A similar method was used for filling shell with chlorpicrin, except that refrigeration was unnecessary. Mustard gas required another sort of filling machine.
Several filling plants were designed and constructed for filling grenades with stannic chloride and with white phosphorus, and also one for filling incendiary drop bombs.
The capacity of each of these plants per day was as follows:
Stannic chloride plant, hand grenades, 25,000. White phosphorus grenade plant, 30,000. White phosphorus smoke-shell plant, 155 millimeter shell, 2,000; or 4.7-inch or 5-inch shell, 4,000; or 75-millimeter shell, 6,000. Incendiary drop-bomb plant, 2,000.
The following sentences summarize the production and expectations of the Edgewood Arsenal:
(1) The gas program as of March 1918 called for approximately 545 tons of toxic gas weekly.
(2) The Chemical Warfare Service program of August 12, 1918, called for a much larger amount, viz, about 4,525 tons per week.
(3) The approximate filling capacity of the Edgewood Arsenal plant from August to November, 1918, was nearly 1,000 tons per week.
(4) The toxic gas production during this same period increased from 450 to 675 tons per week.