Feb., 1919
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
States with regard to their possible helium supply, as this might be judged from sampling and analysis of existing wells combined with a study of geological considerations. As the results of this study are expected to be issued soon as a monograph by the Survey, no attempt will be made to deal with them here. The Bureau of Standards also undertook the determination of certain physical properties of the gases, more especially the latent and specific heats and specific volumes of methane over a wide range of pressures and temperatures, and the diffusion of helium through balloon fabrics, all of which it is expected will also be published in due time by that Bureau. I n order to properly coordinate all the different agencies concerned, the conduct of the helium work as a whole was about this time placed in the hands of a committee consisting of one representative from each of the three departments chiefly concerned. Mr. G. 0. Carter, as chairman, represented the Navy, Dr. Harvey N. Davis, the Army, and Mr. Geo. A. Orrok, the Interior. The L a d e plant, costing in round figures $3oo,ooo, was the first to be contracted for and have its construction started. It commenced operation March 6 and on March 2 2 produced gas containing 28 per cent helium. By April 2 1 this purity had reached 50 per cent, the yield being a t first small but both quantity and purity steadily increased up to a maximum daily production on September 6, of 7755 cu. f t . of 67 per cent purity, with average production of say 5000 cu. f t . a t over 7 0 per cent purity, which was then further purified in a second step to about 92 or 93 per cent purity. The Claude plant, costing about half as much as the Linde, commenced production some weeks later than the latter, and has also gradually increased its production and purity of product. Although up to date these are still considerably behind the performance of the Linde plant, a new still is just being installed in the Claude plant which it is hoped will materially improve both yield and purity of the product. Due to present pipe-line limitation, coupled with heavy consumpf ion of fuel gas a t this time of year, it has been necessary for some months past for the Lone Star Gas Company to mix with the Petrolia gas some from other fields carrying less helium, so that the helium content of the gas a t present being treated a t Fort Worth has fallen to between 0.4and 0.5 per cent by volume which proportionately cuts down the production of both plants. At the time of signing the armistice the first shipment of 147,000 cu. f t . of 93 per cent helium was on the dock about to be loaded aboard ship for Europe. This at the above cited pre-war prices would represent about $250,000,000 worth of gas. A large part of the credit for the promptness with which this actual production was affected is due to Mr. Carter, who was tireless in his efforts in pushing matters of priority, transportation, construction, and production. The Army and Navy have now jointly entered upon a larger production program under the immediate direction of the Navy, and have allotted some five million dollars for the purpose including the construction of a new pipe line and additional units of the Linde Plant a t Fort Worth. General Squire, in an address before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers last week, stated that “Plants are under construction to give a t least 50,000 cu. f t . a day at an estimated cost of not more than I O cents per cu. ft.” If present expectations of the Norton process are fulfilled, this cost may be still further greatly reduced. The Bureau of Mines or Norton plant a t Petrqlia was completed as far as initial construction is concerned the middle of October, and since that time its various parts have been successively undergoing tests and adjustments of its various parts seriathn. The multi-tubular heat interchangers and large expansion engines, which were among the new depar-
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tures in this plant, over which most anxiety was originally felt, have thus far worked out very well and now seem to be performing their allotted tasks to complete satisfaction. A good deal of difficulty was a t first encountered by occasional floods of several barrels of oil and salt water coming over from the Lone Star Gas Company’s gasoline extraction plant, which immediately clogged up the interchangers, making it necessary to shut down and go through the laborious process of thawing out the whole system and starting refrigeration afresh. This has now been eliminated by the installation of adequate settling chambers and traps, and tests and adjustments are proceeding upon the stills which form the last part of the equipment to be proven out. It is hoped that helium production will soon be attained, but as this plant has a rated production capacity of several times that of either of the other two, each change or adjustment in its parts requires rather more time, even aside from the fact of the entire novelty and experimental character of many of its parts. The rest of the story including comparison of the general principles on which the three plants operate, as well as a concrete picture of the plants themselves, can best be presented by the lantern slides to which we will now turn. BUREAUOF MINES SANFRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
