and motor—so it could only be operated by compressed air or oxygen, very
expensive and inefficient. The only hope of progress in this matter lay in
acquiring an air compressor and a motor to drive it. Money became available
7
and a small compressor of the type made by the Whitehead
8 Torpedo
Company at Fiume
9 on the Adriatic for charging torpedoes—together with
an electric motor—were ordered and delivered by Easter 1899.
Like Haber, Ramsay was in no way ‘mechanically minded’ but having
received a letter from Ostwald who had installed similar apparatus, he passed
instructions to Travers to supervise the installation. Consequently, the
compressor and motor were bolted to a couple of wooden planks in the
‘compressor room’—a disused lavatory with the usual apparatus removed.
5
Ostwald however did not tell Ramsay what had happened at his laboratory
when his machine started up … it chased the operators across the floor and
only stopped when the electrical leads to it broke away! Travers was much
more fortunate, and after a nerve racking start the ‘lab boys’ got quite used to
running it at 180 atmospheres. On occasions, when the ‘boys’ were more
concerned with reading their ‘penny dreadful’, the pressure often rose way
above the danger limit but no accidents ever occurred.
5
Soon after the commission of the air liquefier further problems arose
regarding the separation of the inert gases by fractional distillation. Air
contained helium, and liquefaction of some of the gaseous mixtures could not
be achieved at liquid air temperatures. Liquid hydrogen was therefore
required as a cooling agent, and for financial reasons—even though colleagues
believed hydrogen could not be compressed without a danger of the operator
being blown through the skylight of the compressor room—the apparatus
had to be built within the department. The laboratory mechanic Mr. Holding
had little time to spare for this adventure—other than modifications to the
compressor—so Travers had to design and build the liquefier himself.
10 The
progress and manner of this development is interesting, and although it took
place just before Robert joined UCL, it illustrates the kinds of engineering
skills available within the department, skills which Robert, in time, surely
would have become exposed to—and wanted to master.
The first step was to purchase a steel gasometer to hold about 100 ft
3 of
hydrogen. This was set up in an area outside the laboratory and a pipe from
the gasometer led to the compressor. A (wooden) beer barrel was bought for
the generation of hydrogen from zinc and sulphuric acid, and after several
coats of paint it became sufficiently gas-tight. The design of the apparatus was
fairly straightforward. Hydrogen from the gasholder was compressed at (up
to) 180 atmospheres and cooled by passage through a coil immersed in an
alcohol/solid carbon dioxide bath. The cooled pressurised gas then passed
4 The Golden Chemist
99
expensive and inefficient. The only hope of progress in this matter lay in
acquiring an air compressor and a motor to drive it. Money became available
7
and a small compressor of the type made by the Whitehead
8 Torpedo
Company at Fiume
9 on the Adriatic for charging torpedoes—together with
an electric motor—were ordered and delivered by Easter 1899.
Like Haber, Ramsay was in no way ‘mechanically minded’ but having
received a letter from Ostwald who had installed similar apparatus, he passed
instructions to Travers to supervise the installation. Consequently, the
compressor and motor were bolted to a couple of wooden planks in the
‘compressor room’—a disused lavatory with the usual apparatus removed.
5
Ostwald however did not tell Ramsay what had happened at his laboratory
when his machine started up … it chased the operators across the floor and
only stopped when the electrical leads to it broke away! Travers was much
more fortunate, and after a nerve racking start the ‘lab boys’ got quite used to
running it at 180 atmospheres. On occasions, when the ‘boys’ were more
concerned with reading their ‘penny dreadful’, the pressure often rose way
above the danger limit but no accidents ever occurred.
5
Soon after the commission of the air liquefier further problems arose
regarding the separation of the inert gases by fractional distillation. Air
contained helium, and liquefaction of some of the gaseous mixtures could not
be achieved at liquid air temperatures. Liquid hydrogen was therefore
required as a cooling agent, and for financial reasons—even though colleagues
believed hydrogen could not be compressed without a danger of the operator
being blown through the skylight of the compressor room—the apparatus
had to be built within the department. The laboratory mechanic Mr. Holding
had little time to spare for this adventure—other than modifications to the
compressor—so Travers had to design and build the liquefier himself.
10 The
progress and manner of this development is interesting, and although it took
place just before Robert joined UCL, it illustrates the kinds of engineering
skills available within the department, skills which Robert, in time, surely
would have become exposed to—and wanted to master.
The first step was to purchase a steel gasometer to hold about 100 ft
3 of
hydrogen. This was set up in an area outside the laboratory and a pipe from
the gasometer led to the compressor. A (wooden) beer barrel was bought for
the generation of hydrogen from zinc and sulphuric acid, and after several
coats of paint it became sufficiently gas-tight. The design of the apparatus was
fairly straightforward. Hydrogen from the gasholder was compressed at (up
to) 180 atmospheres and cooled by passage through a coil immersed in an
alcohol/solid carbon dioxide bath. The cooled pressurised gas then passed
4 The Golden Chemist
99