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may lie within the scope of our ability, to contribute to the sum of useful knowledge. And knowledge, to be useful, must be generally available and must therefore involve publication of the results. As a further safeguard against a too limited and immediate point of view on the part of the chemists engaged in applied research, we follow the policy of retaining in a consulting capacity certain members of university faculties. These men visit our laboratories from time to time and various phases of the work of the central laboratories are freely discussed with them. At the same time we endeavor conscientiously to refrain from interfering with the primary allegiarice of the teacher to his school, and to this end studiously avoid suggesting that any phase of applied research be undertaken in the university laboratory by a consultant. An additional means for securing broad consideration of chemistry by the man engaged upon the technical applications of his science is the provision of adequate library facilities. We have not only applied the policy of providing reasonably complete library facilities in various of the laboratories, but we maintain a rather elaborate division for the dissemination of technical information. These divisions are called Intelligence Divisions and their work consists in the dissemination of information and articles of interest in the technical and patent literature. This information is brought to the attention, not only of the members of the laboratory, but of interested parties in the organization of the various industrial departments and subsidiary companies. A wellknown method of accomplishing this is applied by us-viz., preparation of lists of articles of interest in the form of journal bulletins and patent bulletins. The libraries are in charge of librarians adequately trained for the work, the filing and cross indexing of current reports and abstracts have been the subject of much study by specialists, and every effort is made to be sure that the chemists properly utilize the 16,000 volumes available in the technical libraries of the central Chemical Department. It will be evident from the previous portion of this paper
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that the organization of the central Chemical Department has been considered with a view to insuring necessary contacts between the governing committees of the parent company and the governing boards of the affiliated companies, as well as with the general managers of the industrial departments and the directors of their chemical sections and with the personnel of the various sectional laboratories. It is perhaps scarcely worth while to add that the laboratories of the central Chemical Department, since they are a selfcontained unit, are provided with their own shops where machinists, carpenters, tinsmiths, coppersmiths, millwrights, lead burners, and the like are available in connection not only with the fabrication of apparatus for the various laboratory investigation, but with the design and assemblage of small manufacturing units in order that semi-works investigations of applied research developments may be carried out. I shall do no more than mention the fact that a very complete and carefully worked out system of monthly and progress reports insures proper dissemination and recording of information. However, I should like to emphasize that printed matter merely supplements the essential personal contacts between the members of the varioas technical staffs. Interdepartment Visits
We encourage visits on the part of those responsible for the production and sales policies of the various industrial departments. These visits result in much mutual benefit. The contacts which we bring about between the technical research worker and the university and business worlds are supplemented, of course, by weekly discussions of research work, both fundamental and applied, because the technical research laboratory must guard by every means a t its disposal against the very human tendency toward a narrow and constricted point of view. Hardening of the cerebrum very frequently overtakes the research worker decades before hardening of the arteries makes him a suitable subject for pension consideration.
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Two Examples of the Smaller Industrial Research Organizations Washington Platt MERRELL SOCLE COMPANY, SYRACUSE, N. Y.
I T H the growth of larger and larger corpor' t'ions we may expect to see a somewhat similar growth in the size of their research laboratories. The increasing appreciation on the part of the executives for the businesj value of research mill also tend in the same direction. It will always be true, however, that the great majority of research departments will not be the splendid and complex organizations that hare been so brilliantly successful with the Eastman Kodak Company, the General Electric Company, and the du Ponts. They will still be modest affairs, often starting with one man, or even with part of the time of one man, and developing from this only if the small beginning can prove its value. I think it worth while, therefore, to bring before this symposium the actual workings of two of the small research organizations with which I have been connected. 4 t the same time I will comment upon what experience has shown were the good and bad features of these organizations, as they actually worked out. Baking Company Laboratory
In 1912 a large baking company was having its analytical work done-and very well done-by an outside laboratory.
