Sulphur

[Music] [Music] liquid Sunshine before th000 years the servant of men what is it whence does it come this is the story of sulfur sulfur yellow mineral without which there would be no automobiles no airplanes no newspapers no Motion Pictures no telephones none of the new Wonder drugs self drugs so dramatically combating one's fatal diseases the United States produces over 80% of the world's output of crude sulfur most of it comes from Great Salt does along the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana and Texas from New Orleans to a point south of Houston and down toward galvaston is the great sulfur producing area seven distinct sulfur mines in this region produce a total of 32 million gross tons annually this quantity would make a 70 million cubic foot block of sulfur almost twice as large as the Empire State Building rising over a th000 ft into the air and great salt domes such as this with the sulfur bearing strata shown in cross-section are about 1,000 ft beneath the surface of the coastal plains the modern method of mining sulfur as a liquid was conceived and developed by Dr Herman fresh in the 1890s the mineral is melted underground by superheated water and pumped to the surface through [Music] pipes a well such as this is drilled by the most modern equipment to the sulfur bearing bed and equipped with pipes of three sizes one within the other down through the large outer 6-in pipe superheated water 300 to 330° F flows to melt the sulfur the melted sulfur Rises to the surface through the 3-in middle pipe driven upward by the compressed air which is forced into the well through the small 1-in pipe for the fresh method of sulfur mining then the prime requ isites are compressed air fuel and millions of gallons of water here on the shore of a peaceful stream stands a pump house which collects the water necessary for mining sulfur the water goes to this great Reservoir which covers nearly 300 acres and holds about a billion gallons of water through this Outlet River pumps discharge 40,000 gallons each minute into the reservoir then through underground conduits the water flows to the power plant huge water softeners are just outside the power plant the water is conditioned in these to make it suitable for use in the steam boilers and [Music] heaters the power plant itself houses the most modern equipment Furnishing electric energy for all operations through this Mammoth switchboard energy is distributed to the plant and out to the field several miles [Music] away four tons of steam are generated every minute in the Boiler Room to heat the millions of gallons of water required in the mining operations to avoid any possibility of a break in the hot water supply the power plant is equipped to utilize oil fuel if the natural gas supply should be [Music] interrupted after being softened and conditioned the water flows into these heaters they can deliver 9 million gallons of water at 330° F every 24 hours the superheated water flows directly to the field through this great pipe system under pressure from these 65 centrifugal pumps which provide a continuous supply of hot water without Hot Water Production would stop now let's see what happens to the water in the power plant the water tube boiler generates steam at 100 lb pressure some of this steam operates turbines that generate the electric power required in the plant itself but most of the steam is used directly for heating the water the heater is a large jet condenser which employs the latent heat of the steam to heat the water over 4 pounds of water are heated for every pound of steam generated in these GL is being compressed while the water is being softened and heated each day these machines compress over a million and A2 cubic feet of air to a pressure of 500 lb per square [Music] in then superheated water compressed air and steam are forced through this intricate pipeline system to the sulfur well some miles away when the superheated water and the compressed air reach the mine the superheated water flows down into the well down some thousand ft until it reaches the sulfur bearing deposit then it passes through the perforated end of the pipe into the sulfur bed the melting point of sulfur is 240° because its specific gravity is twice that of water the sulfur separates immediately from the water instead of dissolving and it starts to rise in the 3-in middle pipe then the compressed air in the 1-in pipe forces it sulfur to the surface downward flow the superheated water and compressed air and upward comes the melted [Music] sulfur thus by this ingenious method sulfur is made available to world industry but What Becomes of the millions of gallons of water that have been pumped into the Dome to melt the