Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-12-14
LIQUID AIR.
Why This Marvellous Agent Has Besn
Commercial Failure.

Why This Marvellous Agent Has been
Commercial Failure.
Charles L. Trlpler, the man who did
most to exploit liquid air and to SIM
plify the process OF its reduction, fin
ished his career after earning n success
that he could not make commercial,
says the Schenectady Union. He was
not the first to accomplish the lique-
faction of the atmosphere. Professor
James Dewar of the Royal institute
In London and Professor Oleszewski
are rival claimants for the honor.
Tripler's apparatus was more practi-
cal than the others. He used triple
engine OF which the frst piston brought
the air to n pressure or sixty pounds
per square inch, cooled It and reduced
the temperature still more by allowing
It to expand again in closed chamber.
A second piston brought It to a pres
sure OF $50 pounds, and again It was
cooled by expansion. At the third COM
preston it was brought to n pressure
OF 1000 pounds per square inch. From
this state 1t was released into a regen-
Grating chamber, where u portion was
allowed to flow through a coil OF pipes,
NAllO luO WAS QlNeTlcQ 10
expand in a closed compartment sur
sounding the pipes, thus reducing the
temperature 20 $40 degrees below zero,
as commonly expressed. At this tenn
perature the compressed air In the pipes
was reduced to liquid and could be
drawn OF through a tap.
Here was wonderful product pos
sessed Of interesting physical properties
and capable OF imparting new proper
ties TO other substances. Any cellulose
substance, sponge, sawdust or even
wool saturated with liquid air, becomes
at once a.powerful n explosive. Rubber
gum dipped in IL becomes as unelastic
and as friable as 30 much chalk. Sheet
iron and steel can be crumbled in the
hand after being subjected to the low
temperature moment. A pint of
liquid air expanded in coil OF pipes
could reduce an area OF many cubic
feet to n zero temperature.
Tripler was man of large expert
ence In physics, but he seemed to lack
mechanical intuition, for he expected
this agent to become n source OF power
and useful In thousand different
ways. But after an experimental pc
Rod OF about sixteen years liquid air
Is still Of little use outside a physical
laboratory. Although it is said to in
crease the electrical eonductivity OF
copper fifteen times while It Is IN the
solution, that property rs useless ex-
cept as demonstration OF pho
Eomenon. In a liquid state It repre-
sents a substAncs having about 500 xol-
urnes OF the mediun or which It In
|seompessd. nAm 9fr1Ge the earth's
atuzaace ksprssbaH i pressure OF nearly
saftSsn poands.to che fsch. It Is evident
that an agent requiring retainer
capable of, wtthstanding a prcssufe of
more than 12.o0a pounds to the square
inch would be rather unmanageable.
II would be transported about the coun-@
try In open containers protected from
heat by vacuum chambers, thick felt
and its own yapefs, but evaporation
was rapid under the most favorable
conditions. The fatal defect, however,
is the lack of economy in production,
even by Tripler's method. A fifty
horsepower engine and apparatus
working ten hours could only produce
between forty and fifty gallons of Iiq-
uid air. Even If this did not require
retainers of prohibitive cost it would
be an economical failure as a source
OF power. which Tripler and his back
ers seemed to overlook.
In a pound of liquid air are stored
$4,000 foot pounds of energy. This
looks large, but it is merely the equiva-
lent OF four and one-half horsepower
exerted for one minute. II the work
or a fifty horsepower engine working
ten hours could produce only 400 pints
OF liquid air it is mathematical GER
tainty that the power realized would
be but fraction Of the power required
TO produce the liquid air.-Buffalo
News.