The company felt, however, that it had reached a state of maturity in which it should be doing some chemical research work of its own. In this it demonstrated a progressive spirit which was quite unusual for a manufacturer of baked products sixteen years ago. This appears the more remarkable when we consider the situation in such industries a t that time. In the so-called chemical industries the chemist has always been king-or if not king, as least a noble peer. The processes of such industries were developed by chemists and have always been subject to chemical control. On the other hand, in many of the more ancient industries the reverse was the case. Baking, for example, goes back for two thousand years or more. The manufacture of baked goods was an art, not a science. Sixteen years ago there was practically no scientific background for the manufacture of baked sweet goods. It was then literally true that an experienced flour buyer could tell you more of practical value about a sample of flour in five minutes than a cereal chemist could in as many days. Under these circumstances the company wisely decided that any research chemist who was to improve its methods of
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manufacture must first of all have practical experience in manufacturing. They therefore hired three chemists-two of us right out of college-with the idea that one would some day constitute their research department. We were all set to work in the bakeries doing a full day’s work a t dough mixing or running baking machinery. We spent about two years a t such work, a t the end of which time one had quit, one was given an excellent position in their largest factory, and I was chosen to be the Research Department, then known as the “Laboratory and Experiment Station.” Teaching manufacturing methods to would-be research chemists by practical factory experience is a course which could profitably be followed by other industries in a similar position. I n the manufacture of many products-such as foods-there is a tremendous store of knowledge which is possessed only by the practical man who does the work. Any chemist doing research on manufacturing problems is handicapped if he does not know the manufacturing processes from the bottom up. For example, any good chemist can determine accurately the ash content of flour. Such a man, however, can hardly attack with success the research problem--“What is the significance of the ash in determining the baking quality of flour?”-unless he is something of a baker as well as a chemist. I know the chief chemist of a large baking company who is a good chemist but has never learned baking from a practical standpoint. He confessed to me once that he kept out of the bakery as much as possible for fear the bakers would make a fool out of him. The company, being possessed of a laboratory and a research chemist, had only the very vaguest idea as to what to do with him, what facilities he would need, what they could properly expect of him. I remember, for example, having a most prolonged fight to obtain a few scientific books, the company at that time possessing none a t all. It was many weeks before I could get this apparently unreasonable request approved. The company likewise fell into the too common practice of starting its research department with a young chemist just out of college. This is always a risk and usually an error. Many companies make such a small beginning a t research, starting without any experienced chemist in the organization, then give it up as a bad job. One cannot avoid comparison with other departments such as the legal department. No corporation would employ an inexperienced lawyer to organize or develop the legal department. The chemistry of baking was then an almost untouched field, so that the opportunities were plentiful. The greatest obstacle to real accomplishment in research was the constant interruption by urgent but petty problems. This, I think, is one of the most common difficulties of the research chemist. It is a matter on which the executives of a business owe protection to their research chemist. I n spite of this, a certain amount of fundamental work and much other work were accomplished. I n regard to the place of research in the organization of the company, it was directly under the head of the Operating Department-later a vice president of the company. We worked, however, in very close and friendly cooperation with the purchasing department. By the time that I left the company to join the Army in June, 1917, the laboratory had grown so that I had three assistants. Such growth is a common experience with research which justifies its existence. Trade Association Research
I now come to the organization of an entirely different type of research-namely, that of a trade association. About three years ago the American Dry hlilk Institute was formed
Vol. 21, No. 7
consisting of the better manufacturers of powdered skim milk. The purpose was to do cooperative work in research and in educating the public as to the value and uses of our product. Work allied to research has also been done in devising improved methods for analysis and in fixing standards for powdered skim milk. The situation here is as follows. Powdered skim milk is made by various members by widely different processes, parts of which are still more or less trade secrets. Research into methods of production, therefore, was not suitable for the institute. On the other hand, powdered skim milk is barely twenty years old, and so is a relatively new product compared with other forms of milk, such as liquid, evaporated, and sweetened condensed. Furthermore, there was a constantly increasing amount being produced by our members. The principal need, therefore, was increased outlets for the product. It would, indeed, have been possible to do worth-while research on the fundamental chemistry of powdered milk, the condition of the proteins, lactose, and salts, and their changes in solubility with age. However, such work would bear fruit in the form of financial return, only after several years. In cooperative research it is necessary that a considerable part shall show prompt returns. Under these circumstances it was decided t o concentrate upon what we may call “consumer research.” We placed our efforts, not on the production of powdered skim milk, but on the production of bread and ice cream with powdered skim milk and on the use of powdered skim milk in animal feeding. For our researches we set such questions as--“What is the effect of powdered skim milk in bread making?” “What is the optimum amount of powdered skim milk to use in bread making?” “What are the characteristics of powdered milk requisite for making good ice cream?” “How should powdered skim milk be used in calf feeding?” Solution of such problems requires a laboratory of cereal chemistry with facilities for accurate experimental baking, a laboratory of dairy chemistry with facilities for ice-cream making under commercial conditions, and an experimental farm where calves can be raised. We decided not to establish any central laboratory for the Dry Milk Institute, but to conduct the work by setting up fellowships a t different institutions where these widely different kinds of work could best be carried out. I n our bakery research, for example, we have had fellowships a t the University of Minnesota, a t the American Institute of Baking, and a t a high-class commercial laboratory which specializes on the baking industry. I n animal feeding we have supported work a