Stull, R. T.

KnowledgeBank at OSU

 The Knowledge Bank at The Ohio State University Ohio State Engineer   Title:  Work of the Ceramic Experiment Station of the U. S. Bureau of Mines Creators:  Stull, R. T. Issue Date:  May-1919  Publisher:  Ohio State University, College of Engineering Citation:  Ohio State Engineer, vol. 2, no. 1 (May, 1919), 14-15, 29. URI:  http://hdl.handle.net/1811/33966  Appears in Collections: Ohio State Engineer: Volume 2, no. 1 (May, 1919)           The Ohio State EngineerWork of the Ceramic Experiment Station of the U. S.Bureau of Mines*By R. T. STULLUnder an Act of Congress approved March 3,1915, provision was made for the establishmentof 10 mining- experiment stations and 7 minesafety stations in additions to those which werealready established, providing that not more than3 mining- experiment station and 9 safety stationsbe established in any one year.Up to the present time there are 12 experimentstations, 5 of which have been established underthe above named act. Stations are now located atPittsburgh, Pa.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Golden,Colo.; Seattle, Wash.; Bartlesville, Okla.; Berke-ley, Calif.; Fairbanks, Alaska; Salt Lake City,Utah; Tucson, Ariz.; Urbana, 111.; San Francisco,Calif., and Columbus, Ohio.The problems of these different stations arelargely those which are of greatest economic im-portance to the mining and metallurgical locali-ties in which they are located. Some stations arenecessarily doing work parallel or similar in na-ture though quite different in detail.The Columbus Station was established July 1,1917, and was located at Columbus for the fol-lowing reasons: Ohio is the leading clay productsstate in the Union, its annual output being- morethan 22% of the entire valuation of the nation'sannual output. Columbus is the approximate cen-ter of the ceramic industry. Ohio State Uni-versity established the first ceramic engineeringschool in the United States. It has its ceramictraditions and is broadly known. The Universityentered into an agreement whereby it proposed tosupply the Bureau of Mines with adequate roomsfor offices and laboratories, to supply light, heat,power and janitor service fee and to provide lab-oratory furniture and other fixtures and to loanto the Ceramic Experiment Station the use ofequipment consisting of kilns, machinery andother apparatus.The Columbus Station is the only ExperimentStation of the Bureau of Mines, devoted to investi-gations of clays and other ceramic materials,therefore its work is not confined entirely to theproblems of greatest interest to the locality, butit has to do with all ceramic problems common tothe United States and its foreign possessions.The Station has twelve employees, consisting ofa superintendent, chief clerk, stenographer, cer-amic engineer, ceramic chemist, five ceramic as-sistants, a potter and an unskilled laborer.The Station's problems are those pertaining tothe mining, refining and utilization of ceramicKBy permission of the Director U. S. Bureau of Mines.raw materials, the investigation of industrial prob-lems with a view to reducing the cost of manu-facture and to improve the quality of products.It has also to do with the elimination of waste andthe safeguarding of the health of ceramic work-men.The Station is authorized to do co-operativework with the different governmental bureaus,with the different states and with the industries.Clays are being tested for the Government LandOffice, for the Indian Schools and the U. S. Geo-logical Survey. A co-operative agreement hasbeen made with the Geological Survey of Ohio forinvestigating the clays of the state.Ohio's most valuable clays are the high gradefire clays and their investigation has been under-taken as the first step in a general survey of thedifferent clays of the state. The geological andfield work has been practically completed andsamples taken by Mr. Wilbur Stout of the StateSurvey and the testing of these clays is to be doneby the Ceramic Station.The U. S. Public Health Service is investigatingconditions in the potteries as regards the effect ofdust upon the health of the workmen and the con-ditions causing lead poisoning. The assistance ofthe Ceramic Station has been requested and itsservices have been offered in conducting these in-vestigations.During the progress of the war, the work whichwas undertaken consisted principally of investiga-tions of war minerals. The problem of producinglarge quantities of chemicals for explosives, pois-onous gases and dye stuffs made a great demandupon the chemical stoneware industries. The firstproblem investigated was to determine the prop-erties of some Ohio and Pennsylvania stonewareclays. Methods were studied to improve the qual-ity of the ware and to bring to the attention of thechemical stoneware manufacturers, valuable claysnot being used.The second problem undertaken was that ofAmerican graphites and bond clays for the manu-facture of graphite crucibles which are of import-ance in the melting of brasses, alloys and specialgrades of crucible steel. Before the war thegraphite crucibles produced in this country weremade from practically all imported graphite andGerman bond clays. Over 90% of the graphiteused for this purpose came from the Island ofCeylon. The importation of German bond claywas shut off in 1914 and the supply on hand wassoon exhausted. It was therefore necessary forthe American crucible manufacturers to look toThe Ohio State Engineer 15the American clays for use with their graphite inthe production of crucibles. This condition at firstcreated not only a hardship on the crucible manu-facturers but upon the users as well, since thecrucible manufacturers in general had not learnedhow to use American clays which were quite dif-ferent from the imported German clays.Crucible manufacturers had large stocks of Cey-lon graphite on hand but after the United Statesentered the war it was necessary to conserveocean shipping in order to carry men and materialto France. The importation of Ceylon graphitewas therefore restricted and it was found neces-sary to restrict the crucible manufacturers to theuse of as much domestic graphite as possible. TheCeramic Station therefore took up the study ofAmerican graphites and bond clays for cruciblemaking purposes. Over 200 crucibles made fromforeign and domestic graphites and bond