The above plaque contains the manufacturer's name plate removed from the Oxide I Unit's  process control computer system.  The plaque was presented to Bill Richter who spent many a day and night repairing the hardware.  Almost every time Oxide I had a power failure, the computer was damaged due to a power surge.  The bottom inscription has some interesting and appropriate humor.

Or did Oxide 1 have the first process control computer?

John Sala tells us..... "When he hired on as an operator at the Oxide 1 unit in 1960, the Bunker-Ramo 340 computer was up and running, doing control in a limited fashion.  Rufus Baxley had worked on models to calculate catalyst activity and predict the temperature at which to run the converter.   There were instruments on the panel poard with switches to "flip" to computer control.   Norman Gains and Claude Paine were in the unit taking care of the computer.  Ralph Baker was also in the unit."

So..... It seems that Oxide I was ahead of Olefins II, but not by much.   In the mid 1960's John Sala and Milton Wingfield became the programmers, and Bill Richter maintained the hardware.


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