certain methods that can be adopted in the conduct of any manufacturing business. The days of large profits. cheap raw materials and labor have gone for good. IVith increasing prices and competition, all executires must be economists as well. Efficiency, in its broadest sense, should include promotion, capitalization, location, organization, equipment and operation. Great stress has been laid on the efficiency of labor to the exclusion of matters of equal or greater moment. .In exact knowledge of unit costs will reveal the weak points in any plant. The so-called efficiency engineer who spends three or four days
1
in a concern and antagonizes even-one from the bosses to the office boy. can accomplish little good. n‘eeks and months of study are required to get a t the details of the busincss: t o make improvements is a still greater task. The good-wilt of the employees must be gained and kept to make any progress in economy studies. Discussion and argument naturally follow any change in policy. The man who makes the change should be on the ground to defend himself and drive home the facts as he sees them. SYRACUSE, S . T.
I
PERKIN MEDAL AWARD
The Perkin Medal was conferred on James Gayley for his distinguished services in the field of chemical engineering and metallurgy a t the regular meeting of the Society of Chemical Industry, Chemists’ Club, New Tork, January 24, 1913. 3Ir. Gayley’s study of the blast-furnace reactions covering a period of many years and his subsequent development, on the basis of these observations. of the dry-blast processes, as well as numerous other inventions in this field are fully set forth in the presentation address by Professor Charles F. Chandler and the address of acceptance by 31r. Gayley. Professor Henry ill. Howe spoke on “The Value of Expert Opinion,” particularly as applied to 31r. Gayley’s work and Prof. Edward Hart gave a most interesting and intimate revien- of the career of the medalist. The program was completed by a n address on “The New Age” by Dr. Rossiter JV. Raymond. At the conclusion of the program, the Societl- and its guests were entertained a t an informal reception given by the Chemists’ Club. The addresses presented a t this meeting are printed in full in the following pages. [EDITOR]. PRESENTATION ADDRESS BY c. F. CH.4XDLER 31R. C H A I R M A S , BROTHER CHEMISTS .1SD J f R . GAYLEI.: I t is my very pleasant privilege, as the senior Past-President of the Society of Chemical Industry, residing in this country, to present to Mr. James Gayley, the Perkin Gold Medal, for important achievements in Industrial Chemistry. This medal has been awarded to 3Ir. Gayley by the Perkin Medal Committee of the Associated Chemical and Electrochemical Societies of America in recognition of his most valuable work in Chemical Metallurg).. James GayJey is the maternal grand nephen- of Sir H e n q Bell. who established steam navigation on the Clyde, where he launched “The C‘a?nt2l” in 1812. He was born a t Lock Haven, Pa., October 11, 1 8 j j , the son of Samuel -1.and Agnes (Malcolm) Gayley. He was educated a t \Test Nottingham Aicademy, Jfd., and graduated from Lafayette College in 1876 with the degree of Mining Engineer. In 1906 he received from the University of Pennsylvania the Honorary degree of Doctor of Science, and in 1912 the same degree from Lehigh Universit>-. I n 1908 he received the Elliot Crcsson Gold Medal for the Promotion of the Mechanic arts from the Franklin Institute. Mr. Gayley began his professional life as chemist for the Crane Iron Company, Catasauqua, Pa., 187;-’80. He was next superintendent of the JIissouri Furnace Company, St. Louis, and later was the manager of Blast Furnaces, E. S: G. Brooks Co., Birdsboro. Pa., 1880-’8j. In 188j he became manager of the Blast Furnaces at the Edgar Thomson n’orks, and he was subsequently promoted to the position of manager of the Edgar Thomson LTorks: he later became a managing director of the Carnegie Steel Company. In 1901, he was made first vicepresident of the U. S.Steel Corporation, remaining in this posi-
