142 THE NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE 



1914 and the succeeding years it became necessary to erect pro- 

 duction and recovery plants on a scale before unknown, while 

 cracking processes, such as the Rittman, were worked out to 

 secure large yields of these hydro carbons from petroleum. 

 The story is told in detail in Technologic Paper of the Bureau 

 of Standards, No. 117, entitled "Toluol Recovery," while the 

 system of tests applied which contributed largely to the suc- 

 cess of these operations is described in Ordnance Department, 

 U. S. A. Bulletin No. 1800, entitled " Methods for Testing to 

 be used in Toluol Plant Operation." 



The phenol problem was more difficult since securing the 

 proper coal tars in quantity and the separation and purification 

 of the phenol fraction was too time consuming, and moreover 

 conflicted too seriously with the interdependent industries to 

 be available to any material extent in this emergency. How- 

 ever, benzene was attainable by the means described above and 

 it was known that phenol had been produced from it by first 

 converting the benzene into the potassium benzene sulphonate 

 and then fusing this with potash. As unfortunately potassium 

 compounds were also under the control of the Germans, the 

 use of sodium compounds was resorted to, and, despite the 

 fact that previous attempts to use sodium compounds had failed, 

 a careful study of conditions resulted in this process being made 

 commercially successful. At the same time other methods 

 for the production of picric acid from benzene, based on the 

 latter being first converted into chlor-benzene, were put into 

 successful operation, whereby much of the synthetic phenol 

 was released for disinfection purposes and other necessary uses. 



The story of how the nitric acid problem was solved is told 

 by Dr. A. A. Noyes in another chapter. As for sulphuric acid, 

 this country was before the war a leading producer, if not the 

 leader, in this fundamental chemical industry, for by 1914, we 

 were producing annually over 4,000,000 tons of the various 

 grades reduced to 50 B. Extensive plants had been erected 

 with which to collect and convert the enormous quantities of 

 sulphur fumes given off in smelting copper ores, It is true 



