Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumDirect Factual Retrieval

In the mid-nineteenth century, the papermaking industry faced a severe shortage of raw materials as rag supplies proved insufficient to meet the surging demand for printing paper. To address this deficit, inventor Benjamin Tilghman patented the sulfite process in 1867, utilizing sulfurous acid to dissolve lignin and isolate cellulose fibers from wood. Although Tilghman's initial trials demonstrated that wood pulp could yield high-quality paper, technical complications—specifically severe equipment corrosion caused by acid leakage under high pressure and temperature—forced him to abandon commercial operations.

It was not until the late 1870s that Swedish chemist Carl Daniel Ekman successfully commercialized the sulfite method by designing pressure vessels lined with lead and utilizing magnesium bisulfite instead of calcium bisulfite. Ekman's structural modification prevented vessel degradation, enabling large-scale industrial production. Simultaneously, in Germany, Mitscherlich developed a slower, lower-pressure variant of the sulfite process using indirect steam heating, which yielded longer, stronger fibers favored for heavy-duty card stock. Despite the mechanical superiority of Mitscherlich's paper, Ekman's faster, high-yield system gained rapid adoption in British and North American mills. Consequently, by the 1890s, wood-based sulfite pulp had largely superseded traditional rag stock across Western printing markets, dramatically reducing book production costs.

According to the passage, Benjamin Tilghman was unable to achieve commercial success with his sulfite process primarily because of which of the following factors?

  1. uncontained acid caused severe degradation of the machinery used in his operations.Answer
  2. B
    his process relied on magnesium bisulfite rather than the more stable calcium bisulfite.
  3. C
    the paper produced by his method was mechanically inferior to paper derived from traditional rag stock.
  4. D
    competing German mills adopted low-pressure steam heating that undercut his production yields.
  5. E
    the rising cost of raw timber rendered the wood-dissolving acid technique economically unviable.

Answer

Benjamin Tilghman was unable to achieve commercial success because uncontained acid caused severe degradation of the machinery used in his operations.
The correct answer accurately reflects explicit passage evidence stating that Tilghman abandoned commercial operations due to severe equipment corrosion caused by acid leakage under high temperature and pressure.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Locate the target entity in the passage
Identified the first paragraph where Benjamin Tilghman and his 1867 patented sulfite process are discussed.
Direct factual retrieval requires finding the exact sentence stating why Tilghman abandoned commercial operations.
2
Extract explicit passage evidence regarding his commercial failure
The text explicitly cites 'technical complications—specifically severe equipment corrosion caused by acid leakage under high pressure and temperature' as the reason he abandoned commercial operations.
Direct retrieval questions rely strictly on explicit textual facts rather than external assumptions.
3
Match the extracted fact to the correct semantic paraphrase
'Equipment corrosion caused by acid leakage' directly matches 'uncontained acid caused severe degradation of the machinery used in his operations.'
The correct answer choice paraphrases the passage's explicit evidence without altering the meaning.

Key Concept

Direct Factual Retrieval
Rate this question

Topics

Direct Factual Retrieval

More questions from this topic