Trine University - Modulus Yearbook (Angola, IN)

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PAGE 12 THE INTEGRAL THE WIRELESS TELEPHONE Hy Harold XY. lltnver, E. E. We have heard a lot about the various ares thru which civilization has passed. Centuries tuo there was the Stone Ace. and in later years st-it-tn-e has known tlte ages of Steam, the Aero- ilan--. and the l-Zlectrieal Asc. Now we have eotne into what tni::ht be called the wireless axe. 'l'he means ot' cominunication by air is not a new thins. havin: been used by the Spaniards ts early as the year 1705, although in a very I-rude way. The first experitnent was perfortned in 1811 by Sotntnerinu of Munich. who employed, dis- persion of leakage tnetltod. The next step in Wireless Telegraphy was tak--n in INIZS by Steinhill, wlto accidentally dis- eoVt'l'e-tl that by :rounding one wire of a tele- graph instrument a messafle could be trans- mitt- tl tltrtt the air with one wire. Up to this time Morse had been using two wires, thereby havin: what is called a complete metallic circuit. lt- snet-eetled in establishing: communication ln-twt-en t'astle Harden, New York and Gover- nors Island. a distance of about one mile, -.Xluoui the year 1866, Dolbear of Tufts Col- lect-, Nlassaeltussetts, protluced the first wire- less telezraplt tltat worked without it tnetallit' eottttt-t'litJtt. lle used the eleettrostatit' tnethod by nt'-ans ot' which he was able to transtnit and r-ie'-ive ttiessttue-s between stations lot-ated about one halt' tnile apart. In tht- yt-ar lsfotl, however, Nlareoni brought rut at new systr-tn in which he tnade practical tpplieation of certain well known pritteiples. lXlll4'll were ltrst stats-41 in Hia by lf'at'adav nt pig theory ol' the l-Ill-etrotnaunetic oriuin of lizlht. l'his theory was tnatltt-tnatit'ally proved t-ort 't'I il. ts tvs, by Ataxw.-11, tan its ttltysivut tletitettstrrt tion dnl not or-eur ttnttl lass, when Hertz, by a 1-ri-As uf brilliant exp:-ritnt-nts not only proved lht- 1-I-etrte waves confortnt-d to the saint- lu-,vs is ltuht wavs, but also showed how they eottlrl be proflueed by purely physit-al tn:-ans, and lttt-tltertnore, how to tl'-tt-eg their pt-est-nee when thtts protlttet-tl 'I'lte first IIIVSSZHJO' 4'YI'I' ll':tllsltlit'ierl :lilql rt-- ttiyetl across the sea was aeeotttplisltt-tl by Xllirvoni in lflltll, 'I'liott:h the apparattts was very crude an'l till in the expr-ritnv-ntal stare it was :tceredited 1' le-int: the first ft-at of that kind at-cotttplisltetl ng. t.. tliztf tlltia-, ln lwov tt'.it1satI:ttitie radio stations wt-I opened for business. In 1912 the principal nations ot' the world enacted laws requiring passenger ships to carry wireless equipment and operators. The t'irst wireless telephone message was sent t'rom Washinston to Honolulu, a distance of 5.oo4l miles. This was accomplished in the year 1905. The transmitting apparatus was a telephone transmitter electrostatically con- nected in the ground circuit of a high powered Ponlson Arc transmitting set, During the World War wireless ttelepraphy was largely responsible for the directing of all l'. S, ships, by means of the large Naval station at Arlington, XVest Virginia. The wireless compass also came into use dur ing the war, by means of which ships that had lost their bearings were able to find their true course and proceed thereon. XVireless telegraphy and telephony have slow- ly advanced frotn the experimental stage so that today there are approximately eight hundred thousand amateurs and they are greatly in- creasing in number every day. The principal newspapers of the country are installing broadcasting stations by which speer-lies, stories, market quotations and music from noted singers and musicians are heard in the tnany thousands of homes equipped with ret-eivin: apparatus. lladio has a wonderful future. but in a lintit- ed field. Its settlement depends on the set- Iletnent of problems that business men attd leftislators have never before considered. livt-rybody cannot use the air to advertise some special line of business or popttlarize some particular hobby. So it is a question in Wash- inaton at the present time what will be permit- I--d and what will be barred. 'l'he question we will soon be facing is, who will hear the cost of broadcasting the various features of news, education and entertainment? lletore lonf.: the radio audience of the United States and Vanada will be the largest audience that can be r--at-lied by any one instantly and sitnultaneottsly. lt is pt-rl'et-tly plain that the air cannot be sold to any individual or corporation for vo ntany dollars, to use in any way and for any pur- pose the purchaser desires. Advertising matter in newspapers and mana- zines are eensoretl by the Post Office authori l'ontinned on page 50

