Fiseher-Tropsch Held One of Most Valuable Inemy Processes

A STAFF REPORT

W. J. Connelly, of Bakdite Corp., addresses SAM οιτ new resin materials

L· HE door t o German i n d u s t r y c a n n o t be kept open-much longer, a n d American concerns planning to send r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s there for technical surveys h a d be t t e r act quickly, said John C. G r e e n , director of t h e Office of Technical S e r v i c e s , D e p a r t ­ment of Commerce, in a N e w York: ad­dress recently.

Speaking a t the l u n c h e o n meet ing of t he Society for the A d v a n c e m e n t of IMan-agement , M r . Green o b s e r v e d t h a t t h e Germans were somewhat a h e a d of xis in t he science of chemical s y n t h e s i s , b u t that was because they were p r e p a r i n g for war. H e figures t h a t Germany w a s probably nine years ahead in the m a t t e r of acetylene chemistry.

Two very valuable p r o c e s s e s on which we obtained technical d a t a were the Fiseher-Tropsch method cover ing con­version of coal and gases i n t o liquid fuels and chemicals, and the t w o - p a r t Agfa color film process. Of t he two, t h e Fiseher-Tropsch information was jp robab ly the most outs tanding as i t p r o m i s e s to doub le our fuel resources in th i s c o u n t r y . Ajnong other highly regarded c a t c h e s were t he secret technical files of the K r u p p W o r k s .

There were, of course, h u n d r e d s of other valuable Naz i pa ten ts a n d processes obtained by the O T S w h i c h are being made available to American science and industry. M r . Green d e t a i l e d t h e pro­cedures which his office has s e t up f o r this purpose.

A weekly bibliography of t h e processes is issued for publication i n newspapers and science and t rade p a p e r s , and these lists are designated for easy identification when inquiries are m a d e c o n c e r n i n g spe­cific German patents a t the O T S .

The reports are d e p o s i t e d a t t h e Li­brary of Congress and f rom these p h o t o ­

copies or microfilm reproductions are sold a t a nominal cost. An idea of the magni tude of t h e work will be seen from the master card file which now contains more than 300,000 subjects.

Indexes and a bibliography of enemy technical da ta are also maintained a t the office of the D e p a r t m e n t of Commerce in New York Ci ty . T h e OTS in Washing­ton is visited daily by persons interested in obtaining the information. Such calls recently have been averaging about 60 a day, in addi t ion to many telephone inquiries.

T h e Agfa color photo process is carried out with the use of two basic films in place of the usual eight as conducted heretofore. F ive or six manufacturers in this country are now experimenting with the process. Another German de­velopment which has a t t racted much interest here, Mr. Green said, concerns a method for t h e production of synthet ic plasma.

All wre got o u t of t h e first world war, the OTS director concluded, was a collection of difficult a n d obscure patents . This t ime we obtained everything—the patents , know-how, a n d p lan t experience. T h e tec mical representatives concerned with chemical developments, for example, prac­tically lived a t the I . G. Farben plants.

Still, it should be kept in mind tha t while we w^ent to great lengths to repro­duce the enemy da ta accurately, "the Ger­mans actually have not lost anything aside from equipment . Some of this has been removed to the United States.

I n reply to a question, Mr. Green s ta ted t h a t the scientific and industrial develop­ments of J a p a n have likewise been sub­jected to a fairly thorough survey. A tremendous a m o u n t of technical ma te ­

rial h a s been received from General Mac -Arthur , b u t owing t o the difficulty of translating from the Japanese some t ime will elapse before it can be published in this country.

Other speakers at t h e management con­ference, which was called to discuss new available materials a n d to keep produc­tion moving, included Walter Dorwin Teague, industrial designer; W. J . Con­nelly, manager of consumer relations for Bakélite Corp. ; A. K. Socman η, manager of the synthetic crystal division, Linde Air Products ; Rober t Burns, new products division, Celanese Corp. of iVmerica; and K. W . Given, chemical department, Gen­eral Electric Co.

In discussing industrial uses for various resins, Mr. Connelly said we are enter ing a new era—not a fanciful one where plastics rule the world but where they are being used in their correct applica­tions, properly engineered and developed. New processes in the laminating field have developed low power factor items which will play an important role i n electronics.

A newcomer in t h e plywood field is plywood with a skin treatment. Syn­thet ic resin-treated papcV is laminated on the surface of the plywood a n d a product results wi th superior weather-resistant properties, strength, a n d durability.

T h e speaker outlined some large-scale applications for the coating vinyls which are now extended to t h e interiors of rail­road tank cars owing t o their resistance t o corrosion, alcohol, and deterioration. Dis­persion resins also have had their drying time reduced from hours to minutes . Protective coatings of specially formu­lated phenolic resin now dry in as little as one minute .

Industrial uses and chemical and physi­cal properties of the synthetic sapphire were explained to t h e meeting b y M r . Seemann. Uniformity of hardness in t h e material is assured b y its unicrystalline structure. Its hardness is n ine on Moh's scale, making it second in this respect only to t h e diamond. A perfectly smooth surface is attainable, minimizing friction.

Coupled with wearability is resistance by t h e sapphire to al l commercial chemi­cals, plus suitable properties for many electrical applications. These properties are all maintained under h e a t u p to a temperature of bet-ween 3,090° and 3,632° F. , when the material exhibits a plasticity which makes flame-working, bending, and polishing techniques pos­sible.

Impor t an t uses for the sapphire a re watch and ins t rument bearings, thread guides for textile mills, precision gages, gage points for micrometers, extrusion dies for soft metals, inspection windows for pressure vessels.

An exhibit of new a n d improved plastics was set u p a t t he management conference by the Bakéli te Corp. A somewhat similar exhibit was presented by t h e Gen­eral Electric Co.

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