Refugio Timely Remarks (Refugio, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 40, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 1, 1946 Page: 6 of 8
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Page 6—REFUGIO TIMELY REMARKS, Aug. 1, 1946
TECHNICAL TALES
By W. R. (Doc) Hounsell
Petrochemistry
In all fields of human endeavor,
modern research is not only mak-
ing discoveries in obscure labora-
tories, but, since the war, these
great benefits to mankind, are being
adjusted to large-scale production.
Peace-time shortages and the re-
sults of depletion of necessities,
due to the hectic war-time extrava-
gance, are keenly felt. One of the
greatest present needs is, of course,
an adequate food supply for a
world, increasing rapidly in popu-
lation. The petroleum industry is
doing its best to produce fertilizers
and other chemicals to meet these
needs, in a profitable way if pos-
sible. So the new word “Petro-
chemistry” has been recently adopt-
ed to take on all the new chemical
processes related to natural gas and
oil.
Back in 1927 Lt. Col. G. P. Pol-
litt made this statement: “There is
a very direct connection between
the increase in the world’s popula-
tion and the world’s requirement
of ‘Fixed Nitrogen.” It may be es-
timated that for at least 500,000
years, a human being, differing
very little from his present form,
has inhabited the earth. In all that
time, up to 1800 A. D., the world’s
population has increased from its
beginnings, to a figure estimated
at 800 millions. In the next 200
years, from 1800 to 1900 A. D. it
rose to 1730 millions, that is, it
gen and oxygen combine to form
nitrous oxides which in turn form
acids with rain water and are ab-
sorbed by the soil. In these ways
nature helps with the nitrogen sup-
ply, but very inadequately, and so,
for over a century, artificial fer-
tilizers have been necessary in ever
increasing quantity.
Ammonium sulphate and nitrate
of soda, were formerly the chief
sources of nitrogenous fertilizers.
Ammonium sulphate was a by-pro-
duct from coal, gas, manufacture
and from coke ovens. Nitrate of
soda was mined from deposits
found in Chili in South America.
The need for synthetic ammonia
was felt in 1885, when most of the
prominent chemists of that time
faced the problem, and obtained re-
sults that at least showed promise.
In 1904, synthetic ammonia was
made by passing a jet of air
through an electric-arc, but it re-
quired 65,000' kilowatt-hours of cur-
rent for every ton of fixed nitro-
gen produced. It was still believed
however, that if hydro-electric
plants could be built large enough,
fixed nitrogen could be made profit-
ably. The well known Muscle Shoals
project of the Tennessee Valley
proved unprofitable in this connec-
tion.
Back in 1904 also, Frank and
Caro found that by heating calcium
carbide to 1000 degrees C, and then
passing nitrogen over it, cyana-
mide was formed. This process is
had more than doubled itself, and \ still in use by several large com-
this rate of increase, or something j panies but is hardly profitable,
like it, is continuing today. This since calcium carbide is expensive
rate canndt continue (indefinitely ; to manufacture for this purpose.
In Germany, Haber discovered
he could make ammonia by subject-
ing nitrogen and hydrogen to high drogen ammonia and nitrogen;
temperature and very high pres-!by scrubbing them through solu-
Later work then showed the
will become more and more essen-
tial, and fixed-nitrogen will be one
of the most important constituents.
Pure air from the atmosphere is
composed of four-fifths nitrogen
and one-fifth oxygen, but, with the
exception of the legumes, growing
vegetation is not able to convert
the nitrogen of the air into the
combined nitrogen compounds ne-
cessary to the production of plant
protein for food. Nitrogen must be
present in the soil both as am-
monia and nitrates and the more
the soil is exploited, the more fer-
tilizers (containing these com-
pounds) must be added.
■ To a certain extent this addition
has been made by growing legumes
by applying animal manures and by
plowing under certain green crops.
