New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-04-24

y -,ov AND THEN AUTOMATICALLY CHILLED
nv THE EXPANSION OF A PART OF IT.
i ,r..ot nopular interest has been excited during
,os, few weeks by the public and private OK
L~,.r.s with liquid air which have been con-
;ncted either by Charles f. Tripler, OF this city.
college professors to whom he has given a
.,ti,v Of that remarkable commodity. People
L. heard about eggs and onions frozen as
80, &C rocks after being immersed in a little Of
~. Amid: of steel burning at temperature Of
I,no or 1900 degrees above zero In tumblcr
I.o,tainng liquid oxygen whose temperature
-os about 500 degrees below zero; Of the delicate
r,;,s vapor given off by air when passing from
u,uid 10 a gaseous state. and OF the explosive
,-rner,ies which were developed when tea
uoorful Of Mr. Trpler's magic preparation was
II ,erad In q metal tube. Less attention, how
AGAR has been given TO the process by which air
\. ,ioueded and to the possible Industrial uses
i Of the new product
i nswar and other chemists who reduced air to
/. LIQUID form years ago did so in very costly
kasbion and by q complicated process. Mr..
lrrper. employing precisely the same principles
Ia they did. simpliied the operation. A Ger
| man Iinde. has been following practically the
Lame plan as Mr.. Tripler for two or three years.
(.pd bis apparatus has been extensively de-
Lxribed in foreign prints during that time. Mr..
Irripler claims nevertheless, that he anticipated
I1ipde, and took out patents long before the lat
Iter published any account OF his procedure.
The first step In the process is to compress air
Iby Just such compressor as Is used In connec-
lion with pneumatic guns and traction systema
IA piston In a cylinder sQueezes quantity OF air
Into smaller compass than that ordinarily occu-
|pss and the compressed air then flows out
Through valve TO second cylinder. where II
|b compressed some more. Finally 1t Is stored In
Ia stout reservoir II will be observed that this
operation Is just the reverse Of that which oc-
ours in a steam engine. In the latter instance
vspor. already held In boiler at high pressure,
lis allowed TO enter cylinder. and by expansion
to DO work. Double, triple and even quadruple
eypansion Is resorted to before the steam com
pietes Its work. In like manner double and
Hple compression are employed with air.
higher pressures though. are carried in storage
tanks containing air than In steam boilers. The
Earie railway system stores air at 1900 pounds
10 the square inch, and puts 1t into the car
reservoir at ZOO or 300 Steam boilers. even
marine practice, rarely show pressures above
10 and 200 pounds 10 the inch.
Compression heats a vapor and expansion
eools H. Every compressor. therefore. Is accom-
panied with a coil. curled up In a water tank
whose contents are constantly changing
through which the compressed air must pass on
rs way 10 the storage tanks In order TO cool 1t.
This removal Of the superluous heat Is particu-
krly necessary when air Is TO be liquchcd.
MR. TRIPLER'S "LIQUEFIER"
I. is only the second step. the one about TO he
described, that is at all peculiar or novel In Mr..
fdper's practice. He has piece Of apparatus
which he calls '1iquener" He docs not pub
Eh all the details OF its arr ingcmcnt But
both he and Lnde tell enough to satisfy the
curiosity Of the general public. The principle OF
Is exceedingly simple He uses the cold OF
opansion,' obtained from part Of his stock OF
compressed air to reduce the temperature OF the
rest Of Il
long spiral coil Of very stout pipe Is inclo5cd
cylinder For convenience. 1t may be as
nmed that the device stands on end. To the
upper extremity u the coil Is led q supply pipe
nom the storage tank Air enters the coil then,
o. the same pressure that exists In the latter.
l4hde conducted some Of his earlier expert
ments with pressure Of 900 pounds. but now
uses nearly 5000. Triplcr employs from 1000 to
SVO AT the lower end Of the coil IL a valve Of
'leh design that when opened 1t permits lin
ied quantity Of the air 10 escape into the cyl
hder
4here 1t instantly expands. and its tempcra-
lure Is greatly reduced by the process OF cxpan-
non Neither Tripler nor Lindc allows the air to
1'ail ordinary atmospheric variety Both OF
0'en still keep it under pressure. Linde cx-
'anded down to 800 pounds when he started
va "i.n soo Tripler expands from 1900 down TO
~" THUS an immense reduction Of tcmpcra-