Apr.,
1917
T H E JOURNAL OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
from a n economic as well as practical viewpoint, b u t t h e bacterial reduction produced b y comparatively short detention periods prior t o final purification by means of filtration or sterilization with chemicals has much t o appeal t o t h e practical side of this question. T h e potent advantages in favor of such preliminary treatment are t h e reduction of all forms of
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bacterial life, b u t particularly t h e removal t o a very large extent of t h e pathogenic germs, a n d t h e general physical a n d chemical improvements of t h e water ensuring more uniform control a n d economical operation of t h e final purification system, due t o t h e equalizing effect t h a t reservoirs of this type produce. FAYETTE STREET BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
100 W.
LABORATORY AND PLANT AN EXPERIMENT IN THE EDUCATION OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS' THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AUDUBON SUGAR SCHOOL By CHARLESE. COATES
I n these days of preparedness, t h e training of chemical engineers has taken on a consequence which is interesting both t o t h e college a n d t h e country at large. T h e part which t h e chemist has played i n modern development, we have known i n a way for some years, of course, b u t we are appreciating now as never before, t h e vital a n d imperative importance t o our nation of a body of men who cannot only discover chemical principles b u t can also apply t h e m industrially. At t h e same time, it has been generally acknowledged t h a t college courses in Chemical Engineering have hitherto been lacking in some essential ingredient. Numerous efforts have been made t o remedy this s t a t e of affairs. Among t h e most recent are t h e industrial fellowship system of t h e Mellon Institute a n d t h e plan lately outlined b y t h e Massachusetts Institute of Technology, accounts of which have appeared i n THIS J O U R N A L . T h e English journals are full of new schemes for t h e training of chemical engineers; indeed practically all t h e larger schools have changed such courses materially within t h e past few years. I n view of this a n d inasmuch as experience, after all, is t h e only safe guide in t h e jungle of educational theory, i t has been thought t h a t a brief sketch of t h e origin a n d development of t h e Audubon Sugar School might not be untimely. Few people realize how very largely t h e sugar industry of to-day is a chemical industry. A little over a century ago, when sugar was first made from beets, t h e root was low in sucrose a n d t h e process gave a poor yield of a n inferior grade of sugar with a n almost valueless molasses. T h e chemist a n d t h e agronomist, working together, slowly raised t h e sucrose content of t h e beet root until i t was more t h a n doubled; t h e chemist a n d engineer, working together, slowly improved t h e processes until a good yield of sugar was turned out, practically pure, a n d both t h e molasses a n d all t h e other by-products became sources of profit a n d not of loss. I n consequence t h e net cost of beet sugar fell year by year until i t became a serious competitor of cane sugar and, finally, i t was offered at prices closely approaching t h e cost of cane sugar production. The sugar planters of Louisiana, as a class, are cer1
Presented a t the 53rd Meeting of the American Chemical Society,
New York City, September 25 to 30, 1916.
tainly among t h e most intelligent agriculturalists in America. Seeing t h e increasing gravity of t h e situation, they decided t o meet t h e competition of beet sugar by t h e same methods which made t h a t competition possible. I n t h e late eighties they called t o Louisiana Dr. W. C. Stubbs a n d established, under his direction, t h e Sugar Experiment Station at Kenner, Louisiana, which was subsequently moved t o Audubon Park, on t h e outskirts of New Orleans. This station was financed entirely b y t h e planters of Louisiana. A complete sugar house was erected on a scale large enough t o give commercial results, and altogether, perhaps $IOO,OOO worth of equipment was obtained either by purchase or gift. As soon as t h e work was fairly under way, i t became evident t h a t there were many leaks in t h e sugar industry as carried on in Louisiana a n d t h a t these could be stopped by proper scientific control. But when t h e planters began t o look for chemists a n d engineers, they were simply not t o be obtained. Up t o t h a t time, t h e cane sugar industry throughout t h e whole world had been carried on largely b y rule of thumb. Few men scientifically trained in sugar chemistry were t o be found outside of Europe. I n 1890, therefore, a t a meeting of t h e Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association, i t was decided t o establish, in connection with t h e Sugar Experiment Station, a school for t h e training of experts in sugar work. This was placed under t h e direction of Dr. Stubbs and was opened in 1891 as t h e Audubon Sugar School. So far as I know, this was t h e first instance in America in which any industry established both laboratories for t h e scientific investigation of its problems and a school for t h e college training of men t o p u t t h e theory into practice. POST-GRADUATE CHARACTER O F W O R K
