high density polyethylene, which was used first in consumer items. Not until now, he says, are manufacturers knocking on the doors of wire pro­ducers.

Other electrical needs outlined by Mr. Shew:

• A cheap way to insulate conductor joints.

• A transformer oil that withstands higher temperatures permitted by new transformer wire insulations.

• Better protective paints for ap­paratus and line structures.

A solvent for coal so that coal could be used in gas turbine combus­tion chambers.

• A solid insulation that could elimi­nate use of oil around the primary high-voltage winding of distribution transformers.

• Insulating gases, such as sulfur hexafluoride.

Magnetic Markets. Makers of electronic computing equipment de­pend on the chemical industry for sev­eral key materials. One example is the ferric oxide used to coat magnetic tape and disks for information storage. By 1965, demand for 7-ferric oxide will be in the range of 300 to 500 tons a year, according to E. C. Schuenzel of International Business Machines.

Magnetic memory cores will con­sume between 6 and 20 tons a year of ferrite materials in 1965, Mr. Schuen­zel estimates. This is about double the present usage. In this kind of market, consumption of chemicals is small compared to the number of units involved. For example, 1 billion 30-by-50-mil cores can be produced from about 5 tons each of manganese and ferric oxide.

The future will call for improved properties in oxide tapes for comput­ers, Mr. Schuenzel told the gather­ing. Specifically: more highly needlelike iron oxide particles with less than a l-to-5 ratio of width to length; tighter particle size distribu­tion; improved compositions, for in­stance binary or ternary oxides to re­place 7-ferric oxide: higher purity iron oxides; better binders that have lower coefficients of friction, better wear re­sistance, and greater bonding power.

Cost Too High. The present use of thermoelectric devices for heating, cooling, and power generation is largely limited to special applications, usually military. Within the next

five to 10 years the market for thermo­electric products will be in the range of $100 million, Dr. David White of Massachusetts Institute of Technology told the meeting.

While there is a need for materials with higher figures of merit, this is not the factor that currently limits exploitation of thermoelectricity. The field is held back right now, Dr. White says, because of cost. Semiconductor grade elements used in the better thermoelectric materials range from $5.00 to $80 a pound. The price of good single crystals or polycrystalline materials with large grains is often roughly 10 times the price of the starting materials, he points out.

Efficiency of thermionic converters, another means of changing heat di­rectly into electricity, now runs about 11 V<. To reach the predicted future efficiency, in the neighborhood of 30'/r, improvement in materials and higher electrode current densities will be required, Dr. M. J. Martin of General Electric's research laboratory says. He feels the major obstacle to long life in present converters is lack of a metal-to-ecramic seal that can withstand high temperatures and be compatible with cesium vapor.

Fuel cells represent another area where chemists can supply new mate­rials and technology required for com­mercial development. Some of the things needed, according to Dr. Mar­tin, include more knowledge about the nature of the reactions taking place, more effective electrode and membrane materials, and better under­standing of electron emission, space-charge effects, and the behavior of plasmas.

Still further from commercial use is the concept of magnetohydrodynamies (MHD) , in which an ionized gas column acting as a conductor gener­ates electricity by moving through a magnetic field. Dr. Martin spelled out some of the major problems that must be tackled before MHD can be counted on as a power source. Sci­entists must know more about the electrical conductivity of gases at high temperatures, be able to build electrodes that will stand up to high temperatures and corrosive atmos­pheres, develop a combustor that will withstand the necessary environment, and find materials for a regenerator which must face temperatures far higher than those normally met in heat exchangers.

Joel Hildebrand Named Priestley Medalist

Dr. Joel H. Hildebrand, emeritus pro­fessor of chemistry at the University of California (Berkeley), has been named 1962 winner of the Priestley Medal of the American Chemical Society.

The medal, to be presented next March at the 141st ACS National Meeting, in Washington, D.C., is the highest honor in American chemistry. Its purpose is "to recognize distin­guished services to chemistry."

Dr. Hildebrand received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1906. He studied at the University of Berlin, taught for several years at Penn, and joined the faculty at the University of California in 1913. He became professor emeritus in 1952.

He is a Past-President (1955) of the ACS and past chairman of the Cali­fornia Section. He has won the Wil-lard Gibbs Medal of the Chicago Sec­tion and the William H. Nichols Medal of the New York Section. Long an outspoken fighter for basic education, Dr. Hildebrand was the first recipient (in 1952) of the Scientific Apparatus Makers Award in Chemical Education.

Among Dr. Hildebrand's research efforts have been studies in fluorine chemistry, emulsions, fused salt mix­tures, and liquid alloys.

Dr. Hildebrand managed the U.S. Olympic ski team in 1936 and is a past president of the mountaineering Sierra Club.

Last week in Berkeley, a two-day scientific meeting and a banquet were held in honor of Dr. Hildebrand's 80th birthday (which actually is Nov. 16).