tion until 1909. He v a s the inventor of furnace improvements, bronze cooling plates; stand for ladle in pouring Bessemer heats and the dry air blast. Were it not that \re have with us to-night Mr. Gayley himself, it would be my duty and pleasure to give you a history of his various most valuable contributions to metallurgical chemistry. But as you would certainly prefer to learn this from his own lips, I will content myself with saying that I can not recall a more far-reaching invention than that of the dry air blast for the manufacture of iron, for which he has received, between October 23, 1894 and September j , 1911, no less than fifteen successive patents in this country.. I am told that his results in this direction alone mean a reduction of from one-half toone dollar per ton in the cost of producing pig iron, besides making it possible for the iron master to produce, in all weathers, a product of uniform quality. When one remembers that there were produced in the United States, during the past year, tuentynine millions of tons of pig iron, it will be seen that this, Mr. Gayley’s invention of the dry air blast, means a saving to the American people of from $ 1 j,ooo,oooto B29,0oo,oooper annum. I have presented to you very briefly the great achievements of Jlr. Gayley in the field of Applied Chemistry, but quite fully enough to satisfy you that your Committee is fully justified in placing Mr. Gayley by the side of Sir William Perkin and the previous recipients of the Perkin Medal, as one of our greatest Industrial Chemists and Chemical Engineers. To JIR. GAYLEY: I t gives me great plcasure, as the representative of the Society of Chemical Industry, and the affiliated Chemical and Electrochemical Societies, to place in your hands this beautiful token of the appreciation and affection of your fellow chemists. ADDRESS O F ACCEPTANCE By
JAXES
GAYLEY
MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIESAND GENTLEMES: I wish to thank the speaker for this medal which he has presented t o me with such gracious words. I wish also to express my thanks t o the awarding Committee and the societies which they represent in conferring this great honor upon me. I appreciate it still more because the Committee have stepped aside from what is purely the chemical industry t o another great industry, t h a t of metallurgy, which, nevertheless, is one in which the application of chemistry is the controlling factor, and this recognition of the broader field of chemistry brings with it a keen sense of appreciation of this rare honor and distinction conferred upon me. Again I thank you. The iron blast furnace is but the chemist’s crucible on a gigantic scale-operated on chemical principles and the mechanical appliances are instruments of precision, constructed and adjusted to carrying out in efficient manner the chemical reactions involved. The “rule of thumb” practice, which ended thirty-five to forty years ago, is well-nigh forgotten-that period in which
242
T H E J O U R N A L O F I r V D C S T R I . I L -IA\-DE.YGISEERIAVG C H E M I S T R Y
Mar.,
1913
being supplied with hot metal direct from the furnaces, for the chemistry \vas not applied, and a ton of ore was a ton of ore all the world over, irrespective of its reducibility or chemical com- Jones metal mixer had not come into use. It was a difficult position; when the iron master mas more interested in the output matter t o supply metal approximating uniformity even under the best conditions, and quite impossible urider conditions of of 1.x iron than in the fuel consumption, and would tell you varying atmospheric humidity. t h a t “lime made heat,” and David Thomas, t h a t grand old pioneer of the anthracite iron industry, summed up the reqFor several years observations were made twice a day of the uisites for successful furnace practice as “wind and heat.” moisture in the atmosphere, and a direct relation was established The application of chemistry to iron smelting has effected a between the quantity of moisture and the grade of metal, with wonderful transformation in t h a t industry, so t h a t to-day the particular reference t o the silicon which is the heat-producing chemist occupies the foreground in directing its operations. element in the acid Bessemer converter. I n the summer season, the air blown into the converter was heavily charged with Moisture in the atmosphere has long been recognized as a moisture, and in consequence, a higher percentage of silicon in variable