Hercules Powder Company

In the early 1950s novel polyethers were prepared in the laboratories of the Hercules Powder Company and of Imperial Chemical Industries Limited from oxacyclobutane derivatives. One such polyether that from 3,3-dichloromethyl-1-oxacyclobutane, was marketed by the first named company in 1959 under the trade name of Penton. Commercial manufacture of this material had, however, ceased by the end of 1972. 

Acknowledgment is made of assistance in the chemical work by A. C. Hazen, H. D. Mann, and P. E. Hubanks. The infrared spectroscopic examination was made by W. C. Kenyon, Hercules Powder Company, Wilmington, Del. 

Hercules Powder Company, private communication to API Subcommittee on Corrosion. 

Hercules (1) An organic nitration process, similar to the Bofors process but using a tee-joint for mixing. Developed by the Hercules Powder Company, Wilmington, DE, from 1957. U.S. Patents 2,951,746 2,951,877. 

With the end of World War II in August 1945, the United States War Department had available at Louisiana, Missouri a high-pressure synthetic ammonia plant formerly operated by the Hercules Powder Company. The Bureau of Mines acquired this plant on February 1,... 

The oldest cresol production method used in the United States is through the recovery of fractional distillates from coal tars. Most domestic cresols are formed via catalytic and thermal cracking of naphtha fractions during petroleum distillation. Since 1965, quantities of coal tar and petroleum isolates have been insufficient to meet the rising demand. Consequently, several processes for the manufacture of the various isomers have been developed. One General Electric facility produces o-cresol at an annual capacity of 10,000 tons by the methylation of phenol in the presence of catalysts. The Sherman-Williams Company uses the toluene sulfonation process and maintains an annual capacity for p-cresol of 15,000 tons. The Hercules Powder Company produced p-cresol until 1972 by the cymene- cresol process. 

Hercules Incorporated. Hercules Incorporated, known as Hercules Powder Co prior to 1966, a diversified, world-wide chemical company with estimated annual sales of about 1 billion in 1973, began its corporate history on October 17, 1912. On that date, a decree of the federal court, under the Sherman Act, ordered the dissolution of the E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company, and a regrouping of the properties into the same company plus two new corporations. Hercules Powder Company and the Atlas Powder Company were the new corporations (Ref 3)... 

At the opening of business on January 1, 1913, Hercules Powder Company, incorporated in Delaware, began with nine black powder mills and two active dynamite plants ... 

The calculation of molar quantities is based on an acid number of 166 for N-grade wood rosin as obtained from Hercules Powder Company, Wilmington, Delaware. Acid number is the number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide required to neutralize 1 g. of sample. 

Nitrocellulose granules, partially colloided, of sizes ranging from a few microns to a fraction of millimetres are suggested. The best known of the described methods was developed by the Hercules Powder Company [54]. It uses densified nitrocellulose originally developed for the lacquer industry, with an average particle size of 0.25 mm. 

EXAMINATION OF COMMERCIAL DYNAMITES BY THE METHODS OF HERCULES POWDER COMPANY AND BY THE METHODS DESCRIBED BY R. PIERSON... 

C) Disc Method of Hercules Powder Company. In this test procedure, the expl is loaded into steel pipe bombs 1 or 2 in diam and of varying wall thickness from 1/8 to 1/4". Instead of the usual screw cap, a base plate can be welded to the bomb, or omitted, and the assembly can be backed... 

Crater, W, de C. (1894-1966) American chemist born in Succasunna, NJ. He attended Lafayette College and since 1917 has bean associated with the Hercules Powder Company, Wilmington, Del. Crater is the author of many publications patents on nitration processes, expl compds proplnts Refs 1)IEC 40, 1554 (1948) 2)C EN 44,... 

Figure 55. Nitroglycerin Buggy. (Courtesy Hercules Powder Company.) For transporting nitroglycerin from the storage house to the house where it is mixed with the other ingredients of dynamite. Note the absence of valves and the use of wooden hose clamps as a safety precaution.

Figure 84. Determination of the Velocity of Detonation of Dynamite by the Dautriche Method. (Courtesy Hercules Powder Company.) Compare Figure 9, page 17.

Figure 85. Dynamite Manufacture. (Courtesy Hercules Powder Company.) Rubbing the dry ingredients of dynamite through a screen into the bowl of a mixing machine.

Figure 96. Manufacture of Detonators. (Courtesy Hercules Powder Company.) The safe mixing of the primary explosive charge for blasting caps is accomplished mechanically behind a concrete barricade by lifting slowly and then lowering first one corner of the triangular rubber tray, then the next corner, then (lie next, and so on. In the background, the rubber bowl or box in which the mixed explosive is carried to the building where it is loaded into caps.

The author would like to thank R. Nyquist of the Chemical Physics Laboratory for the infrared analyses and P. A. Traylor of the Microscopy Laboratory for the preparation of electron micrographs. The permission by C. W. Hock of the Hercules Powder Company to reproduce one of his micrographs is appreciated. Technical assistance by D. Moldovan in determining the contact angles is deeply appreciated. 

Hercules Dynamite on the Farm, Hercules Powder Company, Wilmington. Del. 

Summary Diazodinitrophenol can be prepared by reacting sodium picramate with nitrous acid. The nitrous acid is generated on-sight by the reaction between sodium nitrite and hydrochloric acid. The diazodinitrophenol precipitates when it forms, due to the excessive amount water present in the reaction mixture. The product is then easily filtered-off, washed, and then dried. Commercial Industrial note For related, or similar information, see Serial No. 181,028, December 21st, 1937, by Hercules Powder Company, to Leon W. Babcock, Kenvil, NJ. Part or parts of this laboratory process may be protected by international, and/or commcrcial/industrial processes. Before using this process to legally manufacture the mentioned explosive, with intent to sell, consult any protected commercial or industrial processes related to, similar to, or additional to, the process discussed in this procedure. This process may be used to legally prepare the mentioned explosive for laboratory, educational, or research purposes. 

Willard Crater, Succansunna, New Jersey Hercules Powder Company, Willmington, Del. 

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