LETTERS
3
F&P Ultra ma χ SEPARATORY FUNNEL Now — from the laboratories of Fischer & Porter, comes the new F&P-developed Glass Separatory Funnel. With the new stopcock, lubrication and freezing problems are ended. Gone are costly leakages and blowouts dur· ing centrifuging. Product contamination is completely avoided. Note the unconventional design of the F&P Separatory Funnel. The Ultramax* valve consists of a plug of Teflonf turning on a natural glazed surface of unground, pre- cisely-formed PyrexJ tubing. Complete in- terchangeability of parts, all corrosion- resistant, makes replacement easy. Funnel sizes available range from 30 ml to 2 liters, and come in the globe, squibb or cylindrical type. Smaller sizes — 30 ml to 125 ml —are especially adaptable for cen- trifuging. Cylindrical type, 30 ml, is perfect for vitamin analysis. Complete details are yours for the asking. Or test the new F&P Separatory Funnel in your own laboratory for 30 days without cost. Write today! Jwill not frèeWtorâeâkT NatuVaLglàzedtfîmshi^ ^* * of barrel is less susceptible" ; to alkali atfack.%^ \ ^ No lubricântfrequired— * *i& *£ * „ * stopcock is noffaffected^ by either ofganic\>r f ^ water phase. Φ&** è Completely interëhange** I ableparts^ T corrosion-resistant* I ^f t.m. for DuPon% 1 I 4jLaL Coming U Q FISCHER & PORTER CO. 1545 County Line Rood, Hafboro, Penna. Company owned sales and service branches strategically located throughout the world. LETTERS Storing of Aqua Regia DEAR SIR: As a chemist responsible for ttie safety of chemical workers of vario-us types, I appreciate the "Safety" page in C&EN. The reports of accidents in other laboratories have been particu- larly helpful. Such items are useful, however, ondy if they are accurate. Unfortunately this cannot be said of the note in tlie Feb. 28 issue under the title "Bottling and Storage of Used Aqua Regia is Unwise." This heading is incorrect on two counts, in that it implies that aq-ua regia may be dangerous to store, or that used aqua regia acquires danger- ous properties. As one who has handled large quan- tities of aqua regia over a period of -40 years without a single accident, I would like to set the record straiglit. Aqua regia is a marvelous solvent, "aged" or stored aqua regia is ev-en more so than freshly prepared. I often find it necessary to "age" the a<£ua regia before use. But the chemical xe- action between the two acids liberates gases. These gases must be allowed to escape; if they are confined, pres- sure builds up with results such as de- scribed in your article. There are many schemes for releasing the pres- sure, of these gases. In my laboratory I use undersized stoppers with shoul- ders. The space between stopper and bottle allows escape of gas, tie shoul- der prevents the stopper from falling into the bottle. The item should be reprinted with the following title: "Screw-Cap Bottles Can Be Dangerous." Newark, N. J. FRANK A. MEIER More Energy from Distaff Sid« DEAR SIR: I was much amused by the letter of Hugh Nicol which appeared in C&IEN for Feb. 7 (page 480). It is not often that one finds the wherewithal of re- futing a letter within the letter itself. Mr. Nicol says: "The chemists . . . informed us . . . synthetic fixation of . . . nitrogen in the air . . . liad banished forever such specters as the shortage of fertilizers or of food- Since to fix a ton of nitrogen needs the con- sumption of about . . . five tons of coal, these chemists stand convicted of forgetting that an equation ought to balance. . . . Physicists . . . make no concession to explaining how, on tiheir scheme, nuclear or any other form of physical energy can be transformed into something to eat." Nitrogen from the air can be fixed by electricity, which can be obtained f?rom 1406 CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING NEWS
Transcript of LETTERS
F&P Ultra ma χ SEPARATORY FUNNEL
Now — from the laboratories of Fischer & Porter, comes the new F&P-developed Glass Separatory Funnel. With the new stopcock, lubrication and freezing problems are ended. Gone are costly leakages and blowouts dur· ing centrifuging. Product contamination is completely avoided.
Note the unconventional design of the F&P Separatory Funnel. The Ultramax* valve consists of a plug of Teflonf turning on a natural glazed surface of unground, precisely-formed PyrexJ tubing. Complete in-terchangeabi l i ty of parts, all corros ion-resistant, makes replacement easy.
Funnel sizes available range from 30 ml to 2 liters, and come in the globe, squibb or cylindrical type. Smaller sizes — 30 ml to 125 ml —are especially adaptable for centrifuging. Cylindrical type, 30 ml, is perfect for vitamin analysis.
Complete details are yours for the asking. Or test the new F&P Separatory Funnel in your own laboratory for 30 days without cost. Write today!
