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Albert Huntington Hooker LDEST of the five brothers now identilied maturity as the Hooker Electrochemical Comwith the progressive and important Elccpany. It was not until 106. however. after the trochemical Company which bears their period of initial test and development was over name, ”A. H.” was born in Rochester, N. Y., and construction of the first unit plant undertaken Novembu 26, 1865. His college education, a t Niagara Falls, that lie abandoned his connecchiefly a t the University of Rochester, ran along tion with the paint industry to take charge, as somewhat unstereotyped lines. He took no works manager, of the early opcrations of the regular cours-liis degree of M. S. was awarded Hooker Electrochemicd Company. In this cahomris causa in 1 Q S h u t . partly through perpadty he saw the infant through its teething troubles and its early and vigorous growth. In sonal interest of some of his teachers (among them Professor Latimore and Henry Rachen1911 he relinquished marlagement of operations bach), partly following his own bent, studied to other hands, and since that time has devoted such chemical and technical subjeaS as his early himself as technical director to the many probrealization that he did not desire to teach but lems of research, development, and service that to enter industzy dictated. Two vacations spent have arisen in the growth t o its prcsent considerworking on bichromates at the Dighton Color able stature of the company with which, for the Works, of which an uncle was the head, probably last quartcr of a century. his family name and A. E l . Hooker indicated some of these subjects; but the wide his adivities have been & intimately connected. scientific curiosity which has always been one of His technicalhistory through that time has been kis characteristics indicated more, and led him to take up such that of the company; and since this has been sct forth in the subjects as microscopy. “He was a bacteriologist when I first August. 1930, issue of INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY met him,” his wife will tell yon. and, in addition, is so widely known, no detailed reference need Such a course. however unconventional. at all events ontaiiicd be made here. the essential elements of chemical engineering in a degree highly In such connection a man’s characteristics and achievements unusual at that datr-or possibly even a t this; and was an are known only to himself-and his associates. But when the excellent preparation for the field which, for the next seventeen latter tell you, as they will, of the remarkable breadth of his years. Hooker was to make his o m . The fidd was that of paints. knowledge of technological processes, of his phenomenal memory, pigments, and allied products, which at that time had hardly or of his ability to pull out the one significant fact from one techstarted to emerge from the cookbook stage. It was the day of nical connection and relate i t t o the equally significant fact in a recipe% of secret formulas; men knew what they would get profoundly different connection, of the value of his judgment (sometimes and with luck) if this and that were so proportioned; based on ripe experience, you have no difficulty in correlating that picture with the many occasions on which you remember but did not know why, and few troubled to inquire. “A. H.” was one of that small band ofpioneers, which included Max Toch. “A. E.,” in personal conversation or in discussions a t meetings. G. W. Thompson, and one or two others, who, at the turn of producing, like a rabbit from a conjurer’s sleeve (though with a the century. were slowly bringing order out of chaos by the ap- modest and entire absence of the conjurer’s exhibitionism). highly plication of systematic obwvation and experiment. significant and individual “slants” on an astonishing variety of After one or two years of experience as chemist with the Digh- technical topics. It is true these Same associates will playfnlly ton Color Works, he took charge of the cola department of Caw- ascribe t o him a certain contempt of the commoner aspects of Ogden Company, a t Chicago, where he had the prompt and un- routine, and a tendency to regard his pockets as filing cabinets; pleasant experience of having a foreman and crew walk out, leav- but memories of the sppearance from thesc capacious pockets of ing him to make up orders with no formulas or records. He did it; sheets inscribed with the most elaborate sort of curve families, he was twenty-five a t the time. A similar dcmand for resource- revealing in a concentrated form Heaven-and “A. H.”-only fulness was met in his next venture-this time in window shade knew how much correlated technical data (and this twenty-five manufacture with the Opaque Shade Cloth Company. Left with years ago when such things were as rare as they are common now), an inoperable plant which had to be changed, bullied, or cajoled show his contempt for unessentials to be merely the obverse of an into shape, he and an associate buckled to and put matters to unusual devotion to systematic cssentials. What we do not have rights within three months. I n 1894 he began his longest con- to learn from his associates are his sociable personality, his geninection in the paint industry as chief chemist with Heath and ality, and his kindliness; I am certain thilt no one who ever asked .Milligan in Chicago. Of his many contributions to paint tech- “A. H.” areasonablefavor wasrefused. nology during this period, mention of one must s&ce--the disPersonally, “A. H.” is so well known to and so wcU liked and covery that the livering qualities of zinc oxide and leaded zinc respected by so many readers of INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINERRING were due t o adsorbed sulfur dioxide in the pigments--a con- CHEdMISrRY that many words on his personality would be a clusion which resulted in radical alterations in bag-house prac- superfluous impertinence. His modesty, however, tends to hide tice. some of the facts of a very full and well-rounded life. Those who It was an uncle whose influence started Hooker in paint chemis- have known him as a keen p w l sbark, a respectable golfer, or a try; and it was a brother who detlected him to electrochemis- poker player (in which capacity, I am told, desire doth somewhat try. About 1903 Elon Hooker had become interested in the outrun performance) may not know of him as a crack shot. expert Townsend cell, and “A. H.” took a hand, along with a brilliant fisherman, and sportsman of the type whom, even today, it group of associates-Townsend, Baekeland, Sperry. and others, would not be safe to dare. on a bet, to jump in a swimming pool, in the incubation of the infant that was to grow up to a flourishing clothes on, and swim to the end without rising for breath. Nor