When, by means of lightening dis-
charge, the air is subjected to in-
tense voltage and heat, the nitro-
under any circumstances; it cannot
go on at all unless the productivity
of the soil keeps up with it.”
• Fresh tracts of virgin soil, in all
parts of the world, are becoming,
scarce, and some day the limit will | best convertion (about 69 per cent)
be reached. Inorganic fertilizers i occurred at 1000 atmospheres pres-
' sure and 425 degrees C.
In 1927 by this method Germany
produced 400,000 tons of fixed
nitrogen, England 60,000 tons,
France 6,000 tons, Japan 6,000 tons
and the United States 4,500 tons.
The present world consumption of
nitrogen in fertilizers, explosives
and chemicals is about 5 million
tons per annum.
Bringing nitrogen fixation and
ammonia synthesis up to date,
brings to the front modern Petro-
chemistry in which ammonia and
its salts are manufactured from
natural gas, air and water.
The Lion Oil Co. has recently
leased the Ozark Ordnance Works
at El Lorado, Arkansas to produce
ammonia and other products. Here,
500 tons of ammonia are made ev-
ery day from natural gas and air.
Most of this product is converted
to the nitrate and sold in pellet
form for fertilizer. The remained
of the ammonia goes into a great
number of chemical products for
various purposes. These include
ammonia for refrigeration, neu-
tralizing agents, detergents, bleach-
ing, medicinals, nylon catalyst,
synthetic rubber, calico printing,
Nitoric acid, wrea, explosives like
nitrocellulose, picric acid, T. N. T.,
amatol, introglycern, RDX, and dy-
namite, nitrobenzine, nitroparaf-
fins, plastics, fire extenguishers,
aspirin, rayon, plexiglass, lucite,
isprene and synthetic lubricants.
The natural gas coming into this
huge installation is first “de-sul-
phurized” by means of zinc oxide
at a pressure of 70 pounds and a
temperature of 752 degrees F. The
zinc oxide is revivified and used
over and over again with little loss.
Superheated steam is mixed with
the purified gas and together they
are heated to 1337 degrees F. at
low pressure in the primary former-
furnace together with a nickel
catalyst suspended on clay or other
ceramic material. After this treat-
ment, air is added to the mixture,
and the total blend is calculated to
produce the maximum amount of
finished ammonia. The secondary
reformer furnace holds the horizon-
tal cylindical reformer vessel at
1625 degrees F. and the nickel
catalyst is held on metal grates fit-
ted inside. The next process con-
verts carbon monoxide to the dio-
xide by means of Iron Oxide cata-
lyst at high temperature. The mix-
ed gases are now a mixture of car-
bon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hy-
--------, so
them
tions of copper salts, the monox-
ides and dioxides of carbon are par-
tially removed, until caustic soda
finally finishes the removal.
In this final stage of synthesis,
pressures up to 5,000 pounds are
necessary during the conversion of
the hydrogen and nitrogen into am-
monia.
Nitric acid is made at this plant
by oxidation of ammonia in pres-
ence of a catalyst, and the oxides
of nitrogen combined with water.
Ammonium nitrate is simply the
product formed by neutralizing the
nitric acid with ammonia and wa-
ter. The neutral solution is evapo-
rated to a thick paste and this is
then pelleted by machine, to “pin-
head” size, for use as fertilizer.
In conclusion is should be em-
phasized that the raw materials
used at this plant are simply nat-
ural gas, air and water; the cata-
lysts and purifying solutions being
reclaimed and used continuously.
500 tons of fertilizer per day from
ten million cubic feet of natural
gas is only one of the achievements
of Petrochemistry.
Mr. and Mrs. S. R. Coleman are
vacationing this week at New
Braunfels, while Reagan, Jr., visits
his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. W.
E. Coleman of Waco. Their other
son, Carter, is staying with his ma-
ternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs.,
J. H. Coward. Another guest in the
Coward home is another grandson,
Billy Coward of Houston, whose
parents expect to come after him
over the week-end.
