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Internal Treatment of Boiler Waters Editor of Industrial and Engineering Chemzstry: I have read the article by D. K. French on “Internal Treatment of Boiler Water” [THISJOURNAL, 15, 1239 (1923)l with great interest, and believe that this article would be of greater benefit to the engineer if the information contained therein were of more specific data, of which the engineer could make actual use. Mr. French mentions the soda-lime process only-but what about the zeolite water purification? This omission leaves the impression that zeolite systems are the greatest competitors of his compound. I also feel that Mr. French would render ‘greater service to the engineer by specifying such organic compounds, reactions of which form bulky, amorphous precipitates and have coagulating and clarifying actions, and mentioning such chemicals which will off set the corrosive action of magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and calcium nitrate. Castor oil “properly compounded” no doubt means to change its chemical and physical character by sulfonation to that of a soluble oil. Sulfonated oils-Turkey red, soluble castor, etc.have long been known and used as antifoam agents in various industries, but so have other fatty oils, such as coconut oil (unchanged), and I wonder if Mr. French is not mistaken in his valuation of castor oil alone and other oils as antifoam agents. There are, without question, a great many worthless, fake compounds on the market, but the same is true of compounds entering other industries, including patent medicines. Only the ultimate consumer can remedy this condition. By giving quantitative analysis, however, without mentioning the exact names of all the ingredients, great harm may be done to a good compound. Most all compunds, including such as have recognized merits and are distributed by large companies with research laboratories, etc., would stand a very poor show if their analyses were given and a comparison were made of actual costs of manufacture and selling prices. It is very difficult to analyze correctly a compound having organic matter as a constituent, and the analysis is generally given as containing a certain percentage of pectic or gelatinous matter without further investigating its true nature, taking it for granted that their only purpose is to cover up the large percentage of water present. But there is a certain gelatinous sodium salt that has distinct beneficial action on scale. The acid belongs to the protein family and forms insoluble, bulky, amorphous precipitates with any calcium salt and most all alkaline earths and heavy metals. The benefits of such bulky precipitates Mr. French describes. There is no compound known that will prevent scale formation entirely, but a compound which will prevent crystalline scale and only leave a soft precipitate is of great benefit to the engineer, even if such compounds show large percentages of water.
OTTOF. ANDERSON THE CHEMISTS’CLUB NEWYORK, N. Y. December 24, 1923
Editor os Industrzal and Engineering Chemistry: The article which appeared in the December issue of your journal on “Internal Treatment of Boiler Water” has just been brought to the writer’s attention. Frankly, it is indeed regrettable that the author did not make R more intensive study of the subject, because while we realize that Lieutenant Commander Lyon might have made some Zaboratory tests in regard to the treatment of boiler waters, the tests were not made under actual working conditions. In other words, it has been actually demonstrated that there is no electrolytic action in a boiler providing graphite is used for a scale remedy.
Vol. 16,No. 2
We are still selling large quantities of Mexican boiler graphite, which demonstrates beyond a doubt that some of the biggest manufacturing companies in the United States are securing excellent results From the use of this product and which in our mind refutes the very damaging report published by Lieutenant Commander Lyon in 1911. A. S. HARVEY THEUNITEDSTATESGRAPHITE COMPANY MICH. SAGINAW, December 27, 1923
.......... Editor of Industrial and Engineering Chemtstry: In reply to the letters from Mr. Anderson and Mr. Harvey, I will take up Mr. Andersson’s first and consider the questions in order. We did not discuss either the lime-soda process or the zeolite method, because they had already been compared in papers previously published. The objections to the two, roughly, are incomplete treatment in the first case and unnecessary soda in the second. The latter point is one which is fairly well known and emphasized whenever zeolite water purification is considered. I t is with regret that we cannot place on record the various special organic materials which are so effective in producing the noncrystalline precipitate, save to state that tannins, organic sugars, and starches play an important part in their make-up. Liquid extracts have properties entirely different from the same extract in the powdered form, and the extracts from different trees and sources have varying efficiencies. Certain protective colloidal properties also come from the organic sugars and starches in vegetable extracts, as well as a definite retarding action on the electrolytes in the slowly concentrating boiler water. Regarding castor oil, it might be stated that there is no question but that some distinct property exists in this oil, which we feel we understand to a slight degree, as it is not true that sulfonated oils have equal efficiency in the control of foaming. During the war period, when the Government took over the castor oil supply for their aeroplanes, we endeavored to duplicate physically, chemically, and in every other way, castor oil by the use of sulfonated as well as blown oils, but were never able to obtain the same results in practice that castor oil seems to give. Certain types of organic acids are much more effective than fatty or other types of oil, and it is my personal opinion that the oil itself has no bearing upon the control of foaming, which is due rather to certain organic compounds produced in the oil’s breakdown whikh affect the surface tension conditions of the boiler water. With reference to the giving of the names and amounts of materials present in formulas supplied, we have found that this is never advisable, as these formulas are derived with a background of observation and experience and are subject to change as operaring conditions vary. They mean a great deal to one who understands them, but not very much to a nontechnical user, and it has been our practice to withhold such information; although I have never hesitated to give in full detail the exact composition of any material supplied, to a directing, consulting, or controlling chemist who could understand the reasons as well as the materials. With regard to Mr. Harvey’s letter, I am very sorry that we gave the impression that our sole objection to graphite was based upon Lieutenant Commander Lyon’s paper of 1911. This paper explained to us a great many things that had been observed in actual practice, and it might be well to state a t this time that in all probability there is no company supplying water treatment a s extensively in the United States, or in fact in the world, as the company with which we are connected, and the opportunity to observe the action of the materials is very great. Time and again we have incorporated graphite in preparations which we have supplied for the purposes of determining its effect and influence, finding a t all tjmes that there is absolutely no oci-