and influential element in the manufacture of iron. Truran, in his “Manufacture of Iron,” written in 1862,refers the metal was normally required, while a t the same time these atmospheric conditions at length t o the influence operated on the furnaces of moisture o n t h e t o produce alower silicon quality and make of iron, metal; thusthe operating and t h e increased conof furnaces in conjuncsumption of fuel in the tion with Bessemer consummer season, but does verters on direct metal not touch on the probmay well be presumed lem of its regulation or to have been a difficult removal. and trying proposition. Later, in England i t Under t h e s e c o n was proposed t o extract ditions of manufacturing, the moisture by passing the removal of t h e the air over lumps of moisture from the atchloride of calcium, but mosphere, or rather its Sir L o w t h i a n B e l l reduction to a low deshowed the impracticagree, and one of pracbility of t h a t scheme on tical uniformity, apaccount of the rapidly peared to hold out the diminishing power of abonly means of effecting sorption possessed by regularity, and a t the the calcium chloride. same time to promise a Charles Cochrane, a n considerable saving. It eminent iron manuwas a matter of confacturerof Great Britain, stant observation that proposed and obtained a a sudden change in the p a t e n t on extracting weather, making a quick moisture from the air drop in the temperature by bringing i t into inand content of moisture, timate contact with would cause the furnaces liquid calcium chloride to work excessively hot, flowing over chains susbut this period of dryness pended in a chamber; could not be taken adbut later he declared as vantage of, for before to the benefits t o be deany changes could be rived from extracting made effective in the moisture t h a t “ t h e game furnace charge to meet was not worth the current atmosphericconcandle. ” Nevertheless, ditions, the moisture the moisture in the atmight have increased to mosphere was recognized i t s normal seasonable as a disturbing element. amount. Some of the earlier JAMES GAYLET, PERKIX ~IEU.LLIST,1913 Observations of t h e makers of anthracite humidity in the atmosphere were made daily from iron in the Lehigh Valley stated t h a t they frequently knew 1886-1890, when the first experiments for moisture in the morning what kind of iron their furnaces were making removal were begun. These observations were made, at the by observing the weather conditions; yet, prior t o the first dry beginning, in the morning and evening, and later were made air installation in 1904,this variable element of moisture was accepted in a spirit of resignation, as something to be endured, every hour. Observations were also made of rain storms, to determine the moisture before, during and after the rain, and i t was like storm and sunshine, a condition beyond control. It was my privilege to be invited in 188jto take charge of the noted t h a t the moisture usually dropped quickly as the rain Edgar Thomson Blast Furnaces of the Carnegie Steel Company, began t o fall. Throughout this period of moisture tests, the working of the furnace was observed in its relation t o the amount a plant which represented the most advanced construction in of moisture in the atmosphere. blast-furnace equipment, and was supplied with the best fuel A modern furnace consumes about 40,000 cu. ft. of air per and ores. I n the operation of these large furnaces, the influence minute, and for each grain of moisture per cubic foot, there enof the atmosphere mas forcibly impressed, as the steel works were
Mar., 1913
T H E J O U R N A L OF I K D U S T R J . 4 L A N D ENGIArEER?.VG CHElMlSTR Y
ters the furnace one gallon of water per hour for each 1000 cu. ft., t h a t is, if the moisture was I g. per cu. ft., 40 gallons of water would cntcr the furnace pcr hour. TABLE I-VARIATION O F MOISTURE I N THE PITTSBURGH DISTRICT
Avcragc temperature 0
January., . . . . . . . . . . . February. . . . . . . . . . . . March. . . . . . . . . . . . . . April. . . . . . . . . . . . . . May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F.
August..
...........
37 . O 31. 7 47 . O 51. O 61.6 71.6 76.2 73,6
October..
...........
56.4
December.. . . . . . . . . .
36.6
........
........
