INTERNATIONAL
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INTERNATIONAL Ψ Pigment Plant Producing Canada's first titanium pigment plant at Varennes, Que., is in full production; its output will supply Canadian requirements. The plant was built by Canadian Titanium Pigments, subsidiary of National Lead. Sulfuric acid, a major raw material, will be supplied by this acid plant, using the contact process. very substantial 3.5 million gallons of liquids can be moved in 24 separate tanks. A third chemical ship soon to be built for Dow will be a sister to the Marine Dow-Chem. Dow expects to keep all three vessels busy with coast- wise and export business. Considering the vast amount of chemicals needed to fill an ocean vessel, there are a surprising number of ships in chemical service—at least a dozen in- cluding the ones used for export. Among the companies chartering these ships are Union Carbide, Columbia- Southern, Monsanto, and General Aniline. Union Carbide is another of the pioneers in water transportation of chemicals. Seven of its plants are located on water sites, which makes possible a lively amount of interplant water shipments as well as water travel to markets. To move items like ethyl- ene glycol, acids, and alcohols, Car- bide owns 27 barges and leases 10 more. The R. E. Wilson, a 2.5 million gallon tanker, makes regular runs for Carbide between the Gulf Coast and Carteret, N. J. Carbide also charters space on the S. S. Texan for trips to Los Angeles from the Gulf. At Carbide, transportation is the third biggest item in the budget, after materials and labor. And thus, says Carbide, it's important to get maximum value from each transportation dollar, with emphasis placed on saving money for the customer. Carbide's travel bill for chemicals and other materials come to $32 million last year. Of this, 15 r /<- went for water shipments. It's almost impossible to list all the water movements of chemicals. Inter- national Minerals barges superphos- phate from Tampa to points along the Mississippi. General Aniline ships sur- factants from Linden, N. J. to Alameda, Calif. Tetraethyllead made by Du Pont in the East moves to Texas in a tank ship. Monsanto ships sulfur, sul- furic acid, styrene, soda ash, and lots of others by water, for instance. Not too many years ago there were a limited number of chemicals that could be shipped by water. Today, with custom-built barges and ships, there is little that can't be moved by water. From liquid methane at —258° F., tc molten sulfur at 350° F., to anhydrous ammonia at 250-pound pressure, water is almost as * ^rsatile as land transporta- tion. For tomorrow, chemicals should continue to increase their slice of the over 200 billion ton miles of freight moving on U. S. waterways this year. 82 C&EN SEPT. 3 0. 1957 Carbide Builds in Mexico Union Carbide's affiliate, Electrodos Nacionales, S.A., is building a graphite electrode plant near Monterrey, Mex- ico. The new factory will serve Mexico's electric-furnace steel, ferro- alloy, and electrochemical industries; it will also assist nuclear power develop- ment in Mexico by producing some of the needed materials. The new plant is scheduled to start production in 1958, according to Union Carbide. Plant capacity is expected to meet Mexican requirements for graph- ite products for the foreseeable future. A portion of production may be ex- ported, helping Mexico's foreign ex- change position. The 200-acre plant site is located in Apodaca, nine miles from Monterrey. The company will generate its own electric power and will use locally avail- able natural gas for fuel. Water sup- ply will come from the company's wells at Apodaca and through its participa- tion in Monterrey's industrial water project. • Sharpies Centrifuges, Ltd., English subsidiary of Sharpies Corp., Philadel- phia, Pa., has opened new modern fac- tory and offices at Camberley, Surrey. The facilities, known as the Tower- Works, will enable company to step up production of its current line of centri- fuges and to add new types and de- signs. • Underground coal gasification will supply fuel for a new experimental power plant in Great Britain. The Na- tional Coal Board has been experiment- ing with underground gasification for several years as a more economical means of recovering coal, especially from small seams difficult to mine. Air is sent underground to a coal seam burning under controlled conditions. Gases are withdrawn to operate a 3750-kilowatt turbo-generator.
