Farben process

I.G. Farben Process. The first continuous mass polystyrene process was developed in Germany by I.G. 

The I.G. Farben process presently in operation in several countries [266]... 

Today, HIPS is produced by two basic variants the batch process and the continuous process. Pre-polymerization, i.e. the polymerization phase up to completion of phase inversion, is identical in the two process variants. After completion of the pre-polymerization, the polymerization is continued in suspension in the batch process and in solution in the continuous process. The batch process is, therefore, also referred to as the bulk suspension process and the continuous variant as the solution process. The continuous process is a refinement of the original I.G. Farben process for standard polystyrene, which The Dow Chemical Company has adapted to the needs of rubber-containing styrene solutions. A number of modifications are now practiced. 

Although most of the cyclohexanone used to produce adipic acid and e-caprolactam has been made from cyclohexane it is also possible for phenol to be used. The original I. G. Farben process using phenol operated in two stages ... 

Ma.nufa.cture. AU. manufacturers of butynediol use formaldehyde ethynylation processes. The earliest entrant was BASF, which, as successor to I. G. Farben, continued operations at Ludwigshafen, FRG, after World War II. Later BASF also set up a U.S. plant at Geismar, La. The first company to manufacture in the United States was GAF in 1956 at Calvert City, Ky., and later at Texas City, Tex., and Seadrift, Tex. The most recent U.S. manufacturer is Du Pont, which went on stream at La Porte, Tex., about 1969. Joint ventures of GAF and Hbls in Mad, Germany, and of Du Pont and Idemitsu in Chiba, Japan, are the newest producers. 

Processes rendered obsolete by the propylene ammoxidation process (51) include the ethylene cyanohydrin process (52—54) practiced commercially by American Cyanamid and Union Carbide in the United States and by I. G. Farben in Germany. The process involved the production of ethylene cyanohydrin by the base-cataly2ed addition of HCN to ethylene oxide in the liquid phase at about 60°C. A typical base catalyst used in this step was diethylamine. This was followed by liquid-phase or vapor-phase dehydration of the cyanohydrin. The Hquid-phase dehydration was performed at about 200°C using alkah metal or alkaline earth metal salts of organic acids, primarily formates and magnesium carbonate. Vapor-phase dehydration was accomphshed over alumina at about 250°C. 

Caprolactam was first successfully polymerized to Pedon in 1938 by I. G. Farben and the associated technology was acquired as a part of postwar reparations by the Western AUies and the former USSR (1). By 1965 other countries, eg, Italy and Japan, had developed their own caprolactam processes, each involving nitrosation of an aUphatic ring. 

Commercial interest in poly(vinyl chloride) was revealed in a number of patents independently filed in 1928 by the Carbide and Carbon Chemical Corporaration, Du Pont and IG Farben. In each case the patents dealt with vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymers. This was because the homopolymer could only be processed in the melt state at temperatures where high decomposition rates occurred. In comparison the copolymers, which could be processed at much lower temperatures, were less affected by processing operations. 

In the so-called Dormagen process developed by IG Farben the cotton was first preheated with 30-40% of its own weight with glacial acetic acid for 1-2 hours. The pretreated material was then fed to the acetylisers, which consisted of horizontal bronze cylinders. For every 100 parts of pretreated cellulose there was added the following acetylating mixture, previously cooled to 15-20°C ... 

The commercial interest in epoxide (epoxy) resins was first made apparent by the publication of German Patent 676117 by I G Farben in 1939 which described liquid polyepoxides. In 1943 P. Castan filed US Patent 2 324483, covering the curing of the resins with dibasic acids. This important process was subsequently exploited by the Ciba Company. A later patent of Castan covered the hardening of epoxide resins with alkaline catalysts used in the range 0.1-5% This patent, however, became of somewhat restricted value as the important amine hardeners are usually used in quantities higher than 5%. 

The internal cooling system was applied to the Fischer-Tropsch process by the U. S. Bureau of Mines (48, 49), the British Fuels Board (54), and Rheinprussen-Koppers (52, 53). The external cooling system was applied to the Fischer-Tropsch process by I. G. Farben (61). 

Ter Meer s dilemma was this Farben could perfect the tires (they already had a tire that would last for several hundred miles), but without government encouragement his colleagues would quit the project. And if they handed Hitler the process,... 

These "discoveries" were to include old but impracticable processes if new know-how were discovered. Buna rubber—made from coal, water, and air—was not yet produced on a commercial scale. Therefore, the whole deal would be less unequal, because Standard at least had a stake in the development of buna. Farben agreed to turn into the pool each new improvement so that Standard could also make, improve, and sell buna rubber at will. 

In the 1920 s, Schneider and other Farben scientists invented a way to use the Bergius process on a large scale. Their new process was called "hydrogenation." This development of "hydrogenation" was due largely to the vision of Carl Bosch, Fritz ter Meer, Carl Krauch, and Christian Schneider. Schneider testified ... 

This process meant the pressuring of coal, tars, and mineral oils by stages, into their final products. As to the gasoline in 1926 the decision was reached by the Vorstand that a large-scale experimental plant should be set up at Leuna for the production of 100,000 tons. We fell into the Depression and there were enormous technical difficulties. Within the Farben Vorstand, confidence in the process was seriously shaken. The whole Leuna plant was almost closed down. It was only the confidence of Bosch and Krauch and us technical men that was able to prevent this being done. We always had full confidence that technical difficulties would be overcome, and the future proved us right. 

Apart from the persons especially reported, there was a monthly selection. The Farben people were fully familiar with this "selection process" and even prevented its operation in one case where they needed the skill of the prisoners involved. 

But "imports and exports" were merely business then. When Germany began to replace her imports of petroleum, we acclaimed again the miracle of industrial substitutes. The world naphtha supply would last only twenty to thirty years. Germany could not get enough naphtha from the United States, Russia, Venezuela, Persia, the Dutch Indies, and Rumania. With Farben s new hydrogenation process, Germany could make all the naphtha she wanted. 

The New Order for France" demanded a secret Farben hold on all patents. They were bidding, without any stretch of imagination, to control the economy of the whole continent. They could grab a process, register it secretly, release its benefits as they pleased. Upon the patent would depend the granting of licenses. On licenses would depend the flow of goods between countries. 

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