February, 1924
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEiMISTRY
entific reason for its having any effectiveness so far as control of scale is concerned. Regarding the electrolytic phase, however, it is generally accepted and can be easily demonstrated that powdered zinc, a strong electropositive metal, if introduced into the feed water in a boiler, will soon be converted into carbonate or oxide while retarding or preventing corrosion in the boiler. Why is i t not a s reasonable to assume that carbon, one of the most electronegative of chemicals, will act in the reverse way and stimulate corrosion? Getting away from tradition and considering graphite, or impure carbon, with a cold and questioning air, it is impossible to conceive of the slightest chemical action upon water which couId influence scale formation or its prevention. There is no question but that graphite has a distinct corrosive action. Although not always the case, it is generally true thai., following the first use of graphite, old scale in a boiler becomes loosened and drops in enormous quantities. Many samples of scale so removed have been brought to our attention, with the request to note the black coating of graphite on the tube side of the sample. I n all our experience, however, analysis has failed to detect the slightest trace of carbon or” graphite, but the coating has invariably turned out to consist of oxides of iron-part of the boiler removed by the carbon. Chemically, graphite i s inert; physically, its action is very little greater than that of suspended matter in a slightly turbid water. Mr. Harvey objects to placing faith upon laboratory tests made by Lieutenant Commander Lyon. It is unfortunate that the influence of laboratory tests upon science is given so little consideration. The laboratory, with scientific theory, must point the way, and while the results rarely work out in practice as is expected from the experimental study, they invariably point the way and prepare the ground for the practical side. Unforiunately, until the present time no one has been sufficiently interested in checking up the action of the many materials used in the steam boiler, and for this reason there is little on record save the experience of those who have had a wide contact with th:tt particular field. We cannot but feel that Mr. Harvey’s consideration of the effects of graphite is influenced to a very large extent by the interest of the seller. D. K. FRENCH D E A R B O R N CHEMICAL C O M P A N Y
CHICAGO, ILL. January 8 , 1924
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for the unusually free and stimulating discussion which followed all the papers on our local program. For the success of such a meeting several things seem to be necessary. First, of course, is the selection of the general subject for the meeting, and, no less important, the selection of the speakers who are to handle the various subdivisions of it. Another important point is the selection of the presiding officer. The degree to which those present will take part in the discussion depends largely on this person, and he should by all means be one thoroughly familiar with the subject of the meeting. One of the popular features of the New England meeting was the fact that there was no registration fee. A buffet lunch was provided before the afternoon meeting and a dinner between the afternoon and evening sessions. These meals were furnished a t cost. The other expenses of the meeting were divided among the cooperating sections. In other words, as far as this meeting is concerned, a t least, there appeared no reason why the national officers of the SOCIETY need be troubled with the details of arranging intersectional meetings, nor does it appear that any to appeal need be made to the treasury of the national SOCIETY help finance such gatherings. If properly fostered, the intersectional meeting idea should very soon find a permanent place in our chemical activities. An intersectional meeting should provide a program of sufficient interest t o warrant the attendance of chemists within a range of one hundred and fifty miles. It will then afford an opportunity for those men who do not find it possible to attend the national meetings to get the stimulation which comes from associating with fellow chemists. It will also afford an opportunity for the chemists in any given section of the country to become better acquainted, to say nothing of the benefit which is bound to accrue to those who have the privilege of hearing authorities present the latest results of their investigations and then to participate in, or at least follow, an enthusiastic discussion. From one who was only lukewarm toward the idea of intersectional meetings, our New England experience has changed me to one who is decidedly enthusiastic about their possibilities. GIJSTAVUS J. ESSELEN, JR. BOSTON, MASS. January 15, 1924
The Lubricant and Asphaltic Hydrocarbons in Petroleum (Correction)
A Successful Experiment Editor of Industrial and Engineling Chemistry: On Saturday, January 12, 1924, an intersectional symposium was held a t Boston in which the Connecticut Valley Section, the New Haven Section, the Rhode Island Section, and the Northeastern Section cooperated. The meeting was admittedly somewhat of an experiment in this part of the country, but in view of its success some of the things learned may be of interest to the members of other sections who have not tried the idea. I n tht first place it was demonstrated by an attendance of over five hundred that there is a distinct place in the scheme of the AMSRICANCHEMICAL SOCIETYfor intersectional meetings, and in this instance at least the symposium type of meeting met with enthusiastic approval. One of the comments most frequently heard among those in attendance was the great advantage that a meeting of this type offered for a program of a few well-selected papers, with ample time for complete discussion of each. While it is true that the program on the first day of our national meeting is arranged somewhat along this line, there does not seem to be the atmosphere, even if there were the opportunity,
The following corrections should be made in the article under this title, THIS JOURNAL, 15, 1233 (1923): Page 1235, second column, first line under Table 11, after “hydrocarbons,” insert “the series CnHzn, the naphthene hydrocarbons, and the ethylene hydrocarbons in small amounts.” Page 1235, second column, second paragraph, second line, should read “Table 111” instead of “preceding table.” Page 1237, first column, last paragraph, insert after first sentence, “Nitric acid attacks them with almost explosive rapidity, but if the first violent reaction is controlled by cooling and heat is applied, the change proceeds quietly.” CHARLES F. MABERY
Notes on the Oil from Kauri Copal (Correction) In the article by Gill and Nishida, under this title [THIS 15, 127fi (1923)] the sentence under the second table in the second column should read: “The refined oil had the same drying property as the raw oil and gave the color reactions of rosin oil with the Lieberman-Storch test.”
JOURNAL,