Transcript of INTERNATIONAL
INTERNATIONAL
Ψ Pigment Plant Producing Canada's first titanium pigment plant at Varennes, Que., is in full production; its output will supply Canadian requirements. The plant was built by Canadian Titanium Pigments, subsidiary of National Lead. Sulfuric acid, a major raw material, will be supplied by this acid plant, using the contact process.
very substantial 3.5 million gallons of liquids can be moved in 24 separate tanks. A third chemical ship soon to be built for Dow will be a sister to the Marine Dow-Chem. Dow expects to keep all three vessels busy with coastwise and export business.
Considering the vast amount of chemicals needed to fill an ocean vessel, there are a surprising number of ships in chemical service—at least a dozen including the ones used for export. Among the companies chartering these ships are Union Carbide, Columbia-Southern, Monsanto, and General Aniline.
Union Carbide is another of the pioneers in water transportation of chemicals. Seven of its plants are located on water sites, which makes possible a lively amount of interplant water shipments as well as water travel to markets. To move items like ethylene glycol, acids, and alcohols, Carbide owns 27 barges and leases 10 more. The R. E. Wilson, a 2.5 million gallon tanker, makes regular runs for Carbide between the Gulf Coast and Carteret, N. J. Carbide also charters space on the S. S. Texan for trips to Los Angeles from the Gulf.
At Carbide, transportation is the third biggest item in the budget, after materials and labor. And thus, says Carbide, it's important to get maximum value from each transportation dollar, with emphasis placed on saving money for the customer. Carbide's travel bill for chemicals and other materials come to $32 million last year. Of this, 15r/<-went for water shipments.
It's almost impossible to list all the water movements of chemicals. International Minerals barges superphosphate from Tampa to points along the Mississippi. General Aniline ships surfactants from Linden, N. J. to Alameda, Calif. Tetraethyllead made by Du Pont in the East moves to Texas in a tank ship. Monsanto ships sulfur, sulfuric acid, styrene, soda ash, and lots of others by water, for instance.
Not too many years ago there were a limited number of chemicals that could be shipped by water. Today, with custom-built barges and ships, there is little that can't be moved by water. From liquid methane at —258° F., tc molten sulfur at 350° F., to anhydrous ammonia at 250-pound pressure, water is almost as * ^rsatile as land transportation. For tomorrow, chemicals should continue to increase their slice of the over 200 billion ton miles of freight moving on U. S. waterways this year.
8 2 C & E N SEPT. 3 0. 1957
Carbide Builds in Mexico Union Carbide's affiliate, Electrodos
Nacionales, S.A., is building a graphite electrode plant near Monterrey, Mexico. The new factory will serve Mexico's electric-furnace steel, ferroalloy, and electrochemical industries; it will also assist nuclear power development in Mexico by producing some of the needed materials.
The new plant is scheduled to start production in 1958, according to Union Carbide. Plant capacity is expected to meet Mexican requirements for graphite products for the foreseeable future. A portion of production may be exported, helping Mexico's foreign exchange position.
The 200-acre plant site is located in Apodaca, nine miles from Monterrey. The company will generate its own electric power and will use locally available natural gas for fuel. Water supply will come from the company's wells at Apodaca and through its participa
tion in Monterrey's industrial water project.
• Sharpies Centrifuges, Ltd., English subsidiary of Sharpies Corp., Philadelphia, Pa., has opened new modern factory and offices at Camberley, Surrey. The facilities, known as the Tower-Works, will enable company to step up production of its current line of centrifuges and to add new types and designs.
• Underground coal gasification will supply fuel for a new experimental power plant in Great Britain. The National Coal Board has been experimenting with underground gasification for several years as a more economical means of recovering coal, especially from small seams difficult to mine. Air is sent underground to a coal seam burning under controlled conditions. Gases are wi thdrawn to operate a 3750-kilowatt turbo-generator.