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THE INTEGRAL zation point is reached the operator shuts off the valve and makes several tests of the liquid to get it exactly neutral. A neutralized solu- tion being called right when .5 c.c. of solution of N-10 HSSOI acidifies 100 c.c. of the liquid. VVhen right it is pumped to the crystallizini house storage tanks. These are about 5x6 feet anl three or four in number. In neutralizi- iug, the temperature is not allowed to run up over 125 degrees F., as some of the gas will then pass thru and be lost. Strong acids greatly raise the temperature. also retarding speed of operation thereby a disadvantage to use strong acid. Each tank is conneoted to a tower, which is constructed of sewer tile about 2 feet in dia- meter and reaches the full height of the build- ing. These towers are filled with small cylin- der shaped, earthenware hafflers about 4x4- inches in size. A small stream of water is let run in at the top and a putsometer used as fl pump keeps up a circulation running in at the top and being fed from the bottom of the tower. This water is kept acid to catch any ammonia fumes which might escape from the tanks. The overflow from the bottom of the tower goes into the tank. A steam jet at the top of the tower produces a suction thru the tower thus carrying all fumes from the tanks thru it. Also the acid storage and scale pots are connected together by means of glass tubing and the end connected at the bottom of the tower. This catches and draws all the HNO3 fumes thru the tower acidifying the water an dsaving loss of nitric acid. The l'i-ystallizing Department The ammonium nitrate liquid is stored in steel tanks above the evaporating pans, thus they are filled by gravity. These pans are about 9x4x3 feet in size, made of cast iron and fitted with 9 4-inch pipes running lengthwise as a steam coil. Two air pipes with holes drilled thru make agitators which make evaporation more rapid. Each of these pans hold about -1.500 pounds of the liquid. Four pans are used Evaporation takes about two to three hours, having steam pressure of 115 pounds. To make ammonium nitrate having large crystal line form the temperature is raised to about 300 degrees F. For a fine product similiar to flour the temperature is raised to from 265 to 270 degrees F. Of course this is crystallizing temperature. To get this an iron ladle full of liquid is taken from the pan and stirred with the thermometer until it crystallizes. A cer- PAGE ll tain temperature will be noted when it will holrl a certain degree for a short period of time. This is the crystallizing temperature. Another point to be considered is the acidity. Due to the high temperature in evaporation the liquid turns slightly acid. This is tested by taking a small portion of liquid and with methylorange as an indicator neutralize with N-10 NaOH. If found too acid a few pounds' of Na2COf! is thrown into the pan and after it few minutes again tested. A skilled operator gets within .02 acidity on the product. From the evaporating pans the liquor is drawn by gravity into the crystallizing house and crystallizing kettles. These kettles arf,- made of cast iron. round in shape, 5 feet in diameter and about 18 inches in depth. Each is moulded with a water jacket around them to cool the ammonium nitrate liquld, and U.1l'll ing out the d1'y crystalline form of ammonium ntrate. Two plows scrape the bottom and sides and revolve around keeping the ammonium nitrate stirred up until dry. The finished Dro- duct is taken out at a temperature around 160 degrees F. The machinery necessary to oper- ate the revolving plcws for three kettles takes about a 30 H. P. motor. A batch of about 1,500 pounds is dropped into each kettle. Time for cooling takes about one and one half hours. lt is then shoveled out into barrels. Samples and Ilccortls In order to keep an accura.te l'E'COI'd of the operation and to be able to calculate the yield, it is necessary to take samples of the material used. The acid samples are taken in glass stoppered bottles, and the ammonium nitrate samples are taken in small corked bottles, There is a sample taken for every scale pot of acid used, one for each scale tank of am- monia put into the stills and one of the resi- due after distillation. A sample of the neutra- lized liquid just before leaving the neutraliz- ing house is also taken. In the crystallizing house a sample from each kettle full of the product is taken. All samples are labeled, numbered and dated. The samples are all taken to the laboratory for analysis. The acid and ammonia are run for per cent strength as this is par of the basis for calculating the yield. The finished product is run for acidity. chlo- rids, sulphates. moisture and purity. A record of the operation is kept at all times. Com- plete data as to the performance of the func- Continued on page 50

