of 1000 pounds per hour on the dry basis. The air leaves at 130 F. Calculate (a) humidity of entering air, ( b) humidity of exit air, (c) evaporation of water from stock in pounds per hour, ( d) volume of entering air, ( e) volume of exit air. (a) Connect wet- and dry-bulb temperatures of entering air with a straight line and read the humidity of the entering air on the scale at the right-hand edge as 0.0538 pound water per pound dry air. Since wet-bulb temperature is constant throughout drier, draw a straight line through the intersection of the line drawn to solve part (a) with the wet-bulb temperature scale and through 130 F. on the dry-bulb scale. Read the humidity of the exit air on the right-hand humidity scale as 0.0645 pound water per pound dry air. (c) Water evaporated = lOOO(0.0645 - 0.0538) = 10.7 Solution (shown on chart). ( b) pounds per hour. Connect 170 F. on the dry-bulb temperature scale with 0.0538 on the left-hand humidity scale and read the humid volume ( d) as 17.25 cubic feet wet air per pound dry air. ing air is therefore 17,250 cubic feet per hour, (e) per hour. Volume of enter- By similar method, volume of exit air is 16,380 cubic feet Conclusion There is a similarity between line coordinate charts and the more familiar nomographic charts. The two should not be confused, however. The five charts described in this article are examples of the wide adaptability of line coordi- nates to chemical engineering data. The reader may adopt this method to construct other charts to suit his particular needs. Literature Cited (1) Brodetsky, A First Course in Nomography, G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., (2) Carr and Murphy, J . Am. Chem. Soc.. 51, 116 (1929). (3) dOcagne, Traite de Nomographie, p. 158, Gauthier-Villars, Paris, (4) Grosvenor, Tram. 4m. Znst. Chem. Eng., 1, 184 (1912). ( 5) International Critical Tables, Vol. V, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc. (6) Leslie and Carr, I ND. ENG. CHEM., 17, 810 (1925). (7) Monrad and Badger, Zbi d. , 21, 40 (1929). (8) Partington and Schilling. Specific Heats of Gases. E. Benn, ttd., (9) Rechenberg, Distillation, Selbstverlag von Schimmel & Co., 1923. (10) Runge, Graphical Methods, Columbia University Press, 1912. (11) Walker, Lewis, and McAdams, Principles of Chemical Engineering, (12) Young, Sci. Proc. Roy . Dublin Soc., 12, 374 (1910). London, 1920. 1921. 1924. p. 458, RIcGraw-Hill Book Co.. Inc., 1927. Effects of Temperature and Pressure on the Upper Explosive Limit of Methane-Oxygen Mixtures C. M. Cooper and P. J . Wiezevich DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL EKOINEERING, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 1 THE past much experi- mentation has been done I by various investigators on the expl osi ve limits of methane-air mixtures at ordi- nary temperatures and pres- sures. Recently ($) higher pressures have been used with the same materials, but few data are available for meth- ane-oxygen mixtures. This work was undertaken i n order to obtain information concerning the effects of tem- perature and pressure on the upper explosive limit of methane-oxygen mixtures. A new apparatus of the make-and-break type has been developed for the ignition of gaseous mixtures at high temperatures and pressures. With this apparatus the explosive limits of methane-oxygen mixtures have been investigated at pressures up to 230 atmospheres and temperatures up to 480 C. It has been found that the lower the oxygen concen- tration or the temperature, the higher the pressure re- quired for the successful ignition of the mixture; and conversely, as either pressure or temperature is in- creased, the amount of oxygen necessary to form a combustible mixture is decreased. A t temperatures above 400 C. spontaneous reaction begins to occur. Complete consumption of the oxygen does not take place on the explosion of the mixtures at high pressure. surprising to find that any- thing which alters the heat losses to the surroundi ngs affects the explosive limits. Thus, by gradually decreas- ing the diameter of the tube used for the determinations, the explosive l i mi ts come closer and closer together un- til finally, for very narrow tubes, it appears that there is no gas composition which will ignite and propagate flame. Previous Work The expl&ve limit or limit of inflammability of an inflammable gas, vapor, or solid suspension with oxygen or any medium capable of supporting