Monsanto fiber

The first two modacrylic fibers ever introduced in the United States were Dynel (by Union Carbide) in 1949 and Verel (by Tennessee Eastman) in 1956. The former was a copolymer of 60 percent vinyl chloride and 40 percent acrylonitrile, and the latter was said to be a 50-50 copolymer of vinylidene chloride and acrylonitrile with perhaps a third component graft-copolymerized onto the primary material to secure dyeability. SEF and its version for wigs, Elura , were introduced by Monsanto Fibers in 1972. A few foreign manufacturers are making modacrylic fibers, but the only modacrylic fiber currently in production in the United States is SEF . 

The situation changed dramatically when DuPont introduced the first commercial acrylic fiber under the trade name of Orion. This commercial development took place shortly after DuPont [12] and I.G. Farbenindustrie [13] simultaneously reported solvents suitable for spinning acrylonitrile fibers in 1942. Based on this solvent breakthrough, DuPont was able to develop a commercial process for producing acrylic fibers. The DuPont process was based on dry spinning with A,A-dimethylformamide (DMF) as the solvent. The product was introduced in 1944 as Orion. Shortly thereafter Chemstrand (later to become Monsanto Fibers and Intermediates Company) introduced Acrilan, Siiddeutsche Chemiefaser (Hoechst) introduced Dolan, and Bayer introduced Dralon. Developments in this fledgling industry occurred rapidly from that time on. 

In 1998, the worldwide nylon fibers market was shared by DuPont with 27% BASF, 9% Rhodia, 9% Solutia, formerly Monsanto fibers, 7% AlliedSignal, 7% and the remaining 41% by many smaller manufacturers (7). The downturn in the fiber business, worldwide recession, overcapacity, and competition from polyester fibers in the late 1980s led to acquisitions and merges. Some mills started to melt spin their own fibers, notably nylon-6, during this period (8,9). 

Risk of Suits Kills Monsanto Fiber Project. 

Today, the Monsanto fiber, a compound known as calcium sodium metaphosphate, is a cause celebre. Vice President Dan Quayle called it the quintessential example of why new Federal laws are needed to limit awards in product liability suits. His comments were made in an article he wrote in the March issue of Product Safety Liability Reporter, a regulatory newsletter. 

Monsanto s SEE modacryhc is the only remaining U.S. produced modacryhc flame-tesistant fiber. This fiber is a combination of halogen monomers and a dye receptor to offset the poor dye penetration characteristic of acrylonitrile-vinyl halogen copolymers. 

Applications. The polyamides have important appHcations. The very high degree of polymer orientation that is achieved when Hquid crystalline solutions are extmded imparts exceptionally high strengths and moduli to polyamide fibers and films. Du Pont markets such polymers, eg, Kevlar, and Monsanto has a similar product, eg, X-500, which consists of polyamide and hydra2ide-type polymers (31) (see High performance fibers Polyamides, fibers). 

One unique appHcation area for PSF is in membrane separation uses. Asymmetric PSF membranes are used in ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, and ambulatory hemodialysis (artificial kidney) units. Gas-separation membrane technology was developed in the 1970s based on a polysulfone coating appHed to a hoUow-fiber support. The PRISM (Monsanto) gas-separation system based on this concept has been a significant breakthrough in gas-separation... 

FIG. 14-131 MoDsaDto high-efficieDcy fiber-mist-elimiDator elemeDt. (Monsanto Companij.)... 

FIGURE 12.7 Monsanto rheometric curves of ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) rubber-melamine fiber composites [64]. A, gum compound B, compound containing 30 phr melamine fiber but no dry bonding system and C, compound containing both dry bonding system and 30 phr melamine fiber. (From Rajeev, R.S., Bhowmick, A.K., De, S.K., Kao, G.J.P., and Bandyopadhyay, S., Polym. Compos., 23, 574, 2002. With permission.)... 

Uses Dielectric liquids in fixed paper capacitors heat-transfer liquid widely used in transformers and utility transmission lines swelling agents for transmission seals ingredient in lubricants, oils, and greases plasticizers for cellulose products, vinyl, and chlorinated rubbers in polyvinyl acetate to improve fiber-tear properties. In fluorescent and high-intensity discharge ballasts manufactured prior to 1979 (U.S. EPA, 1998) and in electric motors (Monsanto, 1960). 

Poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) (Equation 6.68) forms the basis for a number of fibers and copolymers. As fibers, they are referred to as acrylics or acrylic fibers. The development of acrylic fibers began in the early 1930s in Germany, but they were first commercially produced in the United States by DuPont (Orion) and Monsanto (Acrilan) around 1950. 

The specific heat of E glass fiber is 0.192 cal/gm K (i.e., 0.804 J/gm K) [73]. The specific heat of caprolactam as a function of temperature was fitted to the following equation from experimental data available in Monsanto ... 

Propene is used as a starting material for numerous other compounds. Chief among these are isopropyl alcohol, acrylonitrile, and propylene oxide. Isopropyl alcohol results from the hydration of propylene during cracking and is the primary chemical derived from propylene. Isopropyl alcohol is used as a solvent, antifreeze, and as rubbing alcohol, but its major use is for the production of acetone. Acrylonitrile is used primarily as a monomer in the production of acrylic fibers. Polymerized acrylonitrile fibers are produced under the trade names such as Orion (DuPont) and Acrilan (Monsanto). Acrylonitrile is also a reactant in the synthesis of dyes, pharmaceuticals, synthetic rubber, and resins. Acrylonitrile production occurs primarily through ammoxidation of propylene CH3- CH = CH2 + NH3 + 1.5 02—> CH2 = CH - C = N + 3 H20. 

Griffith7 chronicled in lively fashion the growth and sudden demise of an extraordinary project of the Monsanto Co. to make phosphate fibers as substitutes for the much maligned asbestoses. The object was to make materials with most of the desirable properties of asbestos, but that would hydrolyze slowly in, say, the alveoli of the lungs to form a soluble and biologically beneficial product (phosphate ions), so avoiding the tendency of insoluble aluminosilicate fibers to remain indefinitely in biological material with the attendant risk of cancer. 

Figure 19.6. Gas permeation equipment and performance, (a) Cutaway of a Monsanto Prism hollow fiber module for gas separation by permeation, (b) Flowsketch of a continuous column membrane gas separator, (c) Composition profiles of a mixture of C02 and Oz in a column 5 m long operated at total reflux [Thorman and Hwang in ( Turbak, Ed.), Synthetic Membranes II, American Chemical Society, Washington DC, 1981, pp. 259-279],...

---