St. Jacques Turbulent Furnace Camille S t . J a c q u e s , Société C h a n t e r e i n e d'Applications Industrielles de Brevet, Paris, France OR several years industrial engineers At the last International Congress of have been seeking a means of heating Metallurgy, which was held in Paris from certain materials by treating the finely October 20 to 26, 1935, I presented, pulverized and suspended particles in jointly with Louis Poupet, engineer in gases, in order to obtain the maximum of charge of the thermal department of the contact surfaces. Longwy Steel Works and my able collaborator, a communication stating the reTO THE UPWARD sults obtained with a trial furnace of inDRAFT FAN dustrial capacity, which solves the problem of heating materials finely pulverized and in suspension in the gases of combusINJECTION HEAD tion and in contact with the flame. As shown in Figure 1, the furnace consists of a vertical cylinder into which the substances to be treated are injected tangentially by air or by another gas under pressure. A special device ensures the introduction of the substances into the combustion zone, where they are pro- FIGURE 2. ST. JACQUES FURNACE FOR AGjected in a spiral. Burners located at the GLOMERATION OF FINE IRON ORES, 10 TONS PER SERVICE AT ACIÉRIES DE bottom of the furnace, also mounted tan- HOUR CAPACITY, IN LONGWY gen tially, project their flames, which describe a spiral movement in the opposite direction to that of the materials. These nace is at present in continuous service movements ensure a maximum duration and is answering all the demands made of suspension of the particles in the fur- upon it. It is, however, heated with a gas nace, the spirals causing the longest pas- of low heating power, which is a mixture sage through in the smallest space, and of blast-furnace gas and coke-oven gas. Here we had to deal with a most diffithe inversion of the directions of circulation allowing the combustion gases to cult problem—namely, that of obtaining a clearly defined pasty product—and check the fall of the particles. Finally, the thorough stirring which this brought us up against the difficulty takes place in the atmosphere of this fur- of the sticking of the materials to the walls. nace and the length of the path available The thermal balance of this furnace shows for the flames ensure complete combustion an efficiency of 55 per cent, a figure which and the elimination of burning. After can probably be further improved. The having been freed from dust in a suitable refractory material does not show excescyclone and cooled in a temperature ex- sive wear, contrary to certain opinions changer, in which the air of combustion which had been expressed. We have also built a furnace for the of the burners is heated, the combustion gases are taken by the exhauster, which treatment of the copper ore flotation conensures the necessary partial vacuum in centrates at the Bor Mines (Yugoslavia), the furnace, and are conveyed into the at- and this will shortly be put into service for the direct smelting of the ore. mosphere. We are proceeding with the erection of The substances are thus treated in the In the case of combustion, whether of coal or of oils, the application of the prin- very middle of the flames, and in 4 seconds a furnace for treating zinc ores with a view ciple of the pulverization of solids and of we obtain more homogeneous and more to the manufacture of oxides. The finely liquids has completely revolutionized the complete reaction than can be obtained pulverized ore passes at the top through old methods. In less than 20 years vast in 10 minutes in a furenterprises have been carried out in many nace in which the subcountries for the purpose of modifying the stances are treated in a methods of combustion. Central heating lump or mass. The inversion of the direction systems, ships, and a very large number of industrial furnace systems have suddenly of c i r c u l a t i o n of the abandoned the old principles of combus- flame with respect to the tion in order to adopt the pulverization direction of circulation of the p a r t i c l e s , and the method. The application of this process to sub- great velocity of the latstances to be heated is likely to bring ter, prevent the formaabout a still more important revolution, if tion of gas jackets around the process is extended to that infinity of the p a r t i c l e s , w h i c h products which are subjected to thermal might interfere with certreatment. The majority of such liquid tain reactions, s u c h as substances as petroleum, and such solids desulfuration. as ores and cements, which are at present After the satisfactory treated in lumps or in heaps in rotary fur- tests which were carried naces, shaft furnaces, and reverberatory out by the Longwy Steel furnaces, could be treated in the state of Works in the trial furfinely crushed particles in suspension in nace, these works erected the gases resulting from the combustion an i n d u s t r i a l furnace of the source of heat. capable of treating 10 The heating problem, however, presented tons an h o u r of blast difficulties which did not arise in the case of furnace dust for briquetsimple combustion. In the first place, the ting. The furnace was operation is no longer exothermic, but en- required to bring pardothermic. The duration of the passage ticles in a few seconds to of the particles might be insufficient for a state sufficiently pastethe reaction expected from the rise in like to allow their betemperature to take place, in addition to ing welded together by which the variation in the physical state simple contact and procaused by the rise in temperature pre- ducing briquets, which sented problems for each product. These had to be sufficiently difficulties have hitherto prevented the hard, but not fused, to commercial adoption of this method of remain porous and regu-FIGURE3.ST.JACQUESFURNACEFORDIRECTMELTINGOF FI.OTAheating materials. lar in size. This furTIONS or IRON ORES, TO BE SENTTOBOB Mines (YUGOSLAVIA)
