SOME ASPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY
BY
L. H. BAEKELAND, Sc.D.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 1914
SOME ASPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY
THE CHANDLER LECTURE 1914
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SOME ASPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY
BY
L. H. BAEKELAND, Sc.D.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 1914.
All rights reserved
COPYRIGHT, 1014 By COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Set up, and electrotyped. Published. July, 1914
SOME ASPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY
WHILE I appreciate deeply the distinction of speaking before you on the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Columbia School of Mines, I realize, at the same time, that nobody here present could do better justice to the subject which has been chosen for this lecture than the beloved master in whose honor the Charles Frederick Chandler Lectureship has been created.
Dr. Chandler, in his long and eminently useful career as a professor and as a public servant, has assisted at the very beginning of some of the most interesting chapters of applied chemistry, here and abroad.
Some of his pupils have become leaders in chemical in- dustry; others have found in his teachings the very con- ception of new chemical processes which made their names known throughout the whole world.
f Industrial chemistry has been defined as "the chemistry of dollars and cents."
This rather cynical definition, in its nar- ih'm^t1"*1 rower interpretation, seems to ignore entirely mere money- the f ar-reaching economic and civilizing influ- proposftion? ences which have been brought to life through the applications of science; it fails to do justice to the fact that the whole fabric of modern civilization becomes each day more and ever more interwoven with the endless ramifications of applied chemistry.
The earlier effects of this influence do not date back much
beyond one hundred and odd years. They became dis- ' tiiictly evident d uririg the first French Repub-
Begmnmgsof f j TWT
chemical lie, increased under Napoleon, gradually spread to neighboring countries, and then reaching out farther, their influence is now obvious throughout the whole world.
France, during the revolution, scattered to
Republic and the winds old traditions and conventionalities,
in culture as well as in politics. Until then, she
had mainly impressed the world by the barbaric, wasteful
splendor of her opulent kings, at whose courts the devotees
of science received scant attention in com-
France^eg- parison to the more ornamental artists and
inctfavorcofnce bcUes-lettrfsts, who were petted and rewarded
arts and alongside of the all-important men of the
literature
sword.
In fact, as far as the culture of science was concerned, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, and more particu- larly, England, were head and shoulders above the France of "le Hoi Soleil."
The struggles of the new regime put France in the awk- ward position of the legendary beaver which "had to climb a tree."
If for no other reason, she needed scientists to help her in her wars against the rulers of other European nations. She needed them just as much for repairing her crippled finances and her badly disturbed industries which were dependent upon natural products imported until then, but of which the supply had suddenly been cut off by the so- called Continental Blockade. Money-prizes
Creation of . J \
French patent and other inducements had been offered for stimulating the development of chemical pro- cesses, and — what is more significant — patent laws were promulgated so as to foster invention.
Nicolas Leblanc's method for the manufacture of soda
6
to replace the imported alkalis, Berthollet's method for bleaching with chlorine, the beet-sugar industry to replace cane sugar imported from the colonies, and several other processes, were proposed.
All these chemical processes found themselves soon lifted from the hands of the secretive alchemist or the timid pharmacist to the rank of real manufacturing methods: Industrial chemistry had begun its lusty career.
First successes stimulated new endeavors and small won- der is it that France, with these favorable conditions at hand, for a while at least, entered into the most glorious period of that part of her history which relates to the devel- opment of chemistry, and the arts dependent thereon.
It is difficult to imagine that, at that time,
Backward '
position of Germany, which now occupies- such an enviable position in chemistry, was so far behind that even in 1822, when Liebig wanted to study chemistry at the best schools, he had to leave his own country, and turn to Gay-Lussac, Thenard and Dulong in Paris.
But the British were not slow to avail them- ?feBeritishent selves of the new opportunities in chemical industcal manufacturing so clearly indicated by the first successes of the French. Their linen bleach- eries in Scotland and England soon used an improved method for bleaching with chloride of lime, developed by Tennant, which brought along the manufacture of other chemicals relating thereto, like sulphuric acid and soda.
The chemical reactions involved in all these processes are relatively simple, and after they were once well under- stood, it required mainly resourceful engineering and good commercial abilities to build up successfully the industries based thereon.
From this epoch on dates the beginning of the develop- ment of that important industry of heavy chemicals in which the British led the world for almost a century.
7
In the same way, England had become the leader in an- other important branch of chemical industry — the manu- facture of coal-gas.
The Germans were soon to make up for lost
Liebig's ...
influence in time. Those same German universities, which when Liebig was a young man were so poorly equipped for the study of chemistry, were now enthusi- astically at work on research along the newer developments of the physical sciences, and, before long, the former pupils of France, in their turn, became teachers of the world.
Liebig had inaugurated for the chemical students work- ing under him his system of research laboratories; how- ever modest these laboratories may have been at that time, they carried bodily the study of chemistry from pedagogic boresomeness into a captivating cross-examination of nature.
And it seemed as if nature had been waiting impa- tiently to impart some of her secrets to the children of men, who for so many generations had tried to settle Truth and Knowledge by words and oratory and by brilliant displays of metaphysical controversies.
Indeed, at that time, a few kitchen tables, some clumsy glass-ware, a charcoal furnace or two, some pots and pans, and a modest balance were all that was needed to make nature give her answers.
These modest paraphernalia, eloquent by their very simplicity, brought forth rapidly succeeding discoveries. One of them was truly sensational: Liebig and Wohler succeeded in accomplishing the direct synthesis of urea; thinking men began to realize the far-reaching import of this revolu- tionary discovery whereby a purely organic substance had been created in the laboratory by starting exclusively from inorganic materials. This result upset all respected doc-
8
1
trines that organic substances are of a special enigmatic constitution, altogether different from inorganic or mineral compounds, and that they only could be built up by the agency of the so-called "vital force"— whatever that might mean.
Research in organic chemistry became more and more
fascinating; all available organic substances were being
investigated one after another by restless experimentalists.
Coal-tar, heretofore a troublesome by-prod-
Tne influence A • •*
ofKekui6's uct of gas manufacture, notwithstanding its uninviting, ill-smelling, black sticky appear- ance, did not escape the general inquisitive tendency; some of its constituents, like benzol or others, were isolated and studiecL
Under the brilliant leadership of Kekule, a successful attempt was made to correlate the rapidly increasing new experimental observations in organic chemistry into a new theory which would try to explain all the numerous facts; a theory which became the sign-post to the roads of further achievements.
The discovery of quickly succeeding pro- cesses ^or making from coal-tar derivatives numerous artificial dyes, rivaling, if not sur- passing, the most brilliant colors of nature, made the group of bold investigators still bolder. Research in organic chemistry began to find rapid rewards; entirely new and successful industries based on purely scientific data were springing up in England and France, as well as in Ger- many.
Some wide-awake leaders of these new en-
Stimulating . . , , . -
influences of terprises, more particularly in Germany, soon dustryVn1" learned that they were never hampered by too chemist much knowledge, but that, on the contrary,
they were almost continuously handicapped in their impatient onward march by insufficient know-
9
ledge, or by misleading conceptions, if not by incorrect published facts.
