1(td*4t>UaC 7letv& P r o v i s i o n s o f C a l i f o r n i a e n g i n e e r i n g r e g i s t r a t i o n l a w s u m m a r i z e d , , , C o n t r a c t for c o a l - g a s i f i c a t i o n p i l o t p l a n t a w a r d e d . . . G r o u n d b r o k e n f o r first p e a c e t i m e a t o m i c p i l e a t B r o o k h a v e n N a t i o n a l L a b o r a t o r y

I^ALIFORÎOA now has an engineering regis-^ t r a t i o n law which includes chemical en­gineers. The main provisions of the bill, which was introduced in the legislature last winter, have already been published (C&EN, 25, 166 (1947)]. The act which was finally signed by Governor Earl War­ren in July differs radically from the orig­inal bill. It also differs fundamentally from the model act advocated by most of the national engineering societies; it is somewhat similar, however, to many exist­ing state registration laws.

W. B. Van Arsdel, committee chairman on professional status of the Northern California Section of the AIChE, summa­rized the main features of the new Califor­nia law as follows:

I. The provisions of the previous law, which prohibited the practice of civil en­gineering by any person not registered as a civil engineer, have been retained intact. The old State Board of Registration has, however, been expanded to a membership of seven by adding to the present three

civil engineers one chemical engineer, one electrical engineer, one mechanical engi­neer, and one petroleum engineer. The Governor appoints these board members.

2. Use of any of the titles, "profes­sional engineer," "electrical engineer," "mechanical engineer,'' or "petroleum en­gineer" is prohibited to unregistered per­sons.

3. The qualifications for registration comprise evidence of a good moral char­acter and of six years or more of experi­ence in engineering work, indicating that the applicant is competent to practice. A written examination is required, except during the period prior to June 30, 1948. Graduation from a reputable school of engineering counts for four years of ex­perience. A certificate of "engineer-in-training" will be granted after the first four years of experience.

4. The Board of Registration may re­ceive and investigate complaints against registered engineers, and may reprove, suspend, or revoke the certificate of any

Efficient

Material Handling

with

SyA/TRON HYDRAULIC VIBRATION

"Hydra-Pulse" VIBRATORS

For "FREE-FLOWING" bins, hoppers and chutes.

r 'Hydra-Flow**

VIBRATING FEEDERS For "CONTROLLED FEEDING" of bulk materials.

"Hydra-Flow"

VIBRATING FEEDER MACHINES Complete units, with vibrated supply hopper and vibrating feeder, as illustrated above.

W A T E R — A I R — O R O I L O P E R A T E D to suit the application. EXPLOSION PROOF for use in hazardous atmospheric locations or handling explosive materials.

SYNTRON CO., 416 Lexington, Homer City, Pa.

registered engineer who has been con­victed of a felony, who has not a good char-actor, or who has been found guilty by the board of deceit, misrepresentation, viola­tion of contract, fraud, or gross incompe­tency in his practice.

5. The only exemption from the new provisions of the law is granted to em­ployees in the communications industry.

Eliminated from the draft originally pre­sented to the legislature were provisions prohibiting the practice of chemical, elec­trical, mechanical, and petroleum engi­neering by unregistered persons and trans­forming the Board of Registration into the exocutive body of an autonomoue state-wide association of registered en­gineers.

Coal Pilot Plant Cow tract Awarded

The> research and development division of Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Co. has awarded contract for the design and con­struction of its coal gasification pilot plant to the chemical plants division of Blaw-Knox Oo. This pilot plant is a cooperative project sponsored jointly by Standard Oil Development Co. and Pittsburgh Con­solidation Coal Co., in order to ascer­tain whether a practical and commercial process can be found for making synthesis gas, a first step in producing synthetic fuel from coal.

Present estimates indicate the cost of the pilot plant will be in excess of $500,000. It will be located at Library, Pa., near the coal company's research center.

The pilot plant will be a completely in-tegra"ted and continuous processing unit, the heart of which will be a synthesis gas generator, a cylindrical column supported by a steel structure about 80 feet high. It will generate approximately 1 million cubic feet of synthesis gas per day.

Work on Brookhaven Atomic Pile Started

Ground-breaking ceremonies were held at tbte Brookhaven National Laboratory on A.ug. 11, for the construction of the first peacetime atomic pile. The laboratory, whicL·. is on the site of the famous Camp Upton on New York's Long Island, is rapidly taking shape as a leading center for research in peacetime applications of atomic energy.

