344 



National Resources Planning Board 



the problem. They include a new development in gas 

 scrubbers for stoker-fired boilers, new apparatus for 

 concentrating and dewatering fine solid matter in order 

 that it may be handled with commercial apparatus 

 without creating a nuisance when being handled 

 through the city streets, development of a muffler for 

 noise generated in electric substations by rotating 

 electrical machinery and carried to the surrounding 

 neighborhood by air-intake and discharge ducts, the 

 development of high-pressure commercial steam-gen- 

 erating units, and high-temperature superheaters, 

 finding suitable filtering materials for removing oil 

 from the compressed air to pneumatic-control appara- 

 tus, and a temperature-compensated gas meter. 



As the gas industry is a bit more stabilized, new 

 devices and apparatus for operation do not appear as 

 frequently, but reports were received of research in 

 new test equipment. 



It is with real regret that we are unable to include 

 the complete statement prepared by the telephone 

 industry of problems concerning new devices and 

 apparatus in the mechanical field, that was presented 

 at the request of the writers of this report. Merely 

 naming some of these problems will, however, convey 

 some impression of the high quality of scientific work 

 done. 



1. Increasing the intelligibility and naturalness 

 of transmission of the human voice by telephone 

 instruments through research by mechanical 

 impedance measurements, as well as by other 

 means. 



2. Development of the crossbar switch for 

 closing independently any one of 200 sets of con- 

 tacts, the important magnetically operated ele- 

 ment in the most recent form of dial switching 

 equipment. 



3. High-speed motion camera to take 4,000 

 pictures per second. 



4. Design of the gothic U-type relay which de- 

 pended on sound mechanical engineering in two 

 factors, first, design of contact springs, requiring 

 an elaborate extension of the classical beam 

 theory; second, reduction of vibration manifested 

 as "contact chatter." 



5. Protection of equipment to resist earthquake 

 shock. 



6. Development of portable engine-driven gen- 

 erators for power supply in event of fire, flood, and 

 the like. 



7. Determination of satisfactory tension loadings 

 of filaments of cathode tubes to prevent creep or 

 stretching. 



8. Development of optical measuring equipment 

 for fragile grids in vacuum tubes for three mega- 

 cycle coaxial cables. 



9. Development of synthetic sapphire bushing 

 for nonlubricated bearing in external anode water- 

 cooled tubes. 



10. Development of light, strong, hand tool 

 for rolling sleeve on line wire. 



11. Development of technique of pressure test- 

 ing of nitrogen-filled cables. 



12. Development of strand dynamometer for 

 use in connection with placing of aerial telephone 

 cables. 



Management 



Whatever its size and whatever its field no public 

 utility can operate at fuU capacity 24 hours a day 7 

 days a week, but it must nevertheless be always ready 

 to meet any demand that may be put upon it. In an 

 electric utility this means generating capacity; in the 

 gas industry it means storage; on a railroad it means a 

 sufficient reserve of freight cars and of motive power; 

 on a telephone system it means the right number of 

 operators. In all cases there is need for planning 

 based on a high quality of fact finding. 



Making the most effective and economical use of 

 existing equipment under various loads also requires 

 fact finding and interpretation of a high order. An 

 electric utility has to solve such problems as balancing 

 each encountered load between its steam and water- 

 power stations and between its base load, ordinary 

 operating, and stand-by generating stations in the most 

 desirable way ; making effective use of existing or possible 

 tie-ins with neighboring systems to increase use factors 

 and standby capacity; increasing its own use factor by 

 diversification of power sales and by sales research with 

 respect to new services and new uses; working out 

 mutually profitable arrangements with large, and, it is 

 to be hoped, ultimately with small customers, with 

 respect to byproduct power, process steam, byproduct 

 fuels, and the like; and reducing the commercial cost 

 of handling small customers. 



In the gas industry, where industrial customers are 

 relatively even more important, sales research plays a 

 very large part in maintaining and increasing the pros- 

 perity of an operating company, and many important 

 devices, lying definitely in the mechanical engineering 

 field, have been developed for customer use by research 

 engineers in gas companies. Also each operating unit 

 of the gas industry has an important research problem 

 in determining its own policy with respect to domestic 

 heating. 



The operating problems of a great railroad system 

 range from load assignments for every type of loco- 

 motive over each division of the system, through the 

 establishment of intricate sj-stems for keeping track of 

 and allocating roUing stock of all kinds, to the extensive 

 study of rival means of transportation and customers' 