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T??ïOF FIGTHEUREST.1.JACQUES DIAGRAMMATI ARRANGEMENT EXPÉRICMENTAL FURNACE
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INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
an oxidizing zone and at the bottom, when it is at a high temperature, through an in tensely reducing zone. The zinc vapor which is given off at the lower level is carried along with the combustion gases and burns at the top in the presence of the ore, along with the excess carbon monoxide roduced at the bottom by the burners, The zinc oxide is collected in a hose filter after the gases have been cleaned and cooled, while the slag is removed in the melted state. We also have under construction a fur nace for the Compagnie des Phosphates de Constantine (Algeria) which about the end of 1936 will begin production of soluble phosphates by the process described by the American chemists D. S. Reynolds, D. K. Jacob, and L. F. Radek, Jr.1 This involves the heating of silica-bearing phosphate rock at 1400° C. in the presence of steam in order to volatilize the fluo rine. Finally, we shall erect early in 1937 a furnace of a capacity of 10 tons per hour for the manufacture of cement by the dry process. We are also going to proceed with the distillation of coal, by injecting pulverized coal by means of fumes and introducing into the environment only the air required for combustion in the burners, which will be fed with a fuel having a high calorific value, in order that the volume of these fumes may be as small as possible. Other experiments, such as the cracking of crude petroleum and the treatment of vanadium ore, are being in vestigated at our testing station. The solution of the problem of treating materials finely pulverized, dispersed, and in suspension in combustion gases, with a view to being treated in the flame itself, is therefore something which has already been industrialized. Numerous engineers from France and foreign countries are coming every day to the Longwy Steel Works to examine the working of this new furnace.
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1 IND. ENG. CHEM., 26, 406 (1934). Other papers relating to this process were published in IND. ENG. CHEM., 91, 87, 205 (1935); 28, 678 (1936).
T h e P l a t i n u m I n d u s t r y i n 1936 Charles Engelhard, Baker & Co., Inc., Newark, N. J .
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ORLD purchases of platinum metals, including palladium, in 1936 will probably exceed 400,000 ounces, estabishing a new record in the use of these metals and a remarkable gain over the 1935 figure of 275,000 ounces. World pro duction, outside of Russia, has increased, primarily because, with nickel mines and refineries operating at an unprecedented rate, the amount of platinum recovered from Canadian nickel ores has been corre spondingly larger. The situation in Rus sia is not definitely known. Production in South America and South Africa has been normal, as has also the world sec ondary production. In general, the improvement in the de mand for the platinum metals is a continua tion of the trend which began about half way through the year 1935. Superim posed upon this, however, was a spectacu lar rise in price, which received its real im petus from an unanticipated improvement in world demand coupled with speculative and investment buying. During the sixmonth period from April to September, the price of platinum went from $33 an ounce to $70, and subsided toward the year-end to the more normal figure of $48. The jewelry industry continued to be a most important user of these metals. Platinum and palladium have been
standard materials for dental work for many years, and this year investigations which covered the range of metals used by dentists indicate that no other materials compare favorably with alloys of plati num-gold-palladium for dental structures, because they are strong and impervious to attack by the acids in the mouth and are readily cast and shaped to the complex forms required. Platinum-clad material progressed from the discussion stage to one of usefulness in industry. Thus, platinum's remarkable resistance to corrosion is made economi cally available in laboratories and indus tries, where use of platinum alone in suf ficient thickness to provide necessary strength is considered too costly. There have been increases in the use of platinum and palladium, for electrical contacts and of platinum and rhodium for such applications as spinnerets for ex truding glass fibers. Platinum and plati num-rhodium catalysts, used in the syn thesis of sulfuric and nitric acid, have also been in larger demand. The progress of palladium during the year has been especially remarkable. Jewelers have used rather "large amounts during the year, and the use of palladium leaf also is steadily expanding. Popularity of rhodium