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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 ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y
with that company. For plant extensions and t o provide working capital the directors contemplate issuing 2,500 ordinary shares for which application has been received. In the event of negotiations with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Ltd., resulting in a n agreement, the Anglo-Persian Company will take an interes in the Eastern Chemical Company, in order to provide the capital necessary to increase the sulfuric acid plant and to erect a plant for producing other chemicals required by the Anglo-Persian Company.
THE BRITISH ALKALI ACT The report of the Chief Inspector, of the work done during the year 1914, in carrying out the provisions of the alkali Works Regulation Act 1906 has just been issued. It shows that the number of works in England, Ireland, and \\’ales kegistered was 1,356, in 68 of which salt was decomposed with evolution of muriatic acid, defined in the Act as “Alkali Works.” There was thus, compared with 1913, a decrease of 2 in the number registered as alkali works and a n increase of 31 in the number otherwise registered, the net increase being 29. There were also 170 works in Scotland registered under the Act, making in all an aggregate of 1,526 for the United Kingdom. The following figures supply a concise statement of the I-egistered and scheduled prixesses under inspection: 1913 1914 10 9 Alkali waste.. . . . . . 53 Arsenic. . . . . . . . . . . 50 31 Bisulfite. . . . . . . . . . . 30 60 50 Cement, . . . . . . . . . . 151 Chemical manure.. . 155 25 Chlorine. . . . . . . . . . 27 56 Gas liquor.. . . . . . . . 54 33 33 Lead deposit.. . . . . . 70 76 Nitric acid. . . . . . . . 5 8 Picric a c i d . . . . . . . . . 47 48 Salt cake.. . . . . . . . . 75 75 Smelting. . . . . . . . . . 83 Sulfide. . . . . . . . . . . . 83 205 T a r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 12 12 Venetian r e d . . ..... ~~
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1913 Bisulfide of carbon., , . . , 4 Copper (wet process). 18 12 Cylinder muriatic acid.. Muriatic acid: Other than alkali works 65 Tinplate flux., , , , , , . . 73 Salt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Nitrate & chloride of iron 31 Sulfate a.nd muriate of ammonia. . . . . . . . . . . . . 595 Sulfuric acid.. . . . . . . . . . . 146 Sulfuric acid (class 2) ..... 90 Wool carbonizing (decom1 posing salt). . . . . . . . . . . Zinc extraction.. . . . . . . . . 13
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1914 4 18 11 63 70 47 32 624 150 93 1 12
These figures show an increase ol 47 processes under inspection as compared with 1913. The increase is associated largely with the manufacture of sulfate of ammonia and with the distillation of tar. Considerable improvement occurred during 1914 from extended adoption of mechanical appliances in place of manual labor in certain of these operations which are liable t o cause local escape of acid gases or fumes. This was especially the case as regards bleaching powder manufacture, superphosphate manufacture, and extraction cf copper by the wet process. The mechanical devices put into operation in these cases improved very greatly the environment of the men employed, and remove cause for complaint in the vicinity from loca escapes of acid gases, while they are more reliable for uniformity of working.-A. INDIAN OILSEEDS CROP The Department of Statistics, India, has now’issued the final forecast of the Winter oilseeds (rape, mustard, and linseed) crop for the season 1914-15. This forecast is based upon reports received from provinces where rape, mustard, and linseed are grown t o any extent. These provinces contain 99.2 per cent of the total area under rape and mustard, and 99 per cent of the total linseed area in British India. Of the native states, estimates are furnished by Hyderabad and the States in the Bombay Presidency (including Baroda). No report is made by any other native states. The total area under rape and mustard is now reported to be 6,402,000 acres, which is 136,000 acres or z per cent larger than the finally revised area of last year. The total estimated yield is 1,195,000 tons, as compared with 1,087,000 tons, the revised final figures of last year, or an increase of . I O per cent.
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The total area cnder linseed amounts to 3,332,000 acres, which is 301,000 acres or 9 per cent larger than the area of last year. The total estimated yield is 396,000 tons, as against 386,000 tons, the revised final estimate of last year, or an increase of 2 . 5 per cent. I n addition to the areas for which particulars are given above, the crops are grown in certain other tracts in British India, and the average areas so grown for the last five years have been some 47,000 acres of rape and mustard and some 33,000 acres of 1inseed An addition of approximately 0.8 per cent (9,000 tons) should be made t o the estimated total yield of rape and mustard, and of I per cent (4,000 tons) t o that of linseed on this account. The condition of the crop on the whole is reported to be from fair to good, except in Bihar and Orissa and Bengal, and in t h e southern and eastern districts of the United Provinces, where the crops were adversely affected by drought.-A. USE OF SILICA-GRAPHITE PAINT A practice that is fast gaining adoption in progressive power plants is the use of paint for the inner surface of steam boiler drums. The paint is said t o afford protection against pitting. Silica-graphite paint is used for this purpose. For a number of years the manufacturers of this paint have coated the steam drums of five B. & W. boilers developing 1800 H . P. and as a result the drums are in almost perfect condition. I n another instance, the interiors of the drums of B. & W. boilers developing 8400 H. P., were scalded, painted both above and below t h e water line and allowed 48 hours t o dry thoroughly. This treatment was repeated every ten months and not only did it stop pitting but where it had previously taken six men seven days to clean the drums of one boiler, two men now clean them in a day. This latter experience is quoted from a letter of the Chief Engineer of the A-ew York Life Insurance Company, in the April issue of Graphite. EXPLOSION IN ENGLISH CORDITE FACTORY The report of Major A. Cooper-Key, H. M. Chief Inspector of Explosives, on an explosion which occurred a t a Stowmarket factory has just been issued. The report states that on the morning of the accident cordite M. D. was in the course of manufacture, and a t the moment of the accident two men in the building mere on the point of handing out to two bogie runners the bags of cordite paste for removal to the hand-mixing house. Before being placed on the bogie the bags are wiped down to get rid of the guncotton dust, and also t o remove to some extent the water from the bottom of the bags, due to their having been standing on a wet floor. I n order to avoid the use of a loose implement of any kind this operation was done by hand and not with a brush. It was a fine, dry, cold morning and the two men in the building were wearing stout rubber overshoes, which would completely insulate them from electric contact with “earth.” The bags were of rubber-impregnated canvas, a marked dielectric, and in the case a t any rate of a man with a naturally dry skin, the operation of wiping the bags would undoubtedly have the effect of generating in his person a statical charge of electricity which might well be sufficient to cause a spark to pass as soon as he should happen to “earth” himself by touching an uninsulated article. The Chief Inspector adds that this explanation may appear a t first sight to be a somewhat far-fetched one, but that he is convinced that it is the true one. He quotes a case a t Ardeer Explosive Works where a workman wearing rubber shoes fired acetone vapor by a spark from his fingers after merely allowing the thin strands of rifle cordite to pass over his hand -A.
