Word: butyl
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
There are a dozen varieties. At least four-neoprene, butyl, Koroseal and Thiokol-are wholly American products. Each of the synthetics is superior to natural rubber in at least one respect and for at least one use. Yet none claims to be perfect. Each will improve with further research, and ought to supersede natural rubber in its special field. Rubber itself may never regain its pre-war place, may join natural dyes, lacquers, resins, and perhaps silk in limbo...
Butadiene Polymers. The most useful of these units is butadiene, a liquid closely related to butane, hence easily made from natural gas, petroleum refinery vapors or (less easily) from alcohol. Buna, butyl, Ameripol and Perbunan are all based on butadiene...
Closely related to it is isoprene (also called methyl butadiene). Although isoprene is the basic unit in natural rubber, it is useless by itself. But when isobutylene and isoprene are polymerized together the result is Standard Oil's butyl, tough, very elastic, now favored for inner tubes. It is to be made at a rate of 100,000 tons a year...
...Synthetic rubber-the Buna processes, which are the foundation of the U.S. synthetic-rubber program, and Standard's butyl, developed from I.G.'s Vistanex. Asked Standard's Farish, "What do you think Hitler would give today to be able to keep America from using these discoveries and processes...
With WPB's fond blessing, Standard is now scheduled to produce by next spring 132,000 tons of butyl instead of the 60,000 tons originally planned. Since test runs have recently proved that butyl will make a light-duty tire good for at least 16,000 miles at 40 m.p.h. or less, the 72,000 extra tons of butyl will give the U.S. more than 12,000,000 serviceable tires (8% of the tires now on U.S. passenger cars) over & above what it had previously had any reason to hope...