I/EC
REPORTS
Electrostatic Precipitator C a p a c i t y Continues to Soar Year 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1960
Million Cu. Ft. Capacity 82.9 93.9 109.4 118.8 125.0 135.1 156.1 167.8 178.3 195.1 215.7 253.9 276.4 320 (est.)
precipitators, R-C has decided to branch out into flue designs. The long-range objective is to offer in dustry basic designs. Also planned, are smaller precipi tators—up to 2 5 % smaller than those made today. Reduced size is still a long-range idea, -but in the same thought is standardized pre cipitators. Precipitators would then cost less. Today's price ranges from 50 to 75 cents per c.f.m. of gas treated. This means that a unit which treats 1,000,000 c.f.m. would cost up to $750,000. As this price represents a custom job, the customer pays for design and engineering costs as well as custom fabrication and erection costs. Smaller units would also mean less plant space and lower power costs—the latter because pre cipitators can be made to treat gases at higher velocities, hence lower the costs per c.f.m. treated. And, smaller precipitators would mean less material costs. In the past, an overcapacity or safety factor was built into gas cleaning systems to account for uneven gas flow.
Now that R-C, through its models, has a way to control gas flow, this safety factor can be reduced. A precipitator is usually a unit that reacts 30,000 to 40,000 c.f.m. Smaller units would naturally broaden the market for R-C and possibly other precipitator manu facturers. Firms which could not consider them economical may now find units coming in a more attractive price range. Research-Cottrcll has integrated model studies into precipitator sales contracts. The firm will now design the flues which lead to a precipitator (or flues which go anywhere else). These studies, says the company, cost about 1 to 2 % that of the precip itator but lead to immediate cus tomer savings today through better precipitator operation—but still smaller costs tomorrow as the com pany's long-range ideas take shape, with models of course. W.S.F.
Mars' Moons First? Initial space flights may by pass moon because of its g r a v i tation; Martian satellites could be alternative target
N,
IEARLY a century ago Jules Verne wrote about a trip to the moon. Since then, science-fiction addicts have considered many fanciful ways to get there. But not all scientists agree that man will visit the moon first. Jan Schilt, head of Columbia University's Astronomy Department, believes that our moon will be bypassed by space pioneers. One of the moons of
Mars, he feels, may be the most practical destination for the initial round-trip space flight. It's true that the distance is much farther to a Martian moon than to our own—a minimum of 35,000,000 miles as against 234,000. But Schilt, director of the Rutherford Observa tory, says that the distances involved in interplanetary space travel may be of less practical concern than fight ing the moon's gravitation in landing and taking off again. A M o n t h to M a r s
A trip to the vicinity of Mars might take about 4 weeks, Schilt feels, given a great enough initial launching speed. Minimum orbital speed around the earth is 18,000 m.p.h. Between that velocity and 25,000 m.p.h., an object can orbit farther and farther out. Above that speed it can escape into interplane tary space. And the farther out the orbit is, the less the gravitational pull and the easier it is to accelerate. At 50,000 m.p.h., a ship could reach Mars in less than a month. Once in space at a desired speed, no further fuel would be needed to cruise. Schilt foresees sun-powered ionicthrust mechanisms for directional control as well as for supplemental acceleration. Details of an ionic rocket engine were given in a report in the August 195ό"(ρ. 15 A) I / E C . The tiny Martian moons, Deiinos and Phobus, are only 5 to 10 miles in diameter and possess negligible grav ity. Once in orbit around Mars, a spaceship could land or take off from one or the other moon at relatively little cost in fuel. For the return trip to earth, only enough power would be needed to accelerate from orbiting speed to cruising velocity. M o o n Landing Complicated
Man may be jumping off for Mars' moons from space stations which could look
like this
To land on and blast off again from the moon, more difficult problems would have to be solved. For one thing, Schilt says a greater counterthrust from the ship's rockets would be required for a lunar landing than for a landing on earth from space. Although gravitation is less there, the moon does not have any substantial atmosphere to slow down the falling vehicle. The necessary "braking" (Continued on page 32 A)
28 A
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
DRY and CLEAN AIR at the RIGHT TEMPERATURE
I/EC
• to control your product quality • to protect a critical operation • to protect apparatus f r o m moisture damage • t o DRY your material or product • t o control packing or storage conditions • t o assure precision in testing or research • to increase air conditioning capacity A i r Condition by the NIAGARA M e t h o d Using HYGROL Liquid Absorbent
This compact method, g i v i n g h i g h capacity in small s p a c e . r e m o v e s moistu r e from air by c o n t a c t w i t h a l i q u i d in a small spray c h a m b e r . T h e liquid spray c o n t a c t t e m p e r a t u r e a n d t h e abs o r b e n t c o n c e n t r a t i o n , factors t h a t are easily and positively c o n t r o l l e d , d e t e r m i n e exactly the a m o u n t of moisture r e m a i n i n g in t h e air. Most effective because . . . it r e m o v e s m o i s t u r e as a separate function from c o o l i n g o r h e a t i n g and so gives a precise result, and always. N i a g a r a mac h i n e s using liquid c o n t a c t m e a n s of
d r y i n g air have given o v e r 20 years of service. T h e a p p a r a t u s is simple, p a r t s are accessible,con trois are trust w o r t h y . Most reliable because...the absorbent is c o n t i n u o u s l y r e c o n c e n t r a t e d a u t o matically. N o m o i s t u r e - s e n s i t i v e ins t r u m e n t s are r e q u i r e d to c o n t r o l y o u r c o n d i t i o n s . . . n o solids, salts o r solut i o n s of solids are used and t h e r e are n o c o r r o s i v e o r reactive s u b s t a n c e s . Most flexible because. ..you can o b t a i n any c o n d i t i o n at will and h o l d it as l o n g as you wish in e i t h e r c o n t i n u o u s production, testing or storage.