Any wage earner who would like
to have a statement of the wage
credits in his social security ac-
count may secure a self-addressed
post card which was prepared for
that purpose. There is no charge
except for the one-cent postage
stamp. The cards should be request-
ed from the Social Security Board,
Corpus Christi.
NEW
RADIOS
Murray’s
Radio Room
Phone 100
Woodsboro, Texas
^VWN^N^NAAAAAA/WAAAAAAAAAAA
S/V/VVSA/WVSA/WAAAAAAAAAAA/'
GIFTS
AND
FLOWERS
DANCE ■ - BEACH CLUB
Rockport, Texas
TO THE MUSIC OF
PAUL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
, OF RADIO STATION KVIC, VICTORIA
SATURDAY, AUGUST 3
Club Open Every Night Except Sunday
CLUB OPENS AT 8 :00 P. M.
Dance to Good Music On Cool Rockport Beach
NOTICE TO BIDDERS
Sealed Proposals addressed to L.
R. Jeter, Mayor, Refugio, Texas,
will be received at the office of the
Mayor until 10 o’clock A. M. Fri-
day, August 9, 1946, for furnishing
all necessary hauling, machinery,
equipment, superintendence and
labor for constructing certain
waterworks improvements for the
TOWN OF REFUGIO, OWNER,
Refugio, Texas.
A Cashiers’ Check, Certified
Check or acceptable bidder’s bond,
payable to the Town of Refugio in
an amount not less than five per
cent (5%) of the largest possible
total for the bid submitted must
accompany each bid.
In case of ambiguity or lack of
clearness in stating prices in the
proposal the Owner reserves the
right to adopt the prices in writ-
ten words or to reject the proposal.
The Owner reserves the right to
reject any or all bids and to waive
any or all formalities.
The Owner has cash available to
cover the above work.
Instructions to bidders, proposal
forms and specifications are on file
at the office of the Town Secretary,
City Hall, Refugio, Texas.
L. R. JETER, Mayor,
Town of Refugio,
Refugio, Texas.
Approximate Quantities are as
follows:
Lin Ft. Laying 6” Asbes-
tos Cement Pipe
Lin. Ft. Laying 4” Asbes-
tos Cement Pipe
Fire Hydrants
Material to be supplied by
the Town from stock on
hand.
J
REFUGIO
FLOWER SHOP
Phones: Shop 460
Nights 358-J or 351-M
MARGARET BRADLEY
VERA WALKER
WE SHOULD KNOW
(AND WE DO)
That we are not the oldest Agency in Town, al-
though our Senior Member delivered his first policy in
1923, and that we' are not the largest Agency but that
our size depends on your patronage.
To get your patronage we must have your confi-
dence, therefore we can afford to have only the strong-
est and most reliable Companies represented in our of-
fice.
We have nothing to offer except SERVICE—we
have no “cut-rate’’ rates or other inducements—
THEREFORE:
Let our SERVICE DEPARTMENT—
Survey your insurance needs,
Furnish funds for the purchase of that new car,
Set up or handle your bookkeeping and tax records.
WALES INSURANCE
AGENCY
JONES BLDG. — TEL. 220 — REFUGIO
B. A. Wales Jim Wales Louis Germer
Bond and Auto Insurance and Life Insurance
Finance Dept. Accounting Dept. Department
FLOWERS
FOR
ALL OCCASIONS
“Life Without Flowers, Is Life Without Sunshine”
DOT’S FLOWER SHOP
Across From Hospital
Phone 133 Ref ugio, Texas
In all the years we’ve served the public,
^very prescription we’ve filled has unfail-
ingly met the physician’s specifications.
