1935-06-22 — Page 2

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ELECTRICAL RESEARCH

Lack Of Funds Deprecated

The annual report of the Bri- tish Electrical and Allied indus- tries Research Association states that owing to lack of funds, it was faced with the alternatives of curtailing its staff or of under- taking an increasing amount' di work and trusting to renewed efforts to produce further income. The later course was adopted, and in the event this boldness was amply justified, for, owing to the assistance of the Central Elect- ricity Board and an unexpected increase in Government support the position at the end of the

ar was that the association hau a larger organisation, a Kore "active programine, and a larger income than at any other time-in its existence. Moreover, the pros- further strengthening pect of a of its condition, awing to an im- provement in trade, is good.

SUD- As regards Government port. the Asociation in accordance with arrangements that have al- ready been mentioned in these columns, will receive a pound for pound grant against new qualify ing income furnished by Industry. To obtain the full benet of this assistance, the income must, how ever, be increased by £10,000 and an appeal, which we hope wil be successful, is therefore made to all sections of the industry to come to its ald. This is the more necessary since there is still a long list of research work of ke- neral and particular interest that are inadequately financed. Spe- clai mention is made of the fact that the work of investigating the creep of s.eet at high temper- atures is to be taken over by the Association, and that, thanks to the successful appeal for funds made by a Conference presided over by the late Sir Alfred Ewing. it will be possible to speed up this important work. A further" inter- esting general point is that a lar- ger sum will soon become avail- able from royalties accruing from the Association's patents.

1:

INVESTIGATIONS

Tuming to some of the work dore during the year under re- view, a large number of invest!- gations have been carried out ori Insulating materials of all kinds. and the research work on the heating of cables has been continued. "A report on the current-loading capacity of earth electrodes has been issued, in

ELECTRICITY

CANADA

Higher Output

IN

The development of the elec- tricity supply industry in Canada during 1933 is set out in a pam- phlet which has been prepared by the Domizion Bureau 01 Statistics in colaboration with the Dominion Water Power and Hydraulic Bureau. Some of the figures have been given before. but may be repeated for the sake or completeness. Speaking gere- rally output rose from 5.497.204.- .000 kWh in 1919 to 18,093,802, kWh in 1930. I then declined more or less steadily until July, 1932, since when it has increas- ed almost continually to reach a new maximum in November. 1934. During 1933 the output was 16.350.037.000 kWh compared with 15,392.918.000 kWh in 1932. bus in some of the provinces the decline was still continuing. In addition. 983,560,791 kWh - were exported, though this compares Lavourably with the 1,632,014,- UQU KWA recorded under the same neading in 1927. In 1932 the corresponding Agure was. only 659,691,000 kw On the other hand, the employment of electricity for the generation at steam is increasing rapidly. 'For while during January, 1924, Jess than 6,000,000 kWh were used for this purpose, this had risen to 500,000,000 kWh during 'No- vember, 1934, The majority of these bollers were in pulp and paper mills, and during 1933 the consumption amounted to 3,668,- 400,000 kWh, or over 20 per cent. of the total outpat. Energy for this purpose was sold at a very low rate, cftem off peak only. Of

are

which the various types of load and overload to which electrodes may be subjected are analysed and theoretical deductions made on the "effect on the cur rent loading capacity of the size and shape of the electrode, the resistivity of the soll and Ite treatment with coke breeze or salt. These deductions are being checked by observations on 'alect- rodes buried solls of different kinds.

Under the heading of

electric control apparatus, plans for the study of restriking-voltage characteristics are being pushed forward. The results already ob- tained show that the circuit- breaker BTC gap is capable of modifying the shape of the wave of applied voltage which the brea- ker is called upon to withstand at the final arc extinction. Certain ways in which are rupture is affected by altering the position of a test circuit relation to each other and to the breaker have a so been the subject of investigation, whhe special apparatus has been developed for recording oscil. lations of such high frequency that even the cathoderay ostillo graph fails to deal with them

