Solvay Process for the Distillation of Soda Ash

Since 1810 the Le Blanc Process has been used by chemists for the creation of Soda Ash (NA2CO3) and Carbonates. These chemicals are in great demand, yet the process used to produce them is dangerous and results in the production of a number of unwanted and highly toxic by-products. Much effort has been spent trying to reduce the byproducts of the process. Hydrochloric acid, Nitrogen Oxides, Sulfur, Manganese and Chlorine gas are all produced by the Le Blanc process. "The gas from these manufactories is of such a deleterious nature as to blight everything within its influence, and is alike baneful to health and property. The herbage of the fields in their vicinity is scorched, the gardens neither yield fruit nor vegetables; many flourishing trees have lately become rotten naked sticks. Cattle and poultry droop and pine away. It tarnishes the furniture in our houses, and when we are exposed to it, which is of frequent occurrence, we are afflicted with coughs and pains in the head...all of which we attribute to the Alkali works."
But now there is an alternative to the dangerous and damaging Le Blanc process. The chemistry is based upon a discovery made by A. J. Fresnel over sixty years ago. However, efforts to use the theory for large-scale manufacturing have proven fruitless until now.
The centrepiece of Solvay's Process is an 80-foot tall high-efficiency carbonating tower. Into this, ammoniated brine is poured down from the top while Carbon Dioxide gas is bubbled up from the bottom. Plates and bubble caps helped create a large surface area over which the two chemicals could react, forming sodium bicarbonate. Solvay's process has several advantages over the Le Blanc process that benefit manufacturers and workers alike:

1. Continuous operation.
2. A product which is easier to purify.
3. No dirty, hazardous, and hard to dispose of by-products.

Quarrying Machine

For quarrying stone the machine illustrated in Fig. 3574 is employed. The engine is carried on a wrought-iron four-wheeled frame, running upon rails laid down over the site in which the machine is to work. On each end of the main shaft is a flywheel A, carrying a crank-pin to which is attached the connecting-rod B, which with F is coupled to the frame by the pin C. The upper end of the lever B passes through a sliding plate attached to the crank-pin, and a reciprocating motion is imparted to the lever B by the revolution of the fly-wheel. The corresponding end of the lever F passes through a guide G bolted to the bottom of the vertical frame shown in the drawing. Motion is communicated from the upper to the lower lever by means of coupling-bars, between which rubber blocks D E are placed. The end of the lever F, passing through the guide G, gives motion to the group of five cutting tools I H These bars are of steel, placed side by side, and move in top and bottom clamps, as shown. The two bars I have chisel-ends set diagonally, while the others are square. The middle bar H is wider than the others, and extends to a somewhat lower level. By this arrangement, when the machine is advancing, the front pair and the middle chisel operate, and in traveling in opposite direction the rear cutters come into action. Within the top clamp there is a series of serrations, in which corresponding serrations in the chisel-bars fit, so as to prevent any movement.
Upon the main shaft is a worm J, which drives the worm-wheel K, the shaft of which extends diagonally toward the back of the engine and terminates in a bevel-wheel. On the rear axle are two other bevel-wheels, which can be moved to and fro by means of the lever M, so that either can be thrown into gear with the bevel-wheel first mentioned, and the machine is moved to and fro by this mechanism. Motion to the cutters is given by means of the lever F, which drives them up and down, the upper clamps serving as guides in the fixed standards.
The machines are made to cut channels at three different distances apart-4 ft. 6 in., 6 ft. 3 in., and 6 ft. 7 in. The standards can be set to any angle between a vertical position and one of 45°. The number of blows struck per minute is 150 on each side, and the rate of advance is 6 ft., the depth of cut varying from one-half inch to 1 inch, according to the nature of the material; and channels can be cut to a depth of 6 ft., but a depth of 13 ft. in sandstone has been cut.

Reaping Machine

The essential parts of a reaper are: the cutting arrangement, similar in design to that of mowing-machines (except that in many cases sickle-knives in place of plain knives are used); sweep or table rakes to convey the grain to and from the machine; and mechanical means to regulate the delivery of the gavels, so that the size of the same shall be sufficient for binding even in spots or places upon the land where the crop is very light. Many of these machines are constructed so that the various devices for raking, sweeping, gathering, or delivering, may be detached, leaving the machine a simple mower.

