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wire gauze down over the aperture of a n iron tube. One square inch wire gauze, 2 2 mesh, will answer the purpose. The flame of the wire gauze capped burner can be regulated very easily by the air regulator. GREGORYTOROSSIAN NATIONAL CARBON Co. CLEVELAND, OHIO,June 1 . 1914
A SHAKER FOR THE MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF SOILSNOTE Editor of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry: In THISJOURNAL, 6 , 517, Mr. C. C. Fletcher takes exception to my claim t h a t my Soil Shaker is better than that used by the Bureau of Soils a t Washington. I should like to consider his objections and further substantiate my claim. I . NUMBEROF BOTTLES-It is true t h a t the Bureau machine carries 48 bottles, while mine carries only 16 But the comparison becomes fairer by considering the power required t o run the two machines. I n the description of the Bureau machine’ it is stated t h a t “ t h e machine is driven by an ordinary stock H. P. motor.” Determinations recently made on my machine by the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Yale University, show that 0.000766 H. P. is required t o run i t a t the prescribed rate and loaded t o full capacity. We then have a comparison of powers as follows: 0.25 vs. 0.000766-a ratio of I to 326+. Even if only one-tenth of the power of the motor were really used to operate the Bureau machine, t h a t same amount of power would be sufficient to operate more than 30 of my machines a t once, with a total carrying capacity of 480 bottles. One should bear in mind, also, the fact t h a t my machine is strictly “homemade. ” If it were nicely constructed, mounted on bearings, etc., the efficiency would be even more striking. 11. SPEED-It is true t h a t if the wheel were turned very rapidly there would be centrifugal effects. But it is expressly stated in my article t h a t the wheel should not be run rapidly. Surely, the mechanical difficulties of running a wheel slowly instead of rapidly are not insurmountable! And indeed, the slower the wheel is turned the less energy is required. The “merely pouring” of the contents of the bottle from one end t P the other, consequent upon slow turning of the wheel, is a distinct advantage over hitting the soil particles swiftly together by a sudden jerking motion. 111. ELEMENT OF TIME-Mr. Fletcher explains the 7 hours required by the Bureau machine by saying “in some rare instances as long a time as this has been found necessary. The majority of soils, especially sandy soils, do not need 7 hours.” In other words, 7 hours is the maximum required. IVell, similarly for my machine, the 3 hours mentioned is a maximum time requirement. The average soil can be successfully treated in a much shorter time. Mr. Fletcher also states that even if 7 hours are used it is no loss of time to the operator, because he is busy anyway. Certainly, in this age of conservation and efficiency engineering, one should not countenance waste of power and energy in running a machine longer than necessary! Another argument not as yet presented may be stated here. I n the Bureau machine the bottles are in a horizontal position. With a moderate jerking back and forwards of the bottle only the upper portion of the soil is shaken; with more vigorous jerking the whole mass of soil is in movement, but, on account of the friction on the bottle, the lower part moves more slowly than the upper, and may move but slightly or not a t all. Also, in order to have all the sample in action a t the same time the upper portion is driven backwards and forwards with more violence than it really requires. As a result, there is a tendency for the particles t o abrade one another. Obviously this breaking down of the soil particles should not be very appreciable or the method is a failure. I n treatment by my machine the 1
U.S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Soils, Bull. 84,
p . 15.
Vol. 6 , No.
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bottle is slowly ended over and over. The whole sample thus falls from one end of the bottle t o the other through a column of water twice in every revolution of the wheel. The lack of violence in the process of “merely pouring,” coupled with shorter time of treatment, reduces abrasion to a negligible factor. It should be clear why my method is shorter than the Bureau method for all the particles are receiving equal treatment all the time. FREEMAN WARD SHEFFIELD SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL, YALEUNIVERSITY NEW HAVEN,CONN., October 16, 1914
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS 7TH ANNUAL MEETING, PHILADELPHIA DECEMBER 2-5, 1914 PROGRAM OF PAPEES Address of Welcome. MAYOR BLANKENBURG. Distribution of Industrial Opportunities. GEORGEOTIS SMITH, Director of the U.S. Geological Survey. The Manufacture and Application of t h e Artiflcial Zeoliter (Permutite) i n Water Softening. D . D. JACKSON. Feldspar as a Possible Source of American Potash. ALLBRTON S. CUSHMAN A N D GEO.W. COGGESHALL. Hydrometallurgical Apparatus and Its Use i n Chemical Engineering. JOHNV. N . DORR. The Hardwood Distillation Industry. E. H. FRENCH A N D JAMES R. WITHROW. The Chemical Industries of Japan. JOKICHI TAKAMINE. Need of .Up-to-date Manufacturing Statistics. BERNHARD C. HESSE. Ore Flotation, a New Hydrometallurgical Development. S. P. SADTLER AND S . S. SADTLER. Aspects of Some Chemical Industries i n t h e United Stater Today. EDWARD GUDEMAN. EXCUESIONS.