Weight of w a t e r per cubic foot of air Grains 2.18 1.83
3.40 3.00 4.80 5.94 5.60 5.16 5.68 4.00 2.35 2.25
W a t e r per hr. entering a furnace using 40,000 cu. f t . of air per min. Gallons 87.2 73.2 136,O 120.0 192 . 0 237.6 224 0 206.4 227.2 160.0 94.0 90.0
IVhile the moisture in January averaged 2.18 grains, yet thc total variation for the month was from 0.56 g. to 2.55 g., and while June shows a n average of 5.94 gr., yet the extreme variation was from 4.8 g. to 8.50 g., or in other words the moisture entering the furnace varied from 192 t o 340 gallons per hour. During thc midwinter period, the moisture may vary as much as 150 per cent. in thc same day, but in midsummer i t rarcly varies more than 2 5 per cent. Having secured extensive data on the varying humidity of thc atmosphere over a period of five years, the problem of making those conditions uniform next presented itself. The experience of English engineers was against the absorption process with calcium chloride, and my predecessor a t the Edgar Thomson Works, Mr. J. H. Cremcr, had constructed an apparatus t o desiccate in the same way, but be obtained very unsatisfactory results. As our observations showed a reduction of moisture through a reduction of atmospheric temperature, thc reduction of temperature through mechanical refrigeration presented itself as the obvious method of removing the moisture, and on this basis the first experiment was undertaken in 1890 in a crude way. We began by passing air through two chambers in succcssion: in the first chamber the air came in contact with pipes cooled by water, and in the second chamber anhydrous ammonia was expanded through the pipes. As the air camc from the blowing enginc i t was quite warm, b u t after passing through the chambers it was very cold; each chamber was only six feet long and the volume of air treated was small indeed. Various forms of apparatus were constructed from the period 1890-1895, and tests were made as opportunity offered. During this period my duties had been changed from t h a t of supcrintendent of the furnaces to general superintendent of thc n-hole works, thus adding t o my duties t h a t of the steel works and mills. Thcrc mas in consequence not much time frcc to make experimcnts, for the demands of a large steel works on its manager's time wcrc persistent and exacting, and experiments and improvements along other well defined lines represented inorc immediate profit and demanded thought and attention. R u t the gcneral plan for a final test on a large scale had been Jvorked out, which was t o be tried later. I n 1896, I left the active management of the works to enter upon the general business ~f the Carnegie Steel Company in connection with thc ore department and the assembling of all raw materials. If the o1)portunities lor cxperirricnting were rare when stationed -11 the. works, they hccame more so, when located in the general ofice. I therefore secured the services of a young engincer, 3Ir. Walter, from a refrigerating company, and when they learned
243
the nature of my experiments they kindly loaned me a small ammonia compressor t o carry on the work, and we used two air drying chambers-ach four feet square and eight feet long, and filled with pipe coils, and with the necessary refrigerating appliances. A blast engine with an air cylinder three feet in diameter and capable of supplying 3500 cu. f t . of air per minute was installed, and from this engine and its small air supply the data were worked out for treating 40,000 cu. ft. of air, which was the quantity required t o supply a modern blast furnace. I mention t h a t we had to work out the necessary data for a practical demonstration, and the suggestion might arise, why did me not avail ourselves of the experience of refrigerating firms? Indeed we tried to-the proposition was put up t o scveral important makers of refrigerating machinery, but without any substantial benefit. To refrigerate the air for cold storagc rooms was a specification they readily undcrstobd, but thc treating of a hurricane of air was a n entirely diffcrent problem to them. We were therefore compelled t o work out the data ourselves and make o u t our own card of estimatc It is unnecessary to give in detail the many and varied cxpcriments made in treating the air, nor t o dcscribc how certain obstacles, which seemed t o block our progress, wcrc successively overcome. I n our list of experiments we tried rarefaction with refrigeration but we did not obtain satisfactory results. About the year 1900, we had plans worked out in detail for a plant t o treat 40,000 cu. ft. of air per minutc, and I then applied to my company for a n appropriation of S;IOO,OOO.O~ to make this installation; here my most difficult work bcganto persuade my associates t h a t air really did carry moisture and t h a t it could appreciably, even in a small degree, affect the working of a blast furnace. It could hardly be expected t h a t men who came up through thc ranks of the steel works or office could appreciate the influence of atmospheric changes on a blast furnace t h a t to all external appearances was crude and rough, b u t which in its intcrior adjustment was really on a most delicate balancc. Money was readily appropriatcd for the mechanical appliances of the furnaces, or for securing uniformity in the