1934-06-16 — Page 2

Page

BRITISH STANDARD SWITCHGEAR

The extension of the British Standards speciñcation on elect- ric power switchboards for in- door installations up to and in- cluding 33 kV, to render is appli- cable to pressures as high as 2230 kV, and to include outdoor"> installations, is an indication of the trend of British practice in this feld, which has been acce- lerated, if not inaugurated, by the coming of the grid. The new specification (No. 162–1934). we are glad to see, deals with "switchgear" not "switchboards.” a change in nomenclature, in title and text, which has brought into use too soon, though its employment unofficially has long been common. For the rest. the principal changes are the addition of a section dealing with alternating-current high- voltage and extra bigh-voltage outdoor switchgear of the open type, which includes tables of the clearances for conductors, other than 'bus bars and "for safety purposes, intended to be employed up to the, maxiinunt "The switchgear de- pressure.

not been.

in

fined in this section consist, of bare metal supported by mult- able insulators at the necessary height above the ground, on a structure of steelwork, concrete, or other material. A further sec- tion deals with switchgear Kiosks and lays down that un- less, the equipment is of the me- t-clad type, separate compart- ments must be provided for the high-voltage apparatus, low-volt- age apparatus, and power trans- former. "No mention is, as yet, made of outdoor metal- clad switchgear suitable for very high voltages.

Extensive Notes -

:

There are appendices contain- ing extensive notes on the isola- tion of sections and circuits, and section delimitation. The latter is lustrated by a series of dia- grams showing the application. of the standard clearances and "the use of screens and barriers for the delimitation of group- sectionaliser and circuit-section- alised switchgear, and its value. is greatly enhanced by a number of notes. For instance, it 15. laid- "down that the area of each sec-" tion of circuit-sectionalised swit- chgear may

délimited at ground level by indicative fen- cing of a permanent or remov- able character, and it is pointed out that fatalities have occurred in consequence of workmen mis- taking the circuit-breaker.

transformer on which work is. In hand. It is therefore not only a specification, but an authorita-" tive exposition of good practice, and should be consulted by all who are responsible for the in- stallation and maintenance of electrical equipment...

or

Accidents and Road

Construction

The publication of the prell- minary report on fatal 'road se- cidents for the six months end- ing June 30, 1933, has stimulated the Minister of Transport to send a circular to the various municipal authorities, a the country, which is as interesting for what it includes as for what it omits. Though, he paints out. there has, so far as new high- ways are concerned, been general compliance with the principles and standards set forth in the 1930 memorandum on the lay-out and construction of roads and with the recommendations con- tained in a circular issued in 1999 on non-skid surfaces, similar pro- gress on existing roads has been less rapid. He therefore announ- ces that in future grants for the resurfacing and reconstruction of carriageways will in future de contingent on the elimination of excessive camber and the. intro- duction of super-elevation or re- alignment, where this is neces-. sary. He also trusts specification already recommend- ed to reduce permanent slipper!- ness will be more widely employ- ed, and that temporary slipper!- ness will be counteracted by the use of grit, which should be light coloured to improve the visibility at night. Further, attention called to the fact that it is" the duty of the highway" duthority to provide adequate footpathi” and margins, and that if these are surfaced properly" there wil be less tendency for pedestriads to walk in the roadway.

that the

"Dangerous Bridges

The encroachment on these alds to safety when resurfacing the toad is deplored. "He ex presses the hope that for similar reasons visibility as coiners wil be improved and that light signi als and roundabouts at danget- ous crossings wilt be more gener- ally introduced. The elimination of weak and dangerous bridges has been disappointingly slow and should be expedited, and thie division of roads into separate traffic lanes and the use of white lines and major road ahead signs, are recommended. This is all very well so far as it goes, and we hope that the advice thus tendered will be followed with out delay. The circular, however, since it says nothing about speed, only touches the fringe of an im- portant problem, though we are glad to learn from other sources that this matter is to be tackled by the provision of lanes for pe destrians. In this connection, at- tention might be drawn to the fact that cars are being ad-

HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 1934.

ENGINEERING AND BUILDING

THE CHEMICAL COAL AND COKE PLANNED

ENGINEER

of

ал

engineers without

An Interesting Analysis

the

For

attainment of the highest emotency in the use of coal, it is essential that the fuel employed should be of uniform calorife value, and that constant chemical and physical characteri- stles be maintained. Coal blen ding has been employed in many cases with this object in view. In the case of metallurgical coke," on the uniformity, of which the iron and steel industries are de- pendent, variations must be`alimi- nated. but with this fuel the troubles are due more to changes In physical nature than in che- mical composition. Unfortunate- y the raw materials have go xed composition and the difi- culties of accurate sampling' are great. Analyses by different che- mists may, in fact, show larger discrepancies than might be anti- cipated, not merely because of the sampling methods employed. But also because of the possibility of errors due to personal factors. The interests' invölved in attein- Ing and maintaining uniformity in the characteHtics of "écal and coke are of great magnitude. and it is thus important that fuel technicians' should know the de- grees of accuracy attainable, in their work With a view to affor- ding information on this subject,,, the Fuel Research Board under- Look

to There seems be

a little doubt whether

chemical en- 0 gineer should be defined as a chemist, who has turned en- gineer, or

engineer. who bes been converted into a chemist, without in each case, like bishops, suffering any- thing by the translation. At the annual dinner

the of

In- stitution at Chemical En

held gineers." which WES at the Victoria Hotel, London, un "der the presidency of Viscount Leverhuime,

.or the Minister Health, the Right Hon. Sir Ed ward Hilton Young, humorously called attention to this difficulty, and sold while he felt he could have addressed an audience of chemists with confidence, and even one being too greatly intimidated, he was fearful" of attempting to speak to a combination of the two. Ferhaps this was because he had once been a chemist him- self and had even for a time been. connected with a company which had been, formed with the object of extracting soda from the sands of Egypt. The Institution. he added, wis one of the góða con- " sequences of past evil, and the preference, which had been given to home-made petror, was a zbj cognition by the Government of the value of the work of "che- mical engineers The work of the Alkall Inspectors of the min- istry of Health was also an 'ex- ample of co-operation between Government and Industry, to the benent of both. To repling to the toast of Our Guests, pro- posed by Mr. W. Matnab, Lord Melchett said that through the dged public works had played a great part in our economic sys- fem by giving it elasticity and helping in the absorption of sur- pius labour. The extraction of off from coal was an example of the way in which national policy could be related to priv ate enterprise. In fact what was wanted was that the science of Government, the science of an-

ce and the science of industry should work together-

vertised as capable of speeds of 80 m.p.h. and that very little has yet been done to implement those legal provisions which pur- port to deal with open exhausts and noisy driving. These all have a bearing on the problem of accidents, as anyone who has to use our streets knows to their cost.

For Constructural Work of Every

Description

Use Green Island Cement

OF 254 FEET. THESE

KILNS ARE USED TO

TWO REFLEX TYPE ROTARY KILNS HAVING AN OVER ALL

LENGTH

MANUFACTURE GREEN ISLAND CEMENT

Issued by the

GREEN ISLAND CEMENT CO., LTD.

2ND FLOOR

EXCHANGE BUILDING

thorough investigation. the results of which have now been published in a report, entit- led "An Investigation of the Accur

acy of Boutine Analytical Deter- minations on Coal and Coke."

The work referred to in the report was conducted by Dr. H. v, A. Briscoe, D. JH. Jones and Dr. C. Marson, and was under- taken at Newcastle on Tyne joint- ly by the staffs of the Coal Burvey

scentific and Industrial Research Department of the Department of

and of the Northern Coke Re

arch Committee. A large num- ber, 64, repeat” determinations were made on one sample of coal

and coke, and the results were examined according to the mathe- matical theory of errors. Similar Investigations were made" with pure chemical substances to and tan what extent, "if at all, any discrepancies found were due to lack of uniformity in the sam- ples.

Coke Samples

ECONOMY

In The United States

2

HEAT AND STEAM

It is stal generally assumed that heating and steam raising by electricity is expensive, and some of the comparisons which bave recently been made between this and other forms of fuel have tended rather to obscure than clarity the issue. As it is desir able that accurate information. should be generally available on both sides of the question, st- tention, may be drawn to a pam- phlet issued by Messrs. Bastian and Allen, Limited. 12, Church- road, Hanwell, London, W.7, in "which the running costs of 16 dif- ferent electric heating installa- tions for which this firm were responsible are given.

These include a 120-kW boiler, which has been erected in an e- rated-water factory for supplying. hot water for washing battle

The price of electricity is id per kilowatt-hour, and the total, running cost up

£348 per BRUKE

the

Making a reasonable allowance tor labour, the consumer states that he has in this way effected a yearly saving of £59.. or about 14 per cent. A boiler of 'similar espacity, has been. In tise for three years, six days a week, ‘in .. amundry, - the equipment

110-in at which comprises a calender. a washing machine. drying cupboard, three tubs and a soap boller. The running cost at 0.54. per kilowatt-hour is £2 per week. The plant is inspect-

The year 1933 was one of the most memorable in the annals of the United States, for, during that period nothing less than an industrial revolution took place the outstanding feature of which was the transformation of the traditional policy of American Government "vis-a-vis" industry and commerce. In the home of the anti-trust laws, in a country which has hitherto laid great emphasis on, and has bulit its economic structure on basis of mitense individualism the Roosevelt Administration has wrought changes which, through. the application of the principle of Goverment interference in pri- vate business on a scale unparal- leled in any other country with the exception of Russia have completely altered the economic landscape within the spuce of a few months. This extraordinary achievement in a country which has hitherto unequivocally con- demned Government interference inèd quarterly and cleaned out business. as being wrong in prin- elple, and ineffective in practige, hardly selects a carefully worked- out economic philosophy based upon intensive study and long “ki- "vocated as a practicable scheine by its sponsors. On the contrary it is definitely empirical and opportu- ristio, deliberately designed to re- medy the crisis of the moment andito cope with an unprecedent- ed amergency by unprecedented methods www.

For the purposes of the tests a block of coal cut from the Northumberland Plessey seam and weighing 16 I was crushed to pass a steve of -1 mesh and air-uried for twenty-four hours. I was

then ground to paks & 60 Mesh aleve and completely mixed." I was then coned and quarter- ed, following the normal proce- dure of mixing alternate quarters until 64 kmall cores were obtaine dd? leech of i ́ which was placed lian" airtight rubber-sealed glass container. All the samples were then stored for 150 daysTM to ensure that there was no possibi. lity of unequal oxidation before analysis. Confplete analyses were then made of each coal sample. by the methods detalled in Bri- tish....... Standard Specification No," 420: · The yoke samples used were obtained from the selection at Fandom: of 300 Balf-width oven pieces from the moving belt' at a works in Durham Again 64 8am- ples were obtained from the mass. by the most generally used me- thod of sampling for porosity del terminations,

A Crisis Measures”,

While the medsures which have "been introduced in the United States during the past few months may be described as

sts measures, in that they owe their existence to the abnor- mier économic conditions prevali- ing, it is now becoming increas- ingly evident that many I not

ristic of the new regime are de most of the features characte

stined to become an integral and permanent part of the American economic system. In his message to Congress at the beginning of the year President Roosevelt ex- pressed" the opinion that his Administration has erected a per- manent Feature or the modern Industrial system, which will con- tinue under the supervision, but not the arbitrary dictation of the Government. In asking for the controued co-operation of Congress the task of construc- ting a new economic system; de- signed to cope with present"pro- bles, he declared that des d 'bêên' rightly" drawh between those to whom recovery means a return to the old methods (who, in the President's opinion, are compara- tively few in number) and those to whom recovery means not only the reform of many old methods. but the lasting readjustment of many existing social and econo mic arrangements. Such a cate- gorical declaration on the part of the President must have come as 2 surprise to those who had per- sisted in regarding the unortho dox features of the comprehen- sive schemes put into operation under the auspices of the Reco- very Administration as temporary in character: there was consider- able apparent justification for this opinion, particularly in view of the fact that the National In- dustrial Recovery Act, in Its pre- sent form is limited to two years' duration, and may be nullined before the lapse of that period if the President should see fit to decree that the emergency, which called it into being, had passed Notwithstanding this proviɛo, however, there can now be little doubt that the new system of in-. dustrial supervision and planned economy in the United States. although fiable to modification. has in point of fact come to stay In some form.",

