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about de-inking as a method of supplementing our newsprint sup plies. H.H.
WITHOUT COST FOR COOLING WATER
Burning Fundamentals It will take more fun damental combustion re search to spark major changes in engine design
ACCURATE TEMPERATURE CONTROL of Hydraulic Liquids PREVENTS LOSSES
• This N I A G A R A A E R O H E A T E X C H A N G E R cools the liquid for a large hydraulic press, preventing heat damage to the p u m p stuffing boxes. Using outdoor air as the evaporative cooling medium, it removes the heat at the rate of input (1,875,000 B T U / h r . ) with no cooling water consumption except a negligible a m o u n t evaporated. Air is free and cheaper to move than water. You can save m u c h expense in pumping, piping and power, and quickly recover the equipment cost from the water saving. Similar Niagara machines cool water, oils, solutions, lubricants and coolants for m a n y mechanical, electrical and chemical pro cesses. You can cool quench baths, welding machines, plastic molds, furnaces, controlled atmospheres, gases, compressed air either for power or instruments or processes. In a closed system, your coolant is never contaminated. T h e s y s t e m is simple and easy to keep u p ; the equipment has a long, useful life. Select from a wide range of sizes u p to 30,000,000 B T U . Write
for Bulletin
NIAGARA
120 to obtain
BLOWER
Dept. E. C , 40S Lexington Ave. Niagara
a complete
description.
COMPANY N e w York 1 7 , Ν . Υ.
District Engineers in Principal Cities of United States and For further information, circle number 18 A on Readers' Service Card, page 139 A
18 A
INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
Canada
nv'DROCARBON combustion runs your automobile today, and will run the "free piston," gas turbine, and probably any other type of engine that automakers are planning to power your car in the future. T h a t is reason enough for Ford Motor Co. to carry out a basic research program on the subject at its Scientific Labora tory at Dearborn, Mich. There, Ford researchers are trying to deter mine all the intermediate reactions which take place in the fraction of second between ignition and final oxidation of most of the hydrocar bons to carbon dioxide and water. Part of this program is just getting under way and involves shock tube studies. A shock tube makes it possible to raise the pressure, and therefore the temperature, of gases quite suddenly—on the order of the time for only a few collisions between the gas molecules. If a mixture of air and gaseous hydrocarbon is sub jected to this rapid temperature in crease, combustion reactions take place which can be followed byultraviolet absorption spectroscopy. Ford's shock tube is about 25 feet long and has a rectangular cross section 2 by 3 inches. Shock wave speeds of less than M a c h 3 are used in chemical studies, although they could go as high as M a c h 10. T h e tube is designed for nonchemical studies too, such as those on relaxa tion phenomena in gases—important in studying effects of gases on high speed turbines. Thin plastic membranes divide the shock tube into three unequal sections so that short chambers are formed at each end. In one of these, helium pressure is built up to about 10 atmospheres. Then the mem-
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REPORTS
brane is punctured by needle activated by a device sealed into the system, and bursts, sending a shock wave rapidly down the tube. This wave passes through the second membrane and into the other end chamber, containing a mixture of air and hydrocarbon which react under the impact. To eliminate some of the complexities of the problem, a simple hydrocarbon, propane, is used instead of gasoline. Quartz windows in the tube make it possible to make ultraviolet absorption spectrographic measurements. The Ford setup differs from previously reported instruments in that it permits determination of a full absorption curve in the ultraviolet spectrum, not merely the absorption at one wave length. The instrumentation consists of:
"This Scale Check Chart showed us how to get Better Cost Control" from TOLEDOsend for yours t o d a y !