32 C&EN S E P T . 18, 1961

Second Half Outlays for Plants Higher Chemical firms expect to spend nearly $900 million for capital expansion, highest since 1957

Carla Shuts Down Gulf Coast Plants But hurricane damage was no more than moderate at most chemical facilities

Plant personnel returning to chemical plants and oil refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast last week found only slight to moderate damage from Hurri­cane Carla. There were some ex­ceptions, though. Some plants were flooded by several feet of salt water after levees broke. Except for Sin­clair Oil's refinery at Houston, how­ever, all major plants and refineries on the coast had shut down before Carla hit shore on Sept. 11.

If Carla had come ashore at Gal­veston, as forecast the day before she hit Port O'Conner, damage could have been greater. But by striking the coast 125 miles southeast of Hous­ton, the hurricane's eye missed most plants. The eye passed over or close to plants of Aluminum Co. of America at Port Comfort, Du Pont at Victoria, and Union Carbide at Seadrift.

Throughout the area, wind damage to plants was small except where the eye passed. Even there, large equip­ment withstood winds of 125 miles per hour or higher; damage consisted largely of sheet metal torn from build­ings, fallen wires, and the like.

Water often caused more damage. A levee broke at Freeport, and as much as 10 feet of salt water flooded one of Dow's two plants there. The Ethyl-Dow plant and the Govern­ment's new saline water distillation plant there also were flooded. Dow's other Freeport plant was flooded, but not so deeply. Flooding also caused most of the damage at Texas City plants, but no process units in the area were hurt seriously.

Plants along the Houston Ship Channel also were flooded when a tide 9 to i0 feet higher than normal came up the channel. Koppers' plant at Port Arthur was flooded when a levee broke.

Many plants in the Houston area and at Port Arthur and Beaumont be­gan start-up operations by the after­noon of Sept. 12. Start-up plans at Freeport and Texas City plants were less definite, however. Plant officials often had to wait for power lines to be replaced or for personnel to re­turn; refugees were scattered as far as 250 miles from the coast.

Capital outlays by chemical producers are now slated at almost $900 million during the second half of this year. That works out to an annual rate, allowing for seasonal factors, of $1.7 billion. And it is the highest level of spending on new plant and equip­ment by the industry since the last half of 1957, when outlays amounted to almost $950 million.

Industry spending has mounted steadily throughout this year. From $330 million during the first quarter it is expected to rise to $470 million in the last quarter, according to the latest joint survey by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Commerce.

Spending this year has closely fol­lowed early estimates. Last March, a similar SEC-Commerce survey esti­mated first half outlays at $730 million (C&EN, March 13, page 26) ; actual outlays came to $750 million. But second half spending will be about $100 million less than was indicated in March, according to the most re­cent government estimates.

As a result, total spending by the chemical and allied products industry for the full year now is expected to hit $1.65 billion, compared with the $1.73 billion that the government agencies estimated in March. Even so, the year's total will make 1961 spending second only to 1957's $1.72 billion. And the steady rise expected

into the final quarter, coupled with increasing production and sales of chemical products this year, points to still higher outlays for 1962.

This year's pattern parallels that of 1960, when outlays also rose steadily through the final quarter. Spending was down sharply in this year's first quarter from the last three months of 1960. But total outlays estimated for 1961 will be about 3% above 1960's total; the recession seems to have had little direct effect on com­pany plans.

Second Highest. Among manu­facturing industries, only petroleum companies are planning to spend more money than the chemical industry for expansion of capital assets. Total spending by producers of petroleum and coal products is expected to be $2.78 billion, up 5% from last year. Rubber company outlays will be prac­tically unchanged at $220 million. Spending by firms making paper and allied products will be down 4% to $720 million, according to the survey. Spending will be down for all durable goods industries except machinery.

Total outlays by all U.S. business are now estimated at $34.56 billion, 3% less than last year. But spending is expected to be at an annual rate of $35.9 billion in 1961's final quarter. That's a 7% increase from the second quarter, when outlays were at the lowest level in nearly two years.

SEPT. 18, 1961 C&EN 33

More Photo High Lights of 140th ACS National See also pages 144 and 14n

VETERAN. Past-chairman pin went to Dr. Arno C. Fieldner, first chairman (in 1922) of the Division of Gas and Fuel Chem­istry, at luncheon held by Divi­sion of Fuel Chemistry

THE TRAVELERS. Row on row of suitcases in lobby of Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago typify busy summer of chemical meetings, both technical and economic, climaxed by the 140th annual meeting of the American Chemical Society

34 C&EN S E P T . 18. 1961

Meeting in Chicago

PLOTTERS. Meeting program helps out in post-meal plotting of day's activities at Chi­cago national meeting

PROJECTOR. Geigy Chemical's Ε. Η. Valence uses new over­head projector from Minnesota Mining. Stiff film used in projector can be duplicated in regular Thermofax machine

ADVANCEMENT. George Royer of American Cy-anamid takes part in symposium on utilization and advancement of chemists in industry, held by Council Committee on Professional Relations and Status

INTERVIEW. Bill Warrick (right) of NBC news staff in Chicago interviews Dr. Maurice Pressman, U.S. Army Research and Development Laboratories, Ft. Belvoir, Va., on mobile unit designed to remove radioactive plutonium from drinking water

S E P T . 18. 1961 C & E N 35