Chemical engineers travel to various plants and factories in Cincinnati, Chicago, Detroit, etc

Sheets, W. D.

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 The Knowledge Bank at The Ohio State University Ohio State Engineer   Title:  The Ch. E's Go Inspecting Creators:  Sheets, W. D. Issue Date:  May-1930 Publisher:  Ohio State University, College of Engineering Citation:  Ohio State Engineer, vol. 13, no. 7 (May, 1930), 7, 22-25. URI:  http://hdl.handle.net/1811/34698  Appears in Collections: Ohio State Engineer: Volume 13, no. 7 (May, 1930)   T H E O H I O S T A T E E N G I N E E RTHE CH. E'S GO INSPECTINGBy W. D. SHEETS, CHE. E. 4The old saying that realization is ninety-fiveper cent anticipation failed to hold true in thecase of this trip as it was so well managed andenjoyed by everyone. In fact that saying may beturned about to read the reverse.We got off to a flying start on Monday, April28, making our first stop at Dayton at the DurironCo. There we saw Duriron in its various stagesand had the privilege of seeing a charge pouredfrom an electric furnace. We also visited theFrigidaire Co., viewing the manner in which thesulphur dioxide is handled and the electroplat-ing methods of the refrigerating units.Our next stop was the National Cash RegisterCo., to see in operation their conveyer system, achain-type conveyer which moves continuouslyand is about 6000 feet long. They have alsosolved an interesting economic problem by manu-facturing their own inks and ribbons. In thisdepartment two men turn out all the products andlast year they made a saving of $50,000. Theyspeak of this as a profit since it would have costthat much more to buy the same material froman outside firm.Traveling towards Cincinnati we visited TheWest Carrollton Parchment Co., and the Cincin-nati Chemical Co. This last plant was our firsttouch of the dye industry and everyone managedto get his shoe soles covered with powdered dye.Unfortunately it rained before we arrived at thehotel and we left a beautiful mottled purple effecton the tiled floor of the foyer.In and about Cincinnati the next day we visitedthe American Diamalt Co., which uses barley asraw material and in answer to a question of oneof the group the superintendent stated that theproduct was advertised as being "very good forcooking purposes"; the American Oak LeatherCo., where we saw the processes of coloring theleather from which the shoes of our co-eds aremade; the Drackett Chemical Co., Mr. Drackett,the president, being a graduate of Ohio State;the Procter & Gamble Co., visiting their soap de-partment and also getting a few glimpses of themanufacture of Crisco lard; the Emery CandleCo., which was not a perfume factory but didmake nice-looking candles ,glycerine, stearic acidand tar from the inedible greases and scraps ofthe meat industry; the Flintkote Co., who are themanufacturers of shingles and roofing productsand turn out either asbestos or plain products.And last but not least we saw the White TarProducts Co., where we became familiar with themanufacturing of mothballs.Our day in Cincinnati was completed and laterwe boarded our sleepers for Chicago and its out-lying districts. All went well until the next morn-ing when "Charlie" Duncombe declared war onthe various members of the group who evidentlycould not sleep on a Pullman and had to rise withmuch racket at 4 a. m. Happily for them theiridentity could not be discovered and we arrivedat Kensington, an outlying section of Chicago.We procured our breakfast at Parise's CafeIt had formerly been a saloon from the appear-ance of the outside but the name is all that re-mains and we found ourselves in a clever littleplace that would make "Tim" blush.From breakfast we went through the Sherwin-Williams plant and there we saw the Dutch andCarter processes of white lead manufacture.Our next two plants were both lead refiningplants, the International Lead Refining Co., usingthe Parke's process, and the U. S. S. Lead RefiningCo., using the electrolytic process. At both placeswe saw silver bullion which is recovered fromthe impure lead and at the last named we weretreated to the sight of a bar of gold weighing 640ounces and worth a little over $13,000, The su-perintendent of the plant