This is precisely where the study of organic chemistry received its greatest stimulating influence and soon put Germany, in this branch of science, ahead of all other na- tions.
Money and effort had to be spent freely for further re- search. The best scholars in chemistry were called into action. Some men, who were preparing themselves to be- come professors, were induced to take a leading part as directors in one or another of the new chemical enterprises. Others, who refused to forsake their teachers' career, were retained as advisers or guides, and, in several instances, the honor of being the discoverers of new processes, or a new dye, was made more substantial by financial rewards. The modest German university professor, who heretofore had lived within a rather narrow academic sphere, went through a process of evolution, where the rapidly growing chemical industry made him realize his latent powers and greater importance, and broadened his influence way beyond the confines of his lecture-room. Even if he were altruistic enough to remain indifferent to fame or money, he felt stimulated by the very thought that he was helping, in a direct manner, to build up the nation and the world through the immediate application of the principles of science.
' industrial ^n ^e beginning, science did all the giving
research and chemical industry got most of the rewards ;
laboratories , .1 ^i i_ i ,1
but soon the roles began to change to the point where frequently they became entirely inverted. The uni- versities did not furnish knowledge fast enough to keep pace with the requirements of the rapidly developing new industries. Modern research laboratories were organized by some large chemical factories on a scale never conceived before, with a lavishness which made the best equipped
10
university laboratory appear like a timid attempt. Ger- many, so long behind France and England, had become the recognized leader in organic manufacturing processes, and developed a new industrial chemistry based more on the thorough knowledge of organic chemistry than on en- gineering skill.
In this relation, it is worth while to point out 11 l that the early organic industrial chemistry,
through which Germany was soon to become so variety than important, at first counted its output not in
in size x ...
tons, but in pounds — not in size nor in quan- tity, but in variety and quality.^
Now let us see how Germany won her spurs in chemical engineering as well :
At the beginning, the manufacturing prob- in organic chemistry involved few, if any, seri°us engineering difficulties, but required, most of all, a sound theoretical knowledge of the subject; this put a premium on the scientist, and could afford, for awhile at least, to ignore the engineer. But when growing developments began to claim the help of good engineers, there was no difficulty whatsoever in sup- plying them, nor in making them cooperate with the scien- tists. In fact, since then, Germany has solved, just as successfully, some of the most extraordinary chemical en- gineering problems ever undertaken, although the devel- opment of such processes was entered upon at first from the purely scientific side.
In almost every case, it was only after the underlying scientific facts had been well established, that any attempt was made to develop them commercially.
Healthy commercial development of new
veiopment of scientific processes does not build its hope of
scientific . .. . £ , , x „
processes success upon the cooperation of that class 01 "promoters" which are always eager to find 11
any available pretext for making "quick money," and whose scientific ignorance contributes conveniently to their comfort by not interfering too much with their self-assurance and their voluble assertions. The his- tory of most of the successful recent chemical processes abounds in examples where, even after the underlying principles were well established, long and costly prepara- tory team-work had to be undertaken; where foremost scientists, as well as engineers of great ability, had to com- bine their knowledge, their skill, their perseverance, with the support of large chemical companies, who, banking0 m their turn, could rely on the financial back- ing of strong banking concerns, well advised by tried expert specialists.
History does not record how many processes thus sub- mitted to careful study were rejected because, on close examination, they were found to possess some hopeless shortcomings. In this way, numerous fruitless efforts and financial losses were averted, where less carefully accumu- lated knowledge might have induced less scrupulous promoters to secure money for plausible but ill-advised enterprises.
In the history of the manufacture of arti- °f **c*al dyes, no chapter gives a more striking instance of long, assiduous and expensive pre- liminary work of the highest order than the development of the industrial synthesis of indigo. Here was a substance of enormous consumption which, until then, had been obtained from the tropics as a natural product of agricul- ture. Professor von Baeyer and his pupils, by long and marvelously clever laboratory work, succeeded by and by in unraveling the chemical constitution of this indigo dye, and finally indicated some possible methods of syn- thesis. Notwithstanding all this, it took the Badische Ani-
12
line & Soda Fabrik about twenty years of patient research work, carried out by a group of eminent chemists and en- gineers, before a satisfactory method was devised by which the artificial product could compete in price and in quality with natural indigo.
Germany, with her well administered and
easily enforcible patent laws, has added, s stemPatent through this very agency, a most vital induce-
ment for pioneer work in chemical industries. Who otherwise would dare to take the risk of all the ex- penses connected with this class of creative work? More- over, who would be induced to publish the result of his discoveries far and wide throughout the whole world in that steadily flowing stream of patent literature, which, much sooner than any text-books or periodicals, enables one worker to be benefited and to be inspired by the pub- lication of the latest work of others?
The development of some problems of in- scopenof 10nal dustrial chemistry has enlisted the brilliant
collaboration of men of so many different nationalities that the final success could not, with any measure of justice, be ascribed exclusively to one single race or nation; this is best illustrated by the inven- tion of the different methods for the fixation of nitrogen from the air.
An E os of This extraordinary achievement, although Applied scarcely a few years old, seems already an ordi-
Science v i • li i • /»
nary link in the chain of common, current events of our busy life ; and yet, the facts connected with this recent conquest reveal a modern tale of great deeds of the race — an Epos of Applied Science.
Its story began the day when chemistry taught us how indispensable are the nitrogeneous substances for the growth of all living beings.
Generally speaking, the most expensive food-stuffs are
13
precisely those which contain most nitrogen; for the sim-
ple reason that there is, and always has been,
StrogenCfer- at sometime or another, a shortage of ni-
agricuiture trogeneous foods in the world. Agriculture
furnishes us these proteid- or nitrogen-con-
taining bodies, whether we eat them directly as vegetable
products, or indirectly as animals which have assimilated
the proteids from plants. It so happens, however, that by
our ill-balanced methods of agriculture, we take nitrogen
from the soil much faster than it is supplied to the soil
through natural agencies. We have tried to remedy this
discrepancy by enriching the soil with manure or other
fertilizers, but this has been found totally insufficient, espe-
cially with our methods of intensive culture — our fields
want more nitrogen. So agriculture has been looking
anxiously around to find new sources of nitrogen fer-
tilizer. For a short time, an excellent supply
was found in the guano deposits of Peru;
but this material was used up so eagerly that the supply
lasted only a very few years. In the meantime, the ammo-
nium salts recovered from the by-products of the gas-works
have come into steady use as nitrogen fertilizer. But, here
again, the supply is entirely insufficient, and
peter and its during the later period our main reliance has
keen placed on the natural beds of sodium nitrate, which are found in the desert regions of Chile. This has been, of late, our principal source of nitrogen for agriculture, as well as for the many industries which require saltpeter or nitric acid.
