Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1915-08-20
STATE COLLEGE EXPERTS
ON SMUT EXPLOSIONS
Continued from first page)

vice. The sprinkler device is made
from ga iron pipe. Enough 1872
holes are drilled in the pipe to afford
q good, uniform distribution, SO that
when the water under pressure is
turned on every part of the separator
inside will be made thoroughly wet.
The source of the pressure is
either steam, air or carbon dioxide
gas. The steam pressure is developed
from the engine boilers. The air
pressure is developed by means of air
pumped by automobile pumps, or
similar devices, into pressure tanks.
The carbon dioxide gas is obtained
from the action of acid on baking
| soda, which is confined with water in
a pressure tank.
The steam pressure system re-
quires iron pipe connections from the
boilers to the sprinkler device in the
separators. The air or gas pressure
devices are either rugged directly on
the separators or attached to gasoline
engines.
Our Investigations lead us to be-
lieye that where the connections are
made with the steam or gasoline en-
gines that all parts communicating
with the sprinkler device should be
made up of iron pipes with a suf-
| ficient number of unions to connect
or disconnect the parts with ease.
We recommend that one valve of
the gate type be used. The gate
valves should have an extended han
die on one side and be so arranged
that when the cable is pulled the
valve will be in full opening to per-
NIT the water under pressure to
| move with the least friction. The
valve should be close to the pressure
system and when near steam or gaso-
line engines or otherwise it should
be connected with a light cable run
ming from the extended handle on
the valve up over the separator,
down over the grain spout, and with
in easy reach of the sack sewers.
There are at least two and sometim es
three sack sewers with each outfit,
and owing to the stationary position
of the grain spout one or the other
OF these men is always at hand to
pull the lever"
Prof. NJ. X. Akers of the depart
ment of mechanical and electrical
engineering, says;
The remedy for conflagrations
started by carelessly dropped
matches and cigarettes is obvious,
yet the committee from the college
has been impressed with the lack of
care which is shown by a few oper-
ators. 1t is fortunate that the
thresherm en- who permit their men
to smoke about the machine and
while resting on the grain are in the
minority.
I'VE believe now that ignition by
static discharge will account for a
very great number of the explosions
which have occurred. With a thresh-
er operating on dry ground, thresh-
ing dry wheat with a large percent
age of smut, the conditions for the
development of a large charge Of
static electricity are ideal. All oper-
ators have seen the discharge OF this
about The machine when operating
after dark. They have known that
this discharge was always present
and have hence too often been led tO
believe that the explosion could not
be set off by this discharge. We
have proved definitely that when
ever the proper mixture of air ana
smut is obtained, that it can be SCI
off.
THE static formed in various
parts of the separator as it is oper-
ated in the grain is insulated from
the rest of the machine by the
wooden parts of the separator, by
| OlISu DSdL iuGSJ SlS., anu, uSuCe, III
accumulates until a potential is de-
yeloped sufficiently great to cause
discharge from one insulated part to
another, or from one part to another
which is grounded. This discharge
may be sufficient to ignite proper
mixture of smut and air and cause an
explosion. The removal of this dan
ger is easy, but must be done with
considerable care. 1t is only neces-
sary to make a permanent metallic
connection, by means of straight
wires between the several parts of
the machine, in which static is de-
yeloped, and then to connect the
whole to the ground. This would
best be done by soldering a copper
nil bofWcan of tho ,~,otol;o