sulfur to fiter flow Wells called bleedat Wells are drilled and the water is drained back to the surface this bleed water is treated to remove major imp ities then discharged into disposal ditches whereas saltwater it flows to the Gulf of Mexico from the well the melted sulfur flows directly to a relay collecting station such as this and every day from 5,000 to 7,000 tons of this yellow mineral flow into great [Music] sums automatic meters accurately register the output of each well as the sulfur is discharged into the sumps after being measured the sulfur still liquid is piped to Great storage Mounds called Vats here first corrugated metal siding is put in place to hold the sulfur before it [Music] solidifies when the liquid sulfur is distributed evenly in 1/8 in layers each layer being allowed to cool before the next is sprayed into [Music] place gradually a huge block of sulfur is formed each block covers an area as large as as six city blocks and as high as a five-story building yes large enough for three football fields with space between them Dynamite is necessary to break up the immense sulfur block once it has solidified rotary rigs drill holes for the [Music] charges the dynamite is lowered into the holes [Music] the charges are temped and the primer is [Music] placed and There She Goes after the blast a bulldozer levels the surface to facilitate loading the gondola cars the tracks are moved as close as possible to the vet then the track moving machine brings the tracks right up to the Loading face of the vet huge clam buckets capable of lifting two tons at each grab load gondolas with sulfur then on to the scale house where each Gondola is weighed on under track [Music] scales should a car be light additional sulfur is added so that the contents of each car is exactly as [Music] ordered [Music] great crane loads of sulfur leave the mines some go directly to Inland destinations the remainder is sent by ship to domestic and foreign markets the gondola cars are unloaded at Port some are dumped into bins which hold 35,000 tons these are kept loaded for emergency part of the mineral goes into giant Hoppers then to a continuous conveyor belt which carries 600 tons per hour the sulfur is weighed twice on the belt in the way house seen in the background after being weighed the sulfur is poured through great routs direct LS of waiting ships which will transport it throughout the [Music] world from the United States To The World At Large sulfur 3,500,000 gross tons produced each [Music] year over 20% of approximately 750,000 gross tons is exported to foreign countries the remainder 2,750,000 gross tons is used in the United [Music] States most of this is burned to make sulfuric acid but the remainder supplies non acid uses to make wood Pulp and Paper 325,000 [Music] tons to make chemicals Plastics sulfur drugs dyes carbon disulfide carbon tetrachloride refrigerants and other chemical products 200,000 tons [Music] to vulcanize automobile tires garden hose the Thousand And1 rubber articles of Everyday Use 50,000 tons to keep insects from eating crops and fruits and red cattle and sheep of lice 75,000 tons the non acid uses of sulfur are then wood Pulp and Paper 325,000 tons chemicals 200,000 tons Rubber products 50,000 tons sprays and insecticides 75,000 tons miscellaneous including cement gunpowder synthetic rosins and bleach 100,000 tons total 750,000 [Music] tons what about the remaining 2 million tons that are burned they make sulfur dioxide SO2 sulfur trioxide SO3 Sulu gas Aid H2 so4 sulfuric acid the Workhorse of Industry 30% of all sulfuric acid goes into the manufacturer of [Music] fertilizers to improve the quality of corn wheat oats and other American crops 15% for the manufacturer of such chemicals as Alum salt cake hydrochloric acid [Music] and 133% for lubricating oils and [Music] gasoline 12 12% to remove scale from steel and prepare it for galvanizing tinning and [Music] electroplating 8% to make ammonium sulfate and coold tar derivatives from Coke oven [Music] gases another 8% for rayon and other synthetic textiles [Music] 7% in the preparation of paints and [Music] pigment the remaining 7% in glycerin Pharmaceuticals safety glass storage batteries Woolen clothing photographic films synthetic rubber shoes water purification alcohol sugar soap and [Music] glue the acid uses of sulfur then [Music] fertilizers 30% chemicals 15% oil refining 133% metallurgical 12% coal products 8% rayon and other textiles 8% paints and pigments 7% and miscellaneous 7% total 100% or 2 million gross tons of the 3 and2 million tons of sulfur which the United States produces each year [Music] yes this saffron mineral vital to life and living this is the story of [Music] sulfur [Music]