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INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGI.VEERING CHEMISTRY
Vol. 16, No. 10
interesting series of experiments to develop a practicable means of treating their poles in existing lines. Of their many millions of telegraph poles, only a very small percent’age have been butt-treated with creosote oil. An untreated pole always decays at the ground line, where the conditions of moisture, air supply, and heat are favorable. To overcome these conditions and treat this vital portion of the pole, the Western Union Telegraph Company has developed an interesting niethod which they have kindly permitted to be described here. This method is called an “extended ground line bath” and the operation is about as follows:
with sulfur they become adapted for use in handling chemicals and acids.
SULFUR COMPOSITIONS Sulfur compositions of various kinds have, of course, been used almost as long as sulfur has been known. A mixture of sulfur and fine sand is used as an acid-proof cement and for setting bolts or iron rods in stone or concrete foundations. Most sulfur compositions, however, are difficult to handle in quantity and have a tendency to crack when solidifying in large masses. One of the most satisfactory sulfur compositions, which we have called “Lavasul,” consists of a mixture of coke dust and crude sulfur. The particles of coke are graded from coarse to fine and form approximately 40 per cent by weight of the composition. It is readily cast and is extremely acid-resisting, withstanding the action of dilute nitric, sulfuric, and hydrochloric acids. It is not acted upon by hot ferrous or ferric chloride, phosphoric acid, or even hydrofluoric acid. The caustic alkalies act upon the sulfur, and concentrated nitric or sulfuric acid reacts with the sulfur. It is a good tank material, however, and gives promise of considerable usefulness in this field. The molten material may be run into appropriate forms of wood or sheet metal and the tank cast in the form of a monolithic structure. This sulfur-coke composition is also being employed as an acid-proof cement and appears of value in connection with cementing felt to steel plates for polishing glass and to hold abrasive blocks in the periphery of grinding wheels. On account of the ease with which various sulfur compositions are molded or cast, they find use in the manufacture of many art objects. For generations the Italians have made use of this property of sulfur for the manufacture of molds in which plaster art objects are cast. After sculpturing the original design, it is reproduced in sulfur and this negative mold used for casting the design in plaster. This method is limited to plaques and other flat designs which are not undercut. I n addition to sulfur molds, very attractive finished objects are cast from sulfur compositions, the molds generally being made of bronze. A rather extensive line of sulfur art objects are now on the market in this country and Europe under the trade name of “Lavinite.” They are very attractive in appearance, possess remarkable detail and depth of color, being quite unlike metal or ceramic ware. The molds in which large vases, urns, or lamps are cast are manufactured abroad and the entire industry employs the highest type of craftsmen.
A hole approximately 1 foot deep is dug around t h e pole and a tin sleeve 18 inches long adjusted and crimped so as t o form an annular space of about 1 inch between t h e tin and t h e pole. This cylinder of tin rests on the bottom of t h e hole and a n inch or two of mol.ten sulfur is then poured in. This layer of sulfur quickly solidifies, making a n impervious seal, and t h e cylinder thus becomes a jacket capable of holding a liquid. T h e cylinders are then filled with creosote oil and the earth replaced about them. After a few weeks or months, depending upon t h e temperature and the nature of t h e wood, it is found t h a t this oil has been entirely absorbed by t h e sapwood and t h a t penetration is practically complete.
Although the method appears very simple and easy to carry out, many troublesome details and difficulties had to be overcome. The pole lines invariably follow the rights-of-way of railroads, and portable melters had to be devised which could be carried by two men. Many poles are badly cracked and the sulfur does not always penetrate these deep cracks. A small quantity of paraffin poured on top of the sulfur sea1 largely overcomes this difficulty, and experiments are now being made with various other substances. Generally speaking, however, the sulfur makes a tight and very effective seal, and an experimental line of several miles put in last summer on Long Island is standing up very well. A section of a cedar pole treated by this method showed that penetration by the creosote extended vertically for a distance of 2 feet both above and below the ground line. A large crack in this sample indicates the necessity of sealing such cracks to prevent the escaping of the oil past the sulfur seal. CONCLUSION
Only the more recent developments in the rionchemical uses for sulfur have been touched upon in this paper. I n other words, the possibilities for the use of sulfur in the nonchemical field have been limited to those uses which we trust are new and hope are of interest and value. Many of them are in their development stage, but we feel that sufficient work POSSIBLE USES OF SULFUR IX WOODPRESERVATION has been done to justify announcing them. With t’heexception of the work being done by the Western In addition to the various impregnated products and sulfur compositions thus far described in this paper, the possibilities Union Telegraph Company, the developments described have of using sulfur in connection with wood preservation may be been carried out by the Texas Gulf Sulphur Company and they of interest. Although it is difficult to obtain complete pene- are ready a t all times to cooperate and be of assistance to the tration of wood by simple immersion in molten sulfur, a very various industries in which sulfur may find new applications high degree of impregnation results when a vacuum is used. either of a chemical or nonchemical nature. Many woods will absorb their own weight in sulfur by simple immersion, but the time is materially reduced when a vacuum Honolulu t o H a v e Research I n s t i t u t e is used. Sulfur-impregnated wood should be highly resistant T h e opening of t h e new Pan-Pacific Research Institute, which to wood-rot fungi and prove very durable for many purposes. is t o be a n international establishment for t h e scientific study of Colloidal sulfur as a wood preservative is worthy of investi- food resources in t h e Pacific area, has been made possible by t h e gation, and its toxicity toward wood-rot fungi is now being gift t o t h e institution of t h e Castle home, one of t h e largest in Honolulu, together with four acres of adjacent determined. Sulfur in the colloidal state unquestionably pos- residences lznd. It is expected t h a t this will be the nucleus of a Pansesses fungicidal properties, and if the tests now being con- Pacific Uhiversity, which has been planned for several years. ducted prove favorable, attempts will be made to treat wood, The organization of this institution will be unique in t h a t i t using crude petroleum or inexpensive derivatives as a me- will be neither American, nor Hawaiian, nor Japanese, nor t h e property of a n y other single nationality, b u t will be governed b y dium to carry the sulfur into the wood. scientists from all the countries of t h e Pacific. For the past year and a half this company has been coDr. David Starr Jordan, chancellor emeritus of Stanford operating with the Western Union Telegraph Company in an University, has been offered t h e directorship of the institution. ~