In Figure 74 is shown the Champion mower and reaper, with the names of the various parts marked thereon. The reaping part of the machine consists of the device above the large shoe, which is for operating the rake-arms and the wooden framework, and its attachments whereon and whereby the grain is gathered and delivered in gavels. The chain-wheel is fast to the upright spindle, to which the rake-arms are pivoted or hinged, and is driven by a chain passing around another chain-wheel attached to the main axle of the machine. To the rake-arms are attached rollers running upon an inclined pathway termed a cam. The plane of this pathway is arranged so as to lower the rake-arm to, and lift it from, the table, to rake the grain on to and off from the table-the rake-guide being provided to prevent the rake from contact with the finger-bar.
The rake-arms may be permitted to sweep a gavel of grain from the table at each descent, or may be made to carry the grain on to the table, and allow it to remain there until sufficient is accumulated to form a gavel, when the rake may be allowed to sweep it off. The arrangement by means of which this is accomplished is a switch operated by means of the treadle-crank and trip-chain. The switch acts to raise the roller-path, lifting the rake-arm and rake before it has time to rake the gavel from the table. When, however, sufficient grain has accumulated to form a proper-sized gavel, the switch moves out of the way, and the rake sweeps the gavel from the table; and in this manner the size of the delivered gavel can be regulated by the operator.
Mr. John Coleman, an English judge at the Centennial Exhibition, says, referring to this class of machines, in his report to the English Government: " A word or two as to table- rakes may not be out of place seeing that this form of reaper is unknown in England. The ordinary sweep-rake is replaced by a jointed rake, which travels in a given orbit on the table or platform, being driven by universal. joint-and-bevel gearing the direction of travel being regulated by a cam screened from the grain by a shield. The advantages claimed for this invention are reduction of draught and superior form of the grain for binding. The rake, when uncontrolled, works continuously but can be arrested at any point by a leverage from the driver's foot. This is a desirable feature, allowing of uniform sheaves for a variable crop. The disadvantages appear to be that, as the rake compresses at the corner of the table, there is some risk of shedding when over-ripe ; also, that the compact nature of the sheaf interferes with the drying influence of sun and wind, so important when grain is cut in a green condition ; and, lastly, the table-rake is not suitable for very heavy crops, especially if the straw is long."

Remington 1 'Type-Writer'

The first patent for a 'writing machine' was given to Henry Mill in 1714. Sadly there are no surviving details to prove its existence as a working machine. The first known typewriter was invented in the United States of America by William Burt in 1830. This was called a Typographer and printed one single letter after another. From this point on there was a flood of designs both in the United States and Europe, causing some dispute over who invented what components. These machines were usually one-offs and it is only in the past year that the inventors of the 'Type-writer', Christopher Sholes and Carlos Glidden, have made an agreement with the Remington company to have their model manufactured in quantity.
The machine writes in capitals and was heavily influenced by the workings of the Remington sewing machines. The original design laid the letters in an ABC format, but Sholes found that this continually jammed his typewriters. To solve the problem, he asked his brother-in-law, a mathematician, to work out an arrangement that would - for the most time - prevent the bars from clashing. The result is a rather unusual arrangement of letters on the keyboard 'QWERTYUIOP' on the top row of keys, 'ASDFGHJKL' in the middle and 'ZXCVBNM' on the bottom row. While this might not seem sensible to the laymen among us, Mr Sholes assures us that it is a highly logical and scientific design for the machine.

