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Use The Sun—When You Can
KETTLES and small boilers heated by the rays of the sun, which are captured by reflectors mounted on tripods, are proving useful in Russia in the steppes and deserts, where firewood is difficult to obtain. Scientific and other expeditions are already making extensive use of them, and they may prove useful adjuncts to transport vehicles.
One portable type consists of a flat container for the water and three retractable mirrors, Another interesting portable apparatus is employed for distilling salt water. This also is operated by' the sun. Even the problem of making ice with the help of sun heat, has been solved, employing practically the same principles as those used in the ordinary domestic refrigerator.
Progress With Esso Chemicals
SSO are busy spending £9m. on building their new plant for producing chemicals from petroleum. Some of the products which will soon become available are already ear-marked. For example, their ethylene will be sold to Monsanto Chemicals, who will employ it to make polyethylene, and Union Carbide, who will produce from it ethylene oxide, glycol and certain derivatives. Butadiene will be purchased by the International Synthetic Rubber Co., representing Dunlop, Goodyear, Firestone, Michelin and other rubber manufacturers. It will be made into synthetic rubber to be used for many purposes, but largely in the construction of tyres.
Polyethylene is used for large numbers of plastics products. Ethylene oxide forms the basis of many liquid detergents and wetting agents, whilst glycol is the chief constituent of numerous anti-freeze mixtures.
The Esso chemicals project covers nearly 700,000 sq. ft. It is interesting to know that it will require 168 pumps. 203 containers of various sizes, 260 heat-exchangers and over 100 miles of process piping.
The Birth of Petroleum
NEARLY 100 years ago was sunk the first well for the purpose of obtaining oil and it is interesting to record that it was almost immediately successful, oil being struck at a depth of 69 ft. This came about because a conductor, E. L. Drake, on the New York and New Haven railway fell ill and had to leave his job. A friend, J. M. Townsend, a banker of New Haven, employed him to go to Titusville, a place where petroleum was seeping through the ground.
The virtues of this material for lighting and heating purposes when refined had been discovered not long before, and Townsend had an idea that more of the crude oil could be obtained by sinking wells. The decision to do this was taken in 1858 and work on a well commenced early in 1859. It was on August 27 that year that, just as work was stopping for the day, the drill, at a depth of 69 ft. suddenly dropped about 6 in. but it was not until the next day that a visitor, looking down the hole, saw the black glistening petroleum floating on the water that had filled it.
A Trouble to Avoid
PERSONAL experience of what may appear to many readers of this journal to be a somewhat strange weakness of the human body, may be helpful to others who are perhaps specially liable to it.
A member of the staff of this journal has been afflicted with a complaint known, as Bell's palsy. This is an inflammation of the facial nerve, caused usually by a cold draught. It results in a partial or almost-complete paralysis of the whole of one side of the face. The eyebrow and lower eyelid may drop and the eye be difficult to shut; speech may be affected, feeling and taste ustfally lost at one side of the mouth and eating and drinking may be a little difficult. In all, the result can be much like that caused by an injection for dental treatment—except that it may last several weeks. No special treatment is normally required, but persistent cases may need moderate electrical stimulation. It is most advisable to keep the face protected from further cold.
It seems that drivers of motor vehicles are particularly liable to this trouble, because of the draught from side windows and ventilators, and in cold weather the right side of the face should, wherever possible, be protected by a high up-turned collar or muffler. This should apply specially in the case of a driver who takes the wheel immediately after leaving a hot atmosphere.
Advantages of Thread Rolling
'f THE rolling of threads on many parts is often better than HE these in the normal way, because of the unbroken grain flow, of the metal, which gives greater strength than when threads are cut. The economy in the material used can also be quite -high.
Left-hand threads can be rolled as easily as those of the right-hand type. Stampings are claimed to be ideal for this class of operation owing to their ductility.
In addition, knurls, splines and serrations can easily be rolled, whilst oil grooves present extra qualities of low cost and smooth finish. It is, of course, important that the blanks should be accurate. Those oversize will automatically produce oversize threads, while the threads on undersized blanks will be smaller in diameter, and possibly incomplete.
Insurance Cover for Driving Tests
A CORRESPONDENT writing to this journal on the
subject of road tests for applicants for jobs as drivers, suggests that many concerns insist on these for all who apply. He pointed out, however, that the tests are usually carried out on any vehicle available, despite the fact that frequently a fleet is insured for driving only by actual employees. When this is the case a prospective employee who undertakes a test on such a vehicle may make himself liable to a fine and possibly to the loss of his licence if he is caught driving when uninsured. The vehicle operator is also faced with the possibility of a heavy fine.
It is suggested that men who apply and have already passed a severe driving test such as that for coaches, obviously do not need a further test, although others who have possibly driven only light vehicles should undergo them. Where employers insist on such tests, however, they should certainly ascertain that their insurance covers men who are not actually in their employ but who are driving with their sanction.