As first outlined, t h e Audubon Sugar School was intended t o appeal mainly t o graduates of schools of engineering, and t h e course was distinctly post-graduate in character. The faculty was composed of some of t h e ablest men in t h e country, special stress being laid on research work. It soon became evident, however, t h a t t h e number of college graduates who appreciated t h e opportunities in t h e sugar industry was quite small, a n d t h a t t h e demand for training came mainly from men who h a d not received very much undergraduate training. Moreover, there were a number of applicants from tropical countries, whose preliminary studies h a d been of such a t y p e as t o make i t impossible for t h e m t o t a k e up, successfully, t h e advanced
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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
scientific work offered in t h e Sugar School. At t h e outset, therefore, t h e greater number of students were special students, very un-uniform i n educational training, which, of course, handicapped t h e school materially. T h e course was two years in length, classes were held a t t h e Experiment Station, and during t h e sugar season t h e students did t h e actual work in t h e fields, i n t h e laboratory, a n d in t h e sugar house. T h e school was successful from t h e outset and, in a couple of years, more students were applying for admission t h a n could well be accommodated. I n t h e meantime t h e Sugar Experiment Station was taken over by t h e State of Louisiana as part of t h e Louisiana State University, a n d t h e Planters' Association withdrew its financial support. With limited funds, t h e increasing demands upon its staff along purely research lines, a n d t h e growing magnitude of its routine work, t h e Station found it impossible t o handle students also. I n 1896 t h e school was, accordingly, incorporated with t h e Louisiana State University, preserving
flc
I- u o o r Won of Sugar House.
Rwdvbon Sugar Scchoo/ Audu6oo Pork €xperrimmsnt Sfo%on, New Orleans I L ouiuionu
t h e name b y which it h a d become known. I n 1908 its numerical importance was such t h a t i t was reorganized as a college of t h e University. F r o m t h e first t h e writer and his colleagues were given a free hand by President Boyd in formulating t h e course of study, a n d changes were made year by year as experience or circumstances dictated. As t h e instruction was now given b y t h e regular university staff, t h e students were, of necessity, ordinary college students, subject t o t h e college entrance requirements. Moreover, as t h e chemical, mechanical, a n d agricultural subjects having t o do with sugar technology had t o be based upon chemistry, physics, mathematics and t h e biological sciences, i t was necessary t o require these subjects of all those taking u p t h e purely sugar work. T h e enforcement of these two regulations worked, at t h e beginning, t o eliminate a number of applicants whom t h e University would have been glad t o welcome, if possible. T h e y were, for t h e most part, men of maturity, from 2 5 t o 40 years of age, who had had
Vol. 9, No. 4
previous experience in sugar house work, and were anxious t o supplement their experience with a certain amount of theory. For several years t h e University received these men as special students, b u t i t soon became evident t h a t , in spite of their laudable ambition, they were, in nine cases out of ten, merely wasting their time. They were taught certain things in a mechanical way, such, for instance, as how t o polarize sugar, b u t they did not know t h e principles on which these things depended a n d their studies did not lead t h e m anywhere. They were deceiving themselves in thinking they were studying sugar chemistry when they were merely becoming chemical mechanics. Only after i t was too late did they recognize t h e necessity for t h e foundations and t h e futility of short cuts t o learning. From t h e beginning, t h e writer counselled these men against their undertaking, but, as they were ordinarily both intelligent a n d self-confident, he could not keep t h e m from following their own ideas. Finally, t h e advanced courses were closed t o students of this type. We expected some criticism a t first, b u t none came. T h e questions which were asked by certain men as t o why they could not be admitted were readily answered t o their complete satisfaction. As men of this class present, collectively, a problem of a general nature, I may say here t h a t I do not believe t h a t i t is possible t o receive t h e m in t h e same classes with t h e ordinary college student. T h e latter is presupposed t o have a certain fairly uniform preparation for his work; t h e preparation of t h e former, on t h e other hand, is almost always inadequate a n d much has been forgotten of what had once been known. The college student, therefore, can be taught in t h e conventional way, b u t men of maturity must be t a u g h t each as a separate problem, with different difficulties t o solve. Then, again, t h e college student is joyfully ignorant of practical experience and responsibilities, a n d t h e college teacher must bring these home t o him as best he may; t h e practical man, on t h e other hand, has learned t h e m in t h e school of hard knocks, a n d not infrequently comes better equipped t h a n his teacher, so t h a t what is good advice t o one man is a platitude t o t h e other. But t h e greatest difficulty in teaching t h e practical man lies in his unwillingness t o fill in t h e gaps in his training. H e probably knows no mathematics, and without this he cannot study t o advantage college physics, without which problems in mechanics a n d machinery are unintelligible. The same holds along other lines. T h e purpose of t h e school when first organized was t o offer t o t h e citizens of Louisiana t h e opportunity t o secure such training as would qualify them t o enter most advantageously t h e sugar industry of t h e state. T h e underlying idea, therefore, was t o train men who would be competent t o manage plantations which both grew cane a n d made sugar; t h a t is t o say, they were t o be trained in agriculture, engineering and chemistry. F O U R - Y E A R C O U R S E CHAKGED T O F I V E
