| Show government experiments WITH ELECTRIC FURNACE through a operative cooperative co agreements agreement with cornell university representatives of 0 the bureau of mines of the department of the interior have been stationed at morse hall where the electric furnace equipment of the department of chemistry of the university has been utilized in some of the metallurgical lurg ical work of the bureau the main investigation which has occupied several years and is now nearly finished has been a study of the electric electra c melting of brass the furnaces now used in the brass industry cause a large loss of metal by volatilization and require cru bibles which have become very costly since the outbreak of the war long series of experiments peri ments have indicated that the use of a suitable electric furnace might materially reduce the metal losses and avoid tile the use of crucibles cruci bles the bureau of mines is now testing an electric furnace built on the design worked out in the laboratory tests this furnace is of commercial size is installed in a brass foundry and is being tested with special attention to its suitability for use on such brasses as are used for cartridges and shrapnel cases another electric furnace problem studied by the bureau has been the production of ferro uranium from the uranium oxide obtained as a product byproduct by in ill the extraction of radium from its ores ferro uranium is used in making uranium steel which is said to be used by germany for the liners of big guns which will stand up at a rate of fire so rapid that other steels fail As soon as the test on oil the large brass furnace is completed wor work k will be begun on the production of sample lots of uranium steel and other special steels for test by the bureau of ordnance of tile the war department part ment as to their suitability for use in guns gulls the work on gun steel will also require the uso of electric furnaces it lias has not yet been decided whether this work will bo be done at cornell or at one of the other universities which have leave offered facilities for this work various other problems incident to tile the main investigations mentioned above havo have been undertaken the results of the work are published as fast as the problems kroblen Is ar are 0 completed in the bulletins and technical papers of the bureau of mines |