combustion may be defined as that composition which when ignited will just sup- port its own combustion. Consider a typical case. If meth- ane is mixed with air at room temperature and pressure, it is found that mixtures containing less than about 5 per cent methane will not burn. Compositions from 6 per cent to 14 per cent burn when ignited, while those containing more than 14 per cent will not ignite. The composition containing 6 per cent methane is known as the lower limit mixture. Similarly the 14 per cent mixture is the upper limit mixture. When a limit mixture burns, part of the heat liberated by the burning of one layer of gas is used in heating the adjacent layer to the ignition temperature. The remainder of the heat is lost by radiation and conduction. It is therefore not 1 Received August 12, 1929. The limits of inflammability for gases and vapors at or- dinary conditions have been determined by various investi- gators (9, 10, $0, 33). The effect of pressures up to 10 atmospheres has also been studied (2, 29, 24, $5, /to), and results published after the completion of the present study ( 2) give the effect of pressures up to 400 to 500 atmospheres for various gas and vapor mixtures with air. At atmos- pheric pressure and room temperature the upper and lower limit mixtures of methane and air contain, respectively, 14.02 and 5.24 per cent oxygen. At pressures below atmospheric the limits gradually narrow and meet at about 9 per cent methane for a pressure of 140 mm. (20 (2.). At 10 atmos- pheres pressure the upper limit becomes 14 and the lower 6.5 per cent, while at 100 atmospheres the corresponding limits are 36 and 7 per cent. Experiments on the effect of temperature at low pressures have also been made (,9, 25, 38) with methane-air mixtures. The limits widen continually as the temperature is increased, December, 1929 ISDUSTRIAL Ah'D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY 1211 MOVPBLE ELECTRODE FIXED ELECTRODE STEU S M E T I 31% EXPLOSION CHAMBER AMMETER Figure 1-Diagrammatic View of Apparatus until beyond 700" C. the results begin to become uncertain, possibly owing to surface reactions. As already mentioned, it has been found that anything which alters the rate at which heat is conducted away from an advancing flame front alters the limit composition. Thus, small tubes with a high coefficient of heat conductivity will give entirely different results (24, 34) than larger heat- insulated tubes. The effect of tube diameters above 50 mm. was found to be slight, but below that value the range of explosive compositions was narrowed. This fact is important in designing apparatus for high-pressure determinations where it is necessary to keep the apparatus as small as possible. Other factors which influence the determination of the limit mixtures are the method and point of ignition. TThen the point of ignition lies near the top of the reaction space, the range of explosive limit compositions is slightly narrower than when located either at the bottom or the side. This difference is probably due to convection effects which can scarcely exist in the first case where flame is propagated downwards. An electric spark has been the usual method of ignition. As the gas pressure is reduced below one atmos- phere, the energy necessary to ignite a limit mixture increases rapidly (49). On the other hand, discharges pass with diffi- culty through gases at high pressures. A more positive method of ignition under these conditions has been the electrical fusion of a fine silver wire in the reaction chamber ( 4) . Apparatus Figure 1 shows the apparatus used for the present experi- ments. A mixture of methane and oxygen was made up in the water-sealed gasometer, compressed by a minature two- stage compressor, passed through an oil and water trap, and admitted through a small needle valve to the explosion chamber. The latter was provided with a make-and-break electrical ignition system, thermocouple for temperature meas- urement, and a steel safety disk of such a thickness that fail- ure would occur before dangerous pressures could build up in the apparatus. EXPLOSION CHAMBER-The assembled reaction unit or explosion chamber is shown in Figure 2. It was turned from alloy-steel stock, and had a thickness sufficient to stand about 2000 atmospheres pressure at 350' C. The cold-rolled safety disk had a thickness of about 1.2 mm., and failed satis- factorily when severe explosions