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is it easy to probe the extent of his general interests and hobbies, which are and have been as wide and varied as his technical interests. But a caller a t his home a t Lewiston, below the Niagara escarpment and looking down at a spot on the river where commenced an old carry, may find himself regaled with a feast of historical and topographical lore on such topics as the history of the early French and English settlements and what constituted a desirable site for Indian villages; or to be shown furniture carpentered by “A. H.” from historic timbers salvaged from the demolition of some ancient and noted building in the village, or a handful of arrowheads that might rouse even Whitney’s envy. Always an active member of technical societies, he has served on the boards of the Electrochemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. In 1922, the legislature of the State of New York passed a law requiring a state license as a condition for the practice of professional engineering. There
Vol. 23, So. 9
was much uneasiness at the time in respect of the motive, wisdom, and probable results of this requirement, and had the law been administered either on a political basis or in an inadequate’manner, events might have justified this uneasiness. Fortunately, its administration was placed in the hands of an extremely competent board; and the licensing of engineers in New York State has been an entire success and was rapidly accepted as being as desirable as licensing in medical and legal practice. A . H. Hooker was appointed to the original board as representing, geographically, western New York, and, technically, chemical engineering; has served continuously on the board since-a record he shares with one other member-and is now chairman. His heavy share in the board’s work has constituted an important service to the public, and a still more important one to his fellow engineers. F. A . LIDBURY
NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE Burning Characteristics of Smokeless Powder Editor of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: In the article by A. M. Ball [IND.ENG. CHEM.,23, 498-501 (1931) 1, a time-saving method of calculating explosion temperatures is presented, together with an interesting series of temperature calculations made by this method. It is admitted by the author that the chief value of such calculations is in giving useful relative results rather than reliable absolute values. In other words, the results are as good as the heat data from which they are calculated. Even aside from this consideration, however, the reliability of the temperature values themselves can be enhanced by correction of an error which, though not great, should be pointed out in the interests of mathematical accuracy and clear reasoning. Using the notation of the article referred to, if the sum of Q3 and Q4 is to be equated to Q. the heat liberated on complete oxidation of the powder in an oxygen-bomb calorimeter, then obviously 44 must equal the heat liberated on condensation of the water present in the “frozen” equilibrium mixture, plus the heat of oxidation of the hydrogen (to liquid water) and carbon monoxide. It may be noted in passing that the heat effect a t room temperature due to any shifting of the water-gas equilibrium is nil: CO
+
-
298” K. H20 (liq.) COz
+ HZ
i=
0 cal. (constant volume)
The author’s Equation 7 reads:
Q - Q3
= Q4 = 97[(COz’)
+ 29[(CO’)
- (COz)] +
- (CO)]
5?.5[(HzO‘) - (HzO)] + 18.9(CH4’) + 10.5(HzO’)
The primed quantities are those found after completion of the combustion process and the unprimed refer to the concentrations which satisfy the water-gas equilibrium a t the explosion temperature. It is evident that where the combustion is colnpleted in excess of oxygen,
Equation 7 becomes, then, = = 9i(CO) + 57.5[(Ha) - 1/z(HN03’)] - 29(CO) + 10.5[(HzO) + (Hz) - ‘/z(HNOa’)] + 40.2(HN03’) = SS(C0) 4-68[(H2) - ‘/a(HNOa’)] + 10.5(HzO) + 40.2(HNOa‘,)
Q
- Q3
Q4
(ia) This differs from the author’s Equation i a by the inclusion of thc term 10.5(H10). His values of Q 3 are thus too high. In the typical calculation given, 10.5(H~O)= 0.112 cal. Q3 = L:f C,dt = 1.129 - 0.112 = 1.017cal.
and
The temperature result calculated from this is about 200 degrees lower than that from the uncorrected value of Q 3 . . If all the nitrogen be converted to nitric acid on combustion of the powder in the oxygen-bomb calorimeter, then of course ‘/z(HXOa’) = (Nz) = ‘/z atom (N) in powder and Equation 7a may be expressed differently. However, no evidence is given for this complete conversion. It may be noted that Equation 7a may be expressed in the following manner also:
Q - Qs = 68[(CO)
+ (Hz)] + 10.5(HzO) + 6.2(HN03‘) ( i b )
This is only another way of expressing the zero heat effect a t room temperature of the water-gas reaction. It indicates that when the powder is exploded in a closed container, the heat liberated falls short of that liberated on combustion of the powder in excess of oxygen. The difference depends largely on the sum of the carbon monoxide and hydrogen concentrations. This sum is independent of the water-gas equilibrium and can be calculated very simply from the ultimate composition of the powder, for, since
C. G. DUNKLE
(CO’) = 0 (H“’) =
(cH;I)
n
Box 271
=- 0
+ +
(CO) (Con) = (COZ’) = atoms C in 1 gram powder (HzO) (Ha) = (H2O’) 1/2(HiY03’) = ‘ / z atom H in 1 gram powder
+
N. J. July 17, 1931 WHARTON,
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