TRENDS - Industrial & Engineering Chemistry (ACS Publications)

Ind. Eng. Chem. , 1964, 56 (9), pp 5–7. DOI: 10.1021/ie50657a001. Publication Date: September 1964. Note: In lieu of an abstract, this is the articl...
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I&EC TRENDS TODAY

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Two types of gas lenses for guiding light beams have been successfully tested at the Bell Telephone Laboratories. Both lenses depend for their operation on the fact that light rays refract toward regions of high refractive index. One lens system consists of a gas-filled pipe with an internal, coaxial, helical coil which is maintained a f e w degrees warmer than the pipe, thus setting up natural convection currents and causing the gas to concentrate along the axis of the pipe. The higher refractive index in the concentrated gas keeps the light beam at or near the axis of the pipe. The second type of lens consists of a mixing chamber into which two gases with dzfferent refractive indices enter from opposite directions. The shape of the chamber and the low gas velocitiesproduce a boundary region where the gases meet which is symmetric about the axis of the chamber and effectively focuses the light beam. Thus f a r , various combinations of air, carbon dioxide, the freons, hydrocarbons, and argon have been used as lens gases and exhibit no aberrations under the conditions imposed on the systems. Though primarily intended for long distance transmission of light beams over tortuous paths, the techniques may also find use in process control work.

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1 PIPE EXHAUST

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1OW INDEX GAS

HIGH INDEX GAS

Monitoring of wastes in plant effluents on a daily basis has been made more convenient by the introduction of a new analytical technique devised by C. E . Hamilton of The Dow Chemical Company. The technique utilizes the U . 5'. Public Health Service standard method of adsorption on activated charcoal followed by sequential extraction of the dried charcoal and subsequent analysis of the extract. Instead of the usual solvents (chloroform and methanol), Hamilton's technique uses the azeotropic combination o j propylene dichloride and 539;', methanol (by weight) to extract the charcoal. Use of these new solventspermits the recovery of 50% more organics than with the previous mixture and reduces analytical timc bj 80%. Dow has made the method available to the Pzl blic Health Service. Simulation of nuclear explosions is being investigated by the Field Emission Corp. for the Air Force. The simulation system consists of a high vacuum chamber containing a j n e wire which is subjected to an electrical impulse of 50-nanoseconds duration and with a peak power of 20 billion watts. The wire almost instantly rises to a temperature of about a million degrees and explodes in the chamber. The similarities between such an explosion and a nuclear detonation permit studies of light emission, plasma production, shock waves, and other efects associated with high altitude nuclear detonations without the hazards of radiation and the expense of conducting the high altitude tests. Other applications of the exploding wire studies are the investigations of high energy reactions requiring the presence of highly unstable ionic intermediates.

A possible means for increasing the stability of ozone has been suggested by the research of Dr. L. J . Heidt of M I T . Contrary to earlier rejorts in the literature, Dr. Heidt found that the decomposition rate of ozone can be substantially reduced by increasing the alkalinity of its environment. In aqueous solutions of ozone containing 5% N a O H the half life of the ozone was 40 minutes. Increasing the NaOH to 5Oy0 boosted the half life to 83 hours. K O H also appears to act as a good stabilizer. As a result of thesefindings, it has been suggested that ozone might be safely stored and transported in uessels providing the proper alkaline environment. -Circle

NO. 551 on Readers' Service Card

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NO. 9

SEPTEMBER 1964

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Circle No. 528 on Readers’ Service Card

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