On Your Scales... Material Becomes Money/
Y o u r scales are a vital element in effective cost and quality Control. Errors in weighing g o all the way through accounting and affect c o s t . . . profit . . . or loss! You need to look at all your weighing today . . . not as isolated scales, but as a weighing system. T o l e d o ' s new Scale Check Chart will show you quickly and accurately how well your scales are serving you, and provide the information you need for truly effective cost control. This new Check Chart is yours for the asking in a handy kit that contains all you need for an easy, informative appraisal of weighing in your plant. Send for it today. Address T o l e d o Scale Company, 1412 Telegraph Rd.% Toledo 1, O h i o .
TOLEDO ®
HEADQUARTERS FOR SCALES For further information, circle number 20 AT on Readers' Service Card, page 139 A
20 A
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
(1) facilities to measure shock wave velocity; (2) facilities to time the observation of the ultraviolet spectrum relative to the passage of the shock wave through the hydrocarbon-air mixture; (3) facilities to measure continuously the pressure in the combustion section; (4) a high-intensity, short-duration light source to furnish the light pulse for the ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy. As the shock wave progresses down the tube it passes two shock wave detection stations a known distance apart. The time of transit (of the order of 500 microseconds) between these two stations is measured and the velocity computed. The signal from the last detection station is also fed to an electronic time delay generator. The output of this time delay generator is used to fire the high-intensity, short-duration light source. By this means ultraviolet absorption spectra may be taken at predetermined time intervals after the shock wave has passed through the combustion mixture. The absorption spectra are taken in about 10 microseconds. The pressure in the combustion section is continuously measured after the shock wave has passed through the combustion mixture. T h e pressure is read out on a cathode ray oscilloscope and the trace photographed. Another part of the research pro-
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Another Example of Peabody Quench Towers In Action
When you have the problem of cooling high temperature gases in a minimum of space, benefit by the experience of a large oil company. In this company's ethylene plant, a Peabody direct contact quench tower is used to handle cracked gas. Gas enters the quench tower at 600° F and leaves cooled down to 100° F at the rate of 103,500 CFM. Positive mass transfer is achieved in Peabody towers through an exclusive impingement plate design which brings gas and liquid into intimate contact. The fundamental impingement plate design is used in all Peabody towers, but arrangement, number and types can be varied depending upon the application. When you have a problem involving scrubbers consult Peabody.
PEABODY ENGINEERING CORPORATION 232 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK 16, Ν. Υ. Offices
IN PRINCIPAL CITIES
PEABODY LIMITED · LONDON, S.W. I , ENGLAND For further information, circle number 22 λ on Readers' Service Card, page 139 A 22 A
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
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REPORTS
gram is an extension of the work of E. W. Malmberg at Ohio State University. I n this work, a gasoline engine is equipped with a sampling valve in the cylinder which removes a small portion of the reacting mix ture for a brief instant during some selected part of the engine cycle. Since the sample valve is opened re peatedly at this particular point in the cycle, a steady stream of gas is drawn off. I n this way, com position of the mixture can be deter mined at any desired part of the cycle. The oxidation reaction apparently starts with the formation of hydro peroxides, whose presence in small concentrations at various points in the cycle was demonstrated by Malm berg and coworkers. Under the conditions of their formation, these hydroperoxides are known to react to form carbonyl compounds and other products; Malmberg has as sumed in a number of studies that the yield of carbon compounds can be used as a measure of the amount of preflame reaction. This convenient experimental approach has enabled Malmberg to carry out a fruitful re search program on hydrocarbon com bustion. Now, Ford would like to determine whether Malmberg's initial assumption is correct by using the new tool of gas chromatography. Ford also has a new aid in that it has new pure hydroperoxide com pounds not previously available. Studying engine behavior with commercial fuels and pure hydro carbons has helped bring about the development of some very efficient modern engines. But a major tech nological break-through will come only with new, more fundamental knowledge of hydrocarbon combus tion. A.D.H.
Atomic Weather Weather control could use some very close team work between nuclear physi cists and meteorologists Radioactivity, both natural and man-made, has been put to good use in studying nature's weather secrets. Use of radioactive tracers in particular has already contrib uted quite a bit to the science of meteorology. But, if Lester Machta