In 1898, Sir William Crookes, in his memorable presi- dential address before the British Association for the Ad- vancement of Science, called our attention to the threaten- ing fact that, at the increasing rate of consumption, the nitrate beds of Chile would be exhausted before the middle of this century. Here was a warning — an alarm call —
14
raised to the human race by one of the deepest scientific
thinkers of our generation. It meant no more Station nor *ess t^ian tnat before long our race would
be confronted with nitrogen starvation. In a given country, all other conditions being equal, the abun- dance or the lack of nitrogen available for nutrition is a paramount factor in the degree of general welfare, or of physical decadence. The less nitrogen there is available as food-stuffs, the nearer the population is to starvation. The great famines in such nitrogen-deficient countries as India and China and Russia are sad examples of nitrogen starvation.
And yet, nitrogen, as such, is so abundant in nature that it constitutes four-fifths of the air we breathe. Every square mile of our atmosphere contains nitrogen enough to satisfy our total present consumption for over half a cen- tury. However, this nitrogen is unavailable as long as we do not find means to make it enter into some suitable chemical combination. Moreover, nitrogen was generally considered inactive and inert, because it does not enter readily in chemical combination.
William Crookes' disquieting message of rapidly ap- proaching nitrogen starvation did not cause much worry to politicians — they seldom look so far ahead into the future. But, to the men of science, it rang like a reproach to the human race. Here, then, we were in possession of an inexhaustible store of nitrogen in the air, and yet, unless we found some practical means for tying some of it into a suitable chemical combination, we would soon be in a posi- tion similar to that of a shipwrecked sailor, drifting around
on an immense ocean of brine, and yet slowly Priestley- dying f or lack of drinking water.
^s a guying beacon, there was, however,
that simple experiment, carried out in a little glass tube, as far back as 1785, by both Cavendish and
15
Priestley, which showed that if electric sparks were passed through air, the oxygen thereof was able to burn some of the nitrogen and to engender nitrous vapors.
This seemingly unimportant-' laboratory cu- Lovejoy *** riosity, so long dormant in the text-books, was
made a starting point by Charles S. Bradley and D. R. Love joy, in Niagara Falls, for creating the first industrial apparatus for converting the nitrogen of the air into nitric acid by means of the electric arc.
As early as 1902, they published their results as well as the details of their apparatus. Although they operated only one full-sized unit, they demonstrated conclusively that nitric acid could thus be produced from the air in un- limited quantities. We shall examine later the reasons why this pioneer enterprise proved a commercial insuccess ; but to these two American inventors belongs, undoubtedly, the credit of having furnished the first answer to the dis- tress call of Sir William Crookes.
In the meantime, many other investigators fndkEyde were at work at tne same problem, and soon
from Norway's abundant waterfalls came the news that Birkeland and Eyde had solved successfully, and on a commercial scale, the same problem by a differently constructed apparatus. The Germans, too, were working on the same subject, and we heard that Schoenherr, also
Pauling, had evolved still other methods, all, ScholSerc* however, based on the Cavendish-Priestley
principle of oxidation of nitrogen. In Norway alone, the artificial saltpeter factories use now, day and night, over 200,000 electrical horse-power, which will soon be doubled; while a further addition is contemplated which will bring the volume of electric current consumed to about 500,000 horse-power. The capital invested at present in these works amounts to $27,000,000.
16
Frank and Caro, in Germany, succeeded in creating an- other profitable industrial process whereby nitrogen could be fixed by carbide of calcium, which converts Caro's it into calcium cyanamide, an excellent fer-
tilizer by itself. By the action of steam on cyanamide, ammonia is produced, or it can be made the starting point of the manufacture of cyanides, so profusely used for the treatment of gold and silver ores.
Although the synthetic nitrates have found a field of their own, their utilization for fertilizers is smaller than that of the cyanamide; and the latter industry represents, to-day, an investment of about $30,000,000, with three fac- tories in Germany, two in Norway, two in Sweden, one in France, one in Switzerland, two in Italy, one in Austria, one in Japan, one in Canada, but not any in the United States. The total output of cyanamide is valued at $15,- 000,000 yearly and employs 200,000 horse-power, and preparations are made at almost every existing plant for further extensions. An English company is contemplating the application of 1,000,000 horse-power to the production of cyanamide and its derivatives, 600,000 of which have been secured in Norway and 400,000 in Iceland.
But still other processes are being developed, processes based on the fact that certain metals or metal- loids can absorb nitrogen, and can thus be converted into nitrides ; the latter can either be used directly as fertilizers or they can be made to produce ammonia un- der suitable treatment.
The most important of these nitride pro- cesses seems to be that of Serpek, who, in his experimental factory at Niedermorschweiler, succeeded in obtaining aluminum nitride in almost theo- retical quantities, with the use of an amount of electrical energy eight times less than that needed for the Birkeland- Eyde process and one-half less than for the cyanamide
17
process, the results being calculated for equal weights of "fixed" nitrogen.
A French company has taken up the commercial appli- cation of this process which can furnish, besides ammonia, pure alumina for the manufacture of aluminum metal.
An exceptionally ingenious process for the process direct synthesis of ammonia, by the direct
union of hydrogen with nitrogen, has been de- veloped by Haber in conjunction with the chemists and engineers of the Badische Aniline & Soda Fabrik.
The process has the advantage that it is not, like the other nitrogen-fixation processes, paramountly dependent upon cheap power ; for this reason, if for no other, it seems to be destined to a more ready application. The fact that the group of the three German chemical companies which control the process have sold out their former holdings in the Norwegian enterprises to a Norwegian-French group, and are now devoting their energies to the commercial in- stallation of the Haber process, has quite some significance as to expectations for the future.
The question naturally arises : Will there be o?nitrogen- an over-production and will these different rival processes processes not kill each other in slaughtering prices beyond remunerative production?
As to over-production, we should bear in mind that nitrogen fertilizers are already used at the rate of about $200,000,000 worth a year, and that any decrease in price, and, more particularly, better education in farming, will probably lead to an enormously increased consumption. It is worth mentioning here that, in 1825, the first ship-load of Chile saltpeter which was sent to Europe could find no buyer, and was finally thrown into the sea as useless ma- terial.
Then again, processes for nitric acid and processes for ammonia, instead of interfering, are supplementary to
18
each other, because the world needs ammonia and am- monium salts, as well as nitric acid or nitrates.
It should be pointed out also, that, ultimately, the pro- duction of ammonium nitrate may prove the most desirable method so as to minimize freight; for this salt contains much more nitrogen to the ton than is the case with the more bulky calcium-salt under which form synthetic nitrates are now put into the market.
Before leaving this subject, let us examine Bradley and wny Bradley and Love joy's efforts came to a suJceee°d?n0t standstill where others succeeded.
First of all, the cost of power at Niagara Falls is three to five times higher than in Norway, and al- though at the time this was not strictly prohibitive for the manufacture of nitric acid, it was entirely beyond hope for the production of fertilizers. The relatively high cost of power in our country is the reason why the cyanamide en- terprise had to locate on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, and why, up till now, outside of an experimental plant in the South (a 4000 horse-power installation in North Carolina, using the Pauling process), the whole United States has not a single synthetic nitrogen fertilizer works.
The yields of the Bradley-Love joy apparatus were rather good. They succeeded in converting as much as 2^/2% °f the air, which is somewhat better than their suc- cessors are able to accomplish.
But their units, 12 kilowatts, were very much smaller than the 1000 to 3000 kilowatts now used in Norway; they were also more delicate to handle, all of which made instal- lation and operation considerably more expensive.