Lylc B. Borst, head of the nuclear re­actor group at Brookhaven, operated the controls of a huge power shovel that dug the first scoopful of earth for the founda­tion excavation of the pile buildingi Those who attended the ceremonies heard brief addresses by Sumner T . Pike and William W. Waymack, members of the Atomic Energy Commission. Philip M. Morse, director of the Brookhaven Labo­ratory, was in charge of the ceremonies.

Tfcie pile, which is expected to be fin-

2636 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

acres Φ

Fantastic as it seems, the effective adsorbent surfaces of a pound of activated carbon are actually equal in area to about 125 acres.

We don't pretend to know how this can be possible, but our research men, who understand such things, have figured it out scientifically. We like to think of what it does rather than how it does it.

For example, when used to isolate streptomycin from the mold liquor in which it is produced, a Pittsburgh

activated carbon, tailor-made for this purpose and with greater adsorptive capacity, assisted materially in the rapid development of a process with a capacity sufficient to permit re­moval of the "wonder drug" from the government's critical list. Soon

streptomycin may be as available as penicillin. Less dramatically, but like the producer of strepto­

mycin, a manufacturer of water purification systems for homes, institutions, and industries tested every avail­able adsorbent and then selected a Pittsburgh activated carbon which was specifically designed to meet the exacting requirements of his purification systems.

If your "problem" involves the use of an adsorbent, in gas or liquid phase, for purification, solvent recovery, decolorization, deodorization, fractionation, isolation, catalysis or air conditioning, you should investigate the adaptability of activated carbon to your processes. Pittsburgh activated carbon is produced in the types and grades usually required, or a special type can be de­veloped for your specific need. Your inquiries are invited. Write for latest price list.

P I T T S B U R G H COKE & CHEMICAL COMPANY Grant Building Pittsburgh 30, Pa.

COAL CHEMICALS · ACTIVATED CARBON · NEVILLE COKE · EMERALD COAL · PIC IRON «GREEK BAG CEMENTS · CONCRETE PIPE AND CONCRETE PRODUCTS · LIMESTONE PRODUCTS

/ Λ Ο Ι S Τ R / Ι /. V Ε W S

ished in mid-lV)4S, will be used primarily for research in medicine, physics, biology, chemistry, and engineering. lî will In· air-cooled and will be housed in a building about 120 feet long, 100 feet wide, and more than six stories in height. Flanking the pile building will be two wings each

Lyle B. Borst, Simmer T. Pike. M. Morse examine fi model

100 feet in length which will contain laboratories. The entire structure, which will be erected by the H. K. Ferguson Co., will cost approximately $10 million.

Scientific design of the pile was accom­plished by a group of 50 scientists working under the direction of Dr. Borst, who will

William W. Waymack, and Philip <>f first pedcetime atomic pile

The Better Way to Filter ANY MATERIAL at ANY PRESSURE and IbMPbRATURE m

T h e better way is wi th a versati le , d e p e n d a b l e Shriver Fi l ter Press , no m a t t e r w h a t the mater ia l , quant i ty or process ing r e q u i r e m e n t s .

W h e t h e r y o u w a n t t o recover so l ids , clarify l iquids , decolorize , deodor ize , w in ter i ze , th i cken , extract , wash a n d even partial ly dry the filter cake , redissolve or m e l t the cake , t h e Shriver Fi l ter Press will do it m o s t eff iciently.

Shriver Fi l ter Presses are m a d e of a n y m e t a l , wood, rubber, p las t ic or covered m e t a l , for any capacity , to opera te at any desired f i l tering t e m ­perature, and. pressure, w i t h any fi ltering m e d i a or filter a ids .

Write for Catalog No. 46

T. SHRIVER & 8 6 2 HAMILTON ST.

COMPANY, Inc HARRISON, N. J.

be in charge of operation of the pile when completed. The pile is the first large item of atomic equipment upon which construc­tion has started at Brookhaven. Other equipment to be constructed includes a "hot" laboratory for use in research on radioactive materials, a large cyclotron, and a van de Graff generator. Under preliminary study, is a proton accelerator capable of producing a beam of atomic particles at 10 billion electron volts.

The Brookhaven Laboratory is under the operation of Associated Universities, Inc., a corporation of nine large north­eastern universities.

WAA Plants Sold

The Atomic Energy Commission has bought from WAA a building at the Ken­tucky Ordnance Plant, Paducah, Ky., with electric and steam-generating equip­ment, for §315,440. The equipment is to be dismantled for use elsewhere.

The government-owned perchlorate plant in Los Angeles, operated during the war by Western Electrochemical Co., has been sold by WAA to F. W. Courtney & Associates, Los Angeles, for $350,000. The new owners have announced their in­tention of organizing a new California corporation, Electrolitic, Inc., with an authorized capital stock of $1 million to engage in the manufacture of indus trial chemicals and electrolytic metals.

