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Newly designed air scrubber from An-
Nylon 6 Beefs Up Belts Oriented nylon in belt core may double life Oriented nylon 6 sheeting for core material promises extra long life for conveyor belting. Tests by Goodall Rubber Co., Trenton, N.J., indicate that nylon-cored belting may outlast conventional belting by as much as 100% in heavy duty applications. The nylon 6 used by Goodall is a special grade supplied by Spencer Chemical. Spencer sees use of its ma terial as opening up a big new outlet for nylon 6 resin. Big pluses of the new belting include high flex strength, which permits use of smaller, less ex pensive pulleys, and less down time, thanks to lower maintenance. Oriented nylon is nylon which has undergone a special process in which its molecules have been realigned. Result is higher tensile strength mate rial with greater resistance to stretch. Spencer sells the nylon 6 to Mold ings & Extrusions, Inc., Wauregan, Conn., where the nylon is extruded and oriented. Moldings & Extrusions uses an "exclusive process" which permits production of wide sheets of oriented nylon suitable for use in belt ing. The nylon strip is sold by Mold ings & Extrusions as Moldex Tensilized Strip 142. The 142 refers to the spe cial grade of nylon 6 Spencer is pro viding to Moldings & Extrusions. Spencer claims superior processability and flexibility for its product.
Extreme Duty Belts First.
First
use of the new belting material will be in belts intended for extremely severe service, says Goodall. A good example is belts for mucking machines used in tunnel construction. Such belts take a terrific beating from sharp rocks dropped on them when dis lodged from the tunnel face. They're designed to be worn down on one side and then turned over and used on the other. Mucking machine belting with an oriented nylon core outlasts conventional belting better than two to one, says Goodall. The new belting should be attrac tive for conveying chemicals, too, says Goodall. "Wicking" of chemicals on belts sometimes destroys the core material now used; oriented nylon re sists such deterioration. Goodall is also looking at lighter
duty applications of the new belting material. Thinner nylon sheeting can be used here, helping hold down the cost of the belts.
National Carbon Makes Titanium Diboride National Carbon Division of Union Carbide is now producing titanium di boride at its Fostoria, Ohio, plant. The material is the first of a projected series of high-temperature refractory compounds the company is planning to market. Others will include borides, nitrides, and sulfides of several of the transition elements. Though titanium diboride is in the same hardness range as boron car bide, National says it can machine the compound into intricate shapes with conventional tools during the processing stages. But the company will give out none of the process de tails beyond naming the starting ma terials—oxides of titanium and boron. Nor will it divulge cost and capacity of the new facilities at Fostoria. According to National, its titanium diboride comes in powder form or in fabricated shapes "of unprecedented strength, size, and purity." Cylinders 14 in. in diameter, 10 in. long, and weighing 260 lb. have been made— the largest shapes of this material ever produced, the company adds. Chief use for such cylinders could be as lead-in connections to the cells used in producing aluminum. Titanium diboride lead-ins, imper vious to attack by both molten alu minum and corrosive salt solutions, are being evaluated by the major alu minum producers, National says. Low electrical resistivity of the material may allow reduction of power losses through the pot lining by as much as 50 r /c And, National adds, titanium diboride leads may lead to radically new designs for aluminum cells, per mitting significant reductions in in vestment per ton of aluminum ca pacity in new facilities. Titanium diboride has excellent re sistance to oxidation at high tempera tures and, even at 1400° C , has a low oxidation rate. Its inertness to nonferrous molten metals suggests uses such as crucibles, pumps, tap ping spouts, funnel linings, valves, and gates.
tipol Corp., Galesburg, 111., can handle air flows to 50,000 cu. ft. per min., the company says. Water flow over a stainless steel screen entraps impuri ties with efficiency of 997c at flow ratios as low as 1 gal. per 1000 cu. ft. of air, Antipol says. Ε1
INSTRUMENTS . . . Portable, packaged high vacuum sys tem is offered by Ultek Corp., Palo Alto, Calif. The system's pump is electronic, develops an ionic pumping action through formation of stable, solid compounds with reactive metals, Ultek says. Pressures as low as 10~
