uses were not outlined at the fair. Buna rubber and a variety of co­polymers of butadiene, styrene, and poly­vinyl chloride were featured by Chemische Werke Hiils.

Textile P roduc t s . Samples of the new­est German synthetic fiber, PAN, Cas-sella Farbwerke Mainkur's polyacryloni-trile were on display in that conlpany's booth. Mowiol, a polyvinyl alcohol siz­ing for perlon and nylon, was presented by Hoechst while BASF showed a new mercerizing and chintzing compound for cotton.

Degussa ( Deutsche Gold und Silber Scheideanstalt ) announced success in its search for a new method of industrial preparation of sodium chlorite, particu­larly for use as a bleaching agent. The powder form is said to have qualities similar to those of sodium chlorate. The Degussa method is said to p u t the new product into price competition with the most modern agents.

U. S. "product ion" a h e a d of British rate

LOX DUX.—There is an urgent need for a rapid increase in the number of chemical engineering courses in the universities and technical colleges of the United Kingdom and an expansion of existing courses where possible, declared Sir Harold 11 art ley in his presidential address here before the recent annual meeting of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.

The present gap between supply and demand is far too large to be dealt with by any new technological university, h e contended, and wherever engineering courses are now given, it seems only rea­sonable that undergraduates should have an opportunity to study chemical engi­neering if they so desire.

Sir Harold made these comments after pointing out that while the United States has trained more than 15,000 chemical engineers during the past five years, the annual output of chemical engineers in Great Britain from all sources between 1950 and 1954 is expected to be about 200.

In developing his ideas, Sir Harold re­ferred to the report of the Dunsheath Committee, which had investigated rela­tions between universities and industry in the U. S. The committee was im­pressed, he noted, by the number of chemical engineering courses found and the extent to which these courses are re-

of chemical engineers far

garded as meeting a widespread demand from various branches of American in­dustry.

Sir Harold also considered the ideas ad­vanced b y the Cremer Report of the Com­mit tee on Chemical Engineering Research ( in Great Britain ) , which reached the conclusion that "existing facilities are in­adequate, for the purposes of the chemical and allied industries as a whole." That report, h e related, contrasts the two ap­proaches to plant design: the analytical approach., dependent on the functional analysis of the performance of existing plants, and the synthetic approach, based on experimental investigations of the mechanism of each process and the laws governing it. In view of the many vari­ables that enter into the design of a plant, a chemical engineer must be trained to make a judicious compromise between these two methods of approach and to select fields where investigations would be of value. He must grow up in the chal­lenging a tmosphere of problems with the opportunity to see the creative power of research in progress and to learn some­thing of the technique of investigation. Sir Harold said h e believed this summar­izes roughly the findings of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in their recent symposium on "Whither Chemical Engineering Science."

2204 C H E M I C A L AND E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S