Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022 - 28

History of the HPI
FIG. 5. Whittle and his colleagues work
on the first jet engine. Photo courtesy of
Getty Images.
Around the same timeframe, Sylvan
Greenlee was conducting his own research
on epoxy polymers in the U.S. by
reacting epichlorohydrin with bisphenol
A. His research created the epoxy resin
bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA
or commonly abbreviated as BADGE),
which would become the most widely
used commercial-grade resin in the
world. Epoxy resins are presently used in
many industrial and commercial applications,
including paints and coatings, adhesives,
electrical systems and electronics,
marine and aerospace applications,
and many more.
While epoxy resins research and development
were being implemented in Switzerland
and the U.S., German chemist
Otto Bayer was setting his sights on polymer
research at IG Farben in Leverkusen,
Germany. In 1937, Bayer created a new
polymer by reacting 1,8 octane diisocyanate
with 1,4 butanediol.39
material was named polyurethane, which
would later be used in many applications,
including in construction, furniture, insulation,
coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers,
moldings, appliances, automotive,
apparel and many more.
Ingenuity takes to the skies. Prior to
designing engines, British engineer and
inventor Frank Whittle was an airplane
apprentice and pilot at the Royal Air
Force (RAF) College Cranwell. Although
garnering the reputation as a low-flying
daredevil and aerobatics stuntman (not
in a positive light), Whittle had an eye for
airplane engine designs. In his graduation
thesis Future Developments in Aircraft Design,
Whittle believed that the evolution
in flight would not be better propeller designs
but the use of improved combustion
engines for propulsion. In addition, he be28
SEPTEMBER 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
lieved that airplanes would be able to fly
faster (more than 500 mph) and farther at
higher altitudes due to low air density.40,41
However, when Whittle provided his concepts
to the RAF, they were rejected as
impracticable. Despite being rejected by
his superiors, Whittle continued to publicize
his jet engine concept and filed a patent
for his engine design two years later in
1930. According to literature, the concept
was a two-stage axial compressor feeding
a single-sided centrifugal compressor,
what he referred to as a " turbojet. " 42
Whittle
continued to work on building his jet
engine designs over the next several years,
forming Power Jets Ltd. in 1936 (FIG. 5).
Unbeknownst to Whittle, German
physicist and engineer Hans von Ohain
was developing a similar jet engine in
Germany. Ohain joined aircraft industrialist
Ernst Heinkel to design the HeinkelStrahltriebwerk
1 (HeS 1) engine-German
for Jet Engine 1. The first tests of
HeS 1 were conducted in 1937. Although
the tests were successful, the high-temperature
burn-the engine ran off hydrogen
fuel-scorched the metal, leading Heinkel
and Ohain to switch to gasoline as fuel.
Several changes were made to the design,
and on August 27, 1939, test pilot Erich
Warsitz flew a plane equipped with a HeS
3b centrifugal-flow turbojet engine-the
latest iteration.43
This historic day marked
the world's first jet-powered aircraft flight.
Although Ohain beat Whittle to the
This new
first jet engine test flight, Whittle continued
to improve his designs. As WW2
started, he received additional financial
backing from the UK Air Ministry.
In 1940, the first British jet-powered
plane-the Gloster E.28/39-was flown
using Whittle's W1A engine.44
As war
raged in Europe, the UK Air Ministry was
ordering several thousand jet engines per
month. By 1944, Whittle's engine design-produced
by Rolls Royce-was
used in the first British fighter planes, the
Gloster Meteor, that could reach speeds
of 600 mph.45
Over the next several years, jet engine
designs continued to be optimized, primarily
for military aircraft. However, on
July 27, 1949, the world's first jet-propelled
airliner made its test flight in England.46
34
30
to
travel faster and farther in a shorter duration
and build a nearly $200-B industry
to carry billions of people each year to
various destinations around the world.
The 1940s. As the world engages in
conflict, demand for gasoline and chemical
products soar to aid in the war effort.
Post-WW2 will usher in new technological
advances for producing higher octane
fuels and chemical products that will
increase the standard of living for hundreds
of millions around the world.
LITERATURE CITED
24
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25
26
Wikipedia, Eugene Houdry, online: https://
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Ellis, P. and C. Paul, " Tutorial: Delayed Coking
Fundamentals, " AIChE Spring National Meeting,
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DelayedCokingFundamentals.pdf.
27
Jagger,
A., " Polyethylene: Discovered by accident
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28
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29
Britannica,
" Styrene, " Encyclopedia Britannica,
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com/science/styrene.
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31
32
Wikipedia,
" Neoprene, " online: https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoprene#History.
PBS, " Nylon is invented 1935, " A Science Odyssey:
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org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dt35ny.html.
33
Research and Markets, " Global nylon market size,
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35
Gilani, N.,
36
" What
is melamine formaldehyde? " ,
Sciencing, April 2017, online: https://sciencing.
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Encyclopedia.com, " Polymethyl methacrylate, "
November 2021, online: https://www.encyclopedia.
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polymethyl-methacrylate.
This historic occasion marked the
first use of a jet-powered passenger plane,
which would revolutionize travel. Over
the next several decades, the jet-powered
passenger plane would enable passengers
37 Britannica, The editors of Encyclopedia,
" polymethyl
methacrylate, " Encyclopedia Britannica,
December 2018, online: https://www.britannica.
com/science/polymethyl-methacrylate.
Complete literature cited available online at
www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com

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Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022

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