I&EC TRENDS
TODAY Chemically machined photosensitive glass will be used in j u i d ampl$er analog computing components developed and fabricated by Corning Glass under contract for the U . S. Army's Diamond Laboratories. These devices use the flow of fluids, primarily air, to perform control and logic functions. Photosensitive glass can be precisely fabricated, is relatively strong, is impervious to corrosion, is resistant to heat and radiation, and can be hermetically sealed. This 72-month contract follows a three-year development program carried on at the National Bureau of Standards (I@EC, March 7 963). Marine transport of magnesium hydroxide promises to improve newsprint manufacturing methods, according to Great Lakes Paper Co. The slurry, delivered by Dow at 58 to 60y0concentration, will be used to shift the company's paper-pulping operations from calcium su@te to magnesium bisulfite. The bisu$te process, resulting in less wood degradation than the acid su@te method, is expected to produce a stronger newsprint, cleaner paper, and better printability. The ability to transport this chemical by water, combined with ease of handling of the slurry, and expected improvements in the bisulfite manufacturing techniques are expected to lower operating costs, and at the same time produce better quality paper. Low-voltage electron guns producing highly collimated beams and spanning the range
of 7 electron volt to 5 kiloslectron volts have been designed for passing a maximum number of low-voltage electrons through a given space. The guns overcome two basic physical limitations previously inherent in previous designs-the space charge repulsion of charged particles, and the limitation related to energy densities of the chargedparticle r. Investigators at the National Bureau of Standards established a high electricjeld at the cathode with an intermediate anode at high voltage and then decelerated the electrons to the requiredjnal energy. Data obtazned in laboratory studies of various interactions among electrons and gas atoms are further used to interpret astrophysical phenomena of stellar temperatures, electron densities, and e$ective dielectric constants of gases.
560,000 cubic feet have been supplied to Motorola for epitaxial crystal growth. The units, supplied by Union Carbide's Linde Diu. and similar to those employed for use with oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, use a vacuum super insulation designed for cryogenic temperatures of -432' F. The storage unit is theJrst of a complete line of equipment engineered to serve industrial hydrogen supply requirements. Short-term supplies can be made available from tank trucks and longer range supplies, in shipments as large as 28,300 gallons, can be obtained in a single tank car lot. The liquid hydrogen is vaporized to gas on demand and delivered f o r ultrahigh-purity almospheres f o r growing semiconductor crystals. Units for storing liquid hydrogen up to
A value-flow test facility capable of measuring the ,flow characteristics and control action of all valves from 2 to 72 inches has been installed at Worthington's Annin Diu. The system, with one phase designed for valve sizes 72 to 6 inches and a branch system for valves 4 inches and smaller, includes a gasoline-driven pump capable of 7000 gallons per minute at 25 p.s.i.g. and a multi-orijce meter. Improvedjuidjow characteristics of all valves, especially larger sized products, are expected to result from precision testing and certification of valves prior to shipment and the enlarged research and development program planned for this facility. VOL. 5 6
NO. 2
FEBRUARY 1964
7
Immediately available in tank car quantities from Dordrecht Amcel normal butyl alcohol, normal butyl acetate, and methyl alcohol-quality solvents for lacquer, paint and varnish production-are being shipped in rail and road tanker quantities from Dordrecht. Drum quantities of 10 other Amcel alcohols, esters, glycols, and special solvents for lacquer, paint and varnish production are also available for immediate shipment. For technical literature and additional information, write: Amcel Europe, S. A., 37 Square de Meeus, Brussels 4, .Belgium. AmceI trademark
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I&EC T R E N D S
I N D I C A T O R S FOR T O M O R R O W
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Oxygen recovery from water vapor is being studied for the U . S. Air Force by Battelle Institute. The process being developed uses two electrolytic cells. The first containing phosphoric acid as the absorptive medium and uses platinum electrodes separated by an absorbent matrix to hold the electrolyte in place, regardless of the unit’s position, and to keep the gases separate. The air can be processed directly because phosphoric acid does not react with the accompanying carbon dioxide. The other cell employs a palladium-silver foil which serves the double purpose of cathode and cell partition to separate hydrogen and oxygen. The foil, which allows hydrogen to dzjuse directly through it, isolates pure hydrogen and results in lower power requirements because gas bubbles in the electrolyte are normally a source of electrical resistance.
A print reader that will read typed or printed pages without stylized or magnetic ink letters or numbers is claimed to greatly reduce the period of manual handling of informa-
tion going into a computer. This Philco general purpose print reader, designed to match the speed and capabilities of existing computer systems, transports the documents, converts the printed words to machine language, and writes the information onto magnetic tapes, paper tapes, or punched cards. ,This system will be used by the Post Ofice and the Air Development Command. High temperature x-ray diffraction furnace promises to extend dzyraction studies of
crystal structure to temperatures as high as 2000’ C. The device, developed by General Electric of England, uses a shallow trough-shaped heating element in close contact with the specimen. This rhenium heating element is raised to its working temperature by the passage of an ele6trical current. It is held between graphite rod supports and is enclosed in a water-cooled evacuated chamber. The furnace should have wide application in measurements of lattice thermal expansion of refractory metals and oxides and in studies of the structural changes and chemical readons of solids at high temperatures. life on Mars is thought to he improbable because harmful ultraviolet rayspenetrate to
planet’s surface and convert existing oxygen to ozone. F. F. Marmo of the Geophysics Corp. who has been supervising photochemical experiments for NASA concludes that, although not enough oxygen exists in the Martian atmosphere to keep ozone at a safe distance from the planet’s surface, there is enough to produce ozone down to the surface level. Design charts for choking two-phase flow, now available for several important cryogenicfluids, will save the designer from performing lengthy calculations. In the National Bureau of Standards Cryogenic Engineering Laboratory, R. N . Smith has carried out such studies for hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and refrigerants 7 7 and 72. In two-phase systems, critical flow criteria depend on vapor quality, and calculation from fluid properties is quite complex. Such calculations, using somewhat idealized models, have been performed to establish upper and lower limits of the pressure, vapor qualdy, and mass j o w rate parameters. The equations have been verified where data exist. Between these limits, however, the present state of the art cannot provide assurance that flow actually is at Mach 7. Complete experimental data exist only for water-further studies are badly needed to provide adequate information for design of refrigeration systems, cryogenic transfer lines, missile propulsion mstems, cryozenic heat exchangers, and similar equipment items. VOL. 5 6
NO. 2
FEBRUARY 1964
9