occurred, although it withstodd static pressures of 340 atmospheres. The reaction space was cylindrical, 3.18 cm. in diameter and 3.81 cm. long. The wall surfaces were not protected in any way, and soon formed a perceptible layer of oxides. means of ignition has been an electrical discharge across a gap in the reaction space with some form of induction coil supply- ing the necessary potential difference. With this arrangement there appears to be a definite minimum amount of energy required in the spark in order to ignite a mixture at the existing conditions of tem- Derature and Dressure. Thus. Wheeler ~I ETHOD OF IGhmroN-The customary t4S) required about 0.5 ampere in the primary circuit of his induction coil to 4 iq ignite the mixture at 1 atmosphere while at 100 mm. pressure 7 amperes were required. u 1 - The first series of experiments in the present work were made with a high- tension electrical discharge employing a 0.5-kilowatt transformer, allowing the current to flow intermittently. When higher pressures than atmospheric were encountered, results became uncertain, and at pressures above 400 pounds per square inch (27.2 atmospheres) violent explosions occurred with certain mixtures. An ammeter inserted in the primary circuit of the transformer showed a 8 GUIDE Figure 2-Apparatus for Determination of Pressure and Temperature Effects on Limlts of Gas Mixtures constant current of 2.2 amperes at pressures above 400 pounds per square inch (27.2 atmospheres), while at lower pressures over 15 amperes were drawn. Apparently no spark occurred at the higher pressures, so the ignition must have taken place from a silent discharge. 1212 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY Vol. 21, No. 12 I n their high pressure work Berl and Werner ( 2) melted fine silver wires by passing through them a heavy electric current. The metallic vapor allowed an arc to form for an instant. This method had the disadvantage of requiring a new wire after every attempted ignition. Another series of experiments in the present work attempted the use of an incandescent platinum wire, quickly heated by an electric current, but no consistent data could be obtai ned with this method. Evidently surface re- action occurred dur- ing the warming up of the wire, causing the formation of an i nsul ati ng layer of inert gas around the wire. This conclusion was also reached in the work of Coward and Guest ( I @, which showed that when hot metal bars were used to ignite an inflamma- ble gas mixture, good 1, -wc*F~+*R~ o xi d at i o n catalysts Figure 3-Two-Stage Compressor such as platinum had to be much hotter than relatively inert surfaces. The make- and- break method finally chosen for this work (Fi gure 2) was the only one to work satis- factorily. Two con- tacts in the center of the reacti on space were arranged to be rapidly pulled apart by means of an electromagnet, breaking the flow of a cur- rent of 8 amperes in a circuit containing a large inductance. This produced an intense spark which could be depended on at any pressure. The energy in the spark was that stored up in that magnetic field of the inductance, and hence was independent of the pressure in the chamber. This method had several advantages over any of the others so far considered. I n the first place, ignition was positive since. if current flowed in the circuit and ceased to flow when the contacts were opened, a spark must have been produced. Moreover, the spark worked equally well at low and high pressure and re- leased a constant amount of energy. The size of the spark depended on the speed with which the contacts were opened. This is the reason for the steel hammer employed in the igniting mechanism. The hammer was accelerated by the electromagnet and had a high velocity at the time it hit the top, lifting the movable contact. Furthermore, it was not necessary to dismantle the apparatus after each sparking as in the case of the silver-wire fusion. TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT-The initial temperature of the gas was determined by means of a small copper-ideal thermocouple (No. 36 B. and S. gage) placed in a steel well projecting into the reaction space. This well was of about 1.6 mm. outside diameter with an 0.8-mm. bore, and because of this small size and consequent low heat capacity tem- perature fluctuations were registered very quickly. The thermoelectric potential was measured by a Leeds 8: Korthrup