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Use of matrices of polypropylene filaments in the removal of oil from the surface of seawater was investigated. The data indicated that the distance between the filaments and the cross-sectional area of the filaments was an important factor in the observed removal capacity of the matrices. An increase in the turbulence level of the slick surface markedly decreased the oil retention capabilities of the matrices. At similar interfilament distances, changes in the filament geometry from circular to rectangular led to much higher oil retention capacities while changes in the surface properties of the filaments appeared to have a minimal effect on the observed capacities.

acetic acid solution catalyzed by aluminum chloride, the successive reaction can proceed selectively, differing from the reaction without a catalyst. Under conditions of a bench-scale reactor, stirring being used, the relative flow rate of chlorine being 0.25 to 0.60, the concentration of BPA feed 10%, that of the catalyst more than 1%, and the reaction temperature 30 to 33°C, the selectivity of the catalyst for the formation of DCBPA and TCBPA was very high. The reaction apparently proceeded through three stages and TCBPA of high purity could be synthesized.

A small pilot plant (capacity, 450 kg/day) has been constructed to evaluate gasification of manure by partial oxidation.The reactor operates as a countercurrent, fluidized bed in which an air-steam mixture is the fluidizing medium and manure is the only solid phase present. The product gas from this process contains a significant amount of hydrocarbons (CH4 ~10%, C2H4 ~6%) in addition to normal partial oxidation products. The net heating value of the dry gas exceeded 8.6 MJ/m3 (1 atm, 0 °C) in all cases. The net heating value of the C02-free gas (still containing nitrogen) exceeded 11.2 MJ/m3. The pilot plant design and operating procedure are described as are the results of the heat and material balances. This work confirms the technical feasibility and potential scale-up for producing a medium heating value gas suitable for fuel or for feed to a petrochemical production process at relatively high yields from cattle feedlot manure.

At present there is no reliable method of predicting the time required for a cascade of mixer-settler stages to approach steady state. Rules of thumb are used, based on the number of throughputs of the various streams. This paper compares data obtained in the laboratory for the TBP (tributyl phosphate)-Varsol-H,O-HNO:, system with four assumed mathematical models. It was found that the model that assumed homogeneity of the aqueous phase in the settling chamber and plug flow of the organic phase in the settling chamber predicted the nitric acid concentrations most accurately.In the absence of other information, this model is recommended for prediction of results for tube-type mixer-settler extractors for systems with similar properties.It was of considerable interest that simpler models could be used for accurate estimates when the number of stages in the cascade was increased.Mixer-settler extractors have been used rather extensively in the past two decades. Multistage extractors made from glass tubes have been used in the laboratory to study separations on a small scale, and box-type units have been used frequently for continuous larger-scale separations. At the present time there is no reliable method of estimating the time required for a mixer-settler to approach steady state, and few previous studies have been devoted to the effect of flow characteristics within the extractor on the response of the system. This paper describes how well various mathematical models developed for the extraction system were able to predict the con-* Contribution No.