Atlantic Refining Co. of the Standard Oil Co. a t Point Breeze on the Schuylkill River. This plant has the new Burton process for the distillation of petroleum and the manufacture of motor fuel. United Gas Improvement Co. This plant has new water gas generators with waste heat boilers. The physical research laboratory was visited and recent developments in artificial illumination and photometric apparatus were inspected. Welsbach Works, Gloucester, N. J. Nitrating and collodion manufacture, thorium nitrate and mantle manufacture, solvent recovery, metal working, nickel plating and finishing were seen. New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N . J. Farr & Baily Linoleum Works, Camden, N . J. Commercial Museums, West Philadelphia. Address by Dr. Wm. P. Wilson on the work of the Museum. Laboratories of the University of Pennsylvania. Barrett Manufacturing Co., Chemical Department, Frankford, Philadelphia. The working up of the light and middle oils, the refining of naphthalene, the small scale preparation of carbolic acid, etc., were shown.
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COMMUNICATION FROM THE ANALYTICAL COMMITTEE RUBBER SECTION, AMERICAN CHEPhICAL SOCIETY From the reply of The Joint Rubber Insulation Committee,
THISJOURNAL, 6 , 515, it is evjdent that some discussion of the results as published in THISJOURNAL, 6 , 5 14,is necessary to prevent any misunderstanding as t o their bearing. Since this reply appeared i t was impossible to hold a meeting of The Analytical Committee until this date. In presenting the results of their work, The Analytical Committee voted t o confine their published report to the facts brought out by their analysis and omit all discussions, as a publication of these discussions in full would have occupied more space than this committee could reasonably have asked for and it was by no means certain how much of i t would be of general interest.
Dec., 1914
T H E J O C R N A L OF I Y D C S T R I A L A N D E A’GI
The three compounds selected for analysis were designed to test the accuracy of the methods for analysis of the Acetone Extract as affected by the presence or absence of the two hydrocarbons used in commercial practice. The amount of rubber and the fillers were varied only slightly to avoid the influence of extraneous factors on the results. The selection of fillers and the respective proportions were designed to fall within the limits prescribed by the 1913 Railway Signal Association’s specification for 307, Fine Para insulation, as this was considered to be the most important type of material to which the methods of The Joint Rubber Insulation Committee were likely t o be immediately applied. The methods of The Joint Rubber Insulation Committee were intended to be applicable to the analysis of just such compounds. Therefore, if the errors have been magnified due to the constituents, the methods should be revised to meet such conditions. The Analytical Committee, before issuing its report, took into consideration the discrepancies of Analyst No. 3 under waxy hydrocarbon, which in all probability were due t o the Solution of Alcoholic Potash used. They also took into consideration the results of No. 4, under Free Sulfur, which were obtained by the use of a different type of extractor, for comparative purposes. Inasmuch as no conclusions drawn from either of these results were adverse t o the methods of The Joint Rubber Insulation Committee, no exception was made to the decision of the committee to publish only the results and conclusions. These discrepancies and the reasons for the same were brought to the attention of the Rubber Section a t the Cincinnati meeting and were fully discussed a t that time. Two members of The Joint Rubber Insulation Committee, who were instrumental in drawing up the comments printed in THISJOKRNAL, 6 , j I j , were present a t this meeting and were fully acquainted with the facts. A clerical error which appeared in the published report should be corrected as follows: Under Sample A, Analyst I : I I/’no-Total waxy hydrocarbons should read 2.14 per cent I I z I-Total waxy hydrocarbons should read 2 . j.5 per cent Referring to the comments on the work of Analyst hTo. 2 ,
E E RI N G C H E M I S T R Y
I039
