June, 1931
I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
advice and friendly spirit of cooperation and by his interest in the public welfare. He continues to manifest the same sincerity, absence of prejudice, and unselfish devotion to his work that have always characterized his business and social relations. Those who have collaborated with him upon committees refer with pleasure to the frank cordial attitude and the unbiased mind with which he approaches the problem under discussion. His recent reelection as one of the Directors of the A M E R I C A N CHEMICAL SOCIETY is an evidence of the appreciation in which his services are held by all our members. The career of Bigelow has coincided with some of the most important developments in the history of food and nutrition. Indeed, the future student of these subjects will mark the first quarter of the twentieth century as a period of outstanding importance. I n this period the dietary habits of the American people underwent an important change, the per capita consumption of milk, fruits, vegetables, and sugar having greatly increased and that of cereals having declined. In this period the vitamins were discovered and the importance of minute traces of certain mineral constituents in the diet was first realized. It was this period that witnessed the passage of the federal pure food law and saw the regulatory control of foods established for the first time upon an effective basis. It was in this period also that the technic of preserving fruits and vegetables underwent a great reform with a vast improvement in the quality and healthfulness of all canned foods. T o have lived in such a time as this has been a privilege, but to have taken a prominent part in the realization of its accomplishments has been an honor deserving of the widest recognition.
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Although he has now reached the age when he can qualify as an American Contemporary, Doctor Bigelow is still a young man both in spirit and mind. He enjoys golf and other outdoor recreations, but his chief pleasure consists in lending a helping hand to his younger friends and co-workers. I t is for this riason that he was dubbed “The Big Brother” by his old associates in the Bureau of Chemistry. Many examples can be told of Bigelow’s aid in obtaining promotions, in helping t o alleviate the restrictions of red tape, and in smoothing out the rough spots in the paths of his fellow workers. There are many prominent chemists in all parts of the United States, both within and without the government service, who attribute their advancement to the timely assistance and encouragement extended to them by Bige-
low. His philosophy of life is well illustrated by the following incident. A friend, who once spoke to Bigelow about some of the trials and disappointments of a government chemist, received this very characteristic reply. “You are bound of course to encounter criticisms and discouragements, but there is one recompense which with me outweighs all these objections. I refer to the wonderful opportunity and satisfaction which a government position affords of starting young chemists upon promising fields of research and of helping them upon the way to success.” These qualities of helpfulness and of sympathetic interest in the advancement of one’s associates have always been cardinal principles in the code of W. D. Bigelow. I t is a rich experience to know a man who holds to such ideals of life and its relations. C. A. BROWNE
AMERICAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES Acheson Oildag Company
T
WENTY-THREE years ago the Acheson hinders. In the course of his experiments he Oildag Company started operations a t noted that certain clays, though of similar comNiagara Falls, N. Y . It was formed position, varied greatly in plasticity. Since for the purpose of producing commercially the sedimentary clays were generally more plastic final product obtained by Edward Goodrich than the residual type, Acheson attributed this Acheson in a now famous series of closely redifference to some effect exerted by the water lated experiments. responsible for the transfer of the sedimentary In 1891, after having succeeded in effecting clays from their original beds. Working on the the large-scale production of silicon carbide, belief that this change was brought about by organic matter leached from the fertile regions “Carborundum,” Acheson sought to produce a still harder abrasive by subjecting the same elethrough which the streams flowed he improved ments to a higher temperature for a longer the plasticity of clay bodies by treating them period of time. Practice did not bear out his with aqueous extracts of straw. theory, however, as the silicon volatilized unSearching the literature to see if anyone had der these conditions, leaving the carbon in the discovered this effect before h i m , A c h e s o n form of an extremely unctuous graphite of found but one reference to a similar use of very high purity. Further work showed the E. G. Acheson Chairman straw. This was in Exodus 5:7-19, wherein is preliminary formation of silicon carbide to be Board of Directors described the brick-making operations of the unnecessary in the production of artificial graphEgyptians. Feeling that the Egyptians used ite and that any form of carbon, when subjected to the proper the straw to render the clay more plastic rather than as a fibrous temperature conditions, could be converted into the graphitic binder, Acheson called his treated product “Egyptianized clay.” form. This little high-temperature experiment was important, The then newly invented ultra-microscope revealed that the nevertheless, as it resulted in the organization of the Acheson increase in plasticity was due to a reduction in the particle size Graphite Company. of the clay. Jerome Alexander was in possession of one of these Acheson neat sought to utilize the graphite he was producing instruments and showed Acheson that by his deflocculation procin competition with Nature. The crucible trade was then con- ess he had unquestionably produced particles of colloidal dimensions. suming most of the graphite being mined, so Acheson decided to engage in the manufacture of crucibles. I n this connection he Knowing his manufactured graphite to be far superior to the did considerable work on clays, which he hoped to employ as natural product for lubrication purposes because of its freedom
from abrasive impurities, Acheson ttiriicd h i s attcntiun to tlir production of dellocculated graphite with the hope of giving tlic
world graphited oils in addition to thc slready existing griiphited grcascs. After much patient work he found an impmvcd de^ flocculating agent. Later, with t h r aid id centrifugal m;lchine.: and ultra~tilters. h e was alilc to pmducc liighly coiicciitratcd colloidal solutions of elrctric-furimr grnphitc in hoth oil ant1 water media.