physical and chemical composition of the orcs, coke and limestone, and a variation therein of I O per cent. t o 20 per cent. was promptly corrected, but the atmosphere might vary from 20 per cent. to 150 per cent. even in a single day, without giving any concern, for few realized t h a t the weight of air consumed per ton of iron was 50 per cent. greater than all the other raw materials combined. I n other words, it rcquires about four tons of ore, coke and limestone to makc a ton of pig-iron, while six tons of air are required. The most difficult problem I had to encounter was to convince others of the merit of the process after its details of construction and operation had been worked out, and i t was not until 1903 t h a t I secured a n appropriation to construct the first plant, although I had offered the year before to assume personally half the expense. Early in June, 1904, the dry air plant, which was crected at the Isabella E'urnaces a t Pittsburgh, was in proper working order and ready t o be put on the furnace. It %-asnecessary to apply the dry air gradually so as not to disturb the furnace adjustment, and as there were three blast engines me arranged to first supply dry air from one engine, making the blast onethird dry air. JVe decided to apply this dry air a t 9.00 A . M . , and I had the weight of ore charge increased by 5 per cent., and this increasc was timed to reach the combustion zone of the furnace at I I .oo A . M . The furnace manager regarded with dismay the addition of 5 per cent., protesting t h a t a 2 per cent. increase \vas :rhout the limit, and if thc dry air did not prove efficient, then he would have a very cold furnace on his hands. Notwithstanding, the change was made. % he'n the dry as 'was turned on a t 9.00 A . M . , the furnace soon showed the effect
THE JOL'RS.-IL OF I N D C S T R I A L A N D ESGI_\-EERIA\-G C H E L U I S T R Y
244
of it, the gas became grayer, a surc sign of the furnace \Torking hotter, and when the j per cent. incrcase in ore had reached the hearth, i t ivas not discernible that the furnace had been giwn a n increased duty. The operations of the furnace were conducted on a conservative basis, and the long time spent in working out and developing the air drying plant was ren-arded, for the plant started and continued to perform its 17-ork without a hitch. By the sixth day the furnace was being supplied with two-thirds dry air and onethird natural air, and 9 per cent. increase in ore charge had come to work, the furnace continuing splendidly. I might add here t h a t the 9 per cent. in weight of ore charge represented the same percentage increase in output, and a like reduction in the amount of fuel used per ton of iron. On the afternoon of that sixth day in the use of dry air, I lcft the works, well satisfied with the progress made, and confident of the future by reason of the many little indications easily recognized by practical furnacemen, t h a t a still heavier duty would be responded to. I had not gone far when the sound of a n explosion rcached me, and, on turning, I saw great clouds of steam rising from the works. I hastened back, and feeling my n-ay through steam and dust, I was dismayed to find t h a t the refrigerating chambcr had collapsed. There i t lay a tangled mass of concrete and distorted pipe coils. During a part of the time employed in erecting the dry air plant there was a bricklayers' strike, and the ivorks manager, not wishing to delay construction, built the refrigcrating chamber of concrete. The dry air blast conduit leading from the top of the chamber t o the blast engines was constantly vibrating from the impulse of air and the vibrations of the engines. Thesc were in turn communicated to the dome of the building, weakening the bond of the concrete; this caused the valls to collapse: in their fall thcy broke the steam pipelcading to the compressors. The debris vas cleared away, and in less than two months the plant \vas again started. 11:e began as before, and in two weeks' time had secured a fuel economy of I j per cent., and then by small increments lve gradually worked up to a point of 2 0 per cent. efficiency; t h a t is, we effected a fuel saving of 20 per cent. and increased the output to the same extent. This practice was continued for about six months, but i t \?-as operating too close to the danger line to take care of irregularities in the raw materials, and the fuel economy x a s adjustcd t o 15 per cent. Even with dry air blast there is a disinclination to work up to the high limit of efficiency, for thc experience of every furnace manager with natural air has shown the necessity of keeping a good margin of safety.
Mar., 1913
The second model represents a two-stage process, in which the air is brought into direct contact with refrigerated water in the first chamber, and is reduced to about 3j0; then passes
FIG.~-TWO-STAGE REFRIGERATING CHAXBER. COOLISCB Y DIRECT A K D I S D I R E C T CoKT.4CT
to the second chamber filled with pipe coils through which brine circulates and the final temperature is obtained. The twostage method is more cheaply operated, and costs a third less t o build. It was not our purpose throughout our experiments to work TABLE11.-
GALLONSO F ~VATERDELIVEREDTO FURKACE IN 24 H O U R S Satural Dry Natural Dry July, 1910 air blast July, 1910 air blast
.
