BOOK REVIEWS

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June, 1922

THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY

577

BOOK REVIEWS Pulverized Coal Systems in America. By LEONARD C. HARVEY. 115 pp.. 25 illustraRevised edition; paper 71/2 x gal,; iii tions. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Fuel Research Board, Special Report No. 1. Published by His Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1922. Price, 5s. Od. net.

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road Shops at Parsons, Kans. ; a t the Oneida Street Station of the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, Milwaukee, Wis., and railway locomotive tests on the Great Central Railway. The report is replete with data and illustrations and is undoubtedly one of the best contributions to this subject. A. C. FIELDNER

This is a revision of the original report prepared by Mr. Harvey after his return to England from a three months’ survey of pulverized coal systems in America in 1918. The new edition includes a brief review of progress in America during the last two years as obtained from questionnaires sent to a large number of users of pulverized coal, and from a short subsequent visit to the United States. Brief reference is also made to recent progress in England and other countries as a resultant of the pioneer work carried out in America. In a prefatory note Sir George Beilby. Director of the Fuel Research Board, states that America burns between ten and fifteen million tons of coal per annum in pulverized form, while its use in Great Britain has been extremely limited and the progress most disappointing. The report consists of seven chapters and five appendices covering the following subjects: conditions with pulverized fuel, range of fuels suitable, coke, pitch, anthracite, bituminous coals, utilization of waste coal, lignites and peat; cost of installation and cost of powdered coal; standard mill house practice and tabulated answers given on questionnaire sheets sent to American users of pulverized coal; transportation of coal dust to burners; pulverized coal storage and spontaneous combustion ; feeders, mixers and burners; applications, opinions of users, working results, metallurgical and similar processes, open hearth steel melting furnaces, heat treatment and soaking pits, welding and puddling furnaces; steam boilers; railway locomotives; marine propulsion; domestic and office buildings; central heating systems investigated by the author in 1918 and new systems; installations visited by the author in 1918; list of pulverized fuel users; difficulties in the use of pulverized coal; and an excellent bibliography compiled by the Engineering Societies’ Library. The chapter on cost of installation and operation of pulverized coal plants is very useful. A table is given of the number and size of dryers and pulverizers, including hours of labor for tonnages ranging from 5 to 1000 tons per day. The answers to questionnaires sent to fifteen American users of pulverized coal give such information as kind and analysis of coal used; type and number OF boilers; type and number of metallurgical furnaces; pulverizing plant equipment; and comments by the users on the s~iccessor failure of the systems installed a t their plants. A brief but comprehensive description is given of the operating steps from the raw coal to the pulverized storage bin with discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of different transportation systems and pulverizers. The author could well have given more space to safety rules for the prevention of dust explosions and fires in pulverized coal systems. Mr. Harvey states that in order to conserve the volatile constituents in drying pulverized coal, precautions need to be taken to insure that no part of the coal reaches a temperature higher than 200” C. To avoid danger of firing, the maximum temperature should probably not exceed 125’ C. Chapter 6 contains a variety of valuable information obtained from questionnaires and other sources on the use of pulverized fuel in both the ferrous and nonferrous metallurgical industries and, in particular, operating data on steam boiler installations, including tests of boilers a t the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Rail-

The Distribution of Gas. By WALTERHOLG. 4th edition, revised and enlarged. 699 pp. Benn Brothers Ltd., S Bouverie St., E. C. 4, London, 1921. Price, 50s. net. A review of this edition of the “Distribution of Gas” merely strengthens the impression of thoroughness exhibited in the previous edition. The book should be of interest to all distribution engineers, even though the practice it represents is somewhat different from that generally prevalent in America. Primarily, the book describes English distribution practice, and is written for English gas engineers; a fact that must be kept in mind by the American reader in order that he may derive the greatest benefit from it. However, it is apparent that Mr. Hole has not failed to supplement his experience, or that of his associates, in order to strengthen the book when he thought it necessary or advisable, by reference to American or other practice. From an American point of view, it is felt that the book should more rightly have been called the “Distribution and Utilization of Gas,” since nearly one-third of the subject matter is devoted to methods, equipment and appliances dealing with the use of gas. In America, except in quite small companies, the engineer in charge of distribution has but litlSe to do with the utilization of gas, except for the connection of the appliances, and consequently, his knowledge of what is probably the most important feature of the gas industry, that is, the giving of satisfactory and comprehensive service to the user of gas, is quitelimited. For this reason, Mr. Hole has performed a valuable service in inseparably tying up the subject of utilization with that of distribution. Since the responsibility of the distribution engineer should not cease until the gas is satisfactorily functioning, he should know as much as possible regarding the principles of combustion and the proper application of these principles to the “thousand uses of gas.” In this book he will be reasonably certain to find information on all phases of this subject clearly set forth. Likewise, the same thought may be extended to include the chapter on compressors and boosters. Too little information is available on this subject, but it is unquestionable that wherever so-called medium or high pressures are to be carried on the distribution system, the distribution engineer should be familiar with these features. It is to be expected that in many instances the American gas engineer will find methods for accomplishing distribution work which are more or less different from those with which he is familiar. The discovery of these differences should not make him discard the book as containing information not applicable in his situation, but should make him find out whether or not his own method of doing the work is the more satisfactory. It is by the study of such a book that American gas engineers may broaden their knowledge and experience, and for this reason the book is recommended to them. Mr. Hole is to be congratulated on his work. C. E. REINICKER

578

T H E JOURNAL OF INDUhYTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY

Distillation Principles .and Processes. By SYDNEY YOUNG (with the collaboration of E. BRIGGS,T. HOWARD BUTLER, THOS.H. DURRANS,F. R. HENLEYand JOSEPH REILLEY). 509 pp. Macmillan & Co., Md., New York, 1922. Price, $10.50.

Young’s “Fractional Distillation” has been the standard English text on the theory of distillation since i t was published in 1903. The present volume is a reprint of the 1903 edition with some revisions and with the addition of six sections on manufacturing processes involving distillation, each written by a man who was especially familiar with the process described. These sections give general rather than particular engineering data on the different types of distillation apparatus in use, and each section gives a practical example of some phases of the theory of distillation or, as in the treatment of fermentation in the section on acetone and butyl alcohol, of some process closely related to distillation. The section on alcohol goes into the theory of the separation of small proportions of impurities by distillation in addition to describing the usual forms of alcohol distillation apparatus. It is interesting to note that most of the examples of modern plants described in the section on petroleum are taken from California practice. The section on tars summarizes the whole subject of production and treatment, including the methods of separating and purifying tar products by distillation. In the section on glycerol are described the types of glycerol stills in use, and some figures on yields and power costs are given. The theory of steam distillation is well treated in the section on essential oils. The reviewer considers the book the best that has yet been ipublished on the general subject of distillation, and he makes this statement in spite of the fact that neither Young nor his collaborators have given a satisfactory theoretical treatment .of the subject of separation of materials in a fractionating column. We do not understand how Young could have so ignored the work of Sore1 and of Hausbrand as to miss completely the definite relationship between the expenditure of heat and the separation of materials effected in a section of any fractionating column, yet nowhere in the present volume is this relationship brought out, and all of Young’s collaborators are equally hazy when describing what takes place in a fractionating column. While no book on distillation that does not give a thorough treatment of the theory of fractionating columns can be considered complete, the present book partly makes up for this lack by its excellence in all other respects, and the reviewer considers it invaluable to anyone interested in distillation, either in the plant or laboratory. W. A. PETERS,JR. Gas Chemists’ Handbook. Compiled by Chemical Committee

Technical Section, AMERICANGAS ASSOCIATION. 608 pp. American Gas Association, 130 East 15th St., New York, 1922. Price, $6.00 in the United States and Canada, $6.50 in foreign countries. As might be expected from the able list of collaborators, this is an excellent volume and a great improvement over the first edition. The sections dealing with tar, light oil, water analysis, lubricants, refractories, gas analysis, and ferrous metal are clear and complete, though the last two are perhaps a trifle long for such a work. The chapter on coal and coke is well arranged and on the whole satisfactory. The methods for sulfur in coal do not, however, mention Parr’s sulfur capsule in which the charge is exploded by heating in a flame; this gives a more certain combustion, especially in the case of cokes. Volumetric methods for sulfur are also omitted, and the sulfur is precipitated without removal of iron. The work on gas oil is complete, specific, and accurate, though

Vol. 14,No. 6

there is some doubt as to whether a glass condenser should stand cold water till the temperature of the distillate is 600” F. The discussion of calorimetry is old and subject to question. The difference between the temperature of the room and inlet water should be nearer 2’ than 5 O , and it is a poor observer indeed who cannot check his results within less than 10 E. t. u. No mention is made of the stem correction as such, or of the correction for the efficiency of the instrument. In the part dealing with weak ammonia liquor, it might have been stated that P-nitrophenol is a better indicator than methyl red or cochineal, but the method for free ammonia in strong liquors is good. In the determination of active lime, i t would seem that more precautions should be taken to prevent access of carbon dioxide, and it might have been better to recommend wheat starch in place of the soluble variety. For cyanogen in gas, there is a better method than the one given, and the method for naphthalene in gas is slow and inaccurate, especially with small amounts of naphthalene. Many will disagree with the method for the valuation of oxide, and in the determination of lime in new oxide, the volumetric method is not mentioned. The section dealing with paints is excellent, with one exception; the extraction method given is not satisfactory. This should be done in a thimble in a Soxhlet. The treatment of pipe deposits is incomplete; for instance, a method should be given for moisture alone. Neither does it seem advisable to dry naphthalene a t 105’ C. A number of printer’s errors are noted, as in the definition of the initial set of cement, and in some of the figures. Most o€ the above criticisms would, however, probably apply to any handbook of this nature, and the work as a whole is very valuable and heartily to be commended C. H. STONE Les MBtaux Precieux. By JEAN VOISIN. 264 pp. J.-B. Baillihre et Fils, 19, Rue Hautefeuille, Paris, 1922. Price, paper, 25 fr.; flexible cover, 35 fr. This volume constitutes one of the series of the Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, published under the direction of M. Matignon. The metals treated are gold, silver, platinum, and the other platinum metals. The first chapter is devoted to gold assaying; a resume of its physical and chemical properties; the occurrence of gold in nature; the mining regions and their production, methods of exploitation, and treatment and refinement of the minerals. The same subjects are treated with reference to silver in Chapter 2; and platinum and platinum metals in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 is devoted to the economics of the precious metals; Chapter 5, to coinage, jewelry, and methods of assay; Chapter 6, to the application of the precious metals in the different industries, including silver and gold plating, metallurgy of platinum, application to the electrical industries, medicinal uses, manufacture of platinum ware, application of platinum to catalysis and to photography, and finally, a discussion of the treatment of industrial residues. Gay-Lussac tables are also given for the calculation of silver assays by means of sodium chloride and silver nitrate. This volume contains a great deal o€ material of interest t o metallurgists and others interested in the precious metals. On account of the variety of subjects treated in a limited space, many of the discussions are of a rather cursory nature. The statistics on the production of the precious metals are for the most part brought down only thro~gh~1914, although the world’s production of silver and gold are carried through 1918, and platinum through 1917. ‘The chapter on the economics of these metals, giving detailed statistics asdto the variation of prices of gold and silver in Paris during recent years, through 1920, is perhaps the most interesting one in the volume. S. C. LIND