The Washington herald., 1921-12-22
HELTuM DIRIGIBLE ACTS
LIKE HEAVY AUTO.


LIKE HEAVY AUTO.
A helium-niied dirigible. in add
ton TO being noniuflammable. a,
easier to handle In the air. TIL,
was discovered on the recent flight,
over Washington OF the CT, . navy
diriGible built for hydrogen but
filled with heiium-
This FIRST practical test Of helIun
a. q balloon gas on a large scsl.
also demonstrated the superiority
OF the United States over every
other nation In lighter-thsn-sfr
craft resources The United state.
, Ia the only nation that can produc.
sufhcient amounts OF helium "a. TO
take care OF all its army and navy
needs and have a considersbl.
amount left over for commercial
purposes. according 70 Or. r. r
Moore. chief chemist Of the Bureau
OF Mines who has directed the worl,
OF developing heiium gas recovery
from the natural gas wells OF the
I country.
Lieut. Commander Wood. who
piloted the CT, declared that tho
helium-nlled ship is stesdier ana
moves with greater momentum than
any hydrogen-hiled slrship with
which he has had experience.
Psrsooxicsl though IL may seem
the helium gas. twice as heavy as
hydrogen with % per cen, o. if.
lifting power. acts. in an airsh.D.
Just as a heavy automobile on \
road at high speed. in oomps-is.7
with a light car. Wind current IL
not defect IL easily from It's path
and after IL gets under va q
travels more smoothly.
In hydrogen-flled ships q -
been necessary. in descending. a. 1t
part Of the gas escape. after long
trip. 10 make up for the loss in
weight OF the fuel which IA.
escaped after being burned IN the
engine. with the helium ship. "a.
weight is sufhcient 30 that ~ nos
Ing the ship downward. the pro-
peller will pull Il 20 the rround.
Dirigtbles. In flying. pick NJ
static electricity from the atnos-
phere. With hydrogen ships there
was always danger. In lsndinr.
since when the ship touched the
ground an electric spark OF con
siderable power resulted. II this
spark touched the envelope. Ere and
an explosion was extremely likely
20 result Helium. being absolute.
~ non-inflammsble.d does away with
this danger.
While Il is not known how many
helium-bearing natural gas de-
posits there are in Mexico. the wells
developed IN the United States give
on SUFFICIENT amounts 20 take care
OF all military and naval needs and
other possibilities Of a considerable
commercial development Or Moon.
asserts that present known sources
are SUFFICIENT 90 take care OF the
urgent needs Of the United States
for twenty-five years
Tn a properly designed ship he
said. ''the loss Of helium Is per
cent per flying day. In such ship
the vapors from the gasoline ~
Diesel engines. which will he used
eventually. will be condensed. and
thus saved for ballast u il an in
cured BY condensation il almost a.
hedNN as gasoline ntloIt II y
burned in the engine"
Up to the time OF the war less
than 100 cubic feet OF the gas had
been captured and stored. II was
worth about sl.Too per cubic foot
At the plant in Petrolis Tex. nr.
Moore says Il can be produced for
about cents per cubic foot a.
present. Eventually. he says. II
would be possible 90 produce n A.
about . or 8 cents per cubic foot.
The capacity OF the Petrolia plant
is about 10000 cubic feet Of % per
cent pure helium per day. ThH gov
eminent has spent about 5000 90"
so far in its research work. build
ing plants and producing he'iun'
For the cost OF one modern bat
tleship the government could build
six helium airships. each a. large
as the Inflated IRA. pay for the
work that has been done. and still
have some money left over, d.
Moore says.
The amount Of helium obtained
from the natural gas wells as
Petrolis Is o.ss per cent ~ the -aw
gas. The volume OF raw gas from
these wells Is so great. however
that IL was wise 20 build plant
here rather than at q smaller wei
which gave off a higher per cent
OF helium. There are few wells
on the continent that give OF a.
much as one and one-hslf per cent.
W. n.