TOTAL HEAT OF STEAM

Under the heading of steam turbines, it is stated that the to- al heat of steam was determined between 25 kg. per ssuare centi- metre and 150 kg. per square ceritlimetre to... probable'accuracy. of 1 part in 1,500. Pians have been made for measuring the total heat from 175 kg. per square centimetre to 250 kg. per square centimetre, and up to 450 deg. C and from 10 kg. per square centi- metre to 250 kg. per square, tenti- metre up to 600 deg. C. It is pro- posed so to measure the total heat of vapour neat saturation

and in the neighbourhood of the critical point and to check the saturation between 150 deg. C. and 250. der. C. As regards the creep and corrosion of metal at high temperatus, the examination of the "tercrystalline cracking of molybdenum steels was continued, and work Was commenced on complex molybdenum steels to de- términe the influence upon creep resistance of additions of vana- dium, titanium, tungsten, man- ganese and copper. A prelimin – ary investigation showed that these additions make change in the microstructure.-

HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 1935.

ENGINEERING AND BUILDING

COKE-OVEN

PLANT

At Cargo Fleet Ironworks

Messrs.

Some five years ago. Cargo Fleet Iron Company, Limi

the ted, decided to modernise coke-aven plant at their Works at Middlesbrough, which con- sisted of 150 firebrick Ovens, 50 Dull in three batteries of

uvers,

carbonising a stamped charge, in a period of about 36 nours. After going into the mat- ter carefully, the directors of the firm arrived at the conclusion that rather than incur the con- siderable capital expense of con- structing a complete new plate in one operation, it was better to proceed gradually by the replace- ment, in stages. of the older ovens by new, ones or modern oe- sigo. The Gibbons-Kogag high- température, compound, regenera- tive oven, capable of being heat- ed either by rich or by lean gas, was that chosen, and accordingly, Messrs. Gibbons Brothers, Limi- ted, Dibdale Works, near Dudley,

who Worcestershirey

are the licensees in, this country for Messrs. Koksofenbau und Gas- verwertungs A-G.. of Essen, weze entrusted with the design,, manu- facture; and erection, on the ex- Isting Oven ratis, of six of these, ovens It was stipulated that the existing pusher-machine track should be utilised and that the cake should be discharged for quenching upon the existing bench; cbviously, therefore, dimensional limitations were im- posed on the design of the new six Kogag ovens was put in hand in February, 1830, and the first charge was pushed on July 11, 1930,

1

was

The successful operation of the new plant and the satisfactory ature of the coke produced en- couraged the arm to proceed with their reconstruction · pro- gramme, and, in October, 1930, an additional battery of 14 ovens was put in hand and completed in March of the following year, A" further, Ferles of 22 ovens a marked

completed in July, 1932, and this followed by yet another batch ob 22 ovens, which have only recently been completed and pit into service. The old fre brick ovens have now been en- tirely removed and replaced by a plant of 84 Kogag avens arrang- ed in ore long line, the coke- output capacity of which is 4:500 tous a week

SOUTH WALES

INDUSTRY

Iron and Steel

The iron and steel and allied industries of South Wales have shown rather quieter tendencies, and steel makers are beconting a tle anxious over the relative slackness in the tinplate trade, which, if long continued must considerably affect the produc-. Hon of steel. The imports of other steel products have malo-, tained recent levels, while imm- ports, which were much more substantial during January, seem likely to continue on the increas- ed scale unless checked by ad- ditional duties such as are pro- posed, The tinplate makers con- tinue to

that complain

with Weisn steel bars at current prices, they cannot compete with foreign makers of tinplates who are using

the cheaper foreign bars. Imports of steel from Bel glum at Newport, during Janu- ary exceeded 40,000 tons, from France over 1,000 tons, while rearly 4,000 tons were im- ported from Canada, making, a total of over 50,000 tons. Imports at Cardin of iron and steel amounted to about 500 tons, and at Swansea, 5,900, tons, of which 5,600 tons were scrap from the United States, Llanelly importing over 4,000 tons of scrap. Imports for February from the various supplers are expected to be on

and

much the same scale. Apart

from tinplate bars, the finished

steel section seems to be kept fairly well employed.

