Industrial Research 



313 



Arthur, Tex., started a series of experiments tliat ex- 

 tended over a period of 15 years and naturally involved 

 many disappointments. However, in 1929 he was able 

 to report, again to the American Institute of Chemical 

 Engineers, that a successful process had been developed 

 by which aluminum chloride could be made from crude 

 bauxite ore and chlorine at the rate of 75,000 pounds 

 per day and at a cost which permitted its sale in car- 

 load lots at 5 cents per pound. 



Many equally interesting stories of chemical engineer- 

 ing developments might be cited except for the fact that 

 they have seldom been told in their entirety. One nota- 

 ble exception '' is the Victor Chemical Companj^'s de- 

 velopment of the fuel-fired blast furnace for phosphoric 

 acid. Another is in the case of the work on phosphatic 

 fertilizers done at Muscle Shoals by the Chemical Engi- 

 neering Division of the Tennessee Valley Authority 

 under the direction of its former chief chemical engineer. 

 Dean Harry A. Curtis of the University of Missouri."' 

 In this comprehensive series of articles are cited all of 

 the many difficulties that arise to block the path of the 

 chemical engineer in a t3'pical large-scale development 

 of new manufactui'ing processes. 



In 1933 Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering 

 announced a biennial award for chemical engineering 

 achievement to recognize those companies that had 

 made outstanding contributions to the industry antl 

 profession as a result of broader participation on the 

 part of chemical engineers. The first companj" to win 

 th's award was the Carbide and Carbon Chemicals 

 Corporation for its pioneering work in building a syn- 

 thetic organic chemical industrj- in this country based 

 on the hydrocarbons of petroleum and natural gas. 

 This was a typical American development, resulting 

 from original research conducted m the laboratories of 

 Mellon Institute by American chemists and then trans- 

 lated into commercial development by American chem- 

 ical engineers, first in a pilot plant at Clcndenin, 

 W. Va., and later in a tremendous industry at South 

 Charleston, W. Va. The second award for chemical 

 engineering achievement, in 1935, went to the oi'ganic 

 chemicals department of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & 



"Essterwood, Henry W. Manufacture of phosphoric acid by the blast furnace 

 method. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Transactions, S^, 1-20 (1933). 



"Curtis, H. A. The manufacture of phosphoric acid by the electric furnace 

 method. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Transactions, SI, 278-95 (1934- 

 1935): T. V. A. make^ HjPOi electrically at Wilson dam. Chemical and Metallurgi- 

 cal Engineering, it, 320-24 (June 1936); Making concentrated superphosphate at 

 T. V. A. fertilizer works. <f, 488-91 (September 1935); The air-nitrogen industry at 

 home and abroad. S3. 408 (July 1926); Curtis, Harry A., Miller, Arthur M., and 

 Junkins, J. N. T. V. A. estimates favorable costs for concentrated superphosphate — 

 n. JJ, 647-50 (December 1936); Curtis, Harry A. Re: Phosphoric acid costs. 44.75 

 (February 1937); Curtis, Harry A., Copson, Raymond L., and .\brams, Armand J. 

 Metaphosphate investigation aims at cheaper fertilizers. U. 140-142 (March 1937); 

 Curtis, H. A,, Miller, A. M. and Newton, R. H. T. V, A. reviews its experience in 

 phosphate smelting. iS, 116-20 (March 1938); Process developments at T. V. A. 

 phosphoric acid plant. iS, 193-97 (April 1938); Curtis, H. A., Copson, R. L., Abrams, 

 A. J., and Junkins. J. N. Full-scale production of metaphosphate achieved at Wilson 

 dam. 45, 318-22 (June 1938); Curtis, H. A., and Heaton, Roy C. Design for a phos- 

 phate furnace. 45, 536-40 (October 1938). 



Companj', for the development from acetylene of the 

 synthetic rubber known as neopreno and the synthesis 

 of camphor from American turpentine. Hero the aca- 

 demic researches of the late Father J. A. Nieuwland, 

 supplemented by the work of du Pont organic chemists, 

 were made productive through chemical engineering 

 development work of a high order. The next award, 

 in 1937, was to Monsanto Chemical Compatiy which in 

 that year had completed a program of chemical engi- 

 neering research and development and had built a large 

 electric furnace plant in Tennessee for the production 

 of elemental phosphorus in tank-car quantities. This 

 opened a whole new field for phosphorus as a heavy 

 chemical in industry. 



The most recent award in this series was made in 

 December 1939 to the Standard Oil Development 

 Company, which has long been a leader in developing 

 and appljnng chemical engineering processes in petro- 

 leum refining. It had introduced high-pressure hydro- 



FiGUHE 94. — Pilot Plaiit fur Manufacture of Chemicals from 

 Petroleum, Emeryville Laboratories, Shell Development 

 Company Emeryville, California 



