El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-05-18

with hydrogen and in nitric acid with
hydrogen and oxygen.
Electricity Solves Problem.
The WORK OF getting out the nitro
gen and combining IL has been sue
cessfully done by three different pro-
OF these processes use electricity, and
the chief plants have been built
where cheap water power could be
One way is by the arc process. In
this nitric acid is produced by the
com bustion Of nitrogen and oxygen
in the electric arc The process re-
quires great heat and a high voltage
and cheap water power. The Nor
wegians have used their water falls
generated thereby they are taking
hundreds OF thousands Of tons OF nj
trates out Of the air.
The second process depends upon
the combination Of Hitrates with cal
cium carbide. This also requires a
great deal OF cheap power, although
less than the arc process 1t is the
process now being used at the Can
adam plant at Niagara Falls, and il
has also been successfully installed in
Germany. The product IS known as
cyanamid It can be used in ferti-
lizers or can be converted into am
monia- which then can be oxydized
into nitric acid by a process they are
now using IN Europe.
The third process. which seems 20
be the cheapest and most practical
Of all Is the Haber process-the one
for which we are putting up tie works
at Muscle Shoals. Ala, end the one upon
which they are experimenting in this
laboratory at Arlington. It is being
used with great success IN Germany
and is the one from which viii prob
ally come our nitrate supplies Of the
future.
AIR and Water Utilized.
I shall not attempt to describe the
machines here at Arlington nor the
chemical processes through which the
air goes IN changing II from that
which we breathe to the nitrates used
in munitions and fertilizer. I have
gone over the plant with DR.. R o. Z.
Davis, the expert IN chHrge Of the
work I have seen the stuff IN the
making as far as Is possible on the
outside OF the complex machinery. Dr..
Davis has told me how II is done and
there Is no doubt but that he under
stands IT. viii say only that q mix
ture OF nitrogen taken from the sir
and hydrogen from water Is carried
through sealed chambers under q
pressure OF 5000 pounds to the square
inch During this time II Is raised
by electricity to heat OF about 500
degrees Fahrenheit and passed
through q substance which causes the
hydrogen and nitrogen to unite.
forming the ammonia from which we
get nitric acid
Exaetness Il Absolute Necessity.
The processes include changes OF
temperature from intense cold to ter
rible heat They embrace the use Of
electricity, and necessitate machinery
50 carefully made that the human
mind can hardly comprehend Its eN-
actness- Some OF the most danger
Gus Of the gases are confined in steel
cylinders under a pressure Of a ton
and a half to every square inch. and
a slight flaw in the machinery might
lleTed, that the explosion which
wrecked the great munition plant at
Greissheirn, Germany, last year was
caused IN that way. The parts are
Joined together so that they fit TO the
one 10,000th Of an inch, and between
them in some places are thin plates
OF copper which act as additional
c0rks.
one 10.OO0th Of an inchl Have you
any idea how small a crack Of that
size is2 Light might pass through.
but you cannot see II where the metal
is Joined. I tried to do so and failed
1 then asked the skilled mechanic
who grinds out the fine parts on a
lathe TO give me an example OF what
these measures mean. Thereupon he
pulled out a hair OF my head and
measured II with a little steel EaEe
II was about 1000th OF an inch thick
He then told me that II I could split
that hair into u equal strands, one
Of them would be not quite as thick
as the space between the cylinders
when Joined. The big machines at
Muscle Shoals are to be made the
same way 7 am told that they can
do the work for which they were
planned, and that with our great
water powers we shall eventually get
all the nitrates we need from the air