The Tennessee Copper Co., Copperhill, Tenu., has purchased a sulfuric acid con­centrator unit located at the East Tennes­see ordnance works, with the intention of· using it for salvage and scrap purposes.

General Chemical Co., New York, has bought from WAA nitric acid-producing and handling apparatus and production machinery and equipment at the Point Pleasant, W. Va., and Sandusky, Ohio, ordnance plants at a cost of S155,00O. The equipment, to be moved to the General Chemical plant at Newell, Pa., was used during the war to make nitric acid for T N T production.

WAA has sold a surplus citrus molasses plant at Bartow, Fla., to the K· W Citrus Products Co. for $130,000. The plant, operated by Kudcr during the war, i s on a. one-acre site.

The Sunray Oil Corp., Tulsa, Okla., has bought from the WAA the $14 million plant at Duncan, Okla., form­erly operated by Associated Refiners to make 100-octane gasoline products. Sun-ray will pay So. 1 million for outright pur­chase, and plans immediate construction of a 93-mile 6-inch pipe line between this plant and its refinery at Allen, Okla.

The Carborundum Co., Niagara Dalls, N. Y., has been notified that its $L million bid for a part of Plancor 168, formerly opr erated by Bell Aircraft Corp., has been ac­cepted. The property comprises approxi­mately 65 acres, with four buildings, which

2638 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

Ï M H I U EH FILTER PRESSES

He hitched his wagon to a star

Th ere wasn' t much to distinguish the first red wagon of Swift & Com­pany from any other red wagon — except one thing. It was hitched to a star — the vision of a pioneer.

G-ustavus Franklin Swift, founder of Swift & Company, lived to do things better than they had ever been done before. He pioneered in developing the refrigerator car — and introduced radically efficient methods that changed the course of

other industries, as well as his own.

Today Swif t & Company has thou­sands of trucks. They're all painted red in honor of what that first red wagon stood for. And they're still hitched to the same star—to the same vision and search for betterment.

N o w Swif t & Company is among the first of America's great indus­tries to announce the construction of a Solexol plant to utilize the most

revolutionary advance in history for the refining of animal, vegetable and marine oils.

Upon completion of their new Solexol plant at Hammond, Indi­ana, Swift will be able to produce — in greater volume and from a wide range of fats and oils — specialized, high-quality products for vitamins, textiles, rubber, leather, soap, cos­metics, linoleum, paint, printing ink, lubricants and other purposes.

THE M . W. ILELLOGG (COMPANY

NEW YORK JERSEY CITY LOS ANGELES Copyright 1947, The M. W. Kellogg Company. New York"

Engineers and Economists to International Industry

TULSA HOUSTON TORONTO LONDON PARIS

V O L U M E 2 5, N O 3 7 S E P T E M B E R 1 5 , 1 9 4 7 2639

nSi M/ML s^ Jm ili ML Decolorizes, separates, extracts, concentrates and deodorizes:

V E G E T A B L E O I L S

Soybean Peanut Cottonseed Linseed Tal l O the r similar types

ANIMAL PRODUCTS Tallows Waxes Greases

MARINE OILS Fish body oils and liver oi ls having widely different physical, chemical and vitamin-

potency characteristics.

FATTY ACIDS From all sources

Licensed jointly by The M. W. Kellvfftj Co. nnri The Chemical Foundation, Inc.

Su'ift & Company's new plant for the refining of fats and non-mineral oils, now under construction at Hammond, Indiana.

HCEIAOCBI

INDUSTRIAL IS Ε W S

will be used primarily as manufacturing space for the coated products division, after extensive renovation. A special machine will be installed on which experi­mental pilot runs will be made under su­pervision of the technical department.

The Pittsburgh Metallurgical Co., Ni­agara Falls, N . Y., has bought for S325,-000 a ferrosilicon plant in Charleston, S. C. The plant was built by the Government to increase war production and is so inter­mingled with the Pittsburgh Metallurgical Co. facilities that it cannot be operated in­dependently. Buildings and equipment include a production building with furnace room, three electric furnaces, machine shop, storage house, ferrosilicon building, and Morley tower.

General Mills Canst ruction Under Way

General construction work on the or­ganic chemical plant of General Mills, Inc., Kankakee, 111., is now well under way. The plant, located on a 33-acre plot one mile south of Kankakee, will be oper­ated by the chemical division of General Mills, with headquarters in Minneapolis, Minn. The J. L. Simmons Co., Decatur, 111., has been awarded the contract for the general construction work. Other con­

tracts awarded have been to the Foster-Wheeler Corp., New York, for fabrication of the chemical processing equipment, and to the Girdler Corp., Louisville, Ky., for the hydrogen producer.

