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New manufacture of gunpowder
826
Mechanics, _Physics, and Ohemlstry.
ner, the second press being then in turn blocked by the water enclosed in it. The important feature in the invention is the blocking of one press, whilst a more powerful one is caused to act against it thus : ~ Two separate hydraulic presses, the one of small, and the other of large power, may be arranged one at each end of a frame, the material to be pressed between them is received between the two presses, and is partly compressed by the press of smaller power ; then this is blocked by enclosing water in it, and the press of greater power is put in action to complete the compression. This arrangement may also be employed where mechanical blocking is used in place of or together with water blocking.
2Vew Manufacture of Gunpowder. From the London Artizan~ August~ 1862.
~Ir. W. Bennetts, of Tuckingmill, has invented a new method of manufacturing gunpowder, the ingredients consisting of lime, nitre, sulphur, and charcoal ; the lime is dissolved in a sufficient quantity of water to bring the other elements into a paste. The lime after having been made into a solution is strained through a fine sieve; this solution is then added to the other ingredients, and the whole is put into a mill and ground until it becomes a paste ; it is then taken out of the mill and passed between two rollers, one grooved and the other plain. The paste by passing between the rollers is formed into long strips of a triangular shape; it is then carried on an endless web or canvass over some hot tubes, which are heated by steam, hot water, or any other artificial heat which may be applied ; by this means the strips are easily broken into grains. This mode of manufacture prevents a great deal of danger, as the powder is pulverized and brought into grain while in a wet state. The lime makes a firm grain, resists the damp, and gives it a degree of lightness which increases the bulk 25 per cent. over ordinary gunpowder--a great advantage for blasting purposes. Plaster of paris, blue lias, Roman or Portland cement,, or other strong cementing substance, may be used as a. s u ~ i t u t e for lime. And the patentee finds that for blasting purposes t ~ f o l l o w i n g proportions answer well--that is to say, nitre, 65 lbs.; Charcoal, 1~ lbs. ; sulphur, 10 lbs. ; and lime, 7 lbs.; but the proportions may be varied according to the strength required.
Safety- Valves of Steam Boilers. A t a meeting of the Academy of Sciences of Vienna, M. de Burg gave an account of his experiments on the mode of action of the safety-valves of steam boilers. These results are in contradiction with the theoretical propositions upon which the regulations for the dimensions of these boilers have been based : inasmuch as in reality these valves do not rise to a height equal to one-fourth of their diameter, that is, one or more inches, but only so as to leave a passage for the steam whose diameter does not exceed the fraction of a line. These appara-
Mechanics, _Physics, and Ohemlstry.
ner, the second press being then in turn blocked by the water enclosed in it. The important feature in the invention is the blocking of one press, whilst a more powerful one is caused to act against it thus : ~ Two separate hydraulic presses, the one of small, and the other of large power, may be arranged one at each end of a frame, the material to be pressed between them is received between the two presses, and is partly compressed by the press of smaller power ; then this is blocked by enclosing water in it, and the press of greater power is put in action to complete the compression. This arrangement may also be employed where mechanical blocking is used in place of or together with water blocking.
2Vew Manufacture of Gunpowder. From the London Artizan~ August~ 1862.
~Ir. W. Bennetts, of Tuckingmill, has invented a new method of manufacturing gunpowder, the ingredients consisting of lime, nitre, sulphur, and charcoal ; the lime is dissolved in a sufficient quantity of water to bring the other elements into a paste. The lime after having been made into a solution is strained through a fine sieve; this solution is then added to the other ingredients, and the whole is put into a mill and ground until it becomes a paste ; it is then taken out of the mill and passed between two rollers, one grooved and the other plain. The paste by passing between the rollers is formed into long strips of a triangular shape; it is then carried on an endless web or canvass over some hot tubes, which are heated by steam, hot water, or any other artificial heat which may be applied ; by this means the strips are easily broken into grains. This mode of manufacture prevents a great deal of danger, as the powder is pulverized and brought into grain while in a wet state. The lime makes a firm grain, resists the damp, and gives it a degree of lightness which increases the bulk 25 per cent. over ordinary gunpowder--a great advantage for blasting purposes. Plaster of paris, blue lias, Roman or Portland cement,, or other strong cementing substance, may be used as a. s u ~ i t u t e for lime. And the patentee finds that for blasting purposes t ~ f o l l o w i n g proportions answer well--that is to say, nitre, 65 lbs.; Charcoal, 1~ lbs. ; sulphur, 10 lbs. ; and lime, 7 lbs.; but the proportions may be varied according to the strength required.
Safety- Valves of Steam Boilers. A t a meeting of the Academy of Sciences of Vienna, M. de Burg gave an account of his experiments on the mode of action of the safety-valves of steam boilers. These results are in contradiction with the theoretical propositions upon which the regulations for the dimensions of these boilers have been based : inasmuch as in reality these valves do not rise to a height equal to one-fourth of their diameter, that is, one or more inches, but only so as to leave a passage for the steam whose diameter does not exceed the fraction of a line. These appara-