The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1900-01-08
LIQUID AIR. THE NEW REFRlO-
orator,

LIQUID AIR, THE NEW REFRlC-
orator,
One OF the most important inventions
OF late years is the process Of liquifying
air at small cost.
Until about 20 years ago, scientists al
ways supposed that air was gas-that
IL never could be anything but gas.
They had tried numberless experiments
with view to ascertaining whether air
could be reduced TO the form Of a
liquid, but had not succeeded. They had
placed IL under pressure of thousands
Of pounds TO the square inch they had
tried heating IL in reverbatory furnaces
and cooling it to the greatest known
depth Of chemical cold, but it remained
air--a gas.
But in 1877 Raoul Picket, French
man, succeeded in liquifying oxygen by
a combination OF enormous pressure and
intense cold. In 1892 olzewski, Pole
of Warsaw, succeeded in doing the same
with nitrogen, the other constituent Of
air.
Then Prof James Dewar of England
at length produced liquid air, the first
ounce costing over $4,000. Later he re-
duced the cost to $500 per ounce, but
that was too costly TO be Of practical use.
II has remained for an American, Chas.
f. Tripler, of New York City, to make
liquid air commercial possibility.
The principle he works on is this:
That when gas is compressed, it parts
with heat, it might be said tho heat is
squeezed out OF il, and when the pres
sure is removed the gas in expanding
must get back from some source the
heat II lost before, and it obsorbs this
heat from anything it comes in contact
with.
II is the same principle which is util-
lied in making artificial ice.
Mr.. Tripler, first congresses his air
with steam engine-putting it under
pressure Of 2500 pounds to the square
inch. Then he leads II through pipes
TO the liquiiyins apparatus.
This is large up right tube, and in
side are two systems Of pipes and coils.
In system number one are openings
which allow the compressed air TO es-
cape. Az it escapes il expands; and as
IL expands II extracts heat from the air
in the second system of pipes, with an
irresistible pull, passing off aiterward
at the top Of the large tube.
As this process is continued the air in
the closed tubes gets colder, for the ex-
air from the other tubes keeps
taking out heat. When the temperature
OF the confined air gets down TO 3l2
degrees below zero it liquihes, exactly
as steam liquifies when it cools, and the
liquid air can be drawn off at the bot
tom OF the machine.
That is the process, and all that is
requh ed is the power and little simple |
as indicated.
Once liquihed the air will remain so
as long as it kept at temper {
ature no higher that Sl2 degrees below
zero. That is it's limit, as 2l2 above zero ,
is the limit for water, Water raised
above the boiling point, becomes steam,
or gaseous; liquid air raised above Sl2
degrees below zero acts like water at PIP
degrees above and becomes again case
Dus.
When liquid air is exposed TO the
temperature at which man feels COM
IOrtable, say 20 above, it acts the same :
rs water at about PIP above; it ex-
pands 10 gas.
II takes about 800 cubic feet Of air TO i,
make one cubic foot of the liquid, 50 it
has tendency TO expand TO 800 times +
ts liquid volume. In doing this it will
run an engine exactly as steam will.
II left in an open yessul it will sim
ner and boil away like water ON hot
Itove. Setting such vessel on cake
4 ice is like setting pan of water ON
. red hot stove n
A locomotive could be built to run A
siih liquid air and all there need to I
No Of il would be a tank and the cylin- h
ers. No dre would be required; the a