However, this was the natural phase through which any pioneer industrial development has to go, and it is more than probable that in the natural order of events, these imperfections would have been eliminated.
19
But the killing stroke came when financial support was suddenly withdrawn.
In the successful solution of similar indus- Necessity of trial problems, the originators in Europe were team-work not only backed by scientifically well-advised financial1 bankers, but they were helped to the rapid backing solution of all the side problems by a group of
specially selected scientific collaborators, as well as by all the resourcefulness of well-established chem- ical enterprises.
That such conditions are possible in the United States has been demonstrated by the splendid team-work which led to the development of the modern Tungsten lamp in the research laboratories of the General Electric Company, and to the development of the Tesla polyphase motor by the group of engineers of the Westinghouse Company.
True, there are endless subjects of research and develop- ment which can be brought to success by the efforts of sin- gle independent inventors, but there are some problems of applied science which are so vast, so much surrounded with ramifying difficulties, that no one man, nor two men, how- ever exceptional, can either furnish the brains or the money necessary for leading to success within a reasonable time. For such special problems, the rapid cooperation of numerous experts and the financial resources of large establishments are indispensable.
All these examples of the struggle for
cents™ an< efficiency and improvement demonstrate why,
Criterion of jn industrial chemistry, the question of dollars
and cents has to be taken very much into
consideration.
From this standpoint at least, the "Dollars and cents" argument can be interpreted as a symptom of industrial efficiency, and thus, the definition sounds no longer as a reproach. With some allowable degree of accuracy, it f or-
20
mulates one of the economic aspects of any acceptable in- dustrial chemical process.
Indeed, barring special conditions, as, for instance, in- competent or reckless management, unfair competition, monopolies, or other artificial privileges, the money success of a chemical process is the cash plebiscite of approval of the consumers. It is bound, after a time at least, to weed out the inefficient methods.
Some chemists, who have little or no experi- influence of ence with industrial enterprises, are too much
secondary . . /
factors in over-inclined to judge a chemical process ex- prooesses clusively from the standpoint of the chemical reactions involved therein, without sufficient regard to engineering difficulties, financial requirements, labor problems, market and trade conditions, rapid devel- opment of the art involving frequent disturbing improve- ments in methods and expensive changes in equipment, advantages or disadvantages of the location of the plant, and other conditions so numerous and variable that many of them can hardly be foreseen even by men of experience. And yet, these seemingly secondary considerations most of the time become the deciding factor of success or failure of an otherwise well-conceived chemical process.
The cost of transportation alone will fre- °f quently decide whether a certain chemical pro- cess is economically possible or not. For in- stance, the big Washoe Smelter, in Montana, wastes enough sulphurdioxide-gas to make daily 1800 tons of sulphuric acid, but that smelter is too far distant from any possible market for such a quantity of otherwise valuable material.
Another example of the kind is found in the
Natural
deposits of natural deposits of soda, or soda lakes, in Cali- fornia. One of these soda lakes contains from thirty to forty-two million tons of soda. Here is a natural source of supply which would be ample to satisfy the
21
world's demand for many years to come. Similar deposits exist in other parts of the world, but the cost of transporta- tion to a sufficiently large and profitable market is so exor- bitant that, in the meantime, it is cheaper to erect at more convenient points expensive chemical works in which soda is made chemically and from where the market can be sup- plied more profitably.
In addition, we can cite the artificial nitrate processes in Norway, which, notwithstanding their low efficiency and expensive installation, can furnish nitrate in competition with the natural nitrate beds of Chile, because the latter are hampered by the cost of extraction from the soil where fuel for crystallization is expensive, in addition to the consider- able cost of freight.
But there is no better example, illustrating tne far-reaching effect of seemingly secondary conditions upon the success of a chemical pro- cess, than the history of the Leblanc soda process.
This famous process was the forerunner of chemical in- dustry: for almost a century, it dominated the enormous group of industries of heavy chemicals, so expressively called by the French: "La Grande Industrie Chimique," and now we are witnesses of the lingering death agonies of this chemical colossus. Through the Leblanc process, large fortunes have been made and lost ; but even after its death, it will leave a treasure of information to science and chemical engineering, the value of which can hardly be overestimated.
Here, then, is a very well worked-out process, admirably studied in all its details, which, in its heroic struggle for existence, has drawn upon every conceivable resource of ingenuity furnished by the most learned chemists and the most skilful engineers, who succeeded in bringing it to an extraordinary degree of perfection, and which, neverthe- less, has to succumb before inexorable, although seemingly secondary, conditions.
22
Strange to say, its competitor, the Solvay process, en- tered into the arena after a succession of failures. When Solvay, as a young man, took up this process, he was» himself, totally ignorant of the fact that no less than about a dozen able chemists had invented and reinvented the very reaction on which he had pinned his faith; that, furthermore, some had tried it on a commercial scale, and had, in every instance, encountered failure. At that time, all this must, undoubtedly, have been to young Solvay a revelation sufficient to dishearten almost anybody. But he had one predominant thought to which he clung as a last hope of success, and which would probably have escaped most chemists ; he reasoned that, in this process, he starts from two watery solutions, which, when brought together, precipitate a dry product, bicar- bonate of soda; in the Leblanc process, the raw materials must be melted together, with the use of expensive fuel, after which the mass is dissolved in water, losing all these valuable heat units, while more heat has again to be applied to evaporate to dryness.
After all, most of the weakness of the Le- Glnftti> n°nf" blanc process resides in the greater consump- fuei in tion of fuel. But the cost of fuel, here again,
process5 is determined by freight rates. This is so true
that we find that the last few Leblanc works which manage to keep alive are exactly those which are situated near unusually favorable shipping points, where they can obtain cheap fuel, as well as cheap raw materials, and whence they can most advantageously reach certain profitable markets.
But another tremendous handicap of the Hydrochloric Leblanc process is that it gives as one of its by- products, hydrochloric acid. Profitable use for this acid, as such, can be found only to a limited extent. It is true that hydrochloric acid could be used in
23
much larger quantities for many purposes where sulphuric acid is used now, but it has, against sulphuric acid, a great freight disadvantage. In its commercially available con- dition, it is an aqueous solution, containing only about one-third of real acid, so that the transportation of one ton of acid practically involves the extra cost of freight of about two tons of water. Furthermore, the transportation of hydrochloric acid in anything but glass carboys involves very difficult problems in itself, so that the market for hydrochloric acid remains always within a relatively small zone from its point of production. However,
Chloride of f or a while at jeast) an outlet f Qr this hydro.
chloric acid was found by converting it into a dry material which can easily be transported; namely, chloride of lime or bleaching-powder.
The amount of bleaching-powder consumed in the world practically dictated the limited extent to which the Leblanc
process could be profitably worked in competi- processes a° tion with the Solvay process. But even this out- petitorm~ let nas been blocked during these later years
by the advent of the electrolytic alkali pro- cesses, which have sprung up successfully in several coun- tries, and which give as a cheap by-product, chlorine, which is directly converted into chloride of lime.
To-day, any process which involves the production of large quantities of hydrochloric acid, beyond what the mar- ket can absorb as such, or as derivatives thereof, becomes a positive detriment, and foretells failure of the process. Even if we could afford to lose all the acid, the disposal of large quantities thereof conflicts immediately with laws and ordinances relative to the pollution of the atmosphere or streams, or the rights of neighbors, and occasions expen-
M rk t f r S*VC Damage suits-
chlorine Whatever is said about hydrochloric acid,
applies to some extent to chlorine, produced in 24
the electrolytic manufacture of caustic soda. Here again, the development of the latter industry is limited, primarily, by the amount of chlorine which the market, as such, or as chlorinated products, can absorb.
At any rate, chlorine can be produced so much cheaper by electrolytic caustic alkali processes than formerly, and in the meantime the market price of chloride of lime has already been cut about in half.
In as far as the rather young electrolytic alkali industry has taken a considerable development in the United States, let us examine it somewhat nearer :
At present, the world's production of chlor- ductioif <*f°~ ^e °^ **me aPProxmiates about half a million
chloride of tons.
million tons We used to import all our chloride of lime
from Europe, until about fifteen years ago,
when the first successful electrolytic alkali works were
started at Niagara Falls. That ingenious mercury cell of
Hamilton Y. Castner — a pupil of Professor
Chandler and one of the illustrious sons of the
Columbia School of Mines — was first used, and his process
still furnishes a large part of all the electrolytic caustic
soda and chlorine manufactured here and abroad.
At present, about 30,000 electrical horse- power useefin Power are employed uninterruptedly for the the United different processes used in the United States,
States for **
electrolytic and our home production has increased to the production point where, instead of importing chloride of lime, we shall soon be compelled to export our surplus production.
It looks now as if, for the moment at least,
Nearness of
oyer-produc- any sudden considerable increase in the pro- duction of chloride of lime would lead to over- production until new channels of consumption of chloride of lime or other chlorine products can be found.
25
However, new uses for chlorine are being found every day. The very fact that commercial hydro- ine68 f0r chloric acid of exceptional purity is now being manufactured in Niagara Falls by starting from chlorine, indicates clearly that conditions are being reversed; no longer than a few years ago, when
Hydrochloric J , .
acid from chlorine was manufactured exclusively by means of hydrochloric acid, this would have sounded like a paradox.
The consumption of chlorine for the prepa- chiorine ration of organic chlorination products utilized
in the dye-stuff industry, is also increasing continually, and its use for the manufacture of tetra- chloride of carbon and so-called acetylen chlorination products, has reached quite some importance.
There is probably a much overlooked but wider opening for chlorinated solvents in the fact that dfioride" ethylen-gas can be prepared now at consider- ably lower cost than acetylen, and that ethylen- chloride, or the old known "Dutch Liquid," is an unusually good solvent. It has, furthermore, the great advantage that its specific gravity is not too high, and its boiling point, too, is about the right temperature. It ought to be possible to make it at such a low price that it would find endless applications where the use of other chlorination solvents has thus far been impossible.
The chlorination of ores for certain metallur- gical processes may eventually open a still larger field of consumption for chlorine. In the meantime, liquified chlorine gas, obtained by great compression, or by intense refrigeration, increasing j^ ^ecome an important article of commerce, liquified which can be transported in strong steel cylin-
cnlonne t .,. . .
ders. Its main utilization resides in the manu- facture of tin chloride by the Goldschmidt process for
26
reclaiming tin-scrap. It is finding, also, increased applica-
Goidschmidt ^ons as a bleacmng agent and for the purifica- process for tion of drinking water, as well as for the manufacture of various chlorination products.
Its great handicap for rapid introduction is again the question of freight, where heavy and expensive containers become indispensable.
In most cases, the transportation problem of chlorine is solved more economically by handling it as chloride of lime, which, after all, represents chlorine or oxygen in solid form, easily transportable.
It would seem as if the freight difficulty problem in could easily be eliminated by producing the chlorine t0 chlorine right at the spot of consumption. But this is not always so simple as it may appear. To begin with, the cost of an efficient plant for any elec- trolytic operation is always unusually high as compared to other chemical equipments. Then, also, small electrolytic alkali plants are not profitable to operate. Furthermore, the conditions for producing cheap chlorine depend on many different factors, which all have to coordinate advan- tageously; for instance, cheap power, cheap fuel, and cheap raw materials are essential, while, at the same time, a profitable outlet must be found for the caustic soda.
Lately, there has been a considerable reduction of the market price of caustic soda; all this may have for effect that the less efficient electrolytic processes will gradually be eliminated; although this may not necessarily be the case for smaller plants which do not compete in the open market, but consume their own output for some special purpose.
Advantages Several distinct types of electrolytic cells are vantages^ now m successful use, but experience seems to of eTeTtro^ytic8 demonstrate that the so-called diaphragm cells alkali ceils are cheapest to construct and to operate, pro-
27
vided, however, no exception be taken to the fact that the caustic soda obtained from diaphragm cells always con- tains some sodium chloride, usually varying from 2 to 3%, which it is not practical to eliminate, but which, for almost all purposes, does not interfere in the least with its commer- cial use.
Mercury cells give a much purer caustic soda, and this may, in some cases, compensate for their more expensive equipment and operation. Moreover, there are some pur- poses where the initial caustic solution of rather high con- centration, produced directly in these cells, can be used as it is without further treatment, thus obviating further con- centration and cost of fuel.
The expenses for evaporation and elimination of salt from the raw caustic solutions increase to an exaggerated extent with some types of diaphragm cells, which produce only very weak caustic liquors. This is also the case with the so-called "gravity cell," sometimes called the "bell type," or "Aussig type," of cell. But these gravity cells have the merit of dispensing with the delicate and expen- sive problem of diaphragms. On the other hand, their units are very small, and, on this account, they necessitate a rather complicated installation, occupying an unusually large floor space and expensive buildings.
The general tendency is now toward cells which can be used in very large units, which can be housed economically, and of which the general cost of maintenance and renewal is small; some of the modern types of diaphragm cells are now successfully operating with 3000 to 5000 amperes per cell.
As to the possible future improvements in electrolytic alkali cells, we should mention that in some types the cur- rent efficiencies have practically reached their maximum, and average ampere efficiencies as high as 95 to 97% have been obtained in continuous practice. The main diffi-
28
culty is to reinforce these favorable results by the use of lower voltage, without making the units unnecessarily bulky, or expensive in construction, or in maintenance, all factors which soon outweigh any intended saving of electric current.
Here, more than in any other branch of chemical en- gineering, it is easy enough to determine how "good" a cell is on a limited trial, but it takes expensive, long continuous use on a full commercial scale, running uninterruptedly day and night for years, to find out how "bad" it is for real commercial practice.
In relation to the electrolytic alkali industry,
Cheap power . • *
not the only a great mistake is frequently committed by con- sidering the question of power as paramount; true enough, cheap power is very important, almost essen- tial, but certainly it is not everything. There have been cases where it was found much cheaper in the end to pay almost double for electric current in a certain locality, than in another site not far distant from the first, for the simple reason that the cheaper power supply was ham- pered by frequent interruptions and expensive disturb- ances, which more than offset any possible saving in cost of power.
