M A R K E T S

Fatty Alcohols Poised for Growth Supply pattern is shifting as new sources of detergent and plasticizer alcohols open up

The search for softer detergents is building up new interest in fatty al­cohols. The resulting round of new facilities reflects the possibility of a surge in demand for these highly bio­degradable surfactant intermediates. New methods of synthesis being de­veloped are likely to have effects that go beyond detergent markets and into markets for plastics, primarily, and a variety of smaller markets from textile finishing agents to hydraulic fluids.

U.S. capacity for C4 through C ] 8

alcohols, already about 900 million pounds per year, will get a substantial boost when two major plants now being built go on stream next year. Union Carbide's 75 million pound-per-year unit at Texas City, Tex., will make secondary alcohols in the deter­gent range ( C n and higher) from the corresponding linear paraffins. Ethyl Corp. will also begin with petroleum derivatives at its Pasadena, Tex., plant. Ethyl's process, based partly on Ziegler chemistry, yields both plasticizer-range (C1 0 and shorter) and detergent-range alcohols. Capacity will be about 100 million pounds per year.

Continental Oil began offering CG

through C20 alcohols and blends in 1962. Its 100 million pound-per-year unit at Lake Charles, La., converts ethylene to alcohols via the Ziegler route. Before Conoco's entry, the principal source of detergent-range fatty alcohols was natural fats. Plas­ticizer-range alcohols were produced mainly from olefins, via the oxo proc­ess, and from aldehydes via aldol con­densation.

Degradable. Current expansion is tied to the detergent-range alcohols. The sudden interest in them arises from one fact: Alcohol-based surfact­ants are quickly and almost completely biodegradable under aerobic condi­tions, and may also outperform linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) under anaerobic conditions.

Until now, price has held back the use of alcohol-based surfactants. Lau-ryl alcohol, from either coconut oil or

from ethylene (Conoco's Alfol 1216), lists for 27 cents per pound in tank-car quantities. Natural tallow alcohol and Conoco's equivalent product (Alfol 1618) are priced at 20 cents. LAS lists for 13 cents and may drop to about 11 cents within a vear.

But if LAS doesn't prove to be a satisfactory replacement for branched-ehain alkylbenzene sulfonate in house­hold detergents, alcohol-based surfact­ants are likely candidates to take its place. This could double the present 200 million pound-per-year consump­tion of detergent-grade alcohols. In any event, the higher alcohols should enjoy a steady rise in consumption paralleling the growing popularity of low-sudsing heavy-duty detergents, such as Ad, "all," and Dash. These detergents already have almost 20% of the market for heavy-duty house­hold products and are still moving up. Alcohol-ethylene oxide adducts will likely replace much of the alkylphenol surfactants and branched-chain alkyl-

SYNTHETIC FATTY ALCOHOLS. These still columns separate ethylene-derived al­cohols into salable fractions at Conoco's Lake Charles, La.f plant. Long-chain, linear alcohols from sources other than natural fats are opening up new choices of stable-priced intermediates to detergent and plasticizer makers

J U N E 8, 196 4 C & E N 31

Engelhard's quartz research, extensive know-how and technical facilities help chemical manufacturers trans­form laboratory processes into large-scale production. High-purity, transparent fused quartz produced in diameters as large as 8" is but one result of this effort. Another is clear fused quartz bonded as a liner to an opaque Rotosil quartz tube . . . making available ex­tremely high-purity tubing in diameters up to 18". In meeting the needs of the chemical industry for highr

purity, fused quartz, Engelhard scientists work from a broad technological base. They have at their disposal some of the finest casting, molding and extrusion facili­ties in the industry. Engelhard manufacturing has de­veloped a variety of processes, each designed to provide an optimum product for a particular range of indus­trial specifications — processes that take into account requirements for ultraviolet transmission, vacuum-tight and gas-tight equipment. 2A2

32 C & Ε Ν

in 8" diameters to meet chemical requirements produces high-quality fused quartz ENGELHARD

RUPTURE DISCS of precious metals are guaranteed to burst at ± 5 % of specified pressure. Made of gold, sil­ver or platinum, they are ideal for pressurized apparatus subject to cor­rosive atmospheres which would ren­der base metals useless.

PLATINUM LABORATORY WARE for every application is available. Engel­hard supplies industry's most complete line—crucibles, reshapers, triangles, dishes, implement tongs, gauze and electrodes. Special-purpose ware is produced in platinum or other desired alloys.

PRECIOUS METAL RECOVERY yields high returns from spent metal cata­lysts and industrial residues. Engel­hard assures highest purchase prices or will return recovered metals if you wish. Our modern and complete facil­ities are backed by an experienced technical service group.

GENERATORS FOR PRODUCTION OF N2 H2 GAS offer an economical, in-plant method for production of high­est-purity nitrogen. Unit supplies up to 10,000 c.f.h. of gas with less than 1 ppm of oxygen, and controllable hydrogen content of 0 .5% to 2 5 % . Can cut production costs by 3 0 % .