clayshave been made and tested and it has been foundthat by proper blending and preparation, our do-mestic materials will make crucibles equally asgood as those made from imported materials.Fire brick and other refractories are of vital im-portance to the metallurgical industries. Withoutproper refractories for furnace linings, the major-ity of the modern metallurgical processes wouldbe impossible. The bulk of refractories are madefrom fire clay, silica, magnesite, bauxite and chro-mite. Refractories made from zirconia, siliconcarbide and spinel have come into prominence morerecently and are being used in limited quantities.Furnaces used in the production of copper andcertain grades of steel require magnesite refrac-tory lining and large quantities of magnesite brickare used annually. Prior to the war, over 80% ofthe magnesite used for refractory purposes in theUnited States came from Austria, although vastdeposits of magnesite occur in the states of Cali-fornia and Washington. Most of the magnesiterefractories find use east of the Mississippi River,but the cost of mining, preparation and deliveryof the magnesite from the Pacific Coast was sogreat that the foreign magnesite could be securedin normal times, much cheaper. Since the foreignsupply became unavailable, the manufacturers ofmagnesite refractories have drawn largely uponthe magnesite from the Pacific Coast and to asmaller extent upon the Candian deposits.The necessity of using a more expensive rawmaterial together with the increase of prices dueto abnormal conditions, has brought the marketprice of magnesite brick up to nearly three timesthat of normal times.Enormous deposits of the double carbonate ofcalcium and magnesium, commonly known as dolo-mite, occur widely distributed throughout the east-ern states. The State of Ohio contains thousandsof acres of dolomite. At present its principal usesare for crushed stone in concrete and for surfac-ing roads. Perhaps the best known deposits arethose of the Cedarville, Ohio, district, some ofwhich are so pure that they correspond veryclosely to the theoretical dolomite formula.During the past four years, numerous attemptshave been made by various investigators to devisemethods of preparing dolomite so that it could beused as a substitute for magnesite refractories.About a baker's dozen patents have been issuedon methods of treating dolomite for refractorypurposes. The material is being treated under afew of these patent processes and sold in the looseor granular form under different trade names.The material has found a limited application insteel furnaces where it is used for making tem-porary patches in the magnesite lining and is alsomixed with a suitable binder and tamped in thebottom of open hearth furnaces. However, in sofar as the writer can learn, the production of apractical dolomite fire brick that will withstand along period of storage without slaking or disinte-grating under atmospheric conditions, is yet to beattained.About a year ago the Ceramic Station undertookthe study of the preparation of dolomite for themanufacture of refractories. The different patentprocesses for dead burning dolomite have beentested and a number of other methods are beinginvestigated. The work has not progressed farenough at the present time to draw definite con-clusions, but it can be said that "the results arepromising."Over 50^ of the white clays used in the bettergrades of pottery comes from England, it beingthe general opinion that the imported clay pro-duces ware of a better color and texture. In orderthat we may be independent of importations, itwill be necessary to develop new deposits and toimprove the present refining processes.In June last year, the Ceramic Experiment Sta-tion undertook a survey of the china clay and ka-olin deposits east of the Mississippi river. Onehundred and five samples of white clays were col-lected in the field and shipped to the Ceramic Sta-tion for tests. Sixty of these samples were col-lected by Prof. A. S. Watts representing the U. S.Bureau of Mines and the remainder by Dr. Riesand Dr. W. S. Bayley representing the U. S. Geo-logical Survey.These clays are being tested in order to deter-mine their physical properties and methods ap-plicable to their purification are being studied. Anew type of clay washer has been developed on alaboratory scale which removes the finer impuri-ties not removable by the present clay washingprocess. Before the new method of washing clay(Continued on Page 29)The Ohio State Engineer 29CERAMIC ENGINEERING STATION(Continued from page 15)can be recommended, it must first be tested underpractical working conditions.Although the work of the Ceramic Station is na-tional in scope, it perhaps means more to the Stateof Ohio than any other state because of the state'shigh rank in the production of ceramic wares. Toillustrate the economic importance of the work ofthe Bureau of Mines' Ceramic Experiment Station,we might mention the fact that the development ofa practical dolomite fire brick would develop a newindustry and add to the state's wealth by utiliz-ing a raw material low in value and abundant inquantity.The main object of the white clay investigationis to improve our domestic clays by refining andblending in order to produce materials at leastequal to the imported pottery clays. If this canbe done it will mean much in economy and inde-pendence nationally and especially will Ohio bea benefactor since the state produces over 42%of the value of the nation's pottery output. Cer-amics as a field for investigation is so new, it hasoften been said that "the surface has not beenscratched." The problems crying for investigationare so numerous that it is difficult to determinewhich is most in need of the nursing bottle.Space will not permit of a more detailed accountof all activities of the Station, but it is hoped thatthe above brief description of a few problems un-dertaken will give the reader an idea of the kindof work the Ceramic Experiment Station is doingand the kind of service it is trying to render thepublic.

Work of the Ceramic Experiment Station of the U. S. Bureau of Mines

https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/1811/33966/4/OS_ENG_v02_i01_014.pdf

Work of the Ceramic Experiment Station of the U. S. Bureau of Mines

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

KnowledgeBank at OSU