RESEARCH Allis-Chalmers
builds equipment for
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Rotary Kilns Induction Heaters Dielectric Heaters Converters Furnaces
Looking at 25,000° F . : A missiles and ordnance systems department worker Ask for Bulletin 25C6177M. Call checks out operation of GE's fluid stabilized arc—an electric arc confined in t h e y&ur nearby A~C man, or write: vortex formed b y a swirling fluid in the inner chamber. Testing takes p l a c e where hot gas passes through a hole in the carbon o r graphite electrode ALLIS-CHALMERS Milwaukee 1, Wisconsin
A.-5639
Missiles M a y W e a r Nylons GE hits top sustained temperatures yet, finds present refractory concepts reversed —nylon beats glass STARTLING N E W CONCEPTS are
on
the
way for scientists working on materials for use at ultra-high temperatures. Moreover, tests results using General Electrie's new fluid stabilized a r c capable of reaching 25,000° F.—com pletely reverse present views on re fractories based on lower temperature results from chemical flame tests, said Irving Gruntfest of GE's missiles a n d ordnance systems department at ACS Second Delaware Valley Regional Meeting. Nylon is a striking example. At temperatures hovering around 15,000° F-, nylon-reinforced phenolics hold up better than phenohcs rein forced with glass. Yet, under previous testing methods at ordinary high tem perature conditions, glass-reinforced plastics are considered highly re fractory, while nylon-reinforced plastics can b e melted with a hot iron. Hydrogen's high integrated specific heat may hold the key to these amazing high temperature results, say Grunt fest and L. H . Shenker, who collabo rated on this project. Hydrogen leads
all materials in heat absorbing capacity at high temperatures. But, obviously, it is not a construction material. T h u s , they theorized that a material high i n hydrogen content, such as certain or ganic plastics, reinforced with m a terials also high in hydrogen, such as nylon, should prove excellent heat-re sistant materials at extremely high t e m peratures. And results bear this theory out. Xot only glass, but high-silica glass a n d asbestos-reinforced plastics all e r o d e faster than nylon-reinforced plastics at these elevated temperatures. By t h e same token, heat-treated Orion shows u p well as a reinforcement for plastics as this theory would indicate, says G E . • Fluid Arc for Cone W o r k . GE, under government contract to m a k e nose cones for the Air Force's Atlas ICBM, developed the fluid stabilized arc t o determine ho*v substances stand u p a t ultra-high temperatures caused b y hypersonic flight. W i t h it tem peratures as high as 25,000° F . , lasting for a t least a minute, are possible, Gruntfest adds. •
Ν ii m her II in Ativan ves in Chemistry
Series
edited by t h e stall* €»Γ Industrial anti Engineering Chemistry
NATURAL PLANT HYDR0COLL0IDS Reviews materials usuulh used as μπ iter live colloids or ••stabilizers" such as Calcium Périmâtes, Agrar» (iiitn Arabic, Cum Karaya. Tra«racanlli. Locust Bean C u m , \lginates and Red Seaweed Kxlracts. 103 iHifgeNf—'paper bound—— $2.50 per copy
order front : Special Issue Sales American Chemical Soc%iel\ 1155 Sixteenth Street, !N. W. Washington 6, I). C.
FEB.
2 4.
1958 C & Ε Ν
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