-
~
.*.
ab,.!
........... /"".'..
FIG.I-SECTIOX O F REFRIGERATISGCHAMBERSASD ELEVATION ot BLOWINGENGINE HOUSE
The apparatus for drying air is shov-n in the tvc-o models presented. In the first model, which represents our first installation, there is a chamber filled with pipcs, and the air is cooled by indirect contact with cooling fluid, xvhich is brine. The temperature of the brine is such t h a t the air entering the chamber a t 80' is discharged at 23 $.
1.. . . . . . 2. . . . . . . 3.. ..... 4....... 5.. ..... 6.. . . . . . 7. . . . . . . 8. . . . . . .
5,349 5,517 5,438 4,432 5,458 7,797 5,428 5,873
'I..
.....
6,633
829
10.. . . . . . 11 12. . . . . . . 13.. . . . . .
5,981 4,511 6,203 4,002 4,713 5,828 5,522
819 785
1 1. . . . . . .
1.5,. . . . . . 16.. . . . . .
834 849 829 814 844 849 844 799
PO4 779 785 809 819
17.. . . . . 18 . . . . 19.. , , , , 20., , , . , 21 . . . . . 22.. . . . . 23.. . . . . 24.. . . . 25..... 26... . . . 27.. , . . 28 . . . . . 29 . . . . . 30..
..
31.
Total, July.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Equivalent in barrels of 42 gal. each.,. . . . .
4,116 3,588 3,410 3,915 6,119 1,678 5,876 6,327 5,152 6,450 5,764 5,453 6,184 4.525 4,288
809 809 809 819 809 814 814 834 819
829 809 809 819
799 782
_-
-
164,560 3,918
25,254 601
out the most economical method of drying air for the first installation. What we aimed a t mas to cqnstruct a plant t h a t
would efficiently and continuously produce dry air, in order to determine its economical value in the furnace. Fig, 3 shows the variableness of moisture in natural air, and the regularity of dry air in the month of July, 1910. Table I1 shows the meaning of the curves in Fig. 3 when translated into terms of gallons and barrels of n-ater. The quantity of water extracted in July, if placed in barrels, would make a row of barrels about one and one-half miles long. The records obtained a t several xi-orks from the use of dry air, and which in cach case cover a considerable period, arc as fo1lon.s: Works Output, percentage i n c r e a s e . . , . . . Coke used, percentage decrease. . .
A 23 0 10 5
B 15.3 6 .0
C 11.8
9,8
D 16 . O 10 ..i
The results obtaimd at different plants are modified by the raw materials used and the personal equation of the management enters into it. The results given above are taken from works in three different countries. T h e claim I persoi~nll>lm a k e f o r the process z‘s that with a n increase i n output of I O per cent., the saving i~ifui.1per ton of w o n udl be reduced I O per cent., and I consider this conservative.
FIG .?-RESULTS
,
W I T H T H E G A Y L E Y D R Y BLAST.
