Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Ceramic Engineering - Journal Article [PAGE 13]

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Jan., TOT7

THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY

i

upon the other side of the balance he is entitled In a just return for his investment and t o insure that just return the research engineer or the research chemist must be broad enough and big enough to recognize all phases of the subject and to enrry along his work accordingly. I think one of our commonest perils in research work is to get too close to the problem. I t is a good thing, I think, t o get away from one's work occasionally, to back off from the picture as the artist does, in order to acquire a perspective, to sec it differently mid then return better equipped and with a better understanding of the work as a whole. It is this kind of research that the manufacturer expects. I hope then that the research work which this new Ceramic department undertakes will be of such a character as will have a vision of the whole field, and that in teaching ceramics to the undergraduates the point will be emphasized as to the value of organized research, group research, and of the great value of cooperative effort and of always maintaining proper vision and perspective. When it is shown that t h e manufacturer is dependent upon research, this places a responsibility upon the research engineers which they must prepare to meet successfully.

SCHHNBCTADV. N B W Y O R K

a worker would (or certainly should!) hesitate to offer a complete solution t o any certain problem he will have idea* based on essentially sound data that extend beyond the range of presentday experimentation possibilities, but which nevertheless offer the best and safest foundations upon which to proceed with practical development work. To name some of the unsolved problems in the glass industry is to show in the most conclusive possible manner the necessity of much greater development in the fund of scientific data and the manufacturers' dependence upon research. T o name approximately all of the problems which present themselves to-day In an important bearing would exhaust the time of this meeting to the exclusion of everything else, but to name a few such problems will illustrate the present state of comparative ignorance in which the Industry is struggling. Much work has been done within the past decade but it represents a mere beginning which Is not more than an introduction to the real work which must Inevitably follow. What is seed or bubble in glass? This defect in glass is one that is common to all kinds of ware and one that causes enormous losses either directly in the manufacturing losses, or indirectly In the loss of business because of superior quality met with in competition. The defect is known under a variety of names, seed, blister, boil, bubble, etc., but practically nothing is known about it except its existence. Many assumptions as to the nature of this defect have been made, most of them based upon reasoning that proceeds from a highly questionable chemical reaction which looks well when written on paper, but nothing is known about the origin of the bubble, the nature of the material, if any, filling the void in the glass, or the conditions necessary to prevent its formation or accelerate its liberation. Concerning the color of glass (meaning the great mass of commercial glasses which are supposed to be substantially colorless) there has been considerable investigation but the subject is still in a very unsatisfactory state. What is the real nature of the coloring effect or iron impurities and how can it be controlled? When once standardized in control how can variations in purity of the raw materials be properly provided fort If neutralizing or decolorizing agents are required what is the best theory of aver* coming the residual color effect of the original glass and how can this be applied? One great source of industrial loss is breakage traceable directly or indirectly t o the annealing process. II7«i/ an the relations existing between the composition of the glass and Us required annealing treatment? And the converse of the problem may be equally important—what is the correct annealing treat' ment as applied to the particular glass composition concerned? Another question along the same line Is of perhaps greater immediate importance—what an the relations between certain common impurities in the glass and the necessary corresponding changes in annealing treatment? Another very large problem or field of problems lies in the relation existing between the glass and the containing pot or tank. What defects are introduced from this source and how may the composition of the glass or of the containing vessel be ottered to produce beneficial effects, or how may Ike process of manufacture be changed to avoid the resulting troubles? This list of problems might be added t o Indefinitely but It must be evident from even this small list that the fundamental problems of the glass and allied Industries are far from a basis of satisfactory solution. Mechanically the glass Industry has developed wonderfully, even magically, within the past quarter century and especially within the past decade. Chemically, the glass industry has stood still. There must he an awakening and a real development and the dedication of this building today is a very significant fact In this awakening An industrial uwukeuiug ll ulwnyti of necessity a slow und tortuous process.

DISCUSSION

By C. H . KBKK

Director Research Laboratory, Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company

That the practical status of any industry cannot proceed in development without the growth of the fundamental scientific facts upon which that industry is based must be evident to any well-informed man, be he scientist or layman. Or as Dr. Clarke, of the United States Geological Survey, has aptly stated it, "There can be no applied science until there is a science to apply" T o the glass and enamel divisions of the ceramic industry this thought is especially applicable—in fact, it should be written in italics and kept constantly before the minds of those men who in their respective positions are instrumental in regulating t h e course of new developments in the industry. An extended discussion of the problem of surface tension as it relates to glasses took place in one of our courts not long ago and the nature of that discussion illustrates as well as anything could illustrate it, the great lack of scientific knowledge and to An even greater extent the real need of such knowledge in the industry. Let us acknowledge a t once that in the field of glasses, enamels and other similar fused silicates the present state of development of chemical and physical science docs not permit us to presuppose an ability to arrive a t a completely satisfactory scientific solution of most of our problems. The extent of our knowledge concerning the laws governing systems with as many components a s usually are present in the silicates with which we are concerned, is decidedly limited and developing but slowly. But, let us at the same time emphasize very strongly these two things: ( i ) that there are many incidental problems in connection with each branch of the industry that are capable of easy and complete solution and these problems can be taken care of while the main work if in progress and in all cases it is safe to assume that the solution of these problems alone will more than repay the employer for all laboratory expenditures; (2) that In studying the main problems of reactions in the silicate melts of many components it will always be found to be true that while answers which are complete from a scientific point of view pre rarely possible, still as the study progresses there a r t constantly occurring ideas based on reasoning along lines of analogy which Are susceptible of adaptation t o practice. In the actual operation of the laboratory it will always be found that where