AN APPRECIATION OF DR. COTTRELL By B U C K N ~SPEED R
Dr. Cottrell has been, to those of us who have known him for the last fifteen years, a dear friend and gay companion. The fame and recognition that have come to him for the Cottrell process are less to us than the admiration we have for his unselfish character, his constant putting of his own interests entirely in the background, his remarkable imagination, and his quick sympathy and helpfulness. On one occasion I remember his saying, a t the completion of one of his large pieces of work: “Oh, I did not do much of it-I merely acted as a catalyzer to the boys who really did the work.” He has truly been a catalyzer to a host of us who have had the deep delight of working with him and coming in contact with his perennially fresh and keen imagination as well as his patience in the trying times that accompany all large efforts. This is the way the man’s mind works: I recall some twelve years ago, when he was working on the precipitation of smelter smoke, I asked him for help on what seemed to be scarcely an allied problem, the freeing of California crude oil from its emulsified water. Instantly his mind worked with a snap. “Why,” he said, “it’s the same problem. For air put oil; for smoke particles, the minute water particles,” and then his favorite form of expression: “What wit1 happen if we put a high electrostatic stress on the oil?” Then in his characteristic quick manner, in a few minutes there were thrown together a beaker of oil, a spark coil, and two pieces of copper, and lo, the de-emulsification of the California oils had been solved, Within a few minutes, on a block of paraffin under the microscope there was spread out a drop of the emulsified oil, with two electric wires touching its edges. When the spark coil was put in operation the water drops were seen to arrange themselves in the field of the microscope like the iron filings between the poles of the magnet, to dance about and jiggle themselves into larger drops; and in these few minutes of experimentation the problem was solved by which millions of barrels of unmerchantable California oil were rendered fit both for refining and for fuel purposes. It was a familiar phrase to be heard in the University of California anywhere from the botany to the physiology departments when any question of any description came up: “Oh, go over and talk to Cott about it-he doesn’t know anything about the subject but he will put some idea in your head before you have
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T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
talked with him ten minutes,” and this he invariably did. This is the work he is now doing in Washington and all over the country; wherever he touches an industry, there he leaves the germ of a thought that months later will come out as a manufacturing process. Such a man’s work cannot well be measured by the achievements that have been credited to him. 50 EAST415” STREET NEW YORKCITY
BIBLIOGRAPHY This list of articles published by and patents granted to Dr: Cottrell was compiled by Dr. C. F. Chandler. PUBLISHED ARTICLES
Some of the Properties of Liquid Hydriodic Acid (Co-author with R. S. Norris), A m . Chem. J . , 18 (1896), 96-105. On the Heat of Solution of Liquid Hydriodic Acid, J. Phys. Chem , 2 (1898), 492-495. Notes on the Action of Liquid Hydriodic Acid on Ethyl Ether (Coauthor with R. R Rogers), A m . Chem. J., 2 1 (1899), 64-67. On the Solubility of Manganous Sulfate, J., Phys. Chem., 4 (1900), 637-656. u b e r ein saures Tripelsalz (Co-author with W. Meyerhoffer), 2 anorp. Chem., 27 (1901), 442-444. Die Bildung von Langbeinit und deren untere Temperaturgtenze in den Salzlagern bei 37’ (Co-author with J. H . van’t Hoff and W . Meyerhoffer), Siteber. kgl. preusz. Akad., 1902, 276-282. Der Reststrom bei galvanischer Polarisation betrachtet als ein Diffusionsproblem. Inaugural Dissertation, University of Leipzig, 1903. Also published in 2. physik. Chem., 42 (1903), 385-431. Review of Physical Chemistry for the Year 1904, J. Am. Chem. SOC., as (i905), 615-626. The Liquid Air Plant of the Chemistry Department, University of California, Cal. J. Techn., 6 (1905), 3-11. O n Crystalline Habit, J. Phys. Chem., 10 (19061, 52-57. On Air Liquefiers, J. Phys. Chem , 10 (1906), 264-274. Recent Progress in Physical Chemistry (Review for year 1907), J A m . Chem. SOC, 30 (1908). 288-302. Recent Progress in Physical Chemistry (Review for year 1908), J . A m . Chem. SOC.,3 1 (1909), 394-403. The Electrical Precipitation of Suspended Particles, THISJOURNAL, 3 (1911), 542-550. Electrical Fume Precipitation, Trans. A m . Inst. Mining Eng , 43 (1912), 512-520, 755-763. Mineral Losses in Gases and Fumes, THISJOURNAL, 4 (1912) 182-185. An Electrically Heated Microscope Slide, J. A m . Chem. SOC.,34 (1912), 1328-1332.
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Vol.
11,
No.
