| Show MORE POWERFUL AND SAFER THAN DYNAMITE intents intently y at work in his laboratory sonic some fifty years ago a crensh scientist louispaul louis paul Caille tet inadvertently opened the wrong valve in a whirring apparatus before him and made history in doing it exploded there was not even a sputtering spark but what happened gave Caille tet the thrill of his life and the scientific world as it c came a inc to realize a portentous discovery in ill an ordinary glass tube upon which the frenchman had fixed an expectant gaze during years of experiment lie he espied a drop of moisture it lingered but a moment little more than a vanishing mist but this one vagrant va rant drop produced through a fortuitous iiii mistake stake signald signalizes signalized zed the harnessing of a my mystic atmospheric force it presaged the advent of a new element in physics now known as liquid oxygen with a a destructive force even deadlier than that of dynamite and a as s time has shown much chea cheaper per and less hazardous in its use and all of this out of thin air the enthralled Caille tet when lie he touched the wrong 6 valve and observed the flee fleetin tincy drop of moisture knew on only ly that he had discovered a way wa to reduce gases from the air to a liquid form and bottle them up it remained for scientists years later to find out how to 10 utilize this concentrated power so terrific in ill its pent up energy although the everyday c every very day world up to thi this s time has heard little of liquid oxygen it has within the last decade taken its place as one of the notable discoveries of the age while its present day utility lies in its potency and economy as an ail ex explosive p losice scientists are working upon experiments to apply appl yit it to other uses how the explosive i is s made liquid oxygen is literally air reduced to liquid form from which in process ol of powerful compression nitrogen is distilled off in the alternating process of compression and expansion through which chic li it is produced it reaches a temperature pera ture of 26 2695 95 de degrees fahrenheit below zero a temperature pera ture in which human life could not exist for the briefest instant in its quiescent lit form when not in use at an explosive liquid oxygen instantly freezes all substances immersed adit in it poured on oil ice it vigorously boils so much colder is it than i the ice itself flowers dipped in it will become afroz frozen en to th the e solidity of pro celain an ali appetizing tender steak will become so tough under its effect that it may be used as a hammer to drive nails liquid oxygen explosive or L 0 X as it has come com to be known is made by mixing g Sery very fine finely ly divided carbon which aich in the form of lamp black or irbon black with the liquid oxygen which is of course highly concentrated oxygen Z 1 ch the association is sta stated started A ted due to a aftic fue c or detonator the carbon instantaneously burns and creates a large volume of lii high idi temperature carbon dioxide 1 gas at the of combustion 0 or l explosion the temper sture ure of liquid oxygen jumps froni from 2695 deo dea pes e below zero to degrees above a variation of degrees the shattering force of this combustion is sufficient to rend fend sunder asunder huge strata of deeply im bedded rock practicability of liquid oxygen the practicability of liquid oxygen as an explosive sive hash has been put to test by the united St states i ates bureau burea u of Illin mines ps in collaboration with scientists cai engaged wed in its development 6 6 it has been found particularly advantageous in blasting rock in in quarries or in in other open rock formations D during urinch the war when the germans ran short of tl glycerine and chilean nitrates they found it imperative to evolve a sub substitute statute for lor dynamite as an ail explosive their engineers who had been bee working za for years on 0 n the process of liquefying oxygen 0 put it 1 into use as an ail explosive in underground mines in the last few years liquid oxygen or L 0 X as asi it is technically known has been used in quarrying in new york 10 pennsylvania colorado and other states with results as compared to the use of dyn dynamite arnite it has been found that blasts can be made at confide considerably i bably less expense eapen than with dynamite one recently made m by y conspicuous experiment was wag ij experts of the air reduction company and th the ingersoll inge arso rand company the latter of which is one of the producers procia c of the new oil electric locomotive under direction ot of F r who oneil chief engineer for the ingersoll rand COMP Compan lily yv has been occupied for several years ill in the develops develop me antof the efficiency of liquid oxygen a plant was er erected acted at a quarry of the calcite quarry company at myerstown Myers town