CHEMISTRY T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D EIYGI~%~EERII”I’G
718 Year 1905 1906...... 1907. 1908.. 1909.
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Tons 3,375,929 3,977,887 3,633,654 1,921,015 3,023,845
Year 1910. 1911 1912 1913.... 1914.
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Tons 3,634,029 2,822,790 3,327,915 3,502,780 1,945,095
I n 1905, Ekssemer steel rails were made to the extent of 3,192,347 tons; in 1 9 1 4 this class was represented by only 323,897 tons. On the other hand, open-hearth steel rails advanced from 183,264 tons in 1905 t o 1,525,851 tons in 1 9 1 4 . The causes of the great contraction observable last year in American steel-rail making were due t o the reduction of railroad construction and to a curtailment of renewals due to unsatisfactory internal conditions in the United States and t o the adverse financial influence, of course, of the great European war. The external demand for American steel rails dwindled t o small proportions last year, having amounted t o only 174,680 tons, as compared with 460,553 tons in 1913, 446,473 tons in 1912, and 420,874 tons in 1911.
THE RUSSIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY The firm of Nobel Brothers has, according to Engineering, gg (1915), 572, published a budget, for the current year which emphasizes the fact that, on account of the war, very special conditions and factors have t o be reckoned with for 1915. On the one hand there will be higher expenses, such as excise, railway freights, and imperial taxation, and, further, necessary materials and plant have very materially risen in price. On the other hand must be considered the further large growth in the use of naphtha for fuel in the neighboring districts, a movement which is likely to continue on an increasing scale on account of the great shortage of coal and of several large railway concerns having decided to adopt naphtha firing in preference to coal. This movement, in its different phases, has been accelerated by the material increase in the production of naphtha in the Baku district, especially from the newly-opened springs. So as to be able to satisfy this growing demand, the company has been endeavoring to increase the stock of naphtha in its Volga tanks, and further purchases will have to be undertaken. The company estimates its sale of naphtha for 1915 a t 2,930,800 tons, against 2,567,080 tons for 1914. The bulk of this increase is for liquid fuel. The sale of petroleum is calculated to yield an increase of $721,000. The sale of lubricating oil is likely to decrease, as the war has put a stop to the export. The budget for 1915 balances with $83,945,000, against $61,285,000 for 1914. Quotations a t Baku are stated t o have risen $9.86 per ton for petroleum and $0.50 per ton for naphtha residues.
ALCOHOL IN GERMANY At the annual meeting of the Association of German Alcohol Manufacturers, held in Berlin in the last week of February, it was stated that there was a strong demand, a t the beginning of the war, for prohibiting the use of potatoes, which were wanted as food, as raw material for alcohol distillation [Engineering, gg (1915), 5171. This is one of the chief resources of the large farmers, especially in the eastern parts of Prussia, where the soil is not suitable for raising much grain. The need of alcohol for chemicals and as substitute for benzol, lamp oil;etc., was too imperative, however, and the actual consumption of alcohol for technical purposes was higher in the last quarter of 1 9 1 4 than it had been before. The production decreased, however. It was pointed out that a certain consumption of alcohol seemed to be indispensable in the interest of the economy of the industry, as long as the fermentation of the starch in the potato and the distillation could not be conducted in such a way as t o yield a product of higher value than alcohol. A certain success has been realized in this respect. I n his new works a t Arnsdorf, near Frankfort, Bottinger gains one-third of the possible yield in alcohol as acetone. Scientific investiga-
1101. 7, NO. 8
tion has been pushed successfully in other directions also. One of the minor sources of waste stopped is that feeding of cattle with raw potatoes has been abandoned, because cattle cannot extract any nutriment from this food, while pigs can. Considerable success has also been realized in the cultivation of waste moorlands.
COKE-BREEZE BRIQUETTES An article in the Journal fur Gasbeleuchtung, of the 6th of March, by Mr. Behr, the Manager of the Gas and Water Works a t Kolberg, describes experiments made during the past six years on the briquetting of coke breeze, and the plant which, as the result of the experiments, has been installed a t the Kolberg gas works for making briquettes. The utilization of coke breeze in gas works for firing boilers, either with or without admixture with thick tar, necessitates the use of suitable grates, blowers, etc. The flues rapidly get choked, and much unconsumed breeze is lost, owing to the action of the blast. The use of coke breeze in specially constructed suction producers leaves little to be desired as regards economy and complete consumption, but there are not sufficient of these plants to utilize much of the breeze, and in many cases local conditions would preclude their use. Having regard to these considerations, the author proceeded to study the manufacture of briquettes from coke breeze. The process which gave the best results was the compression of the breeze after the addition of finely divided hard pitch and heating the mass to 3o0°-4000 C. Experiments with other binders-such as both thin and thick tar, with an addition of sawdust and coal dust-all failed in respect of ease of ignition. In regard to uses for the briquettes, a small 2 l / 2 by z1/2 inch size may be used in all cases where the layer of fuel is not less than 8 to I O inches. Good chimney draught is obviously desirable-’. e., such as is required for ordinary a-inch coke. The best results, however, are obtained in closed iron stoves, central heating plants, etc., in which j o to IOO per cent of the fuel ordinarily used can be replaced by coke briquettes. Like any novelty, it has proved rather difficult to introduce the use of coke briquettes. It is necessary to show a small stove burning the briquettes to convince people that they burn well. When the coke briquettes were introduced about six years ago they did not give great satisfaction, but these were a larger size, 4 inches diameter, and they were not as hard as the later ones. After the small 2‘/2-inch briquettes had been introduced, many householders took kindly to them, and now a t times the output does not meet the demand. The result of the introduction of the briquetting plant a t Kolberg has been not only to dispose entirely of coke breeze produced on the works, but coke breeze has been bought from other works t o work up into briquettes. .___
CANADIAN RAILWAYS At the close of June, 1914, the length of railway completed in Canada was 30.795 miles, while 22,891 miles more were under construction, or had been planned [Engineerinq, 99 (1915), 4711. The increase of completed railway in 1913-14 was 1491 miles, in addition t o which 309 miles of previously opened line were double-tracked. The capital embarked in completed Canadian railways amounted a t the close of June, 1914, to S1,808,320,761;and if securities of lines under construction are taken into account, the aggregate is increased to $1,962,128,070. The gross earnings of Canadian railways in 1913-14 were $243,083,539, showing a decrease of $13,619,150 or 5l,’2 per cent as compared with 1912-13. The net earnings declined in 1913-14 to the extent of $10,j82,723. Guarantees and subsidies granted by the Dominion Government and sundry provincial bodies amounted a t the close of June, 1914, to $406,259,165.
