Sixteenth Annual Meeting. 39 



put, while each one should have a righl to assume, as all in reality do, that kerosene is 

 fit to store and to burn without unusual precaution. 



A word as to what such a statute ought to contain, is in place here. A minimum 

 Hash test should lie fixed for burning fluids, and regulations formulated looking to the 

 proper storage and consumption of the more volatile oils which are commonly utilized 

 as vapors, and the details referred to this Academy to be settled. A method of inspec- 

 tion and enforcement should be instituted, finally, the statute should include sufficient 

 appropriations to procure an investigation of the matters connected with the subject 

 which are still obscure, and to carry out its provisions; in short, to make it wisely oper- 

 ative and wisely enforced. Then we may hope to see the last of "Kansas oil." "Why 

 do you call that grade 'Kansas oil?'" 1 asked the drummei*. "Oh, the refiners have 

 to make it or throw the bulk of it into the naphtha, and since they cannot sell it in Mis- 

 souri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, or Louisania, they save it for you, and call 

 it Kansas oil." 



ON THE TESTING OF BURNING FLUIDS. 



BY H. E. SADLER. 



The chief danger from a burning fluid arises from the explosion of its vapor. Ex- 

 plosion of a gaseous mixture takes place when the sum of the available heat units given 

 off by the metathesis of the uniting molecules and the cooling of the products is suffi- 

 cient to raise all the constituents, active and passive, to the flame temperature. 



Whether this sum, definite for a definite mixture at a definite temperature, will be 

 realized, depends on: First, the calorific power of the combustible; second, the quantity 

 of this substance present ; and third, the availability of the heat given off by the cool- 

 ing produ< ts. 



Elaborate experiments and rules for determining the safety of an oil from its specific 

 gravity, index of refraction, vapor tension, rapidity of evaporation, &c, ( M. M. Salleron, 

 et Urbain, An. deGenie Civ., V, p. 154, 1866; Hager Wagner's Jahr., XII, p. 674; Pelker 

 Dingier' s Journal, vol. 189, p. 61 ; Byasson Compt. Rend., Sept. 4th, 1871, et al.), have 

 been shown to be rough but quite unreliable guides. ( Engler und Haas' Zeitschrift fur 

 An. Chem., XX, pp. 1 and 362.) They all take loose account of the quantity of com- 

 bustible only, and neglect its heating power and manner of action. The flash test alone 

 seems to take cognizance of all the conditions. This ought to tell us the lowest temper- 

 ature at which the oil can be made to give off an amount of vapors each of sufficient 

 heating power, so that with the utmost help from the cooling products the whole mix- 

 ture may be raised to the flame temperature. It is well known that the various testers 

 give results often 30° F. apart; and no one of them constantly gives flashing points, in a 

 series of tests, agreeing within 5°. We are in position now to understand the philosophy 

 of that fact. In an open tester the amount of vapor in the Hash chamber will by dif- 

 fusion he less than in one partly closed, and still less than in one entirely closed. The 

 quality of that which is present will also differ in diffusion, removing the lightest vapors 

 fastest. The availability of heat from the products will also vary. Even if we confine 

 attention to one form of open tester alone, we see that the quantity of vapor is dependent 

 on the temperature of the room, the drafts, the frequency with which the torch is ap- 

 plied, burning up a portion of the vapors already formed, the surface exposed, f. e., the 

 degree to which the oil runs up the sides, the rapidity of heating, the proximity to the 

 oil, and a hundred other conditions which it is impossible to keep constant. The quality 

 of the vapor, too, will vary with the proximity of the oil and the availability of the 

 heat of the products with the drafts, &c, &C. 