plating or socalled rhodanizing for silverware has in creased markedly. Iridium has shared in t h e improvement as is evidenced by the fact that the price rose from $55 to approximately $175 dur ing the period of heavy demand. This was due in the main to improvement in the jewelry industry, since jewelers con sider a 10 per cent addition of iridium practically essential t o harden platinum for their purposes. Bureau of Chemistry Work on Farm Products HE annual report of t h e chief of the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, United States Department, of Agriculture, tells of three new projects organized dur ing 1935 in the program o f basic research. These are research on the industrial utili zation of soybeans and soybean products, the chemistry of enzymes and of enzyme action at low temperature, and a study of the allergens of agricultural products, ex perimental work on which was getting un der way at the close of the year. Results were reported of studies of sorgo sirup, proteins, wines and fruit brandy, ran cidity of oils, enzymes, naval stores, cellu lose from farm wastes, fertilizers, and selenium.
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Correction—I ηternat ional Critical Tables Editor, News Edition: I think it desirable to call the attention of your readers to the value given for the heat of combustion of benzoic acid on page 165 of Volume V of the International Criti cal Tables. The value stated there is 711.2 kg.-cal. per mole, whereas in the report of Kharasch, to which reference is made on page 162, the figure is 771.2; the latter appears to be correct, since it is in accord with the value (6319cals. pergm.) adopted by the Standing Commission o n Thermo chemistry in 1934. I should add that I would not have deemed t h e matter worthy of mention in the case of other substances, but it happens that benzoic acid is the material selected as primary standard for the testing of bomb calorimeters.
NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORT, G.
W. C : K A T E
SUPERINTENDENT,
TEDDINGTON, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND
December 1. 1936
VOL. 15, NO. 2
Industrial Support of the Chem ists' Club Library EADING chemical firms are contribut L ing to the support of the library of The Chemists' Club (New York) as a result of a campaign now in progress to raise additional funds to modernize and bring up to date this valuable library. The library has been supported by the members of The Chemists' Club but, in view of the heavy expense involved and the value of the library to the chemical industry as a whole, the industry has recently been asked to share in its support and many of the leading chemical firms have responded generously. The technical staffs of most of the chemical companies have made use of its facilities and know the thoroughness with which the library covers the chemical field. Those at a distance appreciate its prompt photostat service. I n addition to the 40,000 books and reference works on chemical and technical subjects, which are constantly being augmented by cur rent publications, it has bound volumes of many United States and foreign tech nical periodicals not found in any other library in this country. For more than 25 years, the library has been open without cost to the chemical industry and the general public. Con tributions from firms in the industry during the last few years have helped defray expenses, but unfortunately it has been necessary to curtail the purchase of new volumes and even to discontinue some subscriptions. Under the proposed plan of support, the club will continue to house and assist in the support of the library, but in view of the valuable service which the library renders to the industry and to bring this service up to date and make it even more efficient, the various chemical companies are being asked to make annual contri butions over the next five years. Re quests for information concerning the library or contributions to the library fund should be addressed to the Library Committee, 52 East 41st St., New York, N.Y. Patents Issued in Chemical Sec t i o n s o f P a t e n t Office Paul D . B o o n e , 2707 Woodley R o a d , N. W., W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . F THE 65 divisions in the United States O Patent Office 8 are classed as chemical and 4 others have something to do with chemical arts. This embraces the applied or industrial as well as the pure chemical. Of the patents issued by the office approxi mately 17 per cent are in this field. The ratio was a few per cent higher during the period of the depression. This was at tributable to the fact that the falling off in the number of inventions filed was very small in the chemical industries, whereas in other technical fields there was a slump. The past depression was differ ent from the 1920-21 depression in that the business slump following the World War found the chemical industries cutting their research budgets to the bone. Re search laboratories did not carry the burden of curtailment in the direction of economy during 1930-33 in most of the chemical industries. Of the issued patents in all fields 62 per cent are assigned to corporations. In the chemical field, the ratio is about 70 per cent. None of the industries expends as many millions in research as the chemical, and this accounts to a considerable extent for the large number of patents issued in this branch of industry.
