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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 ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y
hours per ton. With 425 kw. hours per ton, gray pig-iron has been melted and overheated, the melting including 2 2 kg. basic slag per ton of iron. This consumption of energy indicates a furnace efficiency of about 7 0 per cent, but the thermal efficiency has been as much as 85 t o 90 per cent.
QUALITY OF SULFATE OF AMMONIA FOR EXPORT Speaking editorially of the English situation the J . Gas Lighting says [128( 1 9 1 4 ,4041: We cannot afford-either a t the present time with nitrate of soda in active competition, nor in future when Germany resumes her operations in the export market-to spoil our position as exporters of sulfate of ammonia by producing a n article which does not come up t o the standard t h a t is demanded by customers, and which arrives a t its destination in a condition, as regards weight and packing, which is anything but conducive to permanence of business relations. An important letter upon the subject from Mr. D. Milne Watson, the Chairman of the Sulfate of Ammonia Association, and a circular which has been distributed among the members, are published in today’s issue of the Journal. Both are in the nature of a warning; and the one emphasizes the other. It is hoped that they will have due and immediate effect, because appeal and caution in the past appear t o have been in vain. The matter was one to which Mr. Thomas Milne addressed himself a t the Sulfate of Ammonia Conference a year ago. H e then urged sulfate of ammonia makers not to produce the commodity under a standard of 25 per cent of ammonia, about 2 . 5 per cent moisture, and not more than 0.5 per cent acid. In Mr. Milne Watson’s letter, and in the circulated leaflet, we get the appeal repeated, with the difference t h a t “not more than 3 per cent moisture” is mentioned. What is found is, and it is a serious disadvantage t o the sulfate of ammonia export business, t h a t the bulk of the British production is still made and marketed on a basis of 24 per cent of ammonia, without any mention of moisture and free acid. This condition of things will not do. Nearly all distant consumers have raised their standard from 24 t o 25 per cent ammonia; and when they find this standard is not complied with, t h a t there is a loss in weight of I to 3 per cent through excessive moisture content, and t h a t the bags in which the sulfate of ammonia is packed, through excess of free acid and moisture, have en route declined to maintain their integrity, then they become greatly dissatisfied, and do not need further inducement t o turn to sources from which they know their requirements can be fulfilled. The losses fall upon the receiver; and he is indisposed to continue t o bear them when there is no reason why he should do so. British producers know how much they depend upon the export market; and i t will be suicidal on their part not t o recognize what is essential in the matter of quality in order t o ensure the market for themselves, and not be driven out of i t by continued shortsightedness. Directly the war is over Germany will recommence operations for the development of her export trade. The competition of synthetic ammoniathe production from the nitrogen of the atmosphere-will come into the reckoning again with full force. It will not be surprising, too, t o find a t the close of the war t h a t Germany will have a decent accumulation of stock with which i t will be very pleased to part. The absence of German competition is the opportunity for the British producer t o fortify his position abroad; and the best way t o do so is t o give purchasers the standard material they want, and see t h a t it gets into their hands in good condition and with as little loss of weight as possible. The future of the export market very largely depends upon the action taken in the present. Therefore, the necessity for heeding the warning of Mr. Milne Watson, and complying with the enjoinment contained in both letter and circular, is apparent.
Vol. 7 , No.
2
DANISH ENGINEERS AND THE UNITED STATES For a considerable number of years Danish engineers, with diplomas from the State Polytechnic College in Copenhagen, have gone to the United States or other parts of the world. According to Engineering, 98 (1914),753, the Danish Society of Engineers has recently looked into this matter, and it has transpired t h a t out of 933 engineers who, during the years 1900-1912 (both included), passed the final examination of the above college, I O per cent, or, to be accurate, 92 engineers, have gone to Korth America, and out of these 2 8 have subsequently returned t o Denmark. The largest proportion is among “constructive engineers,” of whom about 12 per cent have gone to the United States, while the figure for “factory engineers” is only 4 per cent. All the electrical engineers have remained in .imerica, while two-thirds of the mechanical engineers have returned. Out of six factory engineers, only one has returned; and of 64 constructive engineers, 47 have remained in America. CONSUMPTION OF GAS IN ITALY A recent issue of the Journal f u r Gasbeleuchtung quoted from a n Italian paper on acetylene some figures as to the consumption of gas, electricity, petroleum, and calcium carbide in Italy for three years past. The English equivalents of the figures are as follows: COALGAS 1910-11 1911-12 1912-13
....... ....... .......
Cubic feet 9,182,056,000 9,358,634,000 9,888,368,000
ELECTRICITYPETROLEUMCARBIDE Board of Trade units 1,460,000 1,649,000 1,826,000
Tons 83,392 117,337 111,420
Tons 23,156 24,913 20,816
Though all four classes of illuminants exhibit a n increase in t h e second year over the first, in the last year only coal gas and electricity continue to show a n advancing consumption. Evidently the figures given for coal gas refer only to gas used for lighting and heating, since, according t o a table given in W. J. A. Butterfield’s lectures on “Chemistry in Gas-Works,’’ the total consumption of gas in Italy in rgro was I 1,985 million cubic feet. But excluding from this total the gas used for industrial purposes, t h a t used for lighting and heating only was in 1910, 9024 million cubic feet. Peat gas is also used and now t h a t the regions of hlantua and Ferrara have been drained, it has become possible t o work the peat bogs below sea-level. A company has accordingly been formed, and works erected, for the production of gas and the recovery of residuals by the Mond process. According t o a description in the Monilbre Tecnico, two bogs, one 1730 and the other 1235 acres in extent, are being worked. The thickness of the bed of peat varies from I f t . 8 in. to 3 f t . 3 in. After being dried, the peat is carbonized in six retorts, the capacity of each being 30 metric tons per 24 hours, with a daily production of about a million cubic feet of gas having a heating value of 155 B. T. U. per cu. f t . At the same time I Z O quintals of sulfate of ammonia are obtained. There are also adjoining works for the manufacture of the sulfuric acid required for making the sulfate. Large quantities of t a r are also produced. The works cover a n area of 2 2 acres. The results are stated to have been satisfactory, from both the technical and the financial point of view.
PATENTS IN WAR TIME There have now been heard in England in what have been named the Patents Court quite a number of applications t o “avoid or suspend” enemy patents, under the Act which was recently passed for the purpose of regulating this important industrial question. At the outset, naturally, there was doubt as t o what would be the attitude adopted in official quarters on particular points; and this, of course, was an uncertainty which could be set a t rest only by seeking decision on individual ap-