told us that approxi-mately 4000 ounces of silver and 25 ounces ofgold are recovered per ton of lead.We next visited the Gfasseli Chemical Co., andcontinuing we stopped at the Portland CementCo., or the Universal Atlas Cement Co., as it isnow named having undergone a merger recently.This plant is of enormous size and is capable ofturning out large quantities of finished cement.An interesting fact in this plant is the fact thatthe sacks are filled after they are tied shut.Our next stop was at the Standard Oil Com-pany's Refinery. Here we had a game originatedby our guide and it was nothing more than a foot-race to see who could finish first. The guide wasthe best bet and won by several noses. Duringthe race the guide happened to see a storm com-ing and stopped in a great wide open space to letit pass, taking advantage of the pause to answerquestions. Dr. Withrow unlike Ashur Url wasable to bring him out of his coma and we madea mad dash for cover.We then made our weary way to the Hotel LaSalle and after registering were let loose for theevening. It is whispered that a number of themen visited theaters that night and confirmatoryevidence was secured the next day in the formof programs. From these programs it seems youmay smoke in the Chicago theaters if you sodesire.Minnear had great difficulty the next morn-ing in wresting himself from the arms of Mor-pheus but arrived on deck at the last minute andwe set out for a day in Chicago.Our first visit was at the Booth Fisheries andhere we suffered our first delay. A few minutesafter we got started howTever we were glad as itturned out to be a cold storage plant at 4 degreesbelow zero and only one person — a girl — hadremembered to wear a fur coat.The girls have not been mentioned so far anda word must be spoken to introduce them. Therewere two of them, Miss Mary Louise Bucher andMiss Yun Hao Feng, both graduate students inthe department of Chemical Engineering. Bothgirls were very game and almost outwalked someof our best bets.After visiting the Booth Fisheries we went to(Continued on Page 22)MAY, 1930•11 THE OHIO STATE ENGINEERJenkins VALVES ARE ALWAYS MARKED WITH THE "DIAMOND^A * lcreiv'' of Jenkins Iron Body ValvesAll perform as oneAll Jenkins Valves . . . like the men who makethe crew . . . perform alike . . . smooth and sure,with that uniform precision that wins in the grind.Because all Jenkins Valves . . . although of manydifferent types. . . are made alike . . . of the sameselected and analyses-controlled metals, to thesame high Jenkins standard of casting, machining,threading and assembling. The long, leak-tight,and economical performance of any one Jenkinsis typical of what to expect from every Jenkins.Jenkins are made in bronze and iron, in standard,medium and extra heavy patterns for practicallyevery power plant, plumbing, heating, fire pro-tection or equipment service.Send for a booklet descriptive ofJenkins Valves for any type ofbuilding in which you may beinterested.JENKINS BROS80 White Street . . . New York, N.Y.524 Atlantic Avenue . . . Boston, Mass.133 No. Seventh Street . Philadelphia, Pa.646 Washington Boulevard . Chicago, 111.JENKINS BROS., LIMITEDMontreal. Canada London, EnglandJenkinsVALVESSince 1864THE CH. E.'S GO INSPECTING(Continued from Page 7)Swift & Co., where we saw the slaughtering ofhogs, sheep, and cattle, on a wholesale basis. Itdid not affect many of us but Professor Malveahas renounced any further desire to partake ofmeat at his meals. We also noted that HenryFord has so far failed to avail himself of thegrunts and squeals going to waste there. Westruck our worst rock when we entered the gluefactory. None of us could eat so well after thatfor the rest of the day. Our guide told us thatglue was not made from the bones and hoofs ascommonly thought but was made from meatscraps and hide trimmings. He failed to say whatwas made of the liquid that was obtained by boil-ing the bones and hoofs before they were groundup for fertilizers but we had our suspicions.We next visited Armour & Co., and Sears, Roe-buck & Co., before going to the Corn ProductsRefining Co., where some of the well-knownbrands of starch and corn sugar are made. Thisplant was very well planned and obtained a highefficiency in