Industrial Research 



343 



pretation of the results and their transfer into gencra- 

 ting-station-operation procedures involves a high degree 

 of skill in research. Efforts to reduce air pollution 

 involve research problems not only in the choice of 

 fuels, but also in the design of combustion apparatus, 

 and devices for the removal of impurities in the stack 

 gases. Other materials problems, quite common 

 tliroughout the steam-generating electric industry, 

 depending also on the metallurgist and the chemist, 

 include improved condenser-tube materials, low priced 

 noncorrosive metals, a low priced noninflammable 

 lubricant, etc. 



In the gas and railroad industries, the testing of 

 materials has the same important place, coal being the 

 principal material as in the steam-generating electrical 

 industry. 



One of the telegraph companies reports that among 

 the research functions performed by mechanical 

 engineers in the organization is an "investigation of 

 materials for use in telegraph lines and equipment, 

 including timbers, metals, paper, insulating and mag- 

 netic materials, weatherproofing, and other finishes, 

 etc." 



The materials problem can best be summed up in 

 the words of one of the electric utilities as follows: 

 "Scientists create new materials and engineers make 

 use of them but, somewhere between the scientists and 

 the engineers, a great deal of work must be done to 

 reduce the new material to something that can be 

 reproduced with consistent known properties having 

 value suitable for the engineers' calculations. Fur- 

 thermore, it is necessary that some form of test be 

 devised that will enable engineers to be sure that the 

 material measures up to the standards. Many re- 

 search-department problems arise from such necessities, 

 particularly the problem of developing accelerated aging 

 techniques that will give in a short time some measure 

 of the long-time performance." 



Operation 



The spectacular research problems in the electrical 

 industry are frequently those concerned with causes 

 of operating difiicidties. The reason of this is the size 

 of the units involved and the large savings to be made 

 by removing the difficvdties. Furthermore, because 

 the facilities for test under operating conditions are 

 generally not available in the plant of the manufac- 

 turer, the utility is frequently called upon to cooperate 

 with the manufacturer by providing space, steam, some 

 labor, and sometimes research skill. The most inter- 

 esting recent example of this is the construction by a 

 manufacturer and installation in a utility plant of a 

 10,000-kilowatt turbogenerator with optical means for 

 investigation of blade vibration, a phenomenon which 

 has caused operating failures of impulse blading in 



superposed turbines operating at elevated temperatures 

 and pressures. A second interesting example is re- 

 ported as a "field investigation and research carried on 

 jointly by manufacturer and purciuiscr on large boiler 

 etjuipment, to determine actual in relation to theoretieal 

 circulation, slag characteristics, heat input rates, etc. 

 It would bo impractical for the manufacturer to erect 

 and test boilers in his shops; therefore, tests and investi- 

 gations must be carried on in the purchaser's plant 

 and with his cooperation." Another utility reports 

 research with the manufacturer into the causes for 

 the unsatisfactory functioning of pulverized-coal burn- 

 ere. Many other examples have been reported show- 

 ing the large measure of cooperation between the equip- 

 ment supplier and the public-utility operator. 



In the same way, the number and diversity of the 

 causes of operating difficulties sought out by the oper- 

 ator alone is very impressive. A few are fatigue failure 

 of high-pressure fan blades, turbine-foundation vibra- 

 tion, mechanism of failure of boiler tubes, reverse flow 

 in condenser tubes, the elimmation of arching in coal 

 down-takes, the elimination of caustic embrittlement, 

 the elimination of slagging in boiler furnaces, and the 

 determination of magnitude of vibration and exact 

 location of unbalance in rotating equipment. An 

 impressive bit of instrumentation, reported by one 

 operator, is "the adoption and development of the wet 

 and dry magnetic methods of testing ferrous turbine 

 blades to eliminate cracked and defective blades and 

 the resulting development of jigs and measuring 

 devices to accurately determine the root clearances of 

 turbine blades for replacements, to assist in setting 

 up the desired specifications of root clearances for safe 

 turbine operation." 



In the gas industry the problem of determining the 

 causes of operating difficulties has the same general 

 character, a few technical problems mentioned by 

 correspondents being the fatigue failure of metals, 

 pipe-joint troubles, pipe coatings, and corrosion. 



In the railroad industry, the operating difficulties 

 that are being subjected to active current research 

 seem to concern lubrication, boiler safety devices, 

 and air-conditioning of passenger cars. 



New Devices and Apparatus 



Another group of interesting problems comes to light 

 imder the heading of new devices and apparatus. 

 Here the research problems deal with fact finding to 

 define the conditions the new devices or apparatus are 

 to meet, the decision as to the suitability of commercial 

 apparatus, and fact finding leading to the design, con- 

 struction, and test of the new equipment. 



Examples that have been reported under this head- 

 ing by the electric utilities are numerous and only a 

 few will be listed to demonstrate the research quality of 



