New Petroleum

Research Laboratory

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Sohio's new research laboratory adjacent to the Western Reserve University campus

Above. E. C. Hughes (left), senior super­visor of experiments at the laboratory, and W . E. Scovill, junior supervisor, are pictured with the model of the long heptane molecule which has been trans­formed into a ring form to make toluene.

Right. R. E. Burk (right), director of tru* Sohio research laboratory, checks the new dynamometer installed in the engine testing room. Hugo Martinson, mechanic, is setting up the initial tests. The en­gine which is to be tested is hanging on the portable crane. Einar Kropp, chief research engineer, is testing the new fuel research engine in the background.

T T H E Standard Oil Co. of Ohio's new re­search laboratory adjacent to Western

Reserve University in Cleveland was formally opened December 30, 1941, with a public reception, and immediately went into action on vital research problems linked directly to America's fight for victory.

Several hundred educational and busi­ness leaders inspected the modern two-story laboratory building which was located alongside the university campus t o further the interchange of manpower and facilities under a long range program for cooperation between industry and educa­tional institutions.

W. T. Holliday, president, and other officers and directors of the company were hosts at the open house. Guests were ushered through a maze of special re ­search and testing equipment by mem­bers of the 25-man laboratory staff headed by R. E. Burk, professor of chemistry a t Western Reserve and director of chemical research for Sohio.

Five separate laboratories, a large e n -COMTINUED ON PAGE 1 3 2

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New Petroleum Research Laboratory Opened

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 3 0

gine testing room, and cold room provided in the building combine practically every known facility for development of higher octane gasolines, Diesel oils, and other fuels, new lubricating oils and greases, better asphalt products, and new by­products of the refining process.

The research staff will be concerned with development of improved manufac­turing processes as well as improvement of petroleum products and their more ef­ficient use. For this reason one lofty room, two stories high, with a large hatch in the roof, has been provided to ac­commodate any experimental refinery set-up they might have occasion to erect. A completely equipped machine shop has been included in the layout and will enable the laboratory to build any re­quired experimental equipment.

An elaborate ventilating system, spe­cially designed to meet requirements for control of conditions in the laboratories and engine testing rooms, delivers filtered air throughout the building, ensuring a complete change of air every six minutes. While the entire structure, including the offices, has only 14,000 square feet of floor space, it has more than a mile of steel pipe in the various systems which distribute gas, water, steam, compressed air, and vacuum to the work tables, test stands, and equipment in the several laboratories.

More than 2000 different chemicals, including many rare substances not avail­able anywhere else in the locality, will be carried in stock in the large chemical storage room on the second floor. In keeping with the cooperative principles which led to the location of the laboratory at the university campus, the rarer chemi­cals will be available for use by other de­partments of the university on a replace­ment basis.

Under arrangements between Sohio and the university, the company's re­

search library in the new building will be available for use by chemistry students and the laboratory staff will have equiva­lent access to the university library. The company will sponsor four fellows who are studying for their doctors' degrees in chemistry and is also employing about ten Reserve chemistry students part time in the laboratory.

II. P. Lankelma, professor of organic chemistry at Western Reserve Univer­sity, who has been identified with this Standard Oil research program since its inauguration in 1929, will be a consulting member of the staff which includes E. C Hughes, senior supervisor of experiments, and Einar Kropp, chief research engineer.

Government Needs Chemists Two examinations for chemists and bio­

chemists are reannounced by the Civil Service Commission.

For analytical and research chemists (Announcement 185) the salary is $2,600 to $5,600 a year. Any specialized branch of chemistry is included. Analytical chemists at $2,600 to $3,200 are needed

^ E M E M B E P PEAESI. HARBOR

Victory Poster Symbolizing the spirit of American industry in the greatest wartime production in his­tory 5s this poster designed and produced by The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, as an inspirational message for its employees.

for chemical testing of materials, for com­pliance with specifications, checking health hazards by chemical methods, and other analytical chemistry work.

Pharmacologists and toxicologists (An­nouncement 186) will receive $2,600 t o $4,600 a year.

In both examinations, responsible pro­fessional experience must be shown, ex­cept for partial substitution of graduate study. Provided all other requirements have been met, college teaching will now be considered acceptable for any grade of the research chemist or the pharmacologist or toxicologist examination when accom­panied by a reasonable amount of scien­tific research in the appropriate field. Pertaining to the recency of education and experience in the chemist examination, all persons otherwise qualified may now apply, but those eligibles will be considered first who show that part of their education and experience has been acquired within the past 10 years.

Applicants must not have passed their 60th birthdayv unless they are entitled to military preference, in which case they must be under the retirement age. Non-veterans over 60, otherwise qualified, may appK and their names may be listed for possible use.

The need is urgent. Both examinations are open until further notice, but qualified persons should apply at once. Persons rated eligible under the 1941 examina­tions—No. 25 and 58—need not reapply, for their eligibility will continue under the new examinations. Further information and application forms may be obtained from the Secretary, Board of United States Civil Service Examiners, at any first- or second-class post office or from the Civil Service Commission, Washington, D . C.

B O L I V I A N refined sulfur exports in the first nine months of 1941 attained a level of 2,084 tons. Most of the production is shipped to Argentina. Deposits are re­ported to be fairly numerous along the Bolivian-Chilean frontier, with the largest reserves believed to be about 5,000,000 tons with a sulfur content of 65 per cent.

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