handling materials at minimum costs.W"e followed the process from yellow field cornclear through the plant to Argo starch, corn su-gar, jelly, and Mazola oil, their main products.Up to this time we thought we had climbed plentyof stairs but we soon changed our minds. Ourguide, one of the chemists, was an ex-football manfrom Iowa and the first building we enteredlooked about the height of the Woolworth Build-ing. He took us up on the run for what seemedto be about the nine stories. We couldn't countafter the first two floors and no one had breathenough to ask questions for some time.Leaving Chicago that night via sleepers wewent to Detroit and this time everyone includingthe porter overslept about a half an hour. Nonemourned the fact though he had to rush.The first plant in Detroit was that well-knowncan factory, Ford Motor Co. Its size is reallyimpressive and the numerous things that are donethere makes one realize how Henry Ford attainedhis vast holdings. One is struck by the cleanli-ness of the whole. Even in the boiler room thevarious parts of the front of the boilers weredusted and polished. Everything we saw was in-teresting from the plate glass plant through theassembly line and power plant, to the coke andby-products recovery plant. All are enormousin size and are kept in the best of shape possibleby the large cleaning crew.Next we visited the Parke-Davis Co., and uponentering we were confronted by a sign, "WelcomeChemical Engineers, Ohio State University."This pleased everyone and together with the cour-tesy of the officials and an inside view of the plantand what they are doing to aid humanity in resist-ing disease, gave all of us a wonderful opinion ofthem. Their products are practically all pharma-ceutical supplies but they wrork continuously inthe laboratories to perfect and to find new serums,vaccines, and drugs.That afternoon we visited the Michigan AlkaliCo., and the Detroit Sulphite Paper & Pulp Co.,and then took the train for Saginaw, Michigan.The next morning we boarded buses for Mid-land and there we were the guests of the DowChemical Co., who have recently become known(Continued on Page 24)MAY, 1930T H E O H I O S T A T E E N G I N E E RTHEMOUNT VERNONBRIDGE CO.Engineers and ManufacturersofIron and Steel Mill Buildings andStructural Work, Railway andHighway Bridges, Roofs,Viaducts, Etc.Builders of the Structural Steel Workin the Ohio StadiumffiMT. VERNON, OHIO1 8 5 5 S E V E N T Y - F I F T H A N N I V E R S A R Y 1 9 3 0Cupolas controlled from the laboratoryWhite hot rivers of metal, pouring from big cupolas inCrane foundries, are even more thoroughly analyzed,more carefully watched, than the drinking water pouringfrom a faucet in a well-ordered city.Because correct chemical ingredients in valve metals areas essential to absolute safety and right functioning of a pip-ing installation as pure water to human health, Crane Co.maintains laboratory control of cupolas.This means that experts in the metallurgical and physicaltesting of metals are responsible for the quality of everyvalve and fitting turned out. It means that tensile strength,yield point, elongation, and reduction of area of test barstaken every hour of the day's run are known to labora-tory and cupola chemists. It means that constantly, as themetals pour out, the proportion of silicon, manganese,carbon, phosphorus, calcium, pure iron, are known anduniformly maintained. It means immediate correction ofany variation and rejection of faulty materials.From specifications of raw materials to final installation,Crane Co. knows its products and what they will do.How Crane Co. developed the background for thisknowledge makes an absorbing story. It is titled Pioneer-ing in Science. You are cordially invited to send for yourcopy. Aside from its interest, you will find it a splendidreference book on the reactions of metals to high temper-atures and pressures.Valves CRAN EPIPING MATERIALS TO CONVEY AND CONTROL STEAM, LIQUIDS, OIL, GAS, CHEMICALSCRANE CO., GENERAL OFFICES: 836 S. MICHIGAN AVE., CHICAGONEW YORK OFFICES: 23 W. 44TH STREETBranches and Sales Offices in One Hundred and Ninety CitiesMAY, 1930Fittings24 THE OHIO STATE ENGINEERTHEORANGE MILLOFFERSSpecial PricesTo Campus OrganizationsNo ChargeFor