Evening star., 1942-08-13
Common Salt Plays
Important Role in
Modern Warfare
Keeps Planes Flying,
Tonks Running and
Explosives Booming

story OF the chemlCal industry roQaV
as it takes the most ordinary raw
materials, and, by the alchemy Of
science. turns them into airplanes
over the Pacific, tanks ch'lrning
across the burning sands, explosives
to protect America, bombs over
Germany
Salt-it is one of the commonest
OF everyday things. 1t seasons beef
steaks. 1t soothes sore throat
when used in q gargle. The super
stitious toss a pinch of il over their
left shoulder to avoid bad luck.
Children are smilingly told that
they may catch bird II they put
salt on its tail.
To the chemist, a statement of
the E. I. du Pont de ~Nemcurs &
Co. emphasizes, salt is something
else again, one Of the four or five
most important basic raw materials
in all the world 1t is so important
for war that more than 10000, 900 900
pounds of it will be converted during
1912 into chemicals to help IN
substantial, even though subtle, way
to win the war.
In Many Forms.
Salt can be separated by electr >ly-
sis into basic elements essential to
building and operating alrplanes,
tanks and guns, and to the. manu-
facture of high-test gasoline, syn
thetic rubber and a host of things
military.
A powerful electric current per-
forms this operation and from salt
turns out a silvery- white metal-so-
dium-and a greenish-yellow gas
chlorine-as the first step in the
manufacture of vital things.
There is not one grain Of salt In
high-test gasoline, yet it enters
prominently into the manufacture
of tetraethyl lead used in iRh-oc-
tame aviation gasoline which 'Reeps
'em flying
Sodium from salt is reacted with
lead to form what is known as
sodium lead alloy, and chlorine from
salt is reacted with alcohol to form
a material known as ethyl chloride
Ethyl chloride and sodium-lea
alloy together produce tetraethyl
lead. A few drops of this added
to a gallon OF gasoline converts ii
into so-called high-octane fueI
necessary for modern airplanes.
You never would find salt on the
clutch or in the tranmission of 9
motor vehicle, yet the mechanism
| of tank or truck bouncing ovel
treacherous terrain would fail If it!
| gear surfaces had not been hard.
ened in a bath containing molter
sodium cyanide.
Maximum force, for example, or
a single tooth of an automobile
transmission gear is about 1,16t
pounds when the car is accelerat
ing or climbing a hill Shock load
10 times as severe are imposed /
the foot slips of the clutch wher
the motor is racing and the ca
Is virtually at a standstill. Soft
core metals can be used becaus,
chemicals yielded by common sal
and other agents have impaired i,
hard, wear-resiStant surface.
Imagine the strains on gears. o
tanks, trucks, ships, jeeps and biz
guns in the full fury of mechanical
warfare. Chemicals from salt hell
them to stand up in the Arctic o.
at the Equator.
The best bath you can give !,
| piece of metal is with chemical.
made from salt. Every piece O
metal going into military equipment
and essential production machinery
must be cleansed OF oil, grease ane
/ the like at least once before i
takes finished form.
Chlorine compounds, called chlori
, mated solvents and best known a.
odorless, synthetic dry cleaning
fluids, are used to clean metal b,
a process known as solvent degreas
ing. Oil and grease dissolve il
these solvents like sugar in water
Speeds Up Production.
! Parts vital to intricate militar,
equipment and made of new alloy
can only be cleaned efficiently by
solvent Decreasing. Moreover, thu
cleansing is done about four times
as fast as by other processes, and il
requires only about one-quarter the
factory space, thus speeding thu
whole industrial process.
Shortages of copper and brass fol
shell cases mean that they can bs
made of steel and plated with cop.
per, brass or zinc to assure a smooth
rust-resistant surface. Sodium cy
anide and the cyanides of copper
F.! and zinc, all children Of the chemi
Gals -from-salt family, are required
| to plate these shells, thus shells
seasoned" with salt will be shot a
the enemy during the coming
months.
! Salt in our clothes would make u.
feel sticky and uncomforta ble a!
often happens at the beach in Au.
gust. Yet salt helps to make oul
armed forces the best uniformed ir
history. For sodium peroxide ant
sodiuE~ perborate are textile bleach
ing agents, sodium peroxide beinf
used in new continuous process
which reduces the bleaching cycl'
from IA or more hours to just owe
two hours. Also, both sodium ant
chlorine enter into the manufactur,
of the best dyestuffs.
Many Other Uses.
The list of achievements of chem.
icals made from common, every
day" salt runs on: