Beverly banner. [volume] (Beverly, N.J.) 1877-1964, 1924-06-20

niary apparatus sections and a shore section.
ultimate installation calls for eighteen maln
power units, four Of which are 10000 horsepower
each, and fourteen of $4,000 horsepower each.
-Four of the latter fourteen and the four 3oOO
horsepower units are being installed at the present
time, making an initial installation of 2oooVV
horsepower. Each power unit consists of a water
turbine of the Francis type, in a vertical setting,
with electrical generator above on the same shaft.
The four 10000 horsepower turbines were man
ufactured by the William Cramp & Sons Ship &
Engine Building company, and the generators for
same were made by the Westinghouse Electric &
Manufacturing company.
Five thousand men are employed on the con-
struction of this project. They work in three
shifts, each shift working eight hours. This con-
%struction camp is In reality a fair-sized town. The
main concrete mixing plant is located on an island
In the middle of the river. From here the con-
crete is hauled in large buckets on railroad cars
to any part Of the job where 1t may be needed.
Railroad tracks serve every available part of the
work. In all more than twenty miles of track have
been laid for construction purposes. A co1struc-
ton bridge carrying railroad tracks as well as
tracks for huge travelling derrieks had to be con-
structed In order to build the formwork for the
concrete, a lumber yard, sawmil and layout plat
form had to be erected. The lumber used on the
Job will run to millions of feet board measure"
The manufacture of destructive explosives from
nitrates taken from the air is a fascinating sub
1ect, especially in connection with the fact that the
same nitrates can easily be turned into harmless
and b~enehcent fertilizer. AS 1t stands today, Nj
trate Plant No. 2 can fix from the atmosphere the
nitrates required for the continuous supply of am
munitlon for an army of 1,250.000 men. In war
time the cost of ammunition Is not an essential fea-
ture.
But can fertilizer be manufacturers at Muscle
Shoals at peace-time prices? This seems to be an
unsettled question. Maj. J. X. Grain, ordnance
department, u. s. A., says on this much-vexed
question In connection with the Muscle Shoals
project.
There is some doubt that fertilizer can be pro-
duced bv the process for which Muscle Shoals prop
critics are now equipped at a price low enough to
compete with the products from other sources.
scientists in both private and governmental employ.
Promising results have been attained at the fxed
laboratory was established by the War department.
but turned over to the control of the Department
experiments in this field has caused the War de-
partment to oppose REIMBURSEMENT of the title to
these properties without adequate guarantees that
the plants must be returned to the control Of the
government in an effective condition to be utilized
in the manufacture of explosives, should they pass
to the control OF persons who did not continue their
use of the manufacture Of fertilizers.
Taking Nitrogen From Air.
THE raw materials employed in the manufacture
ing process are nitrogen, obtained from the air.
limestone, and coal, which is used In the form
of COKE says Major Grain. "The first step Is
10 III Tie hLuCSLOAC ~ AAluCp WA1NA 10 Ill OAAuC " 1
calcium (CaO). This is then mixed with coke
carbon, and the mixture is heated to a very high
temperature in electric furnaces. The product thus
formed is a combination of calcium and carbon,
the familiar calcium carbide (CaC-2) which gen.
crates a~cetylene when placed in water. The car
bide Is run out Of the furnaces in a liquid state,
and after cooling and solidifying, Is ground to a
fine powder.
"The next step is to add nitrogen to the carbide.
For this purpose practically pure nitrogen is need
ed. There are several different methods of sep
arating nitrogen from the oxygen of the air, but the
one used at Muscle Shoals, because of Its simplicity
and cheapness, is first to liquify air and then to
separate the two gases by taking advantage Of the
are slightly different. Oxygen boils at 1928
degrees Centigrade and nitrogen at 1855 de-
gress Centigrade) The process is very similar to
that used in separating mixtures of alcohol and
water.
'The actual hxation Of the nitrogen is now ac-
complished by passing Ii over the finely ground
carbide heated to a temperature of about 1000
degrees Fahrenheit. A reaction takes place under.
these conditions and a complex compound of cal
cium, carbon, and nitrogen, called cyanamide
(CaCN-2) is the result.
"The next step In the production of both ex
plosives and fertilizer Is to heat the cyanamide in
large steel tanks with steam and water. which re
suits In the formation Of ordinary ammonia.
Ammonia can be readily changed into nitric
Sid (HNO-3>, and from this acid any desired nj
trogen compound for either agricultural or mill
fary purposes can be made For fertilizers, am
monfddm phosphate and ammonium ~sulphate are the
preferred forms; while for explosives. there is a
host Of nitrogen products. dynamite. I. N. t. and
many others"