JANUARY 20, 1937 Frank C. Whitmore Honored
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ELLOW scientists a t the Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pa., held a testimonial dinner on Thursday evening, J a n u a r y 14, in honor of Frank C . Whit more, dean of the School of Chemistry and Physics and President-elect of t h e AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY.
Grover C. Chandlee, head of t h e Chem istry Department, presented t o Dean Whitmore a congratulatory scroll signed b y all staff members and graduate stu dents in t h e School of Chemistry and Phys ics at Penn State. Charles L. Parsons was present a t the dinner and spoke briefly. Illness pre vented Edward R. Weidlein, President of the SOCIETY, from attending. W. R. Ham, head of the Physics Department, served as toastmaster. The dinner was arranged b y a committee in charge of H . M. Sullivan, graduate as sistant in physics. Other committee members were Wheeler P . Davey, research rofessor of physics and chemistry; H. L. Yeagley, assistant professor of physics; Edwin S. Flinn, Harry M . Crooks, Jr., and Charles R. Phillips, graduate students in chemistry; Benjamin W. Thomas, graduate student in physics; a n d K. A. Varteressian, researcn assistant in chem istry. The Penn State group feted t h e Dean for dual honors t h a t have come t o him in recent months—as the m a n who, on J a n u a r y 1, 1938, will become President
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of the AMERICAN C H E M I C A L SOCIETY and
as the recipient of t h e William H . Nichols Medal, which t h e New York Section of the SOCIETY will present to him March δ. American-Scandinavian Fellowships N APRIL, 1937, t h e American Scandi navian Foundation, 116 East 64th St., New York, Ν . Υ., will award t o students of American birth a number of traveling fellowships for study in t h e Scandinavian countries during t h e next academic year. These fellowships carry a stipend of $1000 each and are intended especially for graduate students and t h e younger in structors in American colleges. Fellow ships are offered in technical and scientific subjects, including chemistry, physics, mathematics, mining and metallurgy, agricultural sciences, etc. Application papers, including letters of recommenda tion and a photograph, must be filed with the foundation before March 15.
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C o s m e t i c Manufacturing Course HE College of Pharmacy of Wayne University offers a course in cosmetic T manufacture, the first of its kind in the Middle West. Classes will begin on February 13 and will be held once a week, on Saturday mornings from 9 A. M. until 12 noon. Students will be given a complete in struction in actual laboratory work. A miniature manufacturing unit is being set u p duplicating actual factory practice. Students will also be given direction sheets and formulas a t each class meeting for manufacturing certain specific cos metics, and will be graded on t h e appear ance and usefulness of t h e products they make. The cosmetic manufacturing course will include the most recent innovations; the more useful of the trade-marked proprie t a r y materials will be used. Every for mula will be completely workable and useful. If time permits, students will be given a chance actually t o make perfumes.
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All formulas remain the property of the student and will be worth many times the cost of the tuition. T h e course gives no college credit and, accordingly, any student interested is eligible, regardless of past schooling. The class is under t h e direction of Maison G. de Navarre, consulting chemist and cosmetic authority. Students interested in taking this course in cosmetic manufacture should make application immediately with Dean R. T . Lakey, College of Pharmacy, Wayne University, 625 Mullett St., Detroit. As soon as the quota is reached the class will be closed until next semester.
delivered the principal address of t h e eve ning a t t h e Clearing Industrial Club on "Inositol and Other Products from Starch Factory Wastes." J. H . Minzey, the club's first president, welcomed t h e