.The course, as formulated in 1897, was four years in length. During t h e last two years t h e students
spent t h e sugar season a t the Sugar Experiment Station a t iludiibon Park in practical sugar house work. I t soon became clear, however, t h a t i t satisfactory foundation could not be given t o high school graduates in two years, so, in 1899, t h e course i i a i made five years in length, t h e first three years being ticvoted entirely to foundation subjects and all teclb iiology being ai-aided. During t h e fourth and fifth yenrs t h e student was sent, a s heretofore, t o the sugar house a t Audubon Park. returning a t t h e end of 1,he sugar season ancl taking up his work for t h e rest of the year. At the end of the fifth year t h e graduates received t h e degree of Bachelor of Science. Here, too, there w a s a littie dissatisfaction. The Sugar School students thought t h a t if t h e Engineering students received their B.S. degree a t t h e end of t h e fourth year, so should they. At t h e end of the. fifth year they could then receive another ilegrec. There was a certain specious justice in this claim, hut it was not granted. At t h e end of the fourth year the
students than i t could well care f o r a n d they have been men of an exceptionally high class, which merely goes t o prove again t h a t , in matters educational, if a thing is well worth while t h e best men do not count t h e price, whether in time or money. So far as t h e writer knows, this was t h e first five years' course in Chemical Engineering ever offered in this country. From t h e beginning, there was a strong demand for t h e graduates of t h e Sugar Scliooi. Ordinarily they were placed six months before they graduated and, as they made good without a n y exceptions, t h e requests became year by year more pressing. Most of t h e larger sugar houses began t o p u t in laboratories and chemical control slowiy displaced t h e old rule of thumb. About 1901, t h e demand for chemists became so great t h a t two or thrce of t h e best fifth-year men were allowed t o omit t h e second year of t h e practical course at Audubon Park. Instead they were sent t o a sugar factory where they mere paid the regular salary of an assistant chemist and worked through
sugar school student would not be sufficientiy trained. If he Were t o receive a degree then, however, he would be more than iikely not t o appreciate t h e deficiencies in his training. A degree is a summum bonum-an end in itself t o most college students. These students were also anxious t o get into practical work. Why work a year longer for a degree when they already had a degree? This argument would have been conciusive with many students a n d most parents. So t h e course was fixed a t five years a n d t h e student got his 13.5. degree in five years instead of four. This was done because t h e five years were necessary and those *r-ho did not like i t were told t h a t it was a rule of the schooi a n d could not he changed. T h e resuits justified t h e means and to-day t h e students take special pride in this particuiar feature of the course. There was some fear, a t first, on t h e part of t h e authorities, t h a t a five years' course would drive away the desirable students, but such has not been t h e case. As a matter of fact, the Sugar School has had more
t h e season under strictly c!ommercial conditions, returninz t o t h e University when t h e season was over. I t was immediately apparent t h a t these men had gained something which gave them a marked advantage over those students who were taking t h e routine fifth-year course a t Audubon Park, b u t i t was a little hard t o tell wherein this advantage lay. Perhaps each man had benefited in a different way. To one i t gave self-confidence, t o another an appreciation of actual working conditions, t o a third a knowiedge of men as distinguished from boys; to all, a certain sense of responsibility a n d a maturer point of view. F A C T O R Y WORK I N PIFTH YEAR
The fifth-year practical course had been formulated a n d carried out a t Audubon Park and in t h e laboratory with great care. It contained many things which t h e student, by going t o t h e factory, would not get, a n d which i t vas desirable he shouid get, so the actual factory practice was permitted with some degree of
Gl.VBERl.VG C I I E M I S ' T K F reluctance and ii little fear t h a t we iverc making a concession t o a popular demand. But its undoubted advantage, largely psychological, over t h e routine courss was so marked t h a t in 1903 the sending out of t h e fifth-year students became a part of t h e established policy of t h e School and has remained so ever since. The planters met the movement more than half way nnd h a v r given t h e students every possii~lc;issistance.