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THE INTEGRAL PAGE 13 COAL TAR By l'. ll. McNeill, t'h. E. '22 In the manufacture of coal gas. coal is plac- ed in the vessels or retorts which are then heat- ed and the coal decomposed into coal gas, coal tar, ainmoniacal water and coke. The coal tar is run into a tar well where it remains lllltll it is disposed of to the tar distillers. The tar is removed fro'n the wells and de- livered to the distillery where it is placed in large storafe tanks. In a number of work: these tanks hold nearly one million callous. The tar is allowed to remain in the wells until th:- evcess of ammonia water has risen to the sur- face. Coal Has was first manufactured in 1798 .it Soho. Birmincham. England, About fifteen years later the first public gas house wa: erect- ed in London. Two products of these gas 1VOl'kS-iil'l1IllOllI3C7.ll liquor and coal tar-:ave considerable trouble to the early proprietors who were compelled to go ito the expense of di-' posinz of 'these troublesome materials. XVilh the increase in gas makinz, there was a proportional increase in the production of tar and it became necessary to find some use for it. In 1838 Bethell discovered the oil Creo- so'e in coal tar and found it to bc an excellent wood breservative. About seven years later Hofmann discovered the presence of benzene in tar and later Mansfield prepared large quan'i- ties of it in a profitable manner. The first aniline color was found in 1R56 and within the nevt few years the value of coal tar had reach- ed such a point that fthe byproduct coke ovens were introduced. Coal tar is an oily liquid, varying in specific Qravity, viscidity and composition, according to the type of retort, temperatures of the distilling apparatus and the variety of coal used. When tar is submitted to destructive distilla- tion. a large number of chemical compounds are obtained. Among these are toluene. benzene. the xvlenes, antharcene, carbolic acid. naptha- tene. the cresylic acids and pyridine. Tar was formerly employed in almost its orizinal form for the purpose of painting iron or steel structures. At the present time. how- ever. this is not done, as it wastes many valu- able materials which do not aid materially as protective agents. A little creosote oil. added to the pitch while hot. is usually used for the purpose just mentioned. Partially distilled coal tar, that is tar from which all the ammoni- acal liquors, napthas and oil containing carbolic acid have been removed. is used for road treat- ment. A tar prepared in a similar manner is em- ployed in the vnzinufacture of roofing. In the proparation of fhis ma'eria1 a special kind of felt is passed throurh the prepared tar. The fel'. which must be dry. is slowly unwound from vi roller and passed 'hrouQh the tar. In coni- inf Qui, it ig 1311351 gl be'wecn two rollers which press the surplus tar out, The felt is then sprinkle with grit. cork or some other suitable iraterial and wound on another roller frozu which it is taken ready to sell. A Great many materials received from the distillattion of tar are used in explosives. dyes, paints, varnishes. drugs and the rubber indus- tries. It is not to be thought that the distill- ates are ready to be used for the purposes just mentioned. They must be subjected to various processes to prepare them for the many uses. The residue left after distilling is known as pitch. It is employed in a great many indus- tries, larfze quantities being used in the manu- facture of briquettes and as road binders. Soft pitch is the best binder and is used in the pitch- arouted macadam roads. Moderately hard pitch is used in the manufacture of black var- nishes. It is also used for lining cupalos, etc.. around steel works. The lareest fraction in :the distillation of coal tar is creosote oil. This is usually over 1S I of the tar but varies from 9 7 to 25 92. Creo- sote has a reddish-brown color and a noticeable odor. This oil is used most extensively in wood preservation, the United States alone used SR.96S,666 gallons in 1916. There are several processes used in wood- treatment but the Boulton process is a more widely favored. The timber to be treated is placed on a truck and pushed into a large cylin- der. This cylinder is made airtight and a vacuum produced which removes considerable water from the wood. The vacuum is destroy- ed in about an hour and creosote oil is pumped into the cylinder at a pressure of between llo and 170 pounds. This pressure is maintained until the timber has absorbed the required amount of oil. The pressure is then released. the oil drained off and tl1e truck run out. The amount of oil taken up by the timber varies Continued on page 51