potentiometer which could be read to about 2" C. The ther- mocouple was insulated by a coating of low-melting glass applied by running the fine wires through a molten glass prepared by fusing a mixture of borax and litharge. PRESSURE MEAsuREJIENTs-Several ranges of calibrated Bourdon tube gages were used for the pressure determinations. The precision to be expected from these was about as follows: RANGE PROBABLE ERROR Lbs. fie7 so. in. Almos. Lbs. bet sa. i n. Al mos. - - . - Atmospheric t o 250 To 17 * 3 0.204 250 to 2000 17-136 *20 1.36 Above 2000 * 50 3.4 Above 136 TEMPEIt4TURE Co?mRoL-The reaction chamber extended into the center of an electric heater made by winding alter- nate layers of asbestos tape and chrome1 wire on a steel tube, the whole being surrounded by a layer of kieselguhr 1 inch (2.5 cm.) thick, for heat insulation. Since the tube leading to the chamber was of small cross section, the heat flowing along it was also slight. Consequently the temperature of the chamber was quite uniform. The insulation and sparking mechanism in the top of the apparatus were kept cool by means of a water jacket. COMPRESSOR-The gas mixture was compressed in a small two-stage compressor (Figure 3) having a capacity of about 200 liters per hour. With the exception of frequent valve cleaning and grinding, the operation was satisfactory. PIPINa-The gas mixture at high pressure was distributed in brass and copper capillary tubing of approximately 4.75 mm. outside diameter with 1.6 mm. diameter bore. Experimental Procedure PREPARATION AND ANALYSIS OF Gas ?VIIxTuRE-The mixture of methane and oxygen was made up in the 200-liter water-sealed gasometer. The methane was of natural-gas origin, subsequently purified by liquefaction and distillation, and contained 0.5 per cent ethane (determined by fractiona- tion at low temperature) and 5 per cent nitrogen (determined as residual gas after combustion). The oxygen was obtained by air liquefaction and was better than 99 per cent pure. A few runs were made on an un- purified natural gas whi ch contained, be- si des methane, 2 per cent ethane and 5 per cent nitrogen. How- eyer, no appreci abl e difference in the results was noticed. The mix- ture was al l owed to stand about 12 hours in the gasometer to insure uniformity of composi- tion. The mixture was then analyzed for oxy- gen in a Burrell gas- analysis apparatus, and similar analyses w ere made from time to time during the course of the experiments to make certain that the com- position did not change. action chamber was brought up to the de- PROCEDURE-The re- December, 1929 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY 1213 180-198 20 199-213 20 214-219 132 220-225 240 226-230 380 sired temperature by manipulation of the heater rheostat, and carefully purged out with the gas mixture. The exit valve of the chamber was then closed and the pressure allowed to build up slowly. -4s the pressure rose, sparks were dis- charged at intervals by means of the ignition apparatus until ignition occurred. This point was checked by repeating the procedure, except that no sparks were discharged until the limit pressure as shown by the first ex- ll77ll periment was almost Unpurified natural gas 21. 2 75 0 3 . 8 415 28. 2 2 2 . 6 73. 5 3 9 270 1 8 . 3 22. 6 7 3 . 5 3 . 9 200 13 6 22. 6 7 3 . 5 3 9 135 9 . 2 22. 6 7 3 . 5 3 9 b b I FIGURE 5 00 EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ;cached. By a suffi- cient number of ex- periments two pres- sures were determined for each condition of temperature and gas composition investi- gated-(I ) a point where reaction was fi rst distinctly per- cepti bl e, and (2) a point as near as pos- sible to (1) yet where reaction could not be Results and Discussion The data obtained in this work are summarized in Table I. Runs 1 to 5 were made at atmospheric pressure using a jump spark for ignition. All other experiments at higher pressures were made using the make-and-break device for ignition. RUNS 152 - l ea GAS COMPOSITION: 5 0 c z $ 4 0 - wm ; 30 L J i 2 0 z I O 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 INITIAL TEMPE RATURE 'C. Figure 4 shows graphically the effect of pressure at 20" C. on the upper explosive limit of methane-oxygen mixtures. The limit mixture at atmospheric pressure was found to be 38.5 per cent oxygen and 58.4 per cent methane, which check Payman's (33) values of 40.8 per cent oxygen and 59.2 per cent methane. It can be seen