In further corroboration, it is well known that some of the most successful electrolytic soda manufacturers have found it to their advantage to sacrifice power by running their cells at decidedly higher voltage than is strictly nec- essary— which simply means consuming more power — and this in order to be able to use higher current densities, thereby increasing considerably the output of the same size units, and thus economizing on the general cost of plant operation. Here is one of the ever recurring instances in chemical manufacturing where it becomes more advan- tageous to sacrifice apparent theoretical efficiency in favor of industrial expediency.
29
All this does not diminish the fact that the larger electro- chemical industries can only thrive where cheap power is importance available.
Modern progress of electrical engineering
chemical nas ^ven us the means to utilize so-called processes natural powers; until now, however, we have only availed ourselves of the water-power developed from rivers, lakes, and waterfalls. As far as larger electric power generation is concerned, the use of the wind, or the tide, or the heat of the sun, represents, up till now, nothing much beyond a mere hope of future possibilities.
In the meantime, it so happens, unfortunately, that many of the most abundant water-powers of the world are situated in places of difficult access, far removed from the zone of possible utilization.
But, precisely on this account, it- would ap- Cost of pear, at first sight, as if the United States, with
water-power f
in the United some of her big water-powers situated nearer 1 to active centers of consumption, would be in
an exceptionally favorable condition for the development of electrochemical industries. On closer ex- amination, we find, however, that the cost of water-power, as sold to manufacturers, is, in general, much higher than might be expected ; at any rate, it is considerably more ex- pensive than the cost of electric power utilized in the Norway nitrate enterprises.
This is principally due to the fact that in the United States, water-power, before it is utilized by the electrolytic manufacturer, has already to pay one, two, and sometimes three, profits, to as many intermediate interests, which act as so many middlemen between the original water-power and the consumer. Only in such instances as in Norway, where the electrochemical enterprise and the development of the water-power are practically in the same hands, can electric current be calculated at its real cheapest cost.
30
Neither should the fact be overlooked that the best of our water-powers in the East are situated rather far inland. Although this does not matter much for the home market, it puts us at a decided disadvantage for the exportation of manufactured goods, in comparison again with Norway, where the electrolytic plants are situated quite close to a good sea-harbor open in all seasons.
Some electrochemical enterprises require us?ofSwfste cheap fuel just as much as cheap power; and, ducerngdasPr°~ on ^s account, it has proved sometimes more advantageous to dispense entirely with water- power by generating gas for fuel as well as for power from cheap coal or still cheaper peat.
At present, most of our ways of using coal are still cum- bersome and wasteful, although several efficient methods have been developed which some day will probably be used almost exclusively, principally in such places where lower grades of cheap coal are obtainable.
I refer here particularly to the valuable
Mond-gas
pioneer work of that great industrial chemist, Mond, on cheap water-gas production, by the use of a lim- ited amount of air in conjunction with water vapor.
More recently, this process has been extended by Caro, Frank and others, to the direct conversion of undried peat into fuel-gas.
By the use of these processes, peat or lower grades of coal, totally unsuitable for other purposes, containing, in some instances, as much as 60 to 70% of incombustible constituents, can be used to good advantage in the produc- tion of fuel for power generation.
Whether Mond-gas will ever be found advantageous for distribution to long distances is questionable, because its heating value per cubic foot is rather less than that of ordi- nary water-gas, but this does not interfere with its efficient use in internal combustion engines.
31
In general, our methods for producing or utilizing gas in our cities do scant justice to the extended opportunities indicated by our newer knowledge.
Good fuel-gas could be manufactured and Antiquated distributed to the individual household con-
municipal
specifications sumer at considerably cheaper rates, if it were testing not for antiquated municipal specifications,
which keep on prescribing photometric tests in- stead of insisting on standards of fuel value, which makes the cost of production unnecessarily high, and disregards the fact that, for lighting, the Welsbach mantle has ren- dered obsolete the use of highly carbureted gas Great eco- as a kare flame. But for those unfortunate
nomic possi-
biiities of specifications, cheap fuel-gas might be pro- cheap fuel- / , * i • j gas duced at some advantageous central point,
where very cheap coal is available ; such heating gas could be distributed to every house and every factory, where it could be used cleanly and advantageously, like natural gas, doing away at once with the black coal smoke nuisance, which now practically compels a city like New York to use nothing but the more expensive grades of anthracite coal. It would eliminate, at the same time, all the bother and expense caused through the clumsy and ex- pensive methods of transportation and handling of coal and ashes; it would relieve us from many unnecessary middle- men which now exist between coal and its final consumer.
The newer large-sized internal combustion JenTefs°Toer engines are introducing increasing opportuni- ^es ^ or new centers °f power production where waste gas of blast-furnaces or coke-ovens, or where deposits of inferior coal or peat, are available.
If such centers are situated near tidewater, this may ren- der them still more advantageous for some electrochemical industries, which, until now, were compelled to locate near some inland water-powers.
32
Nor should we overlook the fact that the newer methods for the production of cheap fuel-gas offer excellent oppor- tunities for an increased production of valuable production of tar by-products, and more particularly of oth£°bya- and ammonium salts ; the latter would help to a not products from inconsiderable extent in furnishing more ni-
gaS f 4--T
trogen fertilizer.
It is somewhat remarkable that a greater effort has al- ready been made to start the industrial synthesis of nitrogen products than to economize all these hitherto wasted sources of ammonia.
In fact, science indicates still other ways, somewhat of a more radical nature, for correct- adricuiture m& ^e nitrogen deficiencies in relation to our
food supply.
Indeed, if we will look at this matter from a much broader standpoint, we may find that, after all, the short- age of nitrogen in the world is attributable, to a large extent, to our rather one-sided system of agriculture. We do not sufficiently take advantage of the fact that certain plants, for instance those of the group of Leguminosae, have the valuable property of easily assimilating nitrogen from the air, without the necessity of nitrogen fertilizers. In this way, the culture of certain Leguminosae can insure enough nitrogen for the soil, so that, in rotation with nitrogen con- suming crops, like wheat, we could dispense with the neces- sity of supplying any artificial nitrogen fertilizers.
The present nitrogen deficiency is influenced further by two other causes : manngcattie The first cause is our unnecessarily exag- gerated meat diet, in which we try to find our proteid requirements, and which compels us to raise so many cattle, while the amount of land which feeds one head of cattle could furnish, if properly cultivated, abundant vegetable food for a family of five.
33
The second cause is our insufficient knowledge of the way to grow and prepare for human food just those vege- tables which are richest in proteids. Unfor- beanSOy~ tunately, it so happens that exactly such plants as, for instance, the_soy-bean are not by any means easily rendered palatable and digestible; while any savage can eat raw meat, or can readily cook, boil or roast it for consumption.
On this subject, we can learn much from some Eastern people, like the Japanese, who have become experts in the art of preparing a variety of agreeable food products from that refractory soy-bean, which contains such an astonish- ingly large amount of nutritious proteids, and which, long ago, became for Japan a wholesome, staple article of diet. But, on this subject, the Western races have not yet progressed much beyond the point of preparing cattle-feed and paint oil from the soy-bean, although the more ex- tended culture of this, or similar plants, might work about a revolution in our agricultural economics.