2
The Research Corporation, an Experiment in Public Administration of Patent Rights. Orig. Commun. 8th Intern. Cong. A p p l d . Chem., 24 (1912), 59-69; also THIS JOURNAL, 4 (1912), 864-867. The Problem of Smelter Smoke, Trans. Commonwealth Club of Cal., 8 (1913), 487492. Some Reaction of 1,iquid Anhydrous Ammonia and Acetylene, J . P h y s . Chem., 18 (1914), 85-100. Problems in Smoke, Fume, and Dust Abatement, A n n . Rep. Smithsonian I n s t . , 1913, 655-685. J . , 101 Recent Progress in Electrical Smoke Precipitation, Eng. Mi%. (1916), 385-392. Government Owned Patents, Reprinted from Pro:. A m . Mining Cong., 1916. UNITBD STATES PATENTS
Date of Application 1906, Jan. 4 1906, Jan. 4 1907, July 9
1908, July 13
1908, Nov. 24 1909, Feb. 26 1909, May 20
1909, May 20
1909, Sept. 9 1909, Sept. 9
1909, Oct. 12
1910, Dec. 1
1911, Nov. 6
Date of
Issue 1907, Sept. 24 1907, Sept. 24
Number 866,843 866,844
TITLE
Manufacture of Sulfuric Acid Apparatus for Separating Sulfuric Acid 1908, Aug. 11 895,729 Art of Separating Suspended Particles from Gaseous Bodies 1910, Jan. 11 945,917 Effecting Interchange of Electric Charges between Solid Conductors and Gases 1913, Apr. 29 1,060,065 Filtering Medium and Process for Making the Same 1912, Feb. 6 1,016,476 Purification of Gases 1911, Mar. 21 987,115 Separating and Collecting Particles of One Liquid Suspended in Another Liquid 1911, Mar. 21 987,116 Apparatus for Separating and Collecting Particles of One Liquid Suspended in Another Liquid 1915, June 15 1,143,175 Synchronous Electrical Contact-Maker 1912, Aug. 13 1,035,422 Apparatus for Separating Su6 pended Particles from Gaseous Bodies 1911, Mar. 21 987,114 Process for separating and Collecting Particles of One Liquid Suspended in Another Liquid 1911, Mar. 21 987.117 Separating and Collecting Particles of One Liquid Suspended in Another Liquid 1913, July22 1,067,974 Method of Discharge of Electricity into Gases
FOREIGN INDUSTRIAL NEWS
I
By A. MCMILLAN, 24 Westend Park St., Glasgow, Scotland
THE APPLICATION OF WELDING
SOURCES OF POTASH
The amount of publicity that has been given to the fact that ships are being constructed with the various parts welded together instead of being riveted as hitherto must serve to focus the attention oi engineers upon the possibilities of this method of construction. Welding has for a long time been used with considerable success for the carrying out of various repairs, for the uniting of fractured parts of castings, and even for the thickening up of wasted parts, but its extension to many processes has been slow in following the obvious success which it has long achieved in the more limited field of repair work. For the construction of light tanks where absolute water or oil tightness is desired, welding can be easily used and it is worthy of notice that the process has been utilized in this direction but mainly for the uniting of parts in awkward positions where riveting would be difficult to perform. The blow-pipe yields one of the simplest means of cutting plates known to the engineer, particularly if cutting to any desired shape is required, but i t must be admitted, says Power User, that the more laborious methods are still used in shops which will be considered up to date. It will be apparent that the field open to the application of welding processes is far from being covered by the examples quoted above.
The trade in potash, says the Times Trade Supplement, which is one of world-wide importance, was a t the outbreak of the war, almost entirely in German hands and was considered to be one of the powerful economic levers by means of which Germany might secure from enemy countries the necessary supply of raw materials for her various industries. During the last few years, however, it has been shown that potash can be obtained in quantity from other natural products. In a paper by Mr. E. A. Ashcroft read before the Institute of Mining, London, it was stated that it was possible to manufacture from potash feldspar fused in closed receptacles with a n equal weight of common salt a t a temperature not exceeding 1000’ C . a product consisting of finely-divided insoluble sodium feldspar and a mixture of quite neutral and freely-soluble sodium and potassium chlorides. The author maintains that, under proper conditions, this simple process is capable of industrial application and that it might be applied to the vast supplies of alunite found in South Australia where it is estimated that a t Bullahdelah in New South Wales a t least zoo million tons of this material are in sight in cliff form in the outcrop. It is stated that by simply calcining the alunite large quantities of fertilizer containing 16 per cent potassium sulfate could be prepared on the spot.