Clifford's Air-Gun

Clifford's Air-Gun shows that highly-compressed air can be substituted for gunpowder to expel the ball from a pistol or carbine.
The weapon consists of a lock, stock, barrel, ramrod, etc., of about the size and weight of a common fowling-piece. Under the lock at b is screwed a hollow copper ball c, perfectly air-tight. This ball is fully charged with condensed air, by means of the syringe B, previous to its being applied to the tube at b. Being charged and screwed on as above stated, if a bullet be rammed down in the barrel, and the trigger a be pulled, the pin in b will, by the spring-work in the lock, forcibly strike out into the ball, and thence, by pushing it suddenly, a valve within it will let out a portion of the condensed air, which, rushing through the aperture in the lock will act forcibly against the ball, impelling it to the distance of 60 or 70 yards, or farther if the air be strongly compressed. At every discharge only a portion of the air escapes from the ball; therefore, by re-cocking the piece another discharge may be made, which may be repeated for a number of times proportioned to the size of the ball. The air in the copper ball is condensed by the syringe B in the following manner: The ball is screwed quite close on the top of the syringe; at the end of the steel-pointed rod a is a stout ring, through which passes the rod k; upon this rod the feet should be firmly set; then the hands are to be applied to the two handles i i fixed on the side of the barrel of the syringe, when, by moving the barrel B steadily up and down on the rod a the ball c will become charged with condensed air, and the progress of condensation may be estimated by the increasing difficulty in forcing down the syringe. At the end of the rod k is usually a square hole, that the rod may serve as a key for attaching the ball to either the gun or syringe. In the inside of the ball is fixed a valve and spring, which gives way to the admission of the air, but upon its emission comes close up to the orifice, shutting out the external air. The piston-rod works air-tight by a collar of leather on it, in the barrel B; it is therefore obvious that, when the barrel is drawn up, the air will rush in at the hole h; when it is pushed down, it will have no other way to pass from the pressure of the piston but into the ball c at the top. The barrel being drawn up, the operation is repeated, until the condensation is so great as to resist the action of the piston.

Portable Accumulator

In many English mines experiments have been conducted with a view to determining the fraction of absolute work theoretically transmitted by air delivered, which machines, driven by said air, return in the form of effective work. This work has always represented 55 to 75 per cent. of the absolute work, which corresponds to the consumption of compressed air. At St. Gothard Tunnel, M. Rebourt, by direct experiment upon compressed-air locomotives, determined that the relation of tractile work to the theoretic work of air expended was comprised between .50 and .60. If, instead of seeking a ratio between the effective work and the theoretic work contained in the air expended, we determine the same between the first and the work expended to compress the air so as to obtain the total useful effect of the entire system, or, in other words, for the fraction of work expended by primary motor which is returned from the shaft of the compressed -air engine, the relation is found to be between 20 and 25 per cent. at high pressure, or 35 and 40 per cent. at low pressure.

Accumulators can be used for working hydraulic cranes, lifts, and other machines where a steady, powerful pressure of water is required. Fig. 2 represents the portable accumulator used in connection with other hydraulic machinery at the St. Gothard Tunnel.
It is interposed between the pump and the lift. It consists of a vertical cylinder, in which a piston travels, and which has to be loaded to a weight equivalent to 450 lbs. per square inch. When the lift is not in operation, the piston is raised to an extent proportionate to the quantity of water introduced, which it returns to the lift when the ingress-cock of the latter is opened. The diameter of the piston is 11.81 inches, and the stroke is 66.93 inches. The volume of water contained is 26.2 gallons, and he pressure on the piston should be 21.18 tons; the piston and cross-head weigh 1.18 ton. A load of 20 tons of lead-ingots is suspended to the cross-head at the top of the piston. These can be moved at will to facilitate the moving of the apparatus from place to place on the works.

Ashton-Montague Pumps Ltd.

(a division of the British Steam Consortium Ltd.)

