Job Description:

• 1) Tends ball mill and auxiliary equipment to produce sodium salicylate for use in production of salicylic acid: Opens valves to transfer specified quantities of sodium hydroxide and phenol solutions to tank, and starts agitators to mix solutions to form mixture of sodium phenate and water.

• 2) Drains mixture into ball mill, opens exhaust valve, and starts heaters to evaporate water from sodium phenate.

• 3) Observes moisture indicators to determine when water has been removed from sodium phenate.

• 4) Pumps cold water into jacket of ball mill to contract mill walls sufficiently to loosen pulpy sodium phenate.

• 5) Heats ball mill to specified temperature, increases pressure in ball mill to required level, and pumps carbon dioxide into ball mill to change sodium phenate to sodium salicylate.

• 6) Opens vents to rid sodium salicylate of excess carbon dioxide.

• 7) Pumps specified quantity of water into ball mill to dissolve sodium salicylate, and pumps sodium salicylate solution into tanks for further processing into salicylic acid.