Table 58.—Phenol: Estimated consumption by industries, 1936-37
| Use | Percent of total consumption |
|---|---|
| Synthetic resins | 60-65 |
| Extraction of lubricating oil | 5 |
| Insecticides and disinfectants | 10 |
| Dyes and intermediates | 5 |
| Other | 15-20 |
United States production.
Prior to 1914 United States production of phenol averaged about a million pounds a year and was entirely the natural product obtained from distillates of coal tar. Increased demand during the World War was met by several synthetic phenol processes, which utilized in part the vast quantities of benzol available. Our output of phenol reached 64 million pounds in 1917 and 107 million pounds in 1918. When the armistice was signed stocks on hand in the United States totaled between 35 million and 40 million pounds, estimated at three times the annual consumption at that time for nonmilitary purposes. As a result the price dropped from about 45 cents to 6 cents a pound, and the synthetic plants were closed.
The limited quantities of phenol available to synthetic resin makers prior to and during the World War caused much concern to that industry and led to research work for substitutes, work resulting in the development of many new and modified types of resins in which tar acids other than phenol were used. But notwithstanding the use of these other tar acids the increased demand for synthetic resins used up the accumulated stocks of phenol sooner than was expected.
Of the phenol produced in the United States from 1919 through 1923 a large part was natural phenol but the rapid increase in demand and the improvement of processes for synthetic phenol had by 1923 resulted in four companies beginning production of the synthetic article. The rapid increase in output, from about 3 million pounds in 1923 to about 15 million pounds in 1925, was almost entirely in synthetic phenol. Since then a large part of the domestic production has continued to be synthetic, although the production of natural phenol since 1935 has been about four times that of 1929.
Adequate quantities of coal tar are usually available to produce sufficient natural phenol to meet a substantial part of our requirements, if it were all recovered, but the quantity actually produced is determined in part by the demand for other coal-tar products, and in part by the value of the tar as fuel. More than 50 percent of the tar produced has been burned as fuel, principally at the coke ovens or nearby steel mills.
The domestic production and sales of phenol, natural and synthetic combined, are shown in table [59].
Table 59.—Phenol: United States production and sales, in specified years, 1918-37