Jwill not frèeWtorâeâkT
NatuVaLglàzedtfîmshi^ ^ *
* of barrel is less susceptible" ;
to alkali atfack.%^ \ ^
N o lubricântfrequired— * *i& *£ * „ * stopcock is noffaffected^
by either ofganic\>r f ^
water phase. Φ&** è Completely interëhange**
I ableparts^ T
corrosion-resistant*
I ^f t.m. for DuPon% 1
I 4jLaL Coming
U Q FISCHER & PORTER CO. 1 5 4 5 County Line Rood, Hafboro, Penna.
Company owned sales and service branches strategically located throughout the world.
LETTERS Storing of Aqua Regia
DEAR SIR: As a chemist responsible for ttie
safety of chemical workers of vario-us types, I appreciate the "Safety" page in C&EN. The reports of accidents in other laboratories have been particularly helpful.
Such items are useful, however, ondy if they are accurate. Unfortunately this cannot be said of the note in tlie Feb. 28 issue under the title "Bottling and Storage of Used Aqua Regia is Unwise." This heading is incorrect o n two counts, in that it implies that aq-ua regia may be dangerous to store, or that used aqua regia acquires dangerous properties.
As one who has handled large quantities of aqua regia over a period of -40 years without a single accident, I would like to set the record straiglit. Aqua regia is a marvelous solvent, "aged" or stored aqua regia i s ev-en more so than freshly prepared. I often find it necessary to "age" the a<£ua regia before use. But the chemical xe-action between the two acids liberates gases. These gases must be allowed to escape; if they are confined, pressure builds up with results such as described in your article. There are many schemes for releasing the pressure, of these gases. In my laboratory I use undersized stoppers with shoulders. The space between stopper and bottle allows escape of gas, t i e shoulder prevents the stopper from falling into the bottle.
The item should be reprinted with the following title: "Screw-Cap Bottles Can Be Dangerous." Newark, N. J. FRANK A. MEIER
More Energy f rom Distaff Sid«
DEAR SIR: I was much amused by the letter of
Hugh Nicol which appeared in C&IEN for Feb. 7 (page 480) . It is not often that one finds the wherewithal of refuting a letter within the letter itself. Mr. Nicol says: "The chemists . . . informed us . . . synthetic fixation of . . . nitrogen in the air . . . liad banished forever such specters as the shortage of fertilizers or of food- Since to fix a ton of nitrogen needs the consumption of about . . . five tons of coal, these chemists stand convicted of forgetting that an equation ought to balance. . . . Physicists . . . make no concession to explaining how, on tiheir scheme, nuclear or any other form of physical energy can be transformed into something to eat."
Nitrogen from the air can be fixed by electricity, which can be obtained f?rom
1 4 0 6 C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G NEWS
IN PETROLEUM (Oil and Gasoline Additives) y*w"j
IN SURFACE COATINGS (Paint and Shellac)
IN CHEMICALS (RocketFuels)
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LETTERS
nuclear as "well as many other forms of "physical" energy. Of even greater potential value to the world's food supply is the fact that if there were a sufficiently abundant source of "physi-cal>*> that, is electrical, energy it would become feasible to desalt sea water for agricultural purposes, thereby making arable vast amounts of land.
Our worries today are whether w e will ever be able to enjoy the fruits (literally and figuratively) of these new sources of energy, or whether the energy will destroy us first.
I am α temporarily-retired-chemist housewife, married to a research chemist. I enjoy your magazine very much. Fasadena, Tex. JOANNA G. RIESSER
Vinyl Chloride Industry
DEAR SIR: R e "Plastics in 1954" in the Jan. 3
C&EN, the authors no doubt did not intend a comprehensive coverage of the plastics industry, but I would like to point out that the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride resins is an important aspect of this field.
Xhe vinyl chloride industry consumed about 386 million pounds of domestically produced solid resins in 1954 compared to a little under 360 million pounds in 1953. The importance of this segment of the plastics industry can. best be appreciated when the number and volume of the various consumer goods are realized.
Other important advancements in the industry include the integration of plastic fabricators, e.g., General Tire & Hubber chemical division's $6-mil-lion polyvinyl chloride resin plant at Ashtabula, OHio (C&EN, Nov. 1, 1954, page 4371). Jeannette, Pa. C. L. ZEISE, JR.
Case o f Ambiguity
DEAR SIR: In the Jan 24 C&EN, page 319, un
der the subhead "Pulsed Columns for Extraction" is the following statement:
"'For packed columns, R. V. Von Berg says that application of pulsation is practical for increasing efficiency, and can reduce the column height re-qixired as much as three times."
Does this mean ( 1 ) that i t reduces it on three differ
ent occasions? (2) that it reduces it by one third of
its original height? (3) that i t reduces it to one third of
its original height? (4) or what? Truly, words are given us to conceal
ouur thoughts. Egham, Surrey, England S. fe. F o x
1 4 0 8 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
3 IMPORTANT MEMBERS
OF THE qo CHEMICAL FAMILY