Janen J pharmacy
Woodsboro, Texas
9,500
500
Read the want-ads
poumcAL
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ANNOUNCEMENT FEES
State and Congressional ........$15.00
District .........:............................$15.00
County........................................$10.00
Justice, precinct .................—-$ 7.50
The Refugio Timely Remarks is
authorized to make the following
announcements for offices in Re-
fugio County. Candidates listed be-
low are running subject to the will
of the voters at ,the General Elec-
tion to be held Tuesday, November
5, 1946:
For Sheriff:
IRA HEARD
For Tax Assessor and Collector:
F. F. ENGLISH
For County Treasurer:
EMMA HUDDLESTON
For County Clerk:
BETTIE ADKINS
For County Attorney:
K. D. HALL
For County Judge:
T. G. JETER
For Justice of the Peace
Precinct No. 1:
D. M. KELLEY
FRANK LOW
For County Commissioner
Precinct No. 1:
T. J. HEARD
For County Surveyor:
P. G. YOUNG
For County Commissioner,
Precinct No. 2:
HUGO GEISTMAN
SAVE
eaOCEPYCOl
w
H. E. B
The motor vehicle mileage death
rate at night is about three times J)
the day rate.
ALMOST EVERYTHING! From
a flashlight battery to a baby-
tub, we have practically every-
thing you ever need. Shop here
first ...
\
Refugio Hardware
& Electric Co.
E. J. FREEMAN, Mgr.
Phone 169 Refugio
FOOD STORES!
“Never before has there been so much
variation in prices. You have only to com-
pare prices to realize how much you save
at H.E.B. Food Stores.”
“We have not advanced prices on any
stock owned at costs below today’s mar-
ket.”
“Even though we have been compelled
to raise some prices due to increase in cost
from processors or producers, we have not
increased our profit on these items.”
“We will continue to hold prices down
to the lowest possible point.”
SPECIALS
SPECIALS FOR WEEK-END AUG. 2-3
COFFEE, Del Monte, 1 lb......................34c
COFFEE, Admiration, 1 lb........ .....34c
BABY FOOD, Gerber, 3 cans..............20c
Hearth Club
BAKING POWDER, 10 oz. 9c; 24 oz.....20c
SEALING WAX, 1 lb............................15c
Mother’s Imitation Maple
SYRUP, 16 oz...........................................22c
QUAKER OATS, Regular, small..........12c
Stokely Fancy Shredded
KRAUT, No. 2(/2......................................18c
House of George
TOMATO JUICE, No. 2,10c; 46 oz.... 22c
CORN TOASTIES, Post, 11 oz...............12c
Grundy County
CORN, CS White, No. 2..........................12c
GREEN BEANS, HEB Cut, No. 2........15c
Monterrey
GRAPE JUICE PUNCH, Pt...................24c
Armour — Cloverbloom or Harrods
BUTTER, 1 lb............................................75c
DRUGS
ETIQUET, 1 oz. (tax inc.)......................43c
JAN SUN TAN LOTION, 3 oz.............65c
(Tax Included)
MEXSANA, 30c size „.....-......................25e
WITvlLTO,
Program—Week Beginning
Saturday, Aug. 3, 1946
SATURDAY ONLY
WILD BILL ELLIOTT*
BED RYDER
■— Also —
Serial
“Hop Harrigan”
Cartoon
WVW>AAA/WN^WVAAAAAAA/VWNA/NA/‘
SUNDAY-MONDAY
,
EVELYN KEYES
WiLLARD PARKER
LARRY PARKS
EDGAR BUCHANAN
— Plus —
Daffy Duck — News
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY
/VVNAiA/VVNAAA/VNA/NAAAA/V\AAAAAAAAi
w
jbwS!
“Synco-Smooth Swing”
Ted Fio Rito and Orch.
THURSDAY-FRIDAY
^/VA(VSAAA/V\A/NA/NAA/\AjVS/VV/SAAAAAA(
;Hl'S ALL PUCKERED UP!'
HE’S AU
TUCKERED*
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Sports Review
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Refugio Timely Remarks (Refugio, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 40, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 1, 1946, newspaper, August 1, 1946; Refugio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth891650/m1/6/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Dennis M. O’Connor Public Library.