Agriculture, after all, is nothing but a very a branch^? important branch of industrial chemistry, al- chemtetiy though most people seem to ignore the fact that the whole prosperity of agriculture is based on the success of that photochemical reaction which, under the influence of the light of the sun, causes the car- bon dioxide of the air to be assimilated by the chlorophyl of the plant.
p ibiiiti "^ *s no* imPoss^le that photochemistry,
of photo- which hitherto has busied itself, almost ex- clusively, within the narrow limits of the art of making photographic images, will, some day, attain a de- velopment of usefulness at least as important as all other branches of physical chemistry. In this broader sense, photochemistry seems an inviting subject for the agricul- tural chemist. The possible rewards in store in this almost
34
virgin field may, in their turn, by that effect of superinduc- tion between industry and science, bring about a rapid development similar to what we have witnessed in the ad- vancement of electricity, as well as chemistry, which both began to progress by bounds and leaps, way ahead of other sciences, as soon as their growing industrial applications put a high premium on further research.
Photochemistry may allow us some day to obtain chem- ical effects hitherto undreamed of. In general, the action of light in chemical reactions seems incomparably less brutal than all means used heretofore in chemistry. This is the probable secret of the subtle chemical syntheses which happen in plant life. To try to duplicate these delicate reactions of nature by our present methods of high tem- peratures, electrolysis, strong^ chemicals and other similar torture-processes, seems' like trying to imitate a master- piece of Gounod by exploding a dynamite cartridge be- tween the strings of a piano.*
tnere are endless other directions for
Some rob-
lems for the scientific research, relating to industrial appli-
cations, which, until now, do not seem to have received sufficient attention.
For instance, from a chemical standpoint, the richest chemical enterprise of the United States, the Petr°leum industry, has hitherto chiefly busied
veiopment of itself with a rather primitive treatment of this industry0 e valuable raw material, and little or no attention
has been paid to any methods for transforming at least a part of these hydrocarbons into more ennobled products of commerce than mere fuel or illuminants.
A hint as to the enormous possibilities which nSber*10 may ^e m store m ^at direction, is suggested
by the recent work in Germany and England on synthetic rubber; the only factor which prevents extend- ing the laboratory synthesis of rubber into an immense
35
industrial undertaking, is that we have not yet learned how to make cheaply the isoprene or other similar non-saturated hydrocarbons which are the starting point in the process which changes their molecules, by polymerization, into rubber.
Nor has our science begun to find the best and" t°arch uses ^ or suc^ inexpensive and never exhaustible
vegetable products as cellulose or starch. Quite true, several important manufactures, like that of paper, nitrocellulose, glucose, alcohol, vinegar and some others, have been built on it ; but to the chemist at least, it seems as if a much greater development is possible in the cheaper and more extended production of artificial fiber. Although we have succeeded in making so-called artificial silk, this article is still very expensive; furthermore, we have not yet produced a cheap, good, artificial fiber of the quality of wool.
If we have made ourselves independent of production of Chile for our nitrogen supply, we are still potash-salts absolutely at the mercy of the Stassfurt mines
in Germany for our requirements of soluble potash-salts, which are just as necessary for agriculture. Shall we succeed in utilizing some of the proposed methods for converting that abundant supply of feldspar, or other insoluble potash-bearing rocks, into soluble potash-salts by combining the expensive heat treatment with the produc- tion of another material like cement, which would render the cost of fuel less exorbitant? Or shall the problem be solved in setting free soluble potassium salts as a by-prod- uct in a reaction engendering other staple products con- sumed in large quantities?
We have several astonishingly conflicting ?eTatfvne°tonCe theories about the constitution of the center of
constitution ftie globe, but we have not yet developed the
of the globe *; r
means to penetrate the world s crust beyond some deep mines — merely an imperceptible faint scratch on
36
the surface— and in the meantime, we keep on guessing, while to-day astronomers know already more about the sur- face of the planet Mars than we know about the interior of the globe on which we live.
Nor have we learned to develop or utilize the
Intense *
pressures tremendous pressures under which most min- erals have been formed, and still less do we possess the means to try these pressures, in conjunction with intensely high temperatures.
No end of work is in store for the research chemist, as
well as for the chemical engineer, who can think by himself,
without always following the beaten track. We are only
at the beginning of our successes, and yet,
A retrospect fi u i * lAuu
when we stop to look back to see what has been accomplished during the last generations, that big jump from the rule-of -thumb to applied science is nothing short of marvelous.
Whoever is acquainted with the condition of of ene7ati°n ^uman thought to-day must find it strange, ignored after all, that scarcely seventy years ago,
seventy years -. r • , i -i • •
ago Mayer met with derision even amongst the
scientists of the time, when he announced to
the world that simple but fundamental principle of the
conservation of energy.
We can hardly conceive that just about the time the Columbia School of Mines was founded,
Pasteur's Liebig was still ridiculing Pasteur's ideas on
ideas on fer- &
mentation the intervention of micro-organisms in f ermen- Liebig6 tation, which have proved so fecund in the most
epoch-making applications in science, medi- cine, surgery and sanitation, as well as in many industries. ' Fortunately, true science, contrary to other human s i n avocations, recognizes nobody as an "author-
admits no ity," and is willing to change her beliefs as
"authorities" i , °,. , « , ., .,.
often as better studied facts warrant it; this 37
difference has been the most vital cause of her never ceas- ing progress. x
To the younger generation, surrounded with research laboratories everywhere, it may cause astonish- ment to learn that scarcely fifty years ago, facilities17 that great benefactor of humanity, Pasteur, was still repeating his pathetic pleadings with the French government to give him more suitable quarters than a damp, poorly lighted basement, in which he was compelled to carry on his research ; and this was, then, the condition of affairs of no less a place than Paris, the same Paris that was spending, just at that time, endless millions for the building of her new Opera-Palace.
Such, facts should not be overlooked by those America's who might think that America has been too melt ofVel°P~ slow in fostering chemical research, chemical jf the United States has not participated as
industry ,r .
early as some European countries in the devel- opment of industrial chemistry, this was chiefly because conditions here were so totally different from those of nations like Germany, England and France, that they did not warrant any such premature efforts.
In a country as full of primary resources, agriculture, forests, mines and the more elementary industries directly connected therewith, as well as the problems of transporta- tion, appealed more urgently to American intellectual men of enterprise.
Why should anybody here have tried to introduce new difficult or risky chemical industries, when on every side more urgently important fields of enterprise were inviting all men of initiative?
Chemical industries develop along the lines furnished by the most immediate needs of a country. Our sulphuric acid industry, which can boast to-day of a yearly production of about three million tons, had to begin in an exceedingly
38
humble way, and the first small amounts of sulphuric acid manufactured here found a very scant outlet.
