PVA is polyvinyl alcohol. Pretty stinky stuff- it’s used as a mold release for composite lay-ups, and is the active ingredient in certain prescription eye drops.
Both PVA's are steps in the synthesis so it's extra amusing this time. The vinyl acetate is polymerized to polyvinyl acetate (PVA) and then converted into an alcohol (also PVA) because the vinyl alcohol monomer isn't stable enough.
Amazing but true. The scrawl on the board shows how they make vinyl monomers out of acetic acid derived from their carbide process, then PVAcetate, then PVAlcohol.
This whole article reminded me of paper made out of rock. Depressingly, it's still a fuel-based product.
Yeah, I developed chemical processes to make monomers in my last job and was still surprised that they start from coal to do this. I didn't even realize there was a process from coal to acetylene, I just took it for granted that acetylene and acetate generally start from distillate or natural gas unless some bio-source is extremely convenient.
"Until the 1950s, when oil supplanted coal as the chief source of reduced carbon, acetylene (and the aromatic fraction from coal tar) was the main source of organic chemicals in the chemical industry. It was prepared by the hydrolysis of calcium carbide, a reaction discovered by Friedrich Wöhler in 1862[17] and still familiar to students:
CaC2 + 2H2O → Ca(OH)2 + C2H2
Calcium carbide production requires extremely high temperatures, ~2000°C, necessitating the use of an electric arc furnace. In the US, this process was an important part of the late-19th century revolution in chemistry enabled by the massive hydroelectric power project at Niagara Falls."
Well, till not so long ago (the 1950s and 1960s) it was not so uncommon in rural areas (not served by electricity or gas) to have carbide lamps as a source of lighting:
PVA is one of the steps in the vinylon process.