The Joint Rubber Insulation Committee state, “The results indicate that the Acetone Extraction was not properly made.” Comparison of the results of Analyst No. z with those of Nos. I , 4 and j, which are taken as a standard for comparison, does not substantiate this statement, as these results are consistent with Nos. I , 4 and j and the duplicate results are particularly consistent; furthermore, the analyst states that the Acetone Extraction was made absolutely in accordance with the procedure. The fact that the averages of a large number of determinations are “about what we would expect from this compound’’ proves only that positive and negative errors are equally probable and does not substantiate the claim that the determination of saponifiable extracts by this method will give accurate results, since the individual results show that the probable error of a single determination is large. This procedure is given as a method for 30 per cent Hevea rubbers, therefore the Analytical Committee was justified in making its first investigation on Fine Para. E. \V, BOUGHTONG. H. SAVAGEP. H . WALKER Ti’. A. DKCCA J. B. TUTTLE D. \V. WHIPPLE,Chairman 114 LIBERTY S T . . N E W Y O R K CITY November 16, 1914
THE SPECIFIC HEAT OF CALIFORNIA PETROLEUMS A CORRECTION In my article under the above title in THISJOURNAL, 6, 7 2 7 , the formula used for the calculation of the specific heats given CM(T-L) W in the results was c = - - ~ _ _ and not that given in
m(t-tto)
m
the article as originally printed. 3333 1 9 STREET ~ ~ SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.,November 7, 1914
HAROLD E. WALES
THE EXPLOSIBILITY OF GRAIN DUSTS-A
CORRECTION
I n the article printed under the above title, in THISJOURNAL, 6, 934, the name of M r . David J . Price as joint author was omitted by error. HAROLD H. BROWN BUREAUOF CHEMISTRY, WASHINGTON
h-ovember 16, 1914
PERSONAL NOTES The University of Pittsburgh announces the following course of Special Evening Lectures on Chemical Engineering during 1914-1j: S o t * . 9tlt-“Our h-ew Knowledge of Coal,” H . C. Porter, Chemist, U. S. Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh. Nov. 16ih-“Recent Researches on the Combustion of Coal,” Henry Kreisinger, Engineer in Charge of Fuel Tests, Bureau of Mines, Applications of Pulverized Pittsburgh. -Vov. z3rrd-“Some Coal,” Richard K. Meade, Consulting Chemist, Baltimore. iVoa. 3oth-“Producer Gas,” J . K. Clement, Physicist, Bureau of Nines, Pittsburgh. Dec. 7th-“The Softening of Water for Industrial Purposes,” James 0.Handy, Director of Research, ClassificaPittsburgh Testing Laboratories. Dec. Iqth-The tion of Clays,” Edward Orton, Head of Department of Ceramics and Dean of the College of Engineering, Ohio State Cniversity. Jan. 4fiz--“The Effect of Heat on Clays,” A. V. Bleininger, Director Technological Laboratory, U. S. Bureau of Standards, Pittsburgh. Jan. Iith--“The Manufacture of Structural hIanufacClay Products,” Ak. T:. Bleininger. Jan. I8th-The ture of Refractories,” Kenneth Seaver, Chief Chemist, HarbisonWalker Refractories Co., Pittsburgh. Jan. zjth-“The Manufacture of Porcelain,” Ross C. Purdy, Chief Chemist, Norton Co., and Enamels,” A. V. Worcester, Mass. Jan. zjth-“Glazes Bleininger. Feb. 1st-Symposium: “Special Phases of the Glass Industry,” C: H. Kerr, Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.; S.R . Scholes,
Assistant Director Mellon Institute of Industrial Research; Alexander Silverman, University of Pittsburgh. Feb. 8th“Special Methods of Pyrometry,” H. S. Stupakoff, Director Present Stupakoff Laboratories, Pittsburgh. Feb. Ijlh-“The Status of the Chemical Technology of Vanadium,” B. D. Saklat-U’alla, Chief Chemist, American Vanadium Co., Pittsburgh. Feb. rrnd-“The Manufacture of Steel Tubing,” F. N. Speller, National Tube Co. Mur. Ist-“The Manufacture of Steel in the Electric Furnace,” F. Crabtree, Professor of Metallurgy, Carnegie Institute of Technology. Mar. 8th“The Corrosion of Iron and Steel,” D. Ll. Buck, -4rnerican Sheet and Tin Plate Co., Pittsburgh. M a r . I5th-“Catalysis,” hl. A . Rosanoff, Professor of Research Chemistry, Xlellon Institute. Mar. zrnd-“Recent Developments in the Electrochemistry of Organic Compounds,” Harold Hibbert, Research Fellow, hlellon Institute; and “Industrial Applications of the Phase Rule,” h l . A. Rosanoff. The North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts has made the following additions to the staff of its Chemistry Department: C. F. Miller, E. I,. Frederick, J. T . Dobbins and H. I,.Cox. Mr. James J. Bajda, formerly connected with the Chemical Department of Sulzberger & Sons, is now Chemist and Chemical Engineer for the San-I-Genic Company of Winnipeg, Canada.