When completed the plant will manu­facture fatty acids, crude glycerin, syn­thetic oils of predetermined composition, and organic chemical derivatives, as raw materials for use by the paint, varnish, and lacquer, floor covering, putty and calking compound, lubricating, cup and journal grease, rubber compounding, print­ing ink, soap making, foundry core oil, and textile industries. It is estimated that 400 to 600 tank cars of specialty products will be manufactured annually.

Naturally occurring oils of animal, vege­table, and marine origin as well as residual oil-type materials from the edible oil re­fining, tin and terne plate, and sulfite paper industries will be used to manufacture spe­cial products.

An office, laboratory, maintenance shop, sewage disposal section, storage and ware­housing facilities, as well as modern proc­essing equipment make this operation entirely self-contained. It is anticipated that 100 to 125 people will be employed, with the bulk of the personnel to be re­cruited from the Kankakee area. Arthur P. Berry will be in charge of operations

USE YOUR HEAD TO SAVE YOUR EYES! Bowl is cast to fit the face and made of

highly polished aluminum. Other parts are chrome plated or stainless steel. Fur­nished with standard inlet and drain con­nections. Built-in pressure control insures ideal water flow.

Easily installed anywhere. Write lor free cojpy of "First Aid for

Chemical Eye Injuries. "

EYE WASHING FOUNTAIN

Corrosive liquids, irritating dusts or harmful vapors in the eyes require imme­diate removal with water to reduce or eliminate serious eye damage.

The B" & A Eye Washing Fountain pro­vides this vitally needed first-aid eye pro­tection. Forehead operated, it leaves both hands free to open eyelids clamped shut by eye irritation. Two steady and soft streams of water flow into both eyes, quickly washing out harmful substances.

PROTECTIVE BOTTLE

CARRIER Eliminates al l hazards when carrying acids, caustics, dyes, serums, stains, inks and other harmful chemi­ca l s . V u l c a n ­ized outer bag chemically re­sistant. Locking d r a w s t r i n g . S p l a s h p r o o f . Inner padding completely re-m o v a b l e f o r —

washing. Protects against broken glass. Double carrying straps, well secured. Sizes: 5 pint reagent size to 5 gallon.

BENSON &, ASSOCIATES, INC. ACCIDENT PREVENTION ENGINEERS

117 N. WABASH AVE. , CHICAGO 2, ILL.

assisted by Hugh A. Hamilton, technical director, Henry J. Schoder, office manager, and Bruce P. Neil, plant engineer. Whit­ney H. Eastman, vice president of General Mills, is president of the chemical division.

Chemical Specialties Sold to Miles Laboratories

Miles Laboratories, Inc., Elkhart, Ind., has bought Chemical Specialties, Inc., Zeeland, Mich., by exchange of common stock. Lucas P. Kyrides, who has re­cently resigned his position as director of research of the organic chemicals division of the Monsanto Chemical Co., has be­come president. Edward J. DePree, former general manager, has become vice president and general manager of Chemical Specialties.

Cyclic Chemical to Make Protective Coatings

The Cyclic Chemical Co., Washington, D. C , has formed the Permolite division for the manufacture of protective coatings of the chemical-resistant type and their application to equipment. Headquarters and plant operations will be in Hamilton, Ohio, where a modern plant has recently been equipped for production. It is served by two major railroads with track sidings leading directly into the plant, making possible the Permolizing of tank cars and other equipment. A modern and fully equipped laboratory is staffed with experienced research and develop­ment personnel. The development and use of the various Permolite-type coatings are based on more than a decade of ex­perience in formulation, production, and application of corrosion-resistant finishes-

Golden Bear Oil Co. Begins Research

The Golden Bear Oil Co., Oildale, Calif., is creating research and development fa­cilities for better utilization of crude oil. The company is the only independent western petroleum company operating à solvent extraction plant and having its own wells of crude. The establishment of research laboratories, to include pilot-plant facilities, a rubber laboratory, and technical library, is a result of the com­pany's decision to investigate the possibili­ties of better utilization and conservation of its crude oil, which yields only 50%. high-grade lubricant after severe refining,, and 50% waste products or low-grade by­products. The composition of these by­products suggests excellent possibilities-for use as starting materials for chemical manufacture. The first products to be manufactured will be chemicals for the rubber industry. Fritz S. Rostler is in charge of the expansion program.

2640 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 .