on the one hand, and t h e chemical plant, together with its responsible officials, on t h e other hand, is absolutely necessary if t h e school is t o attain even reasonable efficiency. I n each industry this contact may be obtained in a different way. I n t h e Budubon Sugar School t h e practical method has just been outlined. *As these students arc absent froni t h e University i n t h e fourth a n d fifth years for eight t o ten weeks of t h e first tcrm during t h e sugar season, they cannot he taught in t h e same classes with other students during t h e eight or ten weeks when thcy are present. They are; therefore. taught in different sections from t h e other students during t h e first t e r m , t h e second icrm, of course, presenting no difiiculties. This inelhod placed some extra labor on t h c teaching stafl. b u t i t was the only logical way and has worked well in practice. There seeins t o he no reason why i t ioulri not be npplierl more generally t o t h e articnlation of courses in chemical engineering with t h e various industries stuilied. I n this connection, t h e writer might say t h a t he is convinced t h a t , in t h e fiftli year of a course in Chemical Engineering, t.he student shoulil get away from generalizations a n d t r y t o master reasonably well t h e details of some one particular inclustry. T h e confidence in his own ability which a student gains by t h u s narrowing his .field of study, stays with him should he, b y chance, find his her line of chemical industry. I.VTRDDUCT1
F n l I I ~ - - ~ l ' . v ~ ~ oA NnD~ PAW i ~ n IN ~ Suohn HOUSB
These young men receive t h e same salary as other assistant chemists and for more t h a n t e n years there has not been one who failed t o receive employment. An incidental hut most important result has been t h e strengthening of the relationship between t h e sugar planters of Lonisiana and t h e Louisiana S t a t e University. The students hring back t o t h e University an intimate knowledge of t h e actual conditions in t h e various sugar houses a n d of t h e practical problems which are continually prescnting themselves. The plant,ers, on t h e other hand, discuss these conditions and these problems with t h e various officials of t h e Sugar School, sometimes personally, sometimes by correspondence. b u t always with perfect freedom. In order t o get a certain breadth of view as t o t h e Lonisiana cane sugar industry it has been t h e custom of t h e writcr t o visit t h e various plantations during t h e sugar season. After a good many years of personal experience, t h e writer has come t o t h e definite conclusion t h a t this personal contact between t h e students and teachers in t h e School of Chemical Engineering,
1701. 9 , No. 4
RICULTURAL COURSES
AND
ELECTRICAL
A s soon a s t h e Sugar School was fairly under way, students began to come from all parts of the world and as, at t h e time, it was easier t o secure a position a s a sugar chemist t h a n as a sugar agriculturalist, thcre was a tendency on t h e part of t h e student to stress Chemistry a n d Engineering a t t h e expense of Agriculture. This tendency was encouraged b y t h e unsatisfactory s t a t e of agricultural teaching twenty years ago. As t h e old professor of agriculture slowly began t o resolve into his component parts a n d t h e professors of Agronomy, Soil Physics, Animal Industry and t h e like took his place, there was a notable tightening u p along ail lines of agricnltiiral pcdagogy. Fnllterm courses were offered where tw-o or thrce weeks had sufficed a n d t h e increased efficiency of agricultural teaching began t o appeal t o students generally. But t h e Sugar School students found themselves in need of a very special t y p e of tropical and subtropical agriculture, where t h e conditions were altogether unlike those in ordinary American agronomy. To meet this demand, i t was decided in 1907 t o offer such courses in Sugar Agriculture in t h e last three years of t h e Sugar School, these applying specifically t o t h e conditions on cane plantations in Louisiana. At about t h e same time, Congress made i t possible for t h e Experiment Stations t o do experimental work i n hlcchanical Engineering. I n Louisiana, this work was placcd in charge of Professor E. W. Kerr, a s profcssor of Mechanical Engineering in t h e Audnhon Sugar School, a n d was concentrated on t h e specific problems in t h e sugar houses of Louisiana, such, for
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