that the furnace works with greater regularity and, in consequence, a more uniform metal is produced, and a required grade of metal can be made with precision. I n lon-silicon irons the sulfur does not increase as when natural air is used. The saving in coke effects a corresponding saving in the limestone necessary to flux the ash of the coke, and there is less phosphorus entering the mct>l. As the furnace charges settle more regularly, there is less fine ore carried over with the gases. A manager of blast furnaces using dry air recently said t h a t they found it to be a n “educator” in their practice, as i t had taught them the advantage of securing regularity in many other directions. I shall not attempt hcrein t o set forth any of the theories advanced to account for the fuel saving, which has been found to be in cxccss of what is necessary to dissociate the moisture. That feature has been ably discussed by Dr. Henry bi. Howc, Dr. R. 11.. Raymond, Prof. J. XI’. Richards, Mr. J. E. Johnson, Jr., and many others in this country, and also by metallurgists
GRAPHIC CHART O F
Onc of the advantages obtained through dry a r is the elasticity i t permits in furnace operations t o meet business conditions. If trade is dull the furnace can be operated to secure the maximum of fuel economy with a small increase in output, but when trade is booming and pig iron is in demand, a n increased output is more desirable than a saving in fuel, and the furnace can readily be made t o respond. The manager of the Dowlais IVorks, at Cardiff, Wales, cxperimented with one furnace to determine what results could be obtained under each condition of operating. For a period, the furnace was operated principally ’to secure increased output and obtained a n increase of 2 6 per cent. with a fuel saving of 12.3 per cent. In the next period they operated principally to obtain decreased fuel consumption and obtained a n increase in output of 1 2 per cent. with a decrease in fuel of I 7.4 per cent. In addition to the advantages already mentioned, it is found
T H E P E R F O R l I A N C E O F .4 W E S T E R X
DRY-BLAST PLANT
in England, Germany, and France; their full discussions can be found in the Transactions of the AFJZWZCCI~ InstitutP of .\fining Engineers, the J o u r n a l o,f the British Iron and Steel Institute, and metallurgical journals. To\%-ardsa full consideration of the dry air blast, a few points may be briefly referred to. It did not come into its work as did the Neilson hot blast in 1828, vhen the a r t was crude, and the appliances of the furnacc were poorly adapted to the work. But t o the Scotchman, Ncilson, all credit is due for effecting a fuel saving of thirty per cent. Dry air instead was tried out \Then the equipment of the furnace was as perfect as human skill could make it. The nature of furnace operations was well understood, and its management \vas on a skilful and scientific basis. h-or was it possible for dry air blast t o have a n experimental stage. Nearly every device or process can be tested in an er-perimental way, and on a comparatively inexpensive scale.
246
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L AA’D EA’GINEER I:YG C H E M I S T R Y
Bessemer could blow air through molten metal in a pot and demonstrate the value of the pneumatic process, but it would have been of no value t o build a small plant t o refrigerate a part of the air; nothing conclusive would have been gained. Nor would it have been of any value t o treat the whole air supply of a diminutive or toy furnace. To efficiently demonstrate its value, i t had to be applied to a furnace t h a t was equipped and operated according to the most advanced state of the art, and not only was i t essential t h a t the whole air supply should be treated, but t h a t the method and means of treatment should measure up in capacity and efficiency, and operate as continuously as any of the other accessories of a modern blast furnace. This, in brief, is the story of the dry air blast -
THE VALUE OF EXPERT OPINIONS’ B y HENRYM. Hows Intercsting as arc the other aspects of thc Gayley process its greatest interest lies, I think, in the light which it throws on the nature of expert evidence and on the value of cxpcrt opinion. What is this process’ It is simply drying the air uscd for burning the fuel in the iron blast furnace-apparently a rather simple matter. To refresh your memory, the blast furnace is a huge vertical firebrick cylinder, roughly speaking I n it iron ore, which is essentially iron oxidc, is converted into cast iron or pig iron by prolonged exposure to coke or its equivalent, in a n atmosphere of mixed carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, and nitrogen, which results from burning this coke by means of atmospheric air forced in through appropriatc openings ncar thc bottom of the furnace, and called “ t h e blast.” Thc fririidcc is full from top to bottom of a n intimate mixture of this cokc and ore, together with limestone added for the purpose of forming with the barren mineral matter of the ore and with the ash of the coke a fusible silicate or slag, and for other purposes into which we need not enter here. These three solid materials collectively are called “ t h e stock.” The burning of the coke generates a t the bottom of the furnace a temperature so high as to melt away the bottom of this column of stock, or mixed coke ore and limestone, of which the last two havc, by this time, been converted locally into metallic iron and lime, and as the column thus descends it is renewed a t its top by adding more of this same mixture so as to keep the furnace continuously full There are, as it were, tmo rivers passing through this great cylinder in opposite directions, a sluggish river of solid stock which descends as its bottom is melted away, and a swift river of ascending gases resulting from the burning of the coke by thc injected air or blast. The former traverses the length of thc furnace in from 1 2 to 15 hours, the latter in a very few seconds. These rivers interact as they interpenetrate and flow past each other, the rising gaseous column progressively giving up its heat to the solid column and taking from that solid column the oxygen of its iron oxide, so that the gaseous stream as it emerges from thc top of the furnace has taken from the descending ore all the oxygen that it is capable of removing, and has delivered over to that ore and its accompanying coke and limestone all the heat that they are capable of taking from it. So much for the blast-furnace process, which, like every mundane process that seems simple, is in fact of a complexity so ovcrmhelming that the human mind is inherently and incurably impotent to grasp it. We rub our eyes and, seeing as far as the ends of our noses, assume that we see to the end of the universe As a heat engine thc blast furnace was known to be extremely efficient, as human heat engines go. Nevertheless, by thc 1 Address delivered at the Perkin Medal Meeting. Society of Chemical Industry, Chemists’ Club, New York. January 24, 1913.
