Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022 - 80

History of the HPI
ogy (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 1930s
history section.
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
however,
due to wartime secrecy, the invention
was not made public until several years
later.166
PET would become the basis for
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
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
pad.167
He turned to a new chemical polyFIG.
4. A perspective view of Wyeth's
invention as submitted in his patent.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Patent Office.170
80 SEPTEMBER 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
mer discovered approximately a decade
before called polyethylene (PE)-the
discovery of PE was detailed in the 1930s
history section of this publication. 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
This
the Stopette spray bottle, which was first
commercially sold in July 1947.167
event marked the beginning of plastic
containers competing against glass.
However, plastic containers remained
expensive until the invention of highdensity
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 1950s
history section. 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, Nathanial
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
strengthen the plastic by creating a mold
that had nylon thread running in a diamond
crisscross pattern. When the mold
was pressed, the molecules aligned in a
biaxial fashion.169
This created a light,
clear and resilient product that could
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