Evening star., 1943-05-30
Government S Largest
Synthetic Plant Opens
In West Virginia
Now Produces Enough
Rubber for 8 Tires
Every 80 Seconds
By JAMES Y. NEWTON,

CHARLESTON, w. Va, May
29.-The largest of the Govern
ment's great synthetic, rubber
plants was opened officially here
today and already is turning out
in volume a product which ex-
perts described as of sufficiently
high quality to be "the answer to
the motorists need for tires" 1t
is the first plant where all the
rubber making process is car
ried on under one roof" to go
into production.
Located in the nearby town of
Institute, the huge $56000,0O0 plant
which the japanese conquests in
the South Pacific forced us to build
is now turning out raw rubber at
about one third of it's capacity rate
of 10000 long tons a year. This
10000 tons, enough to make 16,-
100000 car tires, represents about
one-sixth of Americas prewar i'm
portation Of natural rubber. The
current production rate translated
into more understandable terms,
means material for about eight
passenger tires every 30 seconds.
The Institute plant is making
buna S, the general purpose rubber
which constitutes $4,000 tons of
our ,000-ton- year total syn
thetic program. The grain alcohol
process for making buna S is used
here. Approximately third of our
buna S will be made from alcohol,
the remainder from petroleum.
Two Processes Carried On.
Actually there are two large
plants here. The first makes
butadiene and styrene, the two
principal ingredients of buna S,
and is operated for the Government
by the Carbide and Carbon Chemi-
Gals Corp. The other is what the
chemists call the copolymer plant
the place where butadiene and
etyrene are mixed to form raw
rubber. This second operation is
run by the United States Rubber
Co.
In order not to give the civilian
the impression that he is to get new
synthetic tires soon. it should be
added that the entire production
of Institute this year and most of
next will be turned over to the
armed forces. The motorist can
not hope to obtain synthetic tires
until we'll into 1914 and, even then,
not so many. Rubber officials say
it will be 1945 before We are produc-
ing synthetic rubber in sufficient
quantity to take care of all the needs
of the military forces, our Allies and
civilians.
Generates More Heat.
4he product made. here is about
80 per cent as efficient for all uses
as natural rubber. Experts claim
it is entirely satisfactory for passen-
ger car tires. and that the ordinary
motorist could tell no difference be-
tween performance of buna S tire
and one made from natural rubber.
Synthetic, however, generates more
heat than natural rubber and, there
fore, is not as satisfactory for most
heavy duty tires used by the armed
forces. For this reason it is still
necessary to add about As per cent
natural to the buna S in making
large tires.
Progress so far made by American
scientists in developing the process
for making synthetic rubber is
called "a miracle in chemistry" by
those who have followed it closely
Ordinarily it requires 10 years to
develop a chemical process to the
point of usefulness. Our chemists
have worked on synthetic seriously
for only two years. There seems
little doubt that we soon would
be out of the war if it had not been
for this miracle"
AS one expert said, The Axis
gambled their empires on the theory
they could defeat us by cutting off
our raw materials supply-chiefy
rubber. They did not think we
could make synthetic. They gam
bled and lost"
Oddly enough, it is because of
the Germans that we are able today
to produce synthetic in volume.
German chemists developed the
buna S process. Our scientists i'm
proved it greatly and made it work.
The Standard Oil Co. of New jersey
obtained the patent for buna S in
pre-war dealings with Germanys
huge I. G. Ferbenindustrie-
tiations for which they have since
been severely criticized
May Outclass National Rubber.
United States Rubber Co. officials
say that through constant expert
mentation it will be possible, per-
haps before the wars end. to make
synthetic that will be $50 per cent
as satisfactory as natural rubber.
While precise figures are not avail
able, the present cost of buna IS is
described as under 80 cents a
pound. This compares with an av-
erage cost of rubber brought into
this country from 1881 to 1910 of
1888 cents. The experts hope that
the cost of synthetic eventually will
be brought down to as low as 10
cents a pound. Considerable cost
reduction must be made if the in
dustry is to pay its way.
Not much conversation with syn
thetic industry officials is needed for
one to be convinced that they are
in the business for keeps. They be-
lieve after the war America will not
be dependent on Malaga and the
Netherlands East Indies for its rub
ber. But they concede there is a