Hydrocarbon Processing - June 2022 - 56

History of the HPI
new technologies during the 1970s and
1980s to optimize process controls and
automation for the HPI. In the late 1970s,
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) created an Energy Laboratory
to facilitate collaboration between
university and industry.161
This effort materialized
out of the energy crisis of the
1970s. Led by MIT Professor of Chemical
Engineering Larry Evans and funded
by the U.S. Department of Energy, the
Advanced System for Process Engineering
(ASPEN) project began in 1977.
According to literature, the ASPEN
project set about to develop a general-purpose
simulation system that could be used
by chemical engineers across the entire
process industries. The result of the project
was the next-generation process simulator
named ASPEN. This technology
could simulate large, complex processes
involving highly non-ideal chemical components,
coals and synthetic fuels, as well
as electrolyte and multiphase systems.161
In 1981, the software was commercialized
by the new company, AspenTech,
which released its first product, Aspen
Plus, in 1982.
Several direct digital control technologies
were released in the 1970s, which included
Foxboro's (now part of Schneider
Electric) FOX 1 system for plant monitoring
and process control, Fisher Controls'
(now part of Emerson) DC2
system
and PROVOX DCS, Taylor Instrument
Co.'s and Baily Controls' (both companies
are now part of ABB) 1010 system
and 1055 system, respectively.162,163
Process automation continued to
evolve over the next several decades,
including the move to ethernet-based
networks, fieldbus installations, wireless
systems and protocols, increased
cyber defenses, remote transmission,
and many other advances to optimize
plant operations.
Polyethylene terephthalate: Solving
the carbonated liquids container
challenge. In 1941, DuPont scientists
John Whinfield and James Dickson expanded
on Wallace Carothers'-a fellow
DuPont colleague-work on synthetic
fibers. Carothers' research was instrumental
in the discovery of neoprene,
nylon and other synthetic fibers. These
discoveries were detailed in the February
issue's History of the HPI section of
Hydrocarbon Processing.
Through their research, they discovered
how to condense terephthalic acid
and ethylene glycol into a new polymer
that could be drawn into a fiber.164
Their
work eventually led to the development
of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Whinfield and Dickson patented their
discovery in Great Britain in mid-1941
(and later in the U.S. in 1945);165
PET would become the basis for
pad.167
He turned to a new chemical
polymer discovered approximately a decade
before called polyethylene (PE)-a
detailed account of the discovery of PE
was published in the History of the HPI
section in the February issue. In 1947,
Montenier partnered with the Plax Corp.
of Hartford, Connecticut (U.S.)-the
company used blow molding to manufacture
plastic Christmas tree ornaments.167
Their partnership produced the Stopette
spray bottle, which was first commercially
sold in July 1947.167
This event marked
the beginning of plastic containers competing
against glass.
However, plastic containers remained
expensive until the invention of high-density
PE (HDPE)168
in the 1950s by J. Paul
Hogan and Robert L. Banks while working
at Phillips Petroleum Co. in Bartlesville,
Oklahoma (U.S.)-the discovery
of HDPE is detailed in the History of the
HPI section of the April issue. Several
new uses of plastic bottles were commercialized
over the next two decades, including
the plastic milk bottle (patented by
Roy Josephsen, Joseph Tino and Charles
Fulcher of W. R. Grace & Co.) in 1965.
Like Whinfield and Dickson, Nathahowever,
due to wartime secrecy, the invention
was not made public until several years
later.166
many products used in everyday life, and,
today, PET is the fourth most produced
polymer. One of the primary reasons for
its popularity is its stretchability into long
hard fibers, which makes it ideal to produce
films and containers, among other
items, that are lightweight, hard and durable.
Using blow molding on PET created
a product in the early 1970s that
would revolutionize how societies enjoy
different beverages: the plastic bottle.
The first plastic bottle was created in
FIG. 4. A perspective view of Wyeth's
invention as submitted in his patent.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Patent Office.170
56 JUNE 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
the late 1940s by cosmetic chemist Jules
Montenier. At the time, Montenier was
trying to find a suitable container for his
liquid antiperspirant called Stopette-
prior to his invention, antiperspirants
were applied as a cream or in liquid form
by dabbing it on using an applicator or
nial Wyeth also worked at DuPont. Prior
to the late 1960s, he invented several
products for the company, including a
machine that built dynamite cartridges
automatically, which kept workers from
inhaling poisonous nitroglycerin powder;
and a machine to manufacture Typar, a
polypropylene (PP) fabric used in industrial
sectors such as construction.169
In 1967, Wyeth began experimenting
with the possibility of using plastic bottles
to store carbonated beverages. Conventional
wisdom at the time was that plastic
bottles could not hold the pressure of
carbonated beverages and would explode.
To test this theory, Wyeth filled a plastic
detergent bottle with ginger ale, sealed it
and placed it in his refrigerator. According
to literature, the next morning, the bottle
had swelled so much that it was lodged
between the refrigerator shelves.169
This
experiment proved to Wyeth that a stronger
plastic was needed to withstand the
pressure of carbonated liquids.
His initial work was with PP; however,
he switched to PET due to its superior
elastic properties.169
After several experiments,
Wyeth invented a machine that
produced a " hollow, biaxially-oriented,
thermoplastic. " 170
This machine would
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