Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association

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Air Pollution Control in Connection with DDT

Production

To cite this article: (1964) Air Pollution Control in Connection with DDT Production, Journal of the
Air Pollution Control Association, 14:3, 94-95, DOI: 10.1080/00022470.1964.10468253

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00022470.1964.10468253

Published online: 16 Mar 2012.

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AIR POLLUTION CONTROL in CONNECTION
with DDT PRODUCTION
Informative Report No. 6
In the vanguard of insecticides
since the end of World War II, DDT
production rose from 50 million pounds
in 1947 to over 100 million pounds
in 1951.* In 1959 there were seven
manufacturers producing 157 million
pounds, f in addition to the producers
of DDT, there were, in 1960, 41 com-
panies who "formulated" bulk DDT
for retailing.**
The Process
DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroeth-
ane) is made from chloral, monochlor-
benzene and sulphuric acid. The
chemical equation representing this
reaction is:
H2SOi
CCI3CHO + 2C6HEC1
iCl)2 + H2O
Some producers make either their
own monochlorbenzene, chloral, or
sulphuric acid or a combination of these.
Others, in turn, go a step further and
manufacture the chlorine to produce the
monochlorbenzene or chloral. This
report will deal only with the DDT reac-
tion itself and not with the production
of chloral, monochlorbenzene, chlorine
or sulphuric acid.
The manufacturing process is a three-
step process. The first step consists
of the reaction of the monochlorbenzene
and chloral in the presence of 100%
sulphuric acid. Oleum is added during
the course of the reaction to take up
water of reaction as it is formed and
excess monochlorbenzene or sulphuric
acid is used as a liquid reaction medium.
Refrigeration is applied to control the
temperature at around 50 °F during the
process.
* Industrial Chemicals—Faith, Keyes,
Clark—1957 Edition.
t U. S. Tariff Report.
** 1960 Buyers Directory Issue of Oil,
Paint, and Drug Reporter.
94
This report, published as Informa-
tive Report No. 6 of the Air Pollution
Control Association's TI-2 Chemical
Committee, began to move through
the 14 step approval procedure, as
outlined in the March 1963 Journal,
on January 10, 1963. Comments
made by members of the Technical
Council were considered in the
preparation of the final report. It is
now published as representing the
"best thinking of the Association."
It is an extremely timely and informa-
tive report.
The second step is the separation of
the liquid acid or monochlor phase from
the DDT. The DDT is then washed
with hot water and dilute soda ash solu-
tions to remove excess acidity. The
aqueous washes are removed by syphon-
ing.
In the third step, the DDT mixture
is blown with live steam, under vacuum,
to remove residual monochlorbenzene.
The DDT is then dried by an air sparger
while remaining under vacuum is a
closed, steam-jacketed vessel. The
molten DDT is then usually cooled on
a continuousflakingbelt.
A block diagram of the manufacturing
process and pertinent data on the ma-
terials associated with the process are
attached.
Air Pollution Aspects
Process—The reaction process itself
gives rise to a certain amount of fumes.
The fumes are, primarily, the HC1
from the chloral, some low boiling im-
purities in the chloral which are carried
off with the HC1 and possibly some SO2
from the decomposition of sulphuric
acid. For the most part, these fumes
are condensable with water and a good
water scrub in a packed tower, or
equivalent gas-liquid contactor, will
clean the air. Ordinarily, it is desirable
to keep a slight vacuum on the reaction
vessels to keep the acid gases from escap-
TI-2 Chemical Industry Committee
ing in the work area and this, of course,
adds to the problem of condensing the
gases escaping from the reactors. Good
quantitative data are not available on
the amount of the gases given off. It
might be in the order of 1% of the
weight of the DDT produced. Prob-
ably 95% of this can be recovered with
a water scrubbing system.
In the washing and steaming step,
by scrubbing the gases with cool,
alkaline water, any further HC1, SO2,
organic related compounds or mono-
chlorbenzene coming off from this phase
of the operation can largely be con-
densed. Again, as a rough estimate,
without counting excess monochlor
added as diluent, any gas driven off in
this step would be in the order of one per-
cent of the total DDT production.
And, as from the reactor, about 95%
of this gas can be condensed with an
ordinary scrubbing device.
Any other wastes originating in the
process would be insignificant, certainly
less than V10 of one percent of the fin-
ished product. These would come from
a decomposition of the DDT. These
products are easily condensed.
The gases leaving the washers de-
scribed above have no distinguishable