Mar.,
1913
extremely simple step of drying the blast Mr. Gayley made a further important saving of fuel amounting in some cases to 20 per cent., and according to our present evidences to about I O per cent. on an average, for usual American conditions. To those who had taken up the logical stick by the wrong end, such a saving by thus drying the blast seemed simply preposterous, as preposterous as talking a thousand miles through an iron wire, or waving a message to Europe without any wire, or as any invention is till you understand it. Its preposterousness was promptly and convincingly exposed by the public-spirited experts whose geographical misfortune prevented their knowing Mr. Gayley’s character, though those of us more favored geographically followed “ Br’er Fox” till our question “Why and how?” could be answered. The heat required for heating and dissociating the moisturc of the blast is a small fraction of the total heat requirement of the blast-furnace process; how then dare wc say t h a t thc removal of this heat requirement may save IO or even 20 per cent. of the fuel? Not a few of us had grown so used to calculating thc heat needed for a given chemical and physical work like that of thc blast furnace, and the heat evolved by the combustion of a given weight of fuel under known conditions, and to calculating thus the thermal balance, that we had lost sight of the suprcmc importance of temperature. Thc atmospheric moisture, calorimetrically considered, is indecd slight, but thermometrically considcred it is sometimes of overwhelming importance. As to its cffect on climate Tyndall says. “ T o say that on a day of average humidity in England, thc atmospheric vapor excrts 100 timcs thc action of thc air itself, vould certainly be a n under-statement of the fact.” Those who have felt thc physical and mental cxhilarat ioii nhich a ten-mile trip from Cairo out into the dcscrt creates by thc suddcn substitution of a drier for a moister climate; those whose legs would fain lcap when the “wild west wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being” suddenly dries our air, might well listen to the claim that a like drying of the air affects the blastfurnace process as it affects our own vital processes. The sum and substance of it is that the blast-furnacc process has, among its various duties, to supply a certain quantity of heat a t or above a certain high temperature, which for brevity we may call the critical temperature, while shamefacedly confessing that we are further overworking a n already grossly overworked word. No quantity of heat offered a t any lower temperature will do this work. All the heat in all the suns of thc milky way if offered a t a temperature of soo C., could not boil one egg. Drying the blast saves fuel by improving the tcmpcraturcdistribution of the heat generated. Perhaps this is more readily understood if wc consider an imaginary case. Suppose that matters were so ordained that he who wished to build a n iron building was obliged to takc, along with his iron work, a certain fixed proportion of acccssories, windows, flooring, tiling, etc., the proportion fitted for a ten-story building. That would be all well enough for those who build nine- ten- or eleven-story buildings; but for the builder of a forty-story building it would be most uneconomical, because whereas the quantity of accessories, windows, flooring, tiling, etc,, increases directly as the height of the building, the iron work needed increases in a higher ratio; so that, in order to get enough iron work for his forty-story building he might have to get enough accessories for a sixty-story building, and the excess would be left on his hands. This is because of bad proportioning of his supplies. A mere change in the proportion between iron work and accessories would cause a great saving. It is somenhat so with a thermal process like that o f thc iron blast furnace. When combustion has raised the temperature above the critical point there is available first a certain
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