400 CHEMICAL DISCOVEKY AND INVENTION 



temperature required is, however, a great disadvantage, and the 

 process in this form was soon abandoned. 



The production of cyanamide and of basic calcium nitrate are 

 processes which have assumed great commercial importance 

 within the last few years. They both involve the use of electricity 

 and the necessary power can be obtained most economically in 

 countries provided by nature with elevated water supply on a 

 liberal scale. Hence some of the largest works for the utilisation 

 of water power have been established in Norway, Sweden, and 

 Switzerland, as well as at Niagara and on the Pacific coast of 

 North America. 



The works of the Alby United Carbide Company for the 

 manufacture of calcium carbide, and its conversion into cyana- 

 mide at the works of the North- Western Cyanamide Company, 

 Limited, situated at Odda on the Sondre Fiord in Norway, may 

 be taken as representative. 



We may glance first at the sources of power utilised in the 

 hydro-electric installation on which depend all the electro- 

 chemical operations. The source of hydraulic power for the 

 turbines is the river Tysse which flows into the Sondre Fiord 

 at a point six kilometres from Odda. This village has long been 

 a favourite resort of tourists on account of the magnificent 

 waterfall scenery of the near neighbourhood. The Skjegge- 

 dalsfos is perhaps the most famous of these falls, and from the 

 Ringedalsvand, or lake, just below, the Tysse river falls 436 

 metres (1430 feet) in a distance of about 6 kilometres (3| miles). 

 The Ringedalsvand is the great collecting basin of the locality, 

 the area from which its water is received being about 380 square 

 kilometres. 



The water from the lake is brought in pipes which for the 

 upper 90 metres (295 feet) are of cast iron from 7 to 9 millimetres 

 (0-28 to 0-35 inch) thick. The lower parts are of steel plates in 

 20 feet lengths, the metal being from 10 to 25 millimetres (0-39 

 to 0-98 inch) thick. The power station is situated on the shore 

 of the lake near the mouth of the river about 3| miles from 

 Odda. Here are placed the turbines and dynamos by which the 

 power is generated and distributed. The installation was con- 

 structed to give 23,000 electrical horse-power, while the available 

 water makes it possible to obtain 75,000 to 80,000 horse-power if 

 required. 1 



1 A detailed description of thg whole installation is given in Engineering, 

 vol. 87 (1909). 