D'

cent of the available water po-

the total output, over 98 per cent,wer. Of this, 3,493,320 h.p. was

was generated by water power. In 1933. plant with an aggregate capacity of 7332070 h.p. was in operation utising about 17 per

Installed in Quebec, a province which possesses resources amount Ing to 13,084.000 np. on the basis of the ordinary six months, now

was

The new ovens have each a length, "between buckstaves, of 33 ft. 6 in.. a lengta between doors of 31.ft.2 in., and a mean width of 18 in. The height of the oven chambers is 11 ft. 6 in.. and the distance between the oven een- tres 3 rt. 5 in. The capacity of each oven is 12,8 tons of wet coal and the coking time 171 hours

SWITCHGEAR

AND ITS WORK

Twenty One Years

.

Just over twenty-one years ago,] Messrs. Ferranti, Limited, discon

the

manufacture For tinued switchboards, and two engineers in their employment, Mr. Samuel Ferguson and Mr. George Pallin, with the assistance of four others, decided to begin operations. on their own account. At first the business, which was founded on December 1, 1913, was on very modest lines, but, in spite of the variable character of the products in those days, steady progress was made, and first a private" and then, in 1918, a public company, was formed. In 1826, a control ling interest in the concern was acquired by the British Thom- son-Houston Company, Limited, and the arm is now a member of Associated Electrical Industries, Limited, though its founders still take an active interest in its work. In the meantime the works have, expanded from one modest shop in Higher Openshaw, Manchester, with an area of 189 cq yards to a well laid-out modern factory

1

WATER SUPPLY

On African Rand

the The area within, which Rand Water Board is the water supply authority measures 1,874 sq. miles and includes the muni- cipalities of Johannesburg, Kru- gersdorp, Germiston and Boks- .burg.

The population served total about 750,000, while water is also supplied in bulk to the South African Railways Adminis tration and the Transvaal Cham- ber of Mines. The Board's sour- ces of supply comprise an im- pounding reservoir in the Vaa!" River, weils at Zuurbekom, and bore

holes in the Klip River the Valley, and according to twenty-ninth annual report of Public Health of the Union, the of water made total quantity available during the year ending March 31. 1934, was 7.740 milion gallons, which constituted an in- prease of 568 million gallons over the previous year's total. Of the 1933-34 water supply. 71.81 per cent, was taken from the Vaa'. 25.47 per cent. from the Zuurbe- kom wells, and 2.72 per cent. from the bore holes. Under the Vaal River Scheme, which was authorised by the Union Parlia- ment in June, 1914, the Board was permitted to construct a barrage across the Vaal River to Impound sufficient water to en- able a daily average supply of 20 million gallons to be abstracted.

FOUR" STAGES -

The scheme has been carried. out in four stages, each involving "a quantity of 5 million gallons of water a day. The first stage was completed in July, 1933, the second in March, 1829, and the third in September, 1931. The 'fourth was still in progress at the close of the year under re- view, but it was expected that the additional supply would be available for the ensuing season of high demand. Anticipating progressively increasing demands- for water the future, the Board decided, after а series of conversations and negotia- the Minister of tions with Lands and Irrigation, to` par- ticipate in an ambitious scheme to be carried

by out

'the Union Government, instead of undertaking a separate storage scheme of its own This, the Vaal River Development Scheme, has been duly authorised by Par- llament, and, under the Act, the to Board has obtained rights abstract a dally average of 60 million gallons from the Vaal, this being in addition to the 20 million gallons per day previous- The scheme in- ly authorised. volves the construction of "a" dám across the Vaal, at a point äbout 14 miles below the junction of the Vaal and Wilge rivers, which will have an initia! impounding capacity of not less than 700.000 acre-feet (190.000 million gai-

lons).