t colleges of agriculture and state agricultural experiment stations. The advantages of this method are as follows: First, the work is done in laboratories splendidly equipped for these highly specialized purposes. Second, you spend nothing on overhead and you get a great deal for your money. I n supporting a research fellow a t a university, you actually secure, not only the efforts of the fellow, himself, but also the kind advice and cooperation of the whole departmentassistance which is often invaluable. The principal disadvantage is a lack of close contact with the research fellow. One fellow, for example, from lack of proper guidance made a beginning in attacking several subproblems, but finished nothing. Another wandered rather far from the main subject of his investigation. Close supervision would have prevented this. A second disadvantage is the continual turnover in research fellows. This is not due to our failure t o pay adequate salaries. Research fellows do not regard work of this kind as permanent, but merely as a stepping stone. For this reason, this method of conducting research fails to build up a permanent staff of trained workers
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who are each year more familiar with their subjects and are constantly developing into better and better investigators. In the long run this is z t serious deficiency. The governing body of the Dry Milk Institute is the board of directors under whom is the paid president with his paid assistants. The president is the responsible executive who carries out the work of the institute. From the personnel of the companies making up the membership of the Dry hlilk Institute there are appointed several committees, of which the research committee is one. These committew are advisory only. The president can lean upon them for advice and assistance as much as he sees fit, but the action and also the final responsibility are his. After consultation with research committee, the president makes arrangements with some institution for a fellowship. The money is paid to the institution. The final responsibility for picking the research fellow and for directing his work lies with the institution. I n practice, this is usually done after consultation with the president of the Dry Milk Institute. Occasional conferences are held between the research fellow, the head of the department in the institution where the work is being done, the president of the institute, and the research committee. It would be advantageous for all concerned if these conferences could be more frequent. Progress reports a t monthly
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or quarterly intervals are required. On the completion of any piece of work a full report is made, which is published with the name of the research fellow as author. So far this plan has worked well, and the results obtained from our researches have been of direct value in developing new outlets for our product and in helping our customers to get the best results. One of the principal difficulties is to keep in sufficiently close touch with the real needs of the members of the institute and to retain their active interest, so that they will make full use of results obtained. Research is of no value unless it is used. The motto of the Quartermaster Corps of the U. S. Army is "Service to the Line." In other words, the Quartermaster Corps does not exist for its onm sake. No matter how smugly and smoothly it may be organized within itself, the sole measure of its value lies in the practical assistance which it renders t o the fighting line forces. The same is true of industrial research. Its value depends on its practical assistance to the production department or to the sales department. For this reason it must work in close touch with these departments and have their full cooperation. This beneficial relationship depends primarily upon those in executive control of the laboratory, rather than upon the research chemist himself.
The Gravitational Flow of Fertilizers and Other Comminuted Solids' W. Edwards Deming and Arnon L. Mehring BUREAUOB CHEMISTRY A N D SOILS, WASHINGTON, D. C.
I
S A previous study on the
An expression giving the rate of gravity flow of comThis study was therefore minuted solids from bins or hoppers has been derived. factors affecting the drillundertaken t o derive an equaThe time required for a given mass of material to flow ability of fertilizers (.2),* tion that will express the law as calculated from this formula agrees closely with it was found that one of the governing the rate of flow of that determined experimentally over a wide range of most important was the rate solid particles. conditions. The experimental materials included of flowof the material through crystallized urea and ammonium phosphate, crushed Theoretical Treatment the distributor. A niathephosphate rock, potassium nitrate pellets, glass beads, matical expression of the laws lead shot, marbles, and several varieties of seed. The governing the flow of solid When the material in a flatrate of flow of such materials is found to depend upon particles would be of value bottomed bin flows from an the average particle size, the kinetic coefficient of friction in designing not only fertilizer opening in the floor, a vacant and apparent density of the material, the diameter of distributors, but a l s o s u c h space in the form of an inthe opening and the vertical angle of the hopper or, other equipment as seed drills, verted truncated cone will be if all of the material does not flow out, the angle bestorage bins, and automatic produced. The vertical angle filling machines. An exprestween opposite slopes of the remaining material at of this conical space will be repose. sion of this kind might also 180" - 2 +, where is the be applied in calculating the internal angle of repose of time- bf discharge of a-bin or hopper filled with grain, coal, the given material. The rate of flow should be equal to or similar material. that of the same material from a funnel of the same angle It might appear that the flow of solid particles is a special as this vacant space and of the same opening. The time case of the flow of viscous liquids. But this is impossible for necessary for a funnel, such as shown in Figure 1, to empty two reasons. First, the rate of flow of a liquid is proportional by gravity flow will depend on the vertical angle 4, the to the head, and pressure is transmitted equally in all direc- diameter B of the opening, the friction of the material, and tions, even in very viscous liquids; however, Major Phillips, the size of the particles. as quoted by Shaxby and Evans ( 3 ) ,showed that pressure is not Direct application of the principles of mechanics is difficult, transmitted any considerable distance through columns of if indeed possible, but a formula that will represent the time powders. Second, no provision is made in the formulas of rate of flow of comminuted solids may be obtained by means hydrodynamics for size of particles, but the size of particles of dimensional analysis (1) and experimental data. A special influences the rate of flow of solids unless this size is infini- case in which the particles are spherical and uniform in size tesimal in comparison with the size of the orifice. will be considered first. The differentialequations of motion for a mass of equal spheres might be expected to contain the 1 Received March 6, 1929. * Italic numbers in parenthesis refer to literature cited at end of article. following physical quantities:
+
