July 28, 1923] 



NA TURE 



135 



SHORTLY after the commencement of the War it 

 became evident that if heUum were available in 



The Cryogenic Laboratory of the University of Toronto. 



By Prof. J. C. McLennan, F.R.S. 



Helium was liquefied with the equipment for the 

 first time on January 10 of this year, and the Cryogenic 

 Division of the Physical Laboratory was formally 

 opened on January 24, when demonstrations were 

 given of the production of liquid air, liquid hydrogen, 

 and liquid helium. Series of experiments were also 

 shown illustrating the uses of these liquefied gases. 



sufficient quantities to replace hydrogen in naval 

 and military airships, losses in life and equipment 

 might be very greatly lessened. 



It was known that there existed in America supplies 

 of natural gas containing helium in varying amounts, 

 and Sir Richard Threlfall, as a result 

 of preliminary calculations that led 

 him to beheve that this helium could 

 be extracted at a cost that would not 

 be prohibitive, proposed that the 

 Board of Invention and Research of 

 the British Admiralty should under- 

 take an investigation of the matter. 

 As a result of this proposal the writer 

 was asked by the Board to determine 

 the helium content of the natural 

 gases of Canada, This survey was 

 carried out in the winter of 1915-16, 

 and it was found that from 10,000,000 

 to 12,000,000 cubic feet of helium 

 could be obtained per year from the 

 natural gas of the Bow Island supply 

 near Calgary, Alberta. 



In the autumn of 191 7 the Admiralty 

 sanctioned proposals to proceed with 

 an attempt to extract this helium, 

 and in the summer of 1918, after 

 exhaustive experiments had been 

 made, a plant was designed for the 

 purpose. This apparatus was con- 

 structed and installed at Calgary and 

 was operated from September 1919 

 until April 1920. In the course of 

 this operation of the plant, consider- 

 able supplies of helium of high purity 

 were obtained and it was shown that 

 the estimates of Sir Richard Threlfall 

 as to the cost of production were 

 amply verified.^ 



During the winter of 1919-20 pro- 

 posals were put forward by the writer 

 to use the helium extracted at Calgary 

 for scientific purposes. These met 

 with approval, and financial grants 

 were made for the liquefaction of 

 helium by the Honorary Advisory 

 Council for Scientific and Industrial 

 Research of Canada, by the University of Toronto, and 

 by the Carnegie Foundation for Research. Some 

 apparatus was also loaned by the Admiralty and by the 

 Air Ministry of Great Britain. With these grants special 

 apparatus for liquefying air, hydrogen, and helium 

 was constructed and its installation in the Physical 

 Laboratory of the University of Toronto was com- 

 pleted towards the end of 1922. In the preliminary 

 operation of the plant, special facilities in the way of 

 power were provided by the Hydro-Electric Commission 

 of Ontario and by the Hydro-Electric Commission of 

 Toronto. 



' Trans, of the Chem. Soc. vol. 117, p. 923, 1920. 



NO. 2804, VOL. I 12] 



To oASOMCTCR 



To .CASOMcren 



Fig. I. — Hydrogen liquefier. 



Liquid Air Apparatus. 



The apparatus constructed for the liquefaction of 

 air consisted of a 40 -kilowatt alternating current 

 motor, a Norwalk compressor of the three-stage type, 

 a water cooler, carbon dioxide purifying towers, and 

 one of L'Air Liquide's machines having a capacity of 

 producing 20 cubic metres of oxygen per hour. This 

 machine was provided with valves which enabled one 

 to isolate the rectification column from the oxygen 

 heat exchanger, permitting the operation of the 

 apparatus as a machine for liquefying air or as one 

 for producing gaseous oxygen. The column was also 