MÁSS CONCRETE

יי

The dam will have a maximum height of 120. ft., and. a length along the crest of abou: 2,000 ft... it will be of the mass-concrete, non-overflow. gravity type, and will incorporate a number of dis- charge valves, On the right of the dam there will be a spillway of sufficient capacity to pass, without overtopping the dam. the largest flood likely to occur at this paint. The construction of the dam has been put in hand, and It.Is anticipated that from four years to five, years will be required to complete the work.

covering 31,000 sq yards. The Arm has played a leading part in the development of switchgear during a period when that deve- lopment has been rapid, among its principal.contributions to pro gress being the introduction of the round tank and the early adoption of vertical isolation and the double-circuit breaker. More recently, the cross-fet explosion "pot and the air-insulated metal- clad unit have been developed. and short-circuit testing has been made a normal part of the fac tory process. We congratulate those who have contributed to the firm's success on the attain- ment of its majority, and hope that the coming years will see a still further expansion

CHEMICAL

RESEARCH

The Department of Chemical Technology of the Imperial Col- lege of Science and Technology, was inaugurated in 1912 for post- graduate study and research in fuel technology; cnèmicalTM engin-> eering and electrochemistry. The first section is in charge of the Head of th, Department, Professor W. A. Bone, FR., the other two being supervised by Assistant Pro- fessor S. G. M. Ure and Assistant Professor G. I. Finch, respective- ly,

Much of the equipment has been designed in the Department to enable special researches to be carried on, and includes appar- atus for the" benzene-pressure-ex- traction and pressure-hydrogena- tion of coals and the micro-che- mical analysis of their various products; machines for compres- sing gases to pressures of 1,000 at- mospheres and bombs for explod- ing them at the sante Initial pres sures, so that explosion pressures up to a maximum of 10,000 atmos- pheres are developed. Fraser high speed cameras are installed for the investigation of gaseous ex- plösions, and enable flame move- ments of frequencies up to $1,000,- 600 per second to be analysed;"dir- ect current high-tension genera- tors and electron diffraction ca- meras are also in use. There are the bali mills for investigating "energy distribution in size-reduc- tiou operations, and belt and pneumatic "convevors for studying, the transport of solid materials. The work carried on may be des- cribed as "long distance" research, Its object being to explore new

to possibilities,

discover new facts and relationships, and to establish new data on a reliable basis. The work is carried out, under the direction of the pro- fessors concerned, by groups of investigators, each group usually having a nucleus of paid research assistants, the sentar of whom is in responsible charge. In this way, though the personnel of the już- lor assistants may change, there. is no break in the main iine of

The research.

difficulty is, of course, finance. During the past five years running costs have been met from grants, partly from the ordinary funds of the College and partly from outside bodies such as the Royal Society, the Depart- ment of Scientific and Industrial Research, the British Iron and steel,

Federation and private Arms Continued support is re- quired and will, it is to he hoped, be obtained, in order that the work may be carried on during the next five years. This, however, Is not the chly problem. The ra- pid development of the Depart- ment has filled the present build- ing its capacity, and plans have already been prepared for its ex- tension at a cost of £30,000. Such an extension will necessarily in- volve increased annual overhead charges, so that the generosity of those who benefit from the useful work that is being carried on must be exploited to the fullest extent, We hope that the appeal now be- ing made to this will be success- ful.--

INSURANCE BUSINESS

LAW

Wanking, June 10. Reporting on, the examination of the Insurance Business Law at the meeting of the Legislative Yuan, Dr. Ma Yin Chu,Chairman of the Commercial Law Committee, ⠀ ex- plained that, while the Insurance Law already adopted by the Yuan, is a private law the Insurance Business Law is a public law, the enactment and promulgation of which should be effected as soon as possible. The reason for its

early enactment and promulgation Is that there are large number of people in this country engaging in Insurance enterprises, the invest- ments of Chinese merchants alone in the business amounting to $30,- p00,000. The Yuan has therefore been repeatedly urged by the Ministry of Industry to enact the law so as to enable the Govern ment to exercise control over the insurance business and prevent corrupt and illegitimate practices.