Low-duty Apparatus - This class includes hand and forge bellows; also, forcing-pumps for supplying air to respiratory apparatus used by firemen, etc. The Fayal pump, Figure 131, consists of a leather bellows, fixed between heads, in which are inlet and delivery valves. In the centre of the bellows is a piston of wood, connected by a split connecting-rod with the crank-shaft and wheel. The air is driven into a sheet-iron reservoir in the lower portion of the machine, which communicates with the delivery-valve, and by a lateral tube with the air-conduit. This apparatus furnishes air under pressure of from 11 ⁷/₁₀ to 15 ⁶/₁₀ inches of water, and this excess of pressure of from .04 to .03 atmosphere is sufficient to supply fresh air to five or six miners with their lamps at a distance of some 300 feet from the compressor.
Forcing-pumps, for diving-apparatus - Figure 141 represents a compressor of the Sommeiller type designed for low duty. The piston-plunger moves in an horizontal pump-body, while the valves are placed in a vertical chamber connecting with the pump-cylinder. This column is filled with water, so that when the piston is at the end of its stroke the water covers the valve above. As at each impulsion a portion of the water is entrained by the compressed air, there is placed around the chamber a water-jacket into which a stream of water constantly enters the liquid passing through the valve into the compressor at each aspiration. The dimensions, etc., are as follows: Absolute pressure of air, .5 atmosphere; volume of air furnished per minute 278 cubic feet. Motor of any type: Compressor single-acting; diameter of compressing piston, 5.8 inches; stroke, same; useful volume of cylinder, 91 cubic feet; revolutions per minute, 15; theoretic volume generated by the piston at this velocity, 1,403 cubic feet.

Babbage Second-Generation Engine

Though Charles Babbage, the father of the computational device, died last year, the legacy of his Analytical engine lives on. This exhibition sees the first public unveiling of the second-generation engine.
Fig. 600 represents the new portable calculating machine devised by Mr. George B. Grant. There is an upper cylinder, which is turned by the crank, and which itself drives a smaller shaft underneath. A slide, that can be set in eight different positions on the cylinder, carries eight figured rings that can be set to represent eight or any smaller number of decimal places. Each turn of the crank adds the number set up on the rings to the number represented on the ten recording wheels carried by the lower shaft. The multiplication process will best be understood by an example. To multiply 347 by 492, the three upper rings are set at 3, 4, and 7, respectively. The cylinder is then turned twice to multiply by the units figure of the multiplier. If now the slide is carried along one notch, where each ring will act on the next higher recording wheel, and turned 9 times, 347 will be multiplied by 90, and the product at the same time will be added to the product already scored. Another shift of the slide and four turns will complete the operation, and show the result, 170724 = (347 x 2) + (347 x 90) + (347 x 400), upon the recording wheels. A half-turn of the crank backward erases this result, bringing all the wheels to 0, ready for the next operation.
Division is the reverse of multiplication. The dividend is set up on the wheels, the divisor on the rings, and the quotient records itself on the upper recording wheels. The machine of the size illustrated will use numbers of eight or less figures, and show the result in fall, if not over ten figures.

Obituary - Mary Fairfax Somerville

Mary Fairfax Somerville's scientific investigations began in the summer of 1825 when she carried out experiments on magnetism. In 1826 she presented her first paper entitled The Magnetic Properties of the Violet Rays of the Solar Spectrum to the Royal Society. The paper attracted favourable notice and was subsequently published in the Society's Philosophical Transactions. Although the theory presented in her paper was eventually refuted by the investigations of others, it distinguished her as a skilled scientific writer and earned her much respect among her peers.
In 1827 Lord Brougham, on behalf of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, began a correspondence with Mary through her husband and persuaded her to write a popularised rendition of Laplace's Mecanique Celeste and Newton's Principia. He hoped that she could reach a larger audience by communicating the concepts clearly through simple illustrations and experiments that most people could understand. The Mechanism of the Heavens was a great success, probably the most famous of her mathematical writings.
While in Europe for eleven months in 1832-1833, she largely completed her second book, which was published in 1834. With The Connection of the Physical Sciences, an account of physical phenomena and the connections among the physical sciences, came further distinctions. She and Caroline Herschel were elected to the Royal Astronomical Society in 1835. She was given a pension of 200 pounds per year from the King of England and received honorary memberships from various other distinguished scientific organizations, including eleven Italian scientific societies between 1840 and 1857.
In 1848, at the age of sixty-eight, Mary Fairfax Somerville published another book. Physical Geography. This proved to be her most successful yet and is still widely used in schools. She lived to complete two more works before her death in Naples earlier this year. Her last scientific book, Molecular and Microscopic Science, which was published in 1869 when Mary was eighty-nine, was a summary of the most recent discoveries in the fields of chemistry and physics.
Although deaf and frail in her later years, she retained her mental faculties and continued to, in her words, "read books on the higher algebra for four or five hours in the morning, and even to solve problems" until her peaceful death at the age of ninety-two.