Huron, resultiirg in the largcst plant iu thc world devoted solely t o the production of man-made colloids. Calls for colloidal grapliitc arc cuming from all types of industries whcre it is serving a number of widely diversified purposes. The rediu industry employs thc water suspension for the manufactorc of rc *iceilemcrits in grid leaks, volume coiltrols, and tone controls; 8s il rctardmt of secondary emission wlicn iippiied to grids of vacuum tulies. I t is used as a "getter" arid clamp pastli in irmmdrsccnt lamp inaniiiactlirc. Colloidalgraphited water i s useful as B spcckl lubricant in diecasting operations, 8s a steam-cyliiidcr luhricaiit wlirrc it is desirable to use oil-free coridciiscd stcam, and comprrsw,r lubricant w1,cre the use of oil constitutes B liazard. T h e stcrrotyying industry matrix-coatiiig msilterial , the manrtiactureri of t m g strri and molybdenum wire consider it iiidispcosiil,le as a dic lubricant. Colloidal graphite in watcr is valuahlr as a scak retardant in hoilcr practice; it is ail rffiicient parting compound iii ccrtain glass-, i u h l ~ c i ~a,n d metal-moldini: operations: and i.s widely used for dcmonstratioii imqmse~in schools arid collcgcs.
narfrry of Masricators Employed in (:olloidal Grephlfe
Manufacture
In 1 W X a portion of the floor since of tlic Acheson Grtphitr C.ulnpany was devoted to the manufacture of graphite in the colloidal state. This phase of the work was lisirdlcd hy the iicwiy formed Acliesoii Oildag Company, aItla,ugh t h e Achrson Graphitr Company servcd 8s selling agents. Colloidal-gral,hit*d oil arid Colluidal-grai,lritrd water, as solti uiider the 11r;irid names "Oildag" and "Aqiiadag," rcspcctivrly, met with much favm a m m g enginecrs. Tbf oil product was ixrticulsrly popular for lubricating devices sul,jcctcd to either heavy loads or high temperuturcs. The wntcr suspension, while dcinoiistrating tlic propcwties of colloids, had little commercial v a l i i ~until Colin G. Fink foiind it to he the ideal die Idxicant in tbc drawing of tongstr.n. Today it is uniwrsally employed for titis ptzrposc. The stcatlily increasing demand for cdloidal grapliite products inedr it nccesiary for the company to seck l a r g c i quarters. Siiicc piire wstrr was a necessity in the manufacturing process, it was decided to erect the new plant near a rcliahlc water supply of high qoality. Port Huron, Mich., was eventually chosco. and in I2l(l a tract oi thirty acres in t h a t city was purcliased. Soon aftcr complrtion of the piant, l~owcvri,t l w city water supply was trcvtcd chrmically as a health safcguard, so thr prime object of locating in that city WAS dufratrd. I ~ r g rwat.tpr-distiiiing units were then installcd to providr, the vast supply of electrolytrfrce water so essential t o thr S(ICC(ISS oi thc IITOCCSS. In 1910 a building project was also started abroad to takt: a r e of the European trade. A branch factory was opencd at Cam Hrea, Cornwall, Ilngland. Io 1911 a British company was formed under t h e name of tlw British Acheson Oildag Company t o take t h i s over. In 1912 the factory was rnovcd t o Plymouth and thr iiarnc of the company changed t o fl. G. Acheson, Ltd. The increased demand for colloidal graphitc products during tlrc war period required cxijansion of t h e original plant a t I'm!
Colloidal-grapliitcdoil, in addition to its rnaiiy uses as a gencial lubricant, is especially valualilc in peiietrilnts and in i i p p ~ r cylinder compouctds. I t is widrly used in fin-aiarm systems, signaling devices, automatic telcplrorre equipment, atid other apparatus where positive performance is essrntial. The company tlimugliout it?eristcnce has bceu guided by E. G. Acheson, chairman of t h e board or directors. CO