lebanon county pa sixty cartridges of liquid oxygen were placed in twelve holes 28 feet deep and 6 inches in diameter A single trunk fuse was used to set off all the cartridges simultaneously the drill holes were set 12 feet apart in a 30 foot rock bench the cartridges fitting snugly were 18 inches long and sya inches in diameter five being placed in each h ole they were encased in bags made of stout muslin and filled with finely divid carbonaceous material of a highly absorbent nature I 1 i out of 1014 pounds of liquid oxygen int inn which the cartridges were dipped each one absorbed abs orbed 15 pounds or pounds bounds for all since the cartridges were immersed in relays one hour and a half elapsed from th 1 hp time they were dipped until they were placed in the drill holes this fact is pointed out by engineers as emphasizing that even with a relatively rapid evaporation of liquid oxy en sufficient time may be taken for de deliberate fil crate placing of the cartrie cart cartridges rid as so as to obtain the most effective results it reduces Bla blasting stink costs materially the relative cost of blasting with L 0 X as compared with dynamite has been shown in tests running over a period of two years these reflect an ail expense of around three times time as much for bynam dynamite ite as for liquid one ponus of liquid oxygen it has been shown together with one fifth filfli 0 of a bonu ponus d of carbon with which it is 0 kicked in the cartridge will do the work of one pound of 40 dergent dynamite with power at one cent I 1 per kilowatt hour liquid oxygen can be produced at avy 2 14 cents a pound while the carbon used would cost three cents a total of 5 cents for the pound As against this dynamite costs from 13 to 15 cents a pound the safety of blasting with L 0 X is one of its char ces recognized officially by the hil bureau of mires mines danger danver from accidental explosion is much reduced its cartri cartridges dees es cannot be set off excena enocent by bya a very severe shock such suchs s the impact of a bullet A truc f of liquid oxy cartridges es could be driven through the streets of a crowded cita without fear of 0 n anything being blown up in event of ll isio the red flap dynamite does not have to be dangled from the tail end of the truck carrying carrein L 0 X not dangerous to transport has many uses the bureau of mines says of it no danger cx exists isis ln in the transportation of this explosive to the point of use tactically practically no danger exists of premature scion ganger danger of misfire in event a cartridge cart rid 9 e is not properly pro exploded ed is eliminated by waiting a sufficient time to allow for the e evaporation of the oxygen the time tim e necessary depends on the diameter of the cartridge an lin exploded stick pf af dynamite is always a menace if encountered while nicking mucking or during the removal re amov al of coal or ore bre from EL a mine mine but ut t the he liquid oxygen cartridge under similar conditions is istead is dead I 1 over aver tons of stone for crushing and other uses are being blasted in quarries in the united states each year to shatter and dislodge this rock from the ledge ledgere requires millions of pounds pound s of c explosives plosives plo economies economics that may y be effected in this work by the substitution of liquid oxygen for nitrogenous explosives are calculated by experts tojun into many millions of dollars a year tn in europe there are many plants producing liquid oxy an enone mining company in lorraine is mining its en ell tire output of iron ore by liquid oxygen explosive and it is is instated fr inta ted that fully 80 per cent of the iron ore mined in in ance aiice is eing being blasted with L 0 Y X new liquid oxygen plants are being built in in this coun try y with indications that th the t use of L 0 X within a few bev years for open rock blasting will become a large enterprise the use of L 0 X in surface or strip mining through which huge quantities of coal may be recovered from rocky ground round is one new field in which L 0 X is destined to play an important role one mine in southern indiana has already been equipped with an L 0 X plant by the air reduction and ingersoll rand companies and blasting operations are being successfully carried on one impressive use of which liquid oxygen is susceptible is in the sickroom sick room in replacing the mask employed in the administration of oxygen to patients with a bucketful of liquid oxygen placed at the patients bed and a fan to carry the oxygen across it a patient would be enabled to inhale the oxygen without knowing it was being administered ered and this thin powerful liquid oxygen capable of blowing up a whole e city or in quieter mood alleviating the suf suffering ferin i g of the sick room is drawn by them the ingenuity of science from the air we breathe |