Write for Bulletins 112 and 131 and complete on your air conditioning problem.
R E P O R T S
force would require considerable power. Then, to take off from the moon, a sizable initial power unit would be needed for overcoming lunar gravity. Schilt figures that carrying this dead weight safely to the moon's surface would likely be prohibitive. The biggest hurdles, according to Schilt, will be met in the return to earth. Adequate deceleration must be provided to spiral in below orbital speed. For protection against heat from air friction, he visualizes a sealed capsule cabin separated from the ship during fast re-entry into the denser atmosphere. Landing would probably be by parachute. He contends that it is now possible to begin practical plans for manned travel into space. To go to a Martian moon would pose no problem not already being worked on, he explains, and it could take place this century. D.G.W.
information
N I A G A R A BLOWER C O M P A N Y Dept.
EC-4,
4 0 5 L e x i n g t o n A v e . , N e w York 17, N.Y.
Niagara
District
Engineers in Principal
Cities of U. S. and
Canada
REDUCE OPERATING COST of V A C U U M SYSTEMS
Search for new fuel materials puts the bee on earth chemistry
with this "AERO" (air-cooled) VAPOR
CONDENSER
W i t h free air t h e c o o l i n g m e d i u m you use t h e least water, e v a p o r a t e d in the air stream. Y o u save t h e cost and pu m p i n g of large v o l u m e s of c o n d e n s ing water.
Niagara Aero Vapor Condenser. This compact machine may be installed directly above stripping column or vacuum evaporator.
Air-vapor s u b c o o l i n g r e d u c e s mixt u r e e v a c u a t e d from t h e system, savi n g in t h e o p e r a t i o n of stearc ejector or vacuum pump. T h i s air-cooled c o n d e n s e r give., you m o r e capacity than o t h e r types at a substantial saving of steam and p o w e r . W a t e r supply, scaling t r e a t m e n t and disposal p r o b l e m s are e l i m i n a t e d .
easily m a i n t a i n e d u n i t r e p l a c i n g b o t h c o o l i n g t o w e r and b a r o m e t r i c o r surface t y p e c o n d e n s e r .
Y o u g e t p u r e c o n d e n s a t e , an imp r o v e d p r o d u c t ; often m a k e a profit o n recovery of residues n o w wasted. T h e r e can be n o c o n t a m i n a t i o n of y o u r p r o d u c t at any t i m e ; il never t o u c h e s raw water. C o n d e n s i n g , of w a t e r , of solvents o r of y o u r p r o d u c t , is simplified; you have o n e , c o m p a c t ,
M a i n t e n a n c e e x p e n s e is low. Balanced W e t B u l b C o n t r o l p r o v i d e p r e cise, year ' r o u n d a d j u s t m e n t of capacity to load. C o n s t a n t t e m p e r a t u r e , uniform p r o ducts and m a x i m u m p r o d u c t i o n 12 m o n t h s a year are assured. U n i t capacities u p t o 15 m i l l i o n B T U .
Write for full information.
Ask for Bulletin
129R
N I A G A R A BLOWER C O M P A N Y Dept. Niagara 32 A
M i n e r a l Prospecting Goes Chemical
EC-4, 4 0 5 L e x i n g t o n A v e . , N e w Y o r k 1 7 , N . Y . District Engineers in Principal Cities of U. S. and Canada
INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
I HE old prospector panning for gold was the forerunner of the modern method of finding metals. His search for the mother lode by examining outcroppings has been developed into a science by the modern prospector with his kit of chemicals. It was not until 1946 that chemical analyses, under the guidance of the United States Geologic Survey, were used in place of mineralogical data in the United States. The increasing pressure for finding new minerals with high temperature resistance for jet engines and rockets has given added impetus to geochemistry as a prospecting tool. The search for new fuel materials, such as borax, is being pressed. Earth chemistry is used to find lead, zinc, and copper in our western states. The combinations of metals with metals and metals with gases often give clues to the presence of a more