A comparison of the results showed that although the carbon error is by far the greatest in the. determination made in the com- plete analysis, yet, when expres- sed as percentage of the amount found it proved to be the least. The methods of estimating - the amount of sulphur and nitro- gen are certainly less precise, but the errors of these determinations are still very small when expres-. sed as a percentage of the coal, Analytical figures' of the amount of the each and moisture content may be stated by two places of decimals, but the results showed that the second figure has no deż. anite algnificance.

than 0.01 which was now confirmed ty precise investigation. The high values of the probable errors in finding the true and apparent porosides indicated; their very Hmited value. The apparent values were between 40 per cent. and 62 per cent, a range of 12. per cent. Bince, the least diffe rence betweed means of dupli- cates was 2.75 per cent, it follow- ed that conclusions based on po- rosity determinations “¿hould al- ways be subject to consideration. adopted the presump 1- tibi, žarthelmets of sinjing and of duplicates should not differ by more

The proximate analyses and sulphur, determinations with coke corresponded very closely with those for the same tests on ecal, The probable error in the deter- mination of the true specific. gravity of coke is 0.003. Recently the British Standards stitution

erperimenzar ströri-123

yearly and the original elect- rodes which are in wood condi- fon, are still in use. In another laundry the boller has a capacity of 80 LW and is in use at least three days a week. The price of electrinity is 018di per kłowalt- hour, and the running cost over a period of two years averages £1 per week.

Domestic Supply

comprises ve large bain-maries three stock pots, three servery tables with hot presses, and a vegetable steamer. The price of electricity is 0:50 per kilowato- hour during the daytime and id at night. The total running cost. was £600 in 1831-32 and £775 1932-33, the Arst full year of working. Several examples af the "application of electricity to thermal storage heating given. These include a municipal motor-bus garage with offices. and recreation, rooms in which a 1,000-, 6.6-ky, circulator is installed Heating is by re-cir- culation of air, the fumes being extracted by fans at floor level. The total cubic capacity is 945,- 000 cub. "It The price of elec- tricity is 0.260 per kilowatt-hour. and energy is consumed from 8 pim only. The estimated con- sumption was 1,090,000 kWh, but the actual results were below the guarantee. In the summer hot water is supplied from "a: 80-2W- circulator. The showrooms of the Glasgow Electricity Department in Waterloo-atreet, Glasgow, „are. also heated by an air-condition- ing system which provides three This changes of air per hour. and the supplementary radiator Installation is supplied from a 10,000-gallon thermal storage tank and two 175-EW circulators, the latter fitted with automatic load control The cubic capacity of the building is 500,000 cub. it. and the annual consumption is 466,800, the cost at 038: per kilo- " watt-hour being £570.

An installation on a rather lar- ger scale consists of a 350-W and a 150-kW boller, which have been erected in the Gordon-street Restaurant af Messrs. James Craty (Glasgow), Limited, to sup- ply domestic hot water, central heating, and steam for the ser very and for six automatic dish- washing machines. The domestic " consumption is about 3,500 gal- lons" of "water per day at a têm- perature of 180 deg. F., and the steam-heated cooking equipment

METAL

#t!T MANUFACTURER :

An interesting tristallation is one in which a 60-kW circulator is run in parallel with a coal hol- ler and is used to keep a meter- test room at a temperature of 60 deg. F. at night and during week-ends. Control is by air" thermostats, and during the first year the total cost was £144," about one-third of this being for electricity at fd. per kilowat- hour. During the second year. owing to better co-ordination with the fuel boiler, this figure, was reduced to £75. The pleddie heater cannot be used düring the day owing to the kidvolb-ampere demand, but thề building la biten Warm enough in the mộring to make the lighting of the coal „baller unnecessary. · A ́ further ""advantage' is that the wages of a

night watchman are saved.

•

WINDOWS

MADE IN HONGKONG

FROM

IMPORTED BRITISH

MATERIAL

95%

BRITISH.

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