Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-06-28

the possibilities in store for liquid al
as a means of furnishing power and re
frigeration for commercial purposes
are not new, if many scientists may bt
believed. The claim is advanced BY
chemists tAIL no material Roadway has
been made by Mr.. Tripler since hi
placed himself before the public as
discOVerer of liquefed air as a force
likely TO enter into the commercial
and industrial activities of the world
Experts in chemistry hold that the
recent demonstrations by Mr.. Triplel
were rather a showing of what intense
cold could do than of the peculiar
properties of liquefed air. 1t is fur
ther held that the latter have been
investigated and noted for the last
twenty or twenty-five years. Expert
ments have been conducted in various
European universities and technical
institutes and from time to time the
eminent Professor Liebig has made
demonstrations to his pupils, who were
limited to few.
One of the latter, Charles Mayo, a
of Chicago. He, too. has been expert
menting, and asserts that he made
liquid air in Chicago some time before
Mr.. Tripler's appearance before the
public.
"Such Investigations are as rule
not interesting to the general public, -
said Mr.. Mayo, land for that reason |
have not gone out Of my way to make
announcement of what l have done
in my laboratory. Mr. Tripler GER
tainly knows how to make liquid air
and is acquainted with its value to
such an extent that he can go before
the public and juggle with it, as a
magician would with a pack of cards.
Mr.. Tripler suggests that liquefied
air would be valuable as a motive
power There is no doubt that we
can drive machinery with the vapor
of liquefied air, but this does not solve
the problem. The chief question is:
It is more economical, effective, or
easier of application than other forms
of force now in use? To produce
liquid air we have to start from COM
mon air. When liquid air is used to
drive a machine it returns to the state
of natural air. 1t is an unquestloned
principle of mechanics that in such a
circular process, as it is termed, no
new power is created therefore, at
best, we may get from liquefied air
only as much work in any machine as
we spend in COMPRISING the original
air to a state of liquefaction.
Now, | will give the whole history
of liquid air as | gathered it in Pro-
lessor Liebigs laboratory, in the lab
oratory of the University of Berlin,
and from personal investigation" con-
tinued Mr.. Mayo, who is of German
and Russian extraction, and whose
local headquarters are at Is North
Canal street. None of us appreciates
fully the intensity Of the cold realized
in the class of experiments leading to
the liquefaction of what were former
ly called the permanent gases.
History Of Liquid Air.
"On Christmas, in 1877, at Geneva,
Switzerland, Professor Pictet succeed
ed for the first time in history in OBJ
tanning about as much liquid air as a
thermometer tube would hold. At al
most the same time M. Cailletet OBJ
tanned about a tablespoonful. A few
years afterward two Russians-Pro-
lessor Wroblenski, in 1882, and Pro-
fessor Olenofski in 1SS5-liquefed
considerable quantities, in gallon lots
even not only of air but of all former
ly known gases, with the exception of
hydrogen. Since that time three new
gases have been found-namely: cryp-
ton, argon, and helion.
Between 1883 and 1894 Professor
Dewar, a Scotchman of London, pro-
duced more than twenty gallons of
liquid air in one vessel. He gave dem
oGstrations and lectured precisely as
Mr.. Trpler does now in the United
States. Immediately after the an
nouncement made by Professor Pictet
tried to duplicate his experiments.
Some of them, like myself, succeeded.
was then in Boston doing work in
chemistry for the state.
The year 1880 is probably the earli-
est date of the experiments in the
United States. From this it can be
seen that no patent with a good foun-
dation can be in existence.
why was air not liquefied before
Pictet's work in 1877? Natterer, who
uquehed nitrous oxide, or dentists
laughing gas and carbonic acid, sub
united air to pressure of 5000
pounds TO a square inch and to a tenn
perature of so degrees below zero. but
without liquefylng it. He did not
know what is now termed by scientists
the critical point'-namely: for every
gas there is a certain temperature
above which, no matter what pressure
be used it cannot be liquefed Thus
water has the critical temperature O.
500 degrees F., at or above which it i!
impossible tosreduce to any other form
than steam or vapor. The critical tenn
perature of air is 300 degrees F., o.
as far below zero as the temperature
OF boiling water is above it.
The question narrowed itself t
producing 200 degrees T.
I'm the early experiments the illu
minating element of common gas
known as ethylene, which boils whel
liquefied at POS degrees F. gave sue
cessful results, but it was too expen
siye. Olenofski introduced the metho,
of cooling the air by its own expan
sion to 200 degrees f. 800 degree
II i