Document XdJXJY7bR2NxNQqVz4nooQvG

.xt* in Asarco smeller gets its emission variance-The Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency has granted a 5-yr variance to Asarco Inc. (New York) for continued oper ation of Us Tacoma, Wash, copper smelter at arsenic and sulfur dioxide emission levels above the agency's calings. Asarco agreed to spend $4.7 million on control equipment during that period, and will additionally run its liquid sulfur dioxide and sulfuric add plants in order to recover "the greatest amount" of S02 from offgases. However, court challenges could delay imple mentation of the plan, and an environmental impact statement might be needed to make the variance legal. See Chem. Eng, Nov 10, 1975, p. 118, and Feb. 17, 1975, p. 41, for earlier reports on the running fray Good news and bad news for pesticide makers-- Sandoz, Inc. (ast Hanover, N J ) has won the first registration from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a natural virus insecticide, and in tends to market it by June or July Tradenamed Dear, the nuclear polyhedrosis virus specifically attacks cot ton bollworms and tobacco budworms It survives a rel atively Jong 3-7 days, apparently the key to its appli cation as a wettable powder rather than via a morecomplicated delivery system such as microencapsulauon (Chem. Eng., Jan 19, pp 57-59) EPA outlawed most but not all mercury-bearing pestiddes. The ban should reduce by 98.5% the amount of mercury entering the environment via pesti ddes, EPA says, and thus mitigate health hazards. Paint makers had used 90% of the banned products Allied Chemical Corp. (Morristown. N.J.) won't reactivate its Aberdeen, Miss., plant for formulating Mirex, a fire-ant insecticide. EPA has challenged Mirex for years because of cancer concern Allied still disputes this, but says it can no longer justify the time and ex pense of defending the product The U.S. Dept, of Ag riculture has been financing Mirex use, and daims there is no known effective substitute. Vinyl-chloride control news also comes in threes-- A proprietary, non-noblc-nictal catalyst jointly de veloped by Harshaw Chemical Co (Cleveland. Ohio) and Air Resouiccs, Inc. (Palatine, 111.) stars in the lat ter's new catalytic incinerator for destroying halogenated organics, such as vinv! chloride, which attack conventional catalysts The fluid-bed unit o|x-rates> at below 700T and J4-s residence time-said to slash energy use compared with thermal incinerators run ning at 1,800-2,000' F and 2-s residence The fust com mercial unit has stalled up at Chemctron Corp's La Porte, Tex , plant, for treating an off-stream of mixed chlorinated hydrocarbons, the hydrogen t blonde formed is recovered A liquid chemical boasting high affinity for vinyl chloride and other organics has been developed by Guardian Chemical Corp (Hauppauge, NY) for use in air washers and scrubbers. It derives from the firm's Polycomplex, an oil-spill cleanup agent that reportedly helps strip oil from tar sands, and also spawned an emulsifier touted for water/ gasoline/alcohol fuels A continuous stripping process for cleaning resid ual monomer from polyvinyl chloride resins (and thus abating emissions) will be used by KemaNord in Swe den, the firm says, under one of the first licenses from developer B. F. Goodrich Chemical Co., Cleveland (Chem Eng , Nov 24, 1975, p. 27) Olin will triple its hydrazine capacity--Anticipating 15-17% annual growth for hydrazine usage over the next mne years, in the U.S. alone and worldwide, Olin Corp. (Stamford, Conn.) is about ready to start build ing a 325-million plant adjacent to an existing unit at Lake Charles, La. Olin's capacity will reach 30 million Ib/yr upon plant completion in 1978. Major hydrazine outlets include rocket fuels, blowing agents, phar maceuticals, pesticides, corrosion inhibitors, and reduc ing agents. Carbide buys another pollution-control business--Just two weeks after announcing acquisition of Westinghouse Electric Corp.'s reverse-osmosis and ultrafil tration technologies (Chem. Eng., Feb. 16, p 44), Union Carbide Corp. (New York) revealed its purchase of li censing rights and assets of W. R. Grace & Co.'s busi ness in ozone generators and systems. Ozonation has been gaining stature as a fill-in for chlorination of wastewaters and potable waters, Carbide says, and meshes especially well with its Unox oxygen-activatedsludge system. Liquid-sulfur-dioxide process is spreading--A lowcost, closed-loop method for recovering liquid SO; from exhaust gases, developed by Stal Refrigeration AB (Norrkoeping, Sweden), went onstream early this year in a Finnish plant, and will soon serve in a plant going up in Zaire. The maiden installation has been running in Sweden for several years. The technique avoids the usual sequence of absorption of SO; by wa ter- or solvent-scrubbing, stripping, and liquefaction. Instead, a desired poition of SO..-bearing raw gas (e.g . from copper smelting) goes directly to a -70'>C, atmo spheric-pressure refrigeration tiain foi partial SO.- li quefaction, the gas then recycles for Wending with the untreated poition, and the mix continues, oil to a sulfui ic-and plant. News Features start on page 53 News Uriels start on page t>4 RSV0030201