Sept’., 1922
T H E JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
regulus and the undesirable constituents into the slag. This is accomplished by taking into consideration not only the necessary chemical factors, but also the physical ones, as size of the granules and rate of feeding of the niixture. These factors are technically important when we consider that we are dependent only on the chemical reaction of the mixture for the necessary temperature to obtain a fluid slag and a molten metal, and have no means whatever to control this temperature from any other source. -4nother marked improvement in the practice of alumino-thermic reduction is the fact that this operation is carried out on a very extensive scale, as a continuous one, in a shaft furnace, tapping the slag and metal a t regular intervals. This continuity of operation has not only enlarged the quantity from a few pounds produced in small crucibles to several tons per day out of each shaft furnace, but has helped to produce higher temperatures, owing to large quantities reacting exothermically and storing the heat energy developed in the walls of the furnace, and thus promoting slagging reactions for the undesirable constituents, which was not possible in the small crucibles. This alumino-thermic development has been largely in connection with the production of ferro-vanadium. The recent developments in the electric furnace for the production of ferro-alloyq have been very marked. In the case of ferro-vanadium, for instance, in spite of the great strides of alumino-thermic reduction, the field is now practically dominated by the electric method. The most marked impro veinents in electric furnace operation have been in the development of a control mechanism, whereby the energy input IS held constant by using a true watt regulator. Much higher temperatures have been produced by the upe of higher current density, high voltage, and very close electrode spacin2. The open-top furnaces have been replaced in several instances by furnaces wit,h closed tops, water-cooled in some cases l o conserve the heat energy. The advent of the electric filrnace in the ferro-alloy industry has made many low-grade ores available for reduction at a reasonable cost, and thus has not only played a great part as an economic factor in lowering the prices of several ferro-alloys, but also made discarded mineral deposits usefully available, thus increasing our natural resources. Another direction, in connection with the electric furnace, in mhicli rapid progress has been made, is the refining of frrro-alloys containing undue percentages of carbon and silicon. Activity in this field has been mainly in connection with ferro-chromium. With the development of the so-called “stainless” steels there suddenly appeared a demand for a ferro-chromium very low in carbon content. The amount of chromium present in such steels is high, approximately 12 to 14 per cent, and conseqJently any appreciable carhon content of the ferro-alloy would cause an undue rise in the carhon of the finished steel. Several patents for refining carbon containing ferro-chromium have been recently granted, and special publicity has been given to some claiming to removci the carbon by hessemerizing the molten alloy with a n oxidizing gas. Several processes have also been suggested for oxidizing the carbon content by means of iron ore or chrome ore together with fluxes. The development of high-chromium, low-carbon steels has also led to processes for introducing the chromium without the necesqity of first manufacturing a ferro-chrome. I n such processes, the reducing agent, either metallic or nonmetallic, is placed in the bath of molten steel, together with the raw chrome ore, with suitable fluxes, the reduction of the chromium taking place in the molten bath of steel. In this way the reduciiig agents present in the bath, such as carbon or silicon, are eliminated by oxidation, and the chromium reduced tluking t’his reaction enters the steel. This process has
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the advantage of not introducing carbon with the chromium, and so produces a more homogeneous steel free from scgregation, as the chromium reduction takes place uniformly over the entire bath and is absorbed in the nascent state of formation by the steel. In the ferro-tungsten industry there have been no radically new developments, probably owing to the lack of demand and demoralized condition of the tungstrn market. Another alloy that has gained prominence commercial!y is ferro-phosphorus. In its manufacture the electric furnxce is supplanting the blast-furnace method. Its principal use is to raise the phosphorus content of sheet bars in order to diminish the loss involved in stripping or tczring apart plates or sheets. Of less importance are the alloys ferro-boron, ferro-zirconium, and ferro-cerium. Perro-cerium has been used as a pyrophoric alloy and also as a deoxidizer in steel. Tn concluqion, it may be mentioned that the TTnited St%tes can claim the furthest advances in the metallurgy of ferroalloys within the last few years, and to he the largest producer in the world of a commodity on which the progress of our qteel metallurgy is so vitally dependent. Publicity for Chemistry During the past year t h e Yale A l u m n i Weekly devoted an issue t o chemistry. It was well planned and served t o emphasize t h e part which Yale intends t o play in chemistry in the future. Other educational institutions might do well t o follow this example. In Current Affazrs t h e Boston Chamber of Commerce has placed before its members a n article on the organization of the chemical and dyestuff industry in New England This cannot fail t o bring home t o New england manufacturers a realization t h a t the industry is worth keeping and deserves all possible encouragement. In addition t o sending our articles on chemical subjects t o papers in nearby towns and cities, the Publicity Committee of t h e Rochester Section obtained during the last year t h e equivalent of seventy columns of space in local papers. B y assigning each of the local papers t o a member of the committee a great deal has been accomplished, and the experience of t h e committee goes t o show t h a t publicity can be obtained for t h e activities of chemists as a n organization and for the accomplishments of individual members, if the material is presented in good form and care is taken t o place it in proper hands. The Michigan Agricultural College Section was the guest at a banquet of t h e Kiwanis Club in Lansing. The chemists were responsible for the principal addresses, and two hundred and fifty business men were brought into close contact with a large number of chemists. This appeals t o us as a good precedent. Such a gathering does more to bring about a n entente cordiale between chemists and business men than could be accomplished by any number of meetings where one chemist addresses a group of business men or a business man addresses a group of chemists.
Chemical E q u i p m e n t Manufacturers Petition Congress Eighty-nine firms, whose names will .appear in our next issue and whose busjness is specifically t h a t of supplying equipment necessary t o the American chemical manufacturer and industry, believing t h a t they are in position t o have an intimate knowledge of the needs of-the chemical industry, have sent the following petition t o Congress: I-That t h e Chemical Manufacturer requires an endless variety and enormous volume of special equipment, the production of which in this country has progressed in step with the developing needs of the Chemical Manufacturer; 2-That the Chemicar Equipment Industry before the War was very small a s compared with to-day; 3-That this equipment field represents millions of capital and thousands of employees, both now unemployed t o a great extent and, in our judgment, certain t o remain