PLATINUM GAUZE CATALYSTS are of­ten the most economical because of high efficiency and corrosion resist­ance at elevated temperatures. Plati­num and platinum alloys are especially useful in production of nitric, chamber sulfuric, and hydrocyanic acids.

benzene sulfonate in such products. These ethoxylated alcohols are efficient surfactants and generate little foam.

Natural Fats. Among major deter­gent makers, only Procter & Gamble has made volume use of alcohol-based surfactants in its products. The com­pany makes coconut and tallow al­cohols in captive facilities, using a high-pressure catalytic process to hy-drogenate methyl esters of the natural fats. Most of the resulting detergent-range alcohol is converted to alkyl sulfates. Some is ethoxylated. The C6 through C10 alcohols from coconut oil are sold, as is a small portion of the detergent-range alcohols. P&G last year boosted its capacity by about one third, to almost 200 million pounds.

Du Pont also makes fatty alcohols from coconut oil, using a high-pressure hydrogénation process at Belle, W.Va. Some of this output is used captively, but most of it is sold for use in spe­cialty plasticizers, lubricant additives, cosmetics, and similar applications. Several other firms, mainly plasticizer makers, produce small quantities for captive use or specialty sales.

The price of commercial lauryl al­cohol from coconut oil currently matches the price of Conoco's product at 27 cents per pound list, and it costs about 21 cents to produce. But this cost is tied directly to coconut oil prices, which have varied widely in the past. Crude coconut oil now lists for 1 3 1 / 4 cents per pound on the West Coast. But it was priced at 18 cents as recently as 1959. There's no as­surance that such swings won't be repeated. In January, the Govern­ment completed the gradual sale of its entire stockpile of crude coconut oil —some 266 million pounds. This re­moved a major stabilizing influence on crude prices, which had averaged 12.1 cents per pound during the four-year stockpile liquidation, their lowest level since World War II.

Tallow alcohol lists for about 20 cents per pound and costs about 9 cents to make in a large-volume, cap­tive operation such as P&G's. Inedible tallow prices, though influenced by cattle slaughter rate and export de­mand, have fluctuated less than coco­nut oil prices in recent years.

A big selling point for ethylene- or petroleum-derived alcohols, particu­larly to detergent makers other than P&G, is thus price stability. And the detergent makers are beginning to respond. Also, there's a good chance for lowering of synthetic alcohol prices

as competition builds up. Carbide claims, for example, that it can produce detergent-grade alcohols more cheaply from linear paraffins than it could from ethylene, higher olefins, or nat­ural fats. So far, Carbide plans to convert all its output to ethoxylates or ethoxylate sulfates. (Secondary alkyl sulfates are less effective surfactants than are the primary isomers.) De­velopment quantities of Carbide's ethoxylates list for about Yl1/2 to 1 8 1 / 2 cents per pound. Its ethoxylate sulfate, for use in light-duty detergents, lists for 14 cents. Conoco offers ethoxylates, priced at 17 1 / 2 to 19 1 / 2

cents per pound, in addition to the alcohols themselves.

The Other Half. Roughly half of Conoco's synthetic alcohols fall into the detergent category. With the others—C6, C8, and C10 alcohols and blends—the company is going after a share of the plasticizers market.

The almost 300 million pound-per-year alcohol demand for plasticizer use is now supplied mostly by oxo alcohols plus aldehyde-derived butanol and 2-ethylhexanol. Dioctyl phthalate, for example, can be made from 2-ethyl­hexanol. Diisooctyl phthalate is made from oxo-derived isooctanol. Produc­tion of octanol-based phthalates, the largest single class of plasticizers, will add up to almost 20 million pounds in 1964. Most phthalate plasticizers go into polyvinyl chloride and copolymer resins, the outlook for which is a 9% compounded annual rise in production over the next five years.

Oxo-derived alcohols are mixtures of branched and linear alcohols, and 2-ethylhexanol is a branched octanol isomer. Completely linear alcohols such as Conoco's Alfol alcohols have an advantage here, since they can pro­duce better plasticizing properties than branched alcohols can.

Conoco is competing for this market with a blend of linear hexanol, octanol, and decanol at 15 cents per pound list. Isooctanol and 2-ethylhexanol, both of which are also priced at 15 cents a pound now, dropped to that level in 1962. Prior to the appearance of Conoco's linear alcohols, both had been priced at 20 cents per pound for more than five years.

Carbide has no plans at present to produce alcohols in the plasticizer range. While little evaluation has been carried out, the company fore­sees some problems in adapting sec­ondary alcohols to the esterification processes used to make plasticizers.

J U N E 8, 1964 C & E N 33

Some other ENGELHARD products

ËENCEË.M*J*KZË* I N D U S T R I E S . I N C

EXECUTIVE OFFICES:

113 Astor Street, Newark, New Jersey 07114