odor a few j^ards away from their release
into the atmosphere.
Storage—Unloading oleum with air
or' venting oleum tanks may give rise
to occasional emission of SO3 vapors.
The use of a closed systemwill minimize
these losses.
Vents from chloral storage tanks can
also give rise to some disagreeable
odors. Chloral, ordinarily, contains
one to two percent of HC1, one to two
percent water, 95% chloral, one to two
percent of miscellaneous related or-
ganic chlorinated compound. If found
necessary, these chloral tanks could
be vented via the process vent scrubbing
system.
Monochlorbenzene storage tanks or-
Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association
 Materials Associated with DDT Manufacture BUELL ENGINEERING OPENS
Normal
Physical NEW RESEARCH LABORATORY
Material State" Odor" Toxicity"
Chloral Oily liquid 97.8° Slightly acrid Slightly irritating on contact; Buell Engineering Company recently
CBP—57.5°C highly toxic if ingested; mod- completed construction of a new re-
M.P. erately toxic fumes if heated to
decomposition. search and development laboratory at
DDT (Dichloro- Colorless crystal- Slightly aro- Non-hazardous if normal pre- the company's headquarters in Leb-
diphenyltri- line or white matic cautions are taken against skin anon, Pennsylvania.
chloroethane) powder 108 °C contact, ingestion and dust L. A. Eiben, BuelPs president, an-
M.P. dec BP inhalation MAC-1 milligram/
cubic meter. nounced that operations were begun in
Hydrochloric Colorless gas or Acrid Very corrosive. Very irritating the new 5400-square-foot structure in
acid fuming liquid to eyes and respiratory tract if mid-December. Addition of the new
— 84.8°C BP concentrations of 35 ppm and laboratory, in proximity to the com-
114°C M.P. over. Concentrations of 50 to pany's executive offices and fabricating
100 ppm are tolerable for one
hour. MAC-5 ppm. shops, provides Buell with completely
Monochlorben- Colorless liquid Almond-like Strongly narcotic. Only moder- consolidated and comprehensive fa-
zene 135 °C BP ately irritating to skin and cilities for solving the widest variety of
— 45°C M.P. respiratory tract. May de- gas cleaning, dust recovery and clas-
compose under heat to liberate
hydrochloric acid. MAC-75 sification problems for industry.
ppm. The laboratory has been designed to
Oleum (20% free Oily liquid —11° Sharp and Corrosive. Liquid and vapor ex- accommodate full-size commercial dust
SO3) C M.P. 285°F penetrating tremely irritating to the eyes collectors of the various types manu-
BP 6 and respiratory tract. Avoid
contact with skin. MAC-1 factured by Buell, including electric
milligram/cubic meter. precipitators, cyclones, bag collectors,
Sulphuric acid Oily liquid 10.5° Sharp and Same as oleum. tubular collectors, venturi scrubbers,
(98%) C M.P. 330°C penetrating and classifiers. The use of full-size
BP
Sulphur dioxide Colorless gas or Suffocating eas- Corrosive. Very irritating to units for experimental work enables
liquid —10.0° ily noticeable eyes and respiratory tract. Buell to obtain more accurate test
C BP - 75.5 °C at 3 ppm. MAC-5 ppm. results.
M.P. The new Buell laboratory is set up to
Sulphur trioxide Colorless crystal- Produces chok- (Free SO3 almost never exists in
(alpha) line or liquid ing sensation the atmosphere since it com- provide full air-handling capability,
44.8°C BP bines with water to form a mist with fans and a plenum chamber
16.8°C M.P. or fog of H2SO,4). located outside the building. This
a
Dangerous properties of Industrial Materials—1957 Edition—Sax. arrangement permits what amounts to
6
Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid—Duecker & West. a "plug-in" operation of the various
tjrpes of dust collectors to the main duct.
In addition to providing the basic
customer services such as dust analysis,
gas flow studies and particle-size anal-
ysis with pilot classifier units, the
dinarily do not give off enough vapors ing to the atmosphere are very small Buell laboratory will also maintain
to be problems. since they are either high, boiling or responsibility for the development of
Conclusions—-The DDT reactants are water soluble, and large amounts of air new and improved dust collection meth-
well confined and any products escap- are not used. ods and equipment.
Mr. Eiben points out, "Over the years,
Buell has made a number of significant
engineering contributions toward the
solution of dust control and recovery
problems. With our new and advanced
facilities here at Lebanon, we are
confident we can accomplish a great deal
more."

Chloral
ROY F. WESTON, INC.
Air To Vacuum Pump
Environmental Science
and Engineering Consultants
Water—Sewage—Refuse
Industrial Wastes
Stream—Air Pollution
Industrial Hygiene
Community Planning
Surveys—Research—Development-
Process Engineering—Plans and
Specifications Operation Supervision—
Analyses—Evaluations and Reports
Treatment

Bags
NEWTOWN SQUARE,
PENNSYLVANIA
DDT MANUFACTURE

March 1964 / Volume 14, No. 3 95