CATALYSIS: THE GUIDE OF LIFE 



99 



Nothing daunted, the investigators applied to this problem 

 their knowledge and skill in the preparation and use of catalysts 

 for the hydrogenation of benzene and in a comparatively short 

 time sent Dr. Baekeland a liter bottle of cyclohexane ensconsed 

 in a plush-lined mahogany casket. Baekeland kept this on his 

 desk for many years as a prized possession. And since the product 

 had been made by CATalysis, Dr. Baekeland was furnished with 

 a design for the wooden medal he had promised (Figure 11). 



Today, catalysts and catalysis have achieved extensive publicity. 

 The average newspaper reader, even if he does not know what a 



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Figure 12. Flow sheet of a "cat-cracker" using the fluid catalyst process. (Courtesy 



M. W. Kellogg Co.) 



catalyst is, does know that 100-octane gasoline, which gives our 

 aviators speed and ceiling, is produced with the aid of catalysts. 

 The more technically informed reader knows that the catalytic 

 production of sulfuric acid, ammonia, nitric acid, and wood 

 alcohol is an old story. In fact, Germany was able to start World 

 War I in 1914 only because she had just then become independent 

 of Chile as a source of nitrates, owing to German perfection of the 

 Haber process, whereby nitrogen and hydrogen can be catalyti- 

 cally combined to produce ammonia. This, in turn, can be cata- 

 lytically oxidized to nitric acid, the basis of most explosives as 

 well as a vital ingredient in fertilizers. Those connected with the 

 chemical industry or profession know that an ever-increasing num- 