The present law was examined fn collaboration with representa tives of the Ministry of Industry und the Insurance Guild and the views of various quarters corporated; wherever possible

The Value Of The Engineer's Work

The value of the engineer's 'work' as a civilising influence, has frequently been commented upon in the past, and formed the basis of the toast of "The Institution" proposed by H.RH. the Duke of York, at the annual dinner of the Institution of Civil Eägineers, held at the Savoy Hotel on Wed- nesday, February 27. After re-

ferring to the world-embracing range of the civil engineer's activities. His Royal Highness commented ΟΠ che greater ability of the youth of to-day to adapt itself to mechanical de- velopments as compared with the past and congratulated the In- stitution on 117 years of useful achievement, during which the members had added greatly to the material civilization of mankind in this country and throughout the Empire. In replying to the toast, the Fresident, Sir Richard Redmayne, first paid a tribute to the assistance which the members of the Royal Family were ever ready to give to the objects which the great societies of science and technology had at heart.. Contin- uing, he said that the advance in- civil engineering which inaugurat- ed the industrial area had been little less than stupendous with- in the last 70 years, and he was sure that the architect would agree that bis was not the only profession which possessed a soul for structural beauty. Apart from such structures as the old.

Waterloo Bridge and the "Forth and Sydney bridges, it could truly be said, that a reservoir such as that in

Silent Valley, far from disfiguring the face of na-

the

ture, actually added to the beauty of the countryside. The toast of "Hils Majesty's Ministers" was » proposed by Lord Macmillan, who stressed the fact that the difficult- problems facing the Government were essentially created by the engineer in the course of his work In developing civilisaton. In ́re- plying to the toast, Sir John Simon, referring to the return of the British troops from the Saar. said he thought they were entit- led to take real pride in the fact that these men, without firing a single shot, had produced results having a profound influence on the prospects of good understand- ing in Europe. Sir John then briefly reviewed the events of the past three years, and said that our success in tiding over these difficult times was due to the character and steadiness of the British people" as a whole, the greatest achievements being the retention of freedom and the right to personal liberty, together with the free exercise of democra- tle institutions. Sif Brodie Hen- derson. In proposing the toast of "Our Guests," stressed the friendships between this country.

and France, represented at the dinner by her Ambassador, H. E Monsieur A. C. Corbin. He said that engineers, in particular, had many reasons for admiring that country, and that they had tried to form a still 'closer connection by the construction of the Chan- "nel Tunnel. This had actually been driven for a considerable distance, and he hoped that the time would come when it would be completed. Engineering.

THE TAIKOO DOCKYARD & ENGINEERING COMPANY OF HONGKONG, LIMITED.

BUILDERS OF ALL CLASSSES OF SHIPS. BUILDERS OFF RECIPROCATING STEAM ENGINES. BUILDERS OF MARINETAND LAND BOILERS. BUILDERS OF TURBINE MACHINERY

Under License From Messrs Parsons, BUILDERS OF DIESEL ENGINES ⠀⠀

Under Special License From Messrs Sulzer Bros., Winterthur.

Licensed To Manufacture Lanz Perlit iron, Specially Suitable For Internal Combustion Engine Working Parts.

DOCK

SLIPWAYS.

FOR DOCKING VERY LARGE, AS WELL AS SMALLER VESSELS,

ON ANY TIDE

ALL CLASSES OF SHIP, ENGINE AND BOILER

REPAIRS AND EXTENSIVE

WELDING, BOTH ELECTRICAL AND OXY- ACETYLENE SKILFULLY AND PROMPTLY CARRIED OUT.

BUTTERFIELD & SWIRE,

E, Agents, HONG KONG, CHINA & JAPAN.

TEL ADDRESS: "TAIKOGBOOK," HONG KONG. Telefone: 30211.

CALL FRASE "NUMERAL ONE” OVER. " PEBRANT ANK"

ir

Good Printing

' will get your Sales Message

across faster-

way that it will stick!

Phone or Write: direct to ----

HONGKONG DAILY PRESS

Specializes in Printing

Scientific Journals, Missionaries Tracts and Reviews.

All kinds of JOB printing, Book-binding and Stationery undertaken

At Moderate Prices.

Please call at the inter e Ofice at 11, Ice How

(Tel. 80251) and not the Middle