use of 5 gal. Dispenser with every order of5 gal. or over of Orange Jui<-.eUNiversity 9124Three Doors South of State TheaterENGINEERSMEETANDEATATHENNICK'SAT THE GATEWAYOF THE CAMPUSTHE CH. E.'S GO INSPECTING(Continued from Page 22)to aviation circles through their product, Dowmetal. We did not get to see this part of theplant but as we spent the entire morning therewe saw enough to keep us busy. Before startingour tour they gave us a blackboard talk showingthe flow sheet of the plant. They start with brinepumped from their own wells and from this theymanufacture such products as table salt, syntheticoil of wintergreen, chloroform, and undiluted as-pirin. This aspirin goes to such people as Parke-Davis where it is mixed with corn starch and putin the form of the tablets which we buy at thestores.We left the plant and at 12 started our home-ward journey arriving in Columbus about 9:20.We were all very sorry we could not continue andwe felt that the trip was well worth while. It wasin reality the actual observation of the things wecan only read of here. We cannot thank the indi-vidual plant officials enough and we hope theywill grow to see bigger and better groups treadwhere we trod this year.The department of civil engineering has. ar-ranged a display of instruments on the first floorof the east wing of Brown Hall. Besides the wellknown standard makes of levels and transits,there are also a number of foreign manufacturedproducts. A large theodolite and other precisesurveying instruments, as well as a new airplanecompass include some of the devices not seen veryoften.Burgess & NipleEngineersThe Burnip Construction Co.Contractors forMunicipal Improvements568 East Broad St. Columbus, OhioA name which for years has identi-fied the finest tapes andrules on the market,regardless of price.LUFKINLUFKINLUFKiNLUFKINLetus sendyou CatalogLUFKIN THE LUFKIN RULE CO.SAGINAW, MICH.106 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORKMAY, 1930THE OHIO STATE ENGINEERDYNAMITE CLEARS THEWAY FOR MODERNENGINEERING WONDERSTHE Waterville Development• ••more hydro-electric powerfor the SouthHow dynamite was used inthe construction of thisgreat projectTHE Carolina Power andLight Company neededmore electric power to serve theterritory in which it operates.The result was the WatervilleDevelopment... a vast hydro-electric project located in theGreat Smoky Mountains.The actual working of thisproject involved the erection ofa constant arch dam, 183 feethigh; three tunnels varying inlength from 5,000 to 16,000feet; three penstock tunnels600 feet in length; a verticalshaft known as a gap shaft,and a surge tank shaft.From the Waterville Develop-ment, transmission lines carrythe current to many points inCarolina and Tennessee. Thetremendous power of the GreatSmokies turns the wheels of in-dustry and lights the homes ofthousands of people of the South.Such a development wouldnot have been possible withoutthe use of dynamite. Du Pontexplosives w ere used for all blast-ing operations.The engineer of tomorrowneeds to know all there is toknow about dynamite . . . thetool that helps to build skyscrap-ers, bridges, dams, subways,tunnels, roads and railroads.How can you know more . . .now . . . while you're still incollege? Write the du PontCompany for a copy of the"Blasters' Handbook." Thisbooklet contains a wealth of in-formation about explosives . . .information gathered in twenty-eight years' experience in makingand improving explosives. It iscompact . . . handy. It is usedin the classrooms of leadingtechnical institutions. Your freecopy is waiting for you.Motion Picture ofWaterville DevelopmentAhove is a picture of the great dam inthe \^  aterville Development. A camera -graphic record of the construction of thishydro-electric project has been made bydu Pont. Requests are invited from engi-neering societies and colleges for this mo-tion picture. Address requests to ExplosivesDepartment, Wilmington. Delaware.cfDPONp E X P L O S I V E S"EG. U.S. PAT.OFFE. I. DC PO3FT DE XEMOTJRS & CO., Inc. — Explosives Department — Wilmington, DelawareMAY, 1930

The Ch. E's Go Inspecting

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The Ch. E's Go Inspecting

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