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The Shell Higher Olefins Process is probably the most remarkable industrial chemical process to have been developed in the past decade; this article highlights the process.

The adsorption isotherms of solutions of dimer, trimer, stearic, oleic, linoleic, nonanoic and azelaic acids in organic solvents, (mostly hexane) have been determined on an alpha ferric oxide with a surface area (B.E.T. N2 adsorption) of 99 m2 (99 × 1020 A2) per gram. They all showed limiting adsorption as grams adsorbed per gram of iron oxide beyond a concentration of about 1 g/100 cc, analagous to the Langmuir type monolayer isotherm. Areas per molecule were calculated and compared with areas of close‐packed models in positions parallel to and perpendicular to the surface. The calculated areas corresponded more closely to the flat or parallel positions. Heats of adsorption were determined and were in the range of 27–71 kcal/eq, suggesting chemisorption of the COOH group at the surface. The value of dimer acid suggests that both COOH groups are chemisorbed. Models show that the parallel position permits both COOH groups to touch the surface. The perpendicular position generally does not permit both COOH groups to touch the surface. Dimer acid showed a value (71 kcal/eq) higher than the monobasic acids (44–55 kcal/eq), possibly due to interaction of the ring structure (partly aromatic) with the surface. Azelaic acid from an 80–20t‐butanol‐hexane solvent showed a lower value of 27 kcal/eq, possibly due to adsorption of a hydrogenbonded alcohol‐acid moiety as such.

How many pounds of organic chemicals do we produce yearly in the U.S.? The answer is 250 billion pounds per year-more than 1000 pounds for every person in the U.S. It is hard for even a chemist to visualize how each of us in this country uses a half-ton of chemicals yearly. We'd certainly be overwhelmed if someone dumped our share on our front lawn.In fact, of course, those chemicals do not appear on our front lawn except perhaps as fertilizer and weed killers. But they do appear in the clothes we wear, the homes we live in, the furnishings in those homes, the offices and plants we work in, the food we eat, our automobiles and airplanes, the medical equipment that is used to make us well, the sports equipment that gives us recreational pleasure, and, of course, in the vehicles that go to the moon and that monitor the planets. In other words, the more than 1000 pounds of organic chemicals produced for each of us yearly provides the basis for modern technology.