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Show ELECTROCHEHlCflL DISCOVERIES. J0. UK group of industrial es-H es-H . )f tabllshments that have I grown up around Niagara j( H in tho past few years to "WOW delve deeper Into the mysteries mys-teries of electrochemistry, arc rapidly transforming many lines of business and trade manufacturing. The supply of electric power in large units has primarily been responsible for this marvelous growth, but purely experimental experi-mental companies arc now carrying on exhaustive tests and experiments to develop new Industries for tho benefit of mankind, and their work Is receiving receiv-ing critical attention from alt parts of the world. Industrial electrochemistry and electrometallurgy elec-trometallurgy have already accomplished accom-plished wouders in the Hold of manufacture. manu-facture. Carborundum has become n staple product of tho electric furnace, displacing in many trades nearly all other abrasive materials. In tho past year It has become an Important factor in tho steel trade, and some seventy-five seventy-five tons per month are demanded for this Industry alone. More recently tungsten tung-sten and fcrrotungstcn have been satisfactorily satis-factorily produced In the electric furnace, fur-nace, and tho uso of these in tho steel trade for manufacturing self hardening harden-ing and high speed tools has steadily Increased. The manufacture of aluminium, zinc and manganese In the electric furnaco has also achieved considerable Importance, Impor-tance, and promises for the near future far reaching developments. There are several factories now engaged In manufacturing man-ufacturing aluminium at Niagara Falls and Massena, and their total output Is considerable. Commercial phosphorus Is satisfactorily made by mixing the finely powdered phosphate material .with carbon and sand In the electric furnace, and then, when heated, distilling dis-tilling the phosphorus from tho mass and collecting it under water. The development of the carborundum Industry led to tho manufacture of artificial ar-tificial graphite, which Is now produced pro-duced by passing the amorphous carbon car-bon through the electric furnace and obtaining a pure graphite with merely a fraction of one per cent, of ash. Even the direct graphltlzatlon of anthracite coals has been successfully accomplished, accom-plished, a granular graphite being obtained ob-tained which can be extensively used for lubricating purposes. This graphite gra-phite is easily manipulated with machine ma-chine tools, and Is of great service in many trades. In 1001 over two million pounds of this graphite were made in this country, and much more In the year Just closed. The electrolytic production of caustic alkalies and chlorine has proved of the greatest importance to the world of trade. The chlorine produced is used for making bleaching powders, which in turn has revolutionized the bleaching bleach-ing trade here and abroad. The production pro-duction of sodium by clectrolyzing fused caustic soda has developed rapidly rap-idly at Niagara and other places wbero largo electric units ro supplied at low rates. The production of sodium is now conducted on a large scale. The application of the electric furnace fur-nace to steel manufacturing has also received a good deal of attention In France and by the Niagara people. Experiments Ex-periments have been' conducted to rann-ufneture rann-ufneture steel from pig iron In the electric elec-tric furnace, and also to smelt the ores directly and manufacture and rcfino the material in twoconnccted furnaces. At St. Ktienne, France, Iron ore has been treated most successfully In specially spe-cially prepared electric furnaces, and new factories are being projected for carrying tho work forward on a commercial com-mercial scale. Tho manufacture of carbon bisulphide bisul-phide by directly treating In tho elec tric furnaco charcoal and sulphur Is now In operation at Penn Yan, N. Y., where n dally output of 10,000 pounds Is an average. The electric furnaces employed for this work nt tho Penn Yan factory represent tho largest yet mndo In any of tho electrochemical Industries In-dustries In this country. They aro sixteen six-teen feet In diameter and about forty feet high, having a capacity sufficient to make a larger dally output than any similar factory In the world. The production of nitric acid by electrochemical elec-trochemical methods is a new process that promises extensive changes In our agriculture. Tho manufacture of nitric acid from the nitrogen and oxygen of tho air in sufficient quantities for commercial com-mercial uses has been tho dream and hope of scientists for years. At Niagara Nia-gara experiments have been conducted successfully In producing commercial nitric ncld by using a high tension current cur-rent in an nir chamber, by which a yield of one pound of nitric ncld is obtained ob-tained for every seven horse power hours, Steps nro now being taken to establish tho production of nitric ncld on a largo commercial scale, and whllo further experiments in this field will bo conducted they will bo simultaneous with tho practical work of making tho product. So remarkable hnvn theso and similar Industries become that purely experimental experi-mental companies have bean formed within tho past year to Investigate further fur-ther In electrochemistry ut Niagara for the sole purpose of discovering new processes to patent. They do not In-('ml In-('ml U establish any commercial factories, fac-tories, but to dispose of the rights to their patents and discoveries to Industrial Indus-trial companies which can easily bo organized or-ganized later. They represent tho modern mod-ern wizards of practical chemistry, seeking new discoveries In a field that hud already proved exceedingly rich. flf REVELATIONS THAT MORE THAN RIVAL THE VISIONAKY ACTS OF MYTHICAL WIZARDS OF OLD . , The experts who compose these experimental experi-mental compnnles are searching for definite results along lines already Indicated In-dicated by past successes. Starch, for Instance, Is receiving considerable attention at-tention from the electrochemlsts, and It Is believed that this will soon be produced by somo electric procoss. Likewise artificial rubber Is a substance sub-stance that is attracting tho ambitious, and results already obtained Justify the chemists In continuing their experiments experi-ments with this object In vlow. Tho recent scare in prices of good rubber, nnd the lessening supply of crude rubber, rub-ber, stimulate the workmen to greater effort In tho field of electrochemical experiment. ex-periment. Thero aro many other lists or groups of products of great commercial value which tho experimenters nro trying hard to produce artificially by chemical reactions with tho high temperature electric furnace and current. Ammonia, Ammo-nia, cyanides and slllcldes arc among tho most promising of these, although not by any means tho only ones. The manufacture of artificial camphor Is now assured, nnd calcium cnrbldo Is now produced on an enormous scale. One company converts barium sulphate Into other needed barium salts. Barium hydrate is now produced so successfully success-fully that its price enables tho different trades to use it In many minor ways. Both the sugar nnd paint trade two widely distinct industries otherwise-employ otherwise-employ barium hydrate on a large scale. Ono Important feature of all these new industries is the stimulating effect they have upon widely separated trades and manufacturing industries. By producing materials on a largo commercial commer-cial scale, they enable other trades to utlllzo them In ways never before considered con-sidered possible. With the cheapening of the products their use becomes universal. uni-versal. They have thus directly tended toward lessening the cost of production of articles in common use. Synthetic electrochemistry Is thus proving In Its quiet way one of the gvcatest trado revolutionizing factors the world has ever known. The unlocking of secrets by man's Ingenuity Is always fascinating fascinat-ing and stimulating, but when they In addition help mankind by placing within with-in the means of everybody articles which were formerly considered luxuries, luxur-ies, the result Is something that holds the admiration of all. From Niagara, Massena, Penn Yan and other places where large electrical units are easily obtained, the world of science and trade hope for revelations that more than rival the visionary acts of mythical mythi-cal wizards of old. Scientific American. |