It required the growth of such fields of application as petroleum refining, superphosphates, explosives and others, before the sulphuric acid industry could grow to what it is to-day^^
At present, similar influences are still domi- fmPoits be d natin^ our chemical industries ; they are gener- tween the ally directed to the mass production of partly
United States „ , . . , ±1. . /
and Germany manufactured articles. This allows us to export, at present, to Germany, chemicals in crude form, but in greater value than the total sum of all the chemical products we are importing from her; although it can not be denied that a considerable part of our imports are products like alizarine, indigo, aniline dyes and similar synthetic products which require higher chemical manu- facturing skill.
In this connection, it may be pointed out that our exports of oleomargarine, to Germany alone, are about equivalent to our imports of aniline dyes.
But all this does not alter the fact that in Some chem- several important chemical industries the
ical industries .
in which the United States has been a pioneer. Such flour- United States . , . . ,1 i? ,1 , -n • i i was pioneer ishing enterprises as that of the artificial abra- sives, carborundum and alundum, calcium carbide, aluminum and many others, testify how soon we have learned to avail ourselves of some of our water-power. One of the most important chemical industries of the world, the sulphite cellulose industry, of which the total annual production amounts to three and a half million tons, was originated and developed by a chemist in Philadelphia, B. C. Tilgman. But its further development was stopped for awhile on account of the same old trouble, lack of funds, after $40,000 were spent, until some years later, it was taken up again in Europe and reintroduced in the United
39
States, where it has developed to an annual production of over a million tons.
What has been accomplished in America in chemical en- terprises, and what is going on now in industrial research, has been brilliantly set forth by Mr. Arthur D. Little.1
Nor at any time in the history of the United States was chemistry neglected in this coun-
of chemistry try; this has recently been brought to light in
in the United , , J . . ^ ®
states the most convincing manner by Professor
Edgar F. Smith of Philadelphia.2
The altruistic fervor of that little group of earlier Amer- ican chemists, who, in 1792, founded the Chemical Society of Philadelphia (probably the very first chemical society in the world), and in 1811, the Columbia Chemical Society of Philadelphia, is best illustrated by an extract of one of the addresses read at their meeting in 1798:
"The only true basis on which the independence of our country can rest are agriculture and manufactures. To the promotion of these nothing tends in a higher degree than chemistry. It is this science which teaches man how to correct the bad qualities of the land he cultivates by a proper application of the various species of manure, and it is by means of a knowledge of this science that he is enabled to pursue the metals through the various forms they put on in the earth, separate them from substances which ren- der them useless, and at length manufacture them into the various forms for use and ornament in which we see them. If such are the effects of chemistry, how much should the wish for its promotion be excited in the breast of every American ! It is to a general diffusion of knowledge of this science, next to the virtue of our countrymen, that we are to look for the firm establishment of our independ-
1 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Vol. 5, No. 10. October, 1913.
;d bj
40
2 "Chemistry in America." Published by D. Appleton & Co. New York and London, 1914.
ence. And may your endeavors, gentlemen, in this cause, entitle you to the gratitude of your fellow-citizens."
This early scientific spirit has been kept alive through- out the following century by such American chemists as Robert Hare, E. N. Horsford, Wolcott Gibbs, Sterry Hunt, Lawrence Smith, Carey Lea, Josiah P. Cooke, John W. Draper, Willard Gibbs and many others still living.
Present conditions in America can be meas- aitions of *~ ured by the fact that the American Chemical
Society alone has over seven thousand mem- bers, and the Chemists' Club of New York has more than a thousand members, without counting the more specialized chemical organizations, equally active, like the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Electrochemical Society and many others. > During the later years, chemical research is going on with increasing vigor, more specially in relation to chemical problems presented by enterprises which at first sight seem rather remote from the so-called chemical industry.
But the most striking symptom of newer times is that
some wealthy men of America are rivaling
America110 eac^ °ther in the endowment of scientific re-
search on a scale ne*ver undertaken before, and
that the scientific departments of our Government are en-
larging their scope of usefulness at a rapid rate.
But we are merely at the threshold of that new era where we shall learn better to use exact knowledge and efficiency to bring greater happiness and broader opportunities to all. However imposing may appear the institutions founded by the Nobels, the Solvays, the Monds, the Carnegies, the Rockefellers and others, each of them is only a puny effort to what is bound to come when governments will do their full share. Fancy that if, for instance, the Rocke- feller Institute is spending to good advantage about
41
of Som*Cires7 ^^ a m^^on dollars per annum for medical ent efforts research, the chewing-gum bill of the United what ought States alone would easily support half a dozen Rockefeller Institutes ; and what a mere insig- nificant little trickle all these research funds amount to, if we have the courage to compare them to that powerful gushing stream of money which yearly drains the war budget of all nations.
In the meantime, the man of science is patient and con- tinues his work steadily, if somewhat slowly, with the means hitherto at his disposal. His patience is inspired by the thought that he is not working for to-day, but for to- morrow. He is well aware that he is still surrounded by too many "men of yesterday," who delay the results of his work.
Sometimes, however, he may feel discour- aged that the very efficiency he has succeeded in reaching at the cost of so many painstaking efforts, in the economical production of such an article of endlessly possible uses, as Portland Cement, is hopelessly lost many times over and over again, by the inefficiency, waste and graft of middlemen and political contractors, by the time it gets on our public roads, or in our public build- ings. Sometimes the chaos of ignorant brutal The man of waste which surrounds him everywhere may
science pro- . J J
vides for try his patience. Then again, he has a vision eraSonsen that he is planting a tree which will blossom for his children and will bear fruit for his grandchildren.
In the meantime, industrial chemistry, like all other ap- plications of science, has gradually called into the world an increasing number of men of newer tendencies, men who New type of bear in mind the future rather than the past,
{^"denSfic w^° *iave ac(luired tne h^t; of thinking by education well-established facts, instead of by words, of
42
aiming at efficiency instead of striking haphazard at ill-de- fined purposes. Our various engineering schools, our universities, are turning them out in ever increasing num- bers, and better and better prepared for their work. Their very training has fitted them out to become the most broad- minded progressive citizens,
Private gain However, their sphere of action, until now, or public seldom goes beyond that of private technical
service •«•'.. • A i
enterprises tor private gam. And yet, there is not a chemist, not an engineer, worthy of the name, who would not prefer efficient, honorable public service, freed from party politics, to a mere money-making job.
But most governments of the world have been run for so long almost exclusively by politicians?'" lawyer-p°liticians, that we have come to con- sider this as an unavoidable evil, until some- times a large experiment of government by engineers, like the Panama Canal, opens our eyes to the fact that, after all, successful government is— first and last— a matter of efficiency, according to the principles of applied science.
Was it not one of our very earliest American Thompson chemists, Benjamin Thompson, of Massachu- (Count setts, later knighted in Europe as Count Rum-
gov- f ord, who put in shape the rather entangled administration of Bavaria by introducing sci- , entific methods of government?
Pasteur was right when one day, exasperated by the politicians who were running his beloved France to ruin, he exclaimed:
"In our century, science is the soul of the and prosperity of nations and the living source of ofenation°7 al* P™^688- Undoubtedly, the tiring daily discussions of politics seem to be our guide. Empty appearances!— What really leads us forward are a few scientific discoveries and their applications."
43
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