from the figure that pressure has a marked effect on the upper limit. Starting with about 39 per cent oxygen in the limit mixture at atmospheric pres- sure, the oxygen content necessary for combustion decreases to about 17 per cent at 34 atmospheres and then to about 14 per cent at 68 atmospheres. At 170 atmospheres the limit mixture contains only about 11 per cent oxygen. Figures 5, 6, and 7 give the temperature-pressure data for single gas compositions. These have been combined in Figure 8 where, in order to condense the pressure scale, logarithms of pressure have been plotted versus oxygen concentrations. It will be observed that, in general, the lower the oxygen concentration or the temperature, the higher the pressure required for successful ignition of the mixture. As either pressure or temperature was increased, the amount of oxygen necessary to form a combustible mixture decreased, and at temperatures above 400" C. spon- taneous reaction began to occur. Under this condition the oxygen - content of the gas de- 4 0 creased on standing to such an extent that no 2 30 combustion could be E obtained on sparking. -I For instance, when a E 2o mixture originally ana- ' l yzi ng 22.6 per cent 10 oxygen was allowed to stand in the chamber 1 o minute without spark- loo ' 0 400 ing at a temperature of 371" C. and a pressure of 215 pounds per square inch (14.62 atmospheres), the exit gas analyzed 1.6 per cent carbon di- oxide and 21.4 per cent oxygen with no carbon monoxide. Figure 9 shows the variations of the gas composition re- sulting when a gas mixture, at constant initial temperature, is ignited at various initial pressures. This again emphasizes the incompleteness of reaction. No attempt has been made to account for the shapes of these curves. TCMPERATURE 'C. Table I-Summarized Data GAS INITIAL PRESSURE LIMIT RUN INITIAL TEMP. 1-5 80-54 85-95 96-106 107-11; 118-123 124-127 127-132 132-135 136-142 143-147 148-151 152-164 165-168 169-172 173- 176 177-186 187-188 c. 20 10 10 19 19 173 256 385 530 20 20 20 100 228 288 332 410 480 % % % 38. 5 58. 4 3. 1 38. 0 5 9 . 0 3 . 0 2 0 . 3 67. 0 3 7 26. 7 6 9 . 6 3 . 7 17. 2 78. 6 4 . 2 17. 2 7 8 . 6 4 . 2 17. 2 78. 6 4 . 2 17. 2 7 8 . 6 4 . 2 17. 2 78. 6 4 . 2 11. 5 84. 0 4 . 5 9 . 0 56. 4 4 . 6 14. 0 8 1 . 7 4 . 3 14. 0 81. 7 4 . 3 1 4 . 0 81. 7 4 . 3 14. 0 81. 7 4 . 3 14. 0 81. 7 4 . 3 14. 0 81. 7 4 . 3 14. 0 81. 7 4 . 3 I.bs,/ sq. In. 15 30 t ; O 120 615 435 436 2z5 2220 3365 895 550 505 875 345 . . . . 0 At mos 1 . 0 2 . 0 5 . 4 8 . 2 4 7 . 8 2 9 . 0 29. 6 2;. 1 151 229 60. 8 37. 4 3 4 . 3 25. 5 2 3 . 4 . . . a 4 Would not ignite. b Would not ignite after standing 1 minute. N O reaction Lbs./ . q. i n. Almos 15 1 . 0 15 1 . 0 55 3 . 7 115 8 . 2 500 8 4 . 0 395 26. 9 iii i p:o 2000 136 865 58. 8 495 33. 7 410 27. 9 345 23. 4 285 19. 4 2z5 l i . 9 315 21. 4 215 14. 6 190 12. 9 145 9 . 9 b b INITIAL 'RRSSURE LIMIT METHOD bs./ sq. i n. :Almos. rRAPHICAL 400- 27. 2 380 A 25. 9 248- 16. 7 350 2 3 . 8 260 17. 7 1214 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERI,VG CHEMISTRY Vol. 21, Yo, 12 FIGURE 8 EFFECT O f TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE ON THE UPPER EXPLOSIVE LIMIT Of METHANE- OXYGEN MIXTURES V-REACTION A-NO REACTION 100 w 8 0 0 WlNTS OBTAINED BY EXTRAWLATION h 3 6 eo a i e s40 $ 30 g 20 2 ! 10 2 8 6 4 3 2 I IO 12 14 I 6 18 20 24 2a 32 36 40 45 PERCENT OXYGEN I N MIXTURE FIGURE 9 5 2 4 ! ! COMWSITION Of CAS AFTER IGMTION RUNS 109-213 AT 2O.C. INITIAL GAS COMPOSITION L Oi 2 2 . SX CH,-73.5% Nt-3.S*/, E 5 l2 8 * 5 t-l I- W 8 4 0 0 2 0 40 60 80 100 INITIAL PRESSURE (ATM.) Conclusions Both temperature and pressure markedly affect the upper explosive limit of methane-oxygen mixtures. The greater either variable, the smaller the amount of oxygen necessary for reaction. Spontaneous reaction occurs above 400" C. for the pressure range investigated. Complete consumption of the oxygen does not take place on the explosion of methane- oxygen mixtures at high pressure. Acknowledgment The writers are indebted to Per K. Frolich, who suggested and supervised the work, and to the Research Laboratory of Applied Chemistry of Massachusetts Institute of Technology for placing its facilities at t'heir disposal. Bibliography (I.) hllner, Z. Ver. deul. Ing., 71, 411 (1927). (2) Berl and Werner, Z . angew. Chem., 42, 245 (1929). (3) Bone, Phil. Trans., A216, 275 (1915). (4) Bone and Others, Proc. Roy. Soc. (London), llOA, 615, 634 (1926). (5) Bone, Townend, and Piewit, Ibid., 108, 393 (1925). (6) Brown, Leslie, and Hunn, IND. ENG. CHEM., 17, 397 (1925). (7) Brown and Watkins, I bi d. , 19, 366 (1927). ( S) Burgess and Wheeler, Safety in Mines Research Board, Paper 16. (9) Burrell and Robertson, Bur. Mines, Tech. Paper 121 (1916). (10) Clark and Thiele, IND. ENG. CHEM., 17, 1219 (1925). (11) Coward, Carpenter, and Payman, J. Chem. Soc., 116, 27 (1919). (12) Coward and Guest, J . Am. Chem. Soc., 49, 2479 (1927). (13) Coward and Meiter, Ibid., 49, 386 (1927). (14) Coward and Wheeler, B7ennsto.f- Wdrmevirt., 9, 431 (1927). (15) Cowen and Finch, Proc. Roy. SOC. (London), 111A, 257 (1926). (16) Crouch and Carver, IND. END. CHEM., 17, 641 (1925). (17) Dodge, Chem. Met. Eng., 26, 416 (1922). (18) Egerton and Gates, Proc. Roy. Soc. (London), 116A, 516 (1927). (19) Ellis, J. Chem. Soc., 123, 1450 (1923). (20) Fischer and Werner, Z. Elektrochem. , 30, 29 (1924). (21) Jorissen and Kayser, Rec. trav. chim., 46, 373 (1927). (22) Kundt and Warburg, J. phys., 6, 118 (1876). (23) Lovell, Coleman, and Boyd, IND. ENG. CHEM., 19, 389 (1927). (24) Mallard and LeChatelier, Ann mines, 4, 274 (1885). (25) Mason and Wheeler, J . Chem. Soc., 113, 47 (1918). (26) Mason and Wheeler, Ibid., 121, 2084 (1922). (27) Morgan, "Electric Spark Ignition," Crosby, Lockwood and Son, Lon- (28) Morgan, Phil. Ma g . , 45, 968 (1923). (29) Morgan and Wheeler, J. Chem. Soc., 119, 239 (1921). (30) Nagai, J. Facully Eng. Tokyo Imp. Uniu., 17, 3 (1927). (31) Xeumann, Z. Ver. deul. Ing., 70, 1071 (1926). (32) Paterson and Campbell, Proc. Phys. Soc. London, 31, 168 (1919). (33) Payman, J. Chem. Soc., 115, 1436 (1919). (34) Payman and Wheeler, Ibid., 112, 664 (1918). (35) Payman and Wheeler, Ibid., 123, 430 (1923). (36) Payman and Wheeler, Chem. Soc., Ann. Repts., 19, 20 (1923). (37) Richardson and Sutton, IND. END. CHEM., 20, 187 (1928). (38) Taffanel, Compl. rend., 167, 593 (1913). (39) Terada and Yumoto, Proc. Imp. Acad. Japan, 2, 261 (1926). (40) Terres and Plenz, J . Gasbel., 67, 990 (1914). (41) Thornton, Phil. Mag., 6, 28, 734 (1914); PYOC. Roy. SOL. (London), (42) Townend, Ibid. , 1168, 637 (1927). (43) Wheeler, J . Chem. Soc., 111, 112 (1917). (44) Wheeler, Ibid., 126, 1859 (1924); 121, 2079 (1922). (45) White, Ibid., 127, 672 (1925). don, 1922. 91A, 17 (1914). Wood Flour Opens New Field for Industry Industrial plants in the United States are developing overnight European lumber manufacturers are converting these materials new uses for wood flour, according to the National Committee into wood flour, exporting it to this country, paying duty, on Wood Utilization of the Department of Commerce. Wood and evidently selling it at a profit. European wood flour has plastics of the type that can be pressed or molded are now been claimed to have certain advantages over the domestic prod- working into specialized fields, where apparently their use is uct, but the validity of the claim has been disproved, it was stated. meeting an economical approval. Only recently have wood Increased experience and care in the selection of raw material by plastics entered the furniture and other industries. American manufacturers have resulted in a product equal in every The committee stated that it is impossible to tell exactly the way to that produced by foreign mills, according to the com- amounts of wood flour consumed by various industries. Phenol- mittee. resin products, linoleum and its use in dynamite cartridges as The wood substance of various species of trees differs very little filler consume many thousands of pounds yearly. The increasing in composition, it was explained. However, there are certain demand for wood flour in the manufacture of various articles has infiltrations of gums and resins in some woods, and in others cer- resulted in an increased consumption of the product from 7000 tain coloring, that preclude their use as wood flour for some tons in 1924 to 24,000 tons in 1927, and approximately 40,000 products. tons in 1928. During 1928 imports of wood flour into the United Spruce, fir, and pine are the chief woods used in Europe to States totaled 14,490,401 pounds, valued at $94,723, it was stated. produce the highest grades of wood flour. Similar species are It was pointed out by the committee that whereas American represented in the United States by true firs, white pines, and operators are spending money to dispose of sawdust and shavings, spruces.