1922 Institute of Metals: Visits to Works
Note: This is a sub-section of the 1922 Institute of Metals
METALLURGICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE ROYAL SCHOOL OF MINES.
AT the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting, on March 9, a party of about eighty members visited the Royal School of Mines. They were addressed by Sir Alfred Keogh, G.C.B., the Rector of the Imperial College of Science and Technology, who outlined the constitution of the Imperial College, and indicated the spheres of usefulness of the various Colleges in the past. He stated, inter alia, that the present purposes of the Institution were to give the highest specialized instruction and to provide the fullest equipment for the most advanced training and research. He felt sure the visit would bring home to members how much had been done in this direction.
Professor H. C. H. Carpenter gave a brief account of the metallurgical training at the Royal School of Mines and the subjects taught. An inspection of the Departments was then made.
The Metallurgical Department came into being in 1841 at the Museum of Economic Geology, Craig's Court, where three classes were formed for teaching Metallurgy, Mineralogy, and Analytical Chemistry. Their success justified further development, and a definite school of instruction in Mining and Metallurgy was started under Sir Henry de la Beche on November 6, 1851, in the new buildings of the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, which had been opened by Prince Albert on May 12 of the same year.
The School started its career under the somewhat cumbrous title of the "Government School of Mines and of Science applied to the Arts." The Metallurgical Department under Dr. John Percy continued to develop, and in 1880 transference to larger quarters at South Kensington resulted. The Mining Department soon followed, and in 1881, under a scheme of reorganization, the present title of Royal School of Mines was given. Since then the School has made rapid progress, and in 1908 it became a constituent College of the Imperial College of Science and Technology.
In 1909 the building of the Bessemer Laboratory was commenced, and the installation of the equipment was completed in January 1912. The occupation of the present premises in Prince Consort Road, where Metallurgy occupies the ground-floor and lower ground-floor, did not take place until late in 1913.
Since the inauguration of the Department five Professors have occupied the Chair : Dr. J. Percy, F.R.S., 1851-79 ; Sir W. C. Roberts-Austen, K.C.B., F.R.S., 1879-1902 ; Mr. W. Gowland, F.R.S., 1902-09 and 1913-14 ; Mr. W. A. Carlyle, 1909-13 ; and Dr. Carpenter, F.R.S., who was appointed in 1913.
The course of instruction extends over four years, the first two being devoted to the fundamental sciences and the last two to the various branches of •metallurgy. The Department is divided, at the present time, into thirteen sections
1. Bessemer Memorial Laboratory.— This laboratory contains : (a) Crushing and dressing machinery, such as breakers, ball-mills, rolls, classifiers, jigs, tables, magnetic separators, &c. (b) Stamp battery and cyanide plant ; including tube mill, agitators, filter-press, &c. (c) Roasting and smelting furnaces suitable for smelting lead and copper ores.
2. Assay Laboratory.— Third-year students receive a course of instruction in the assaying of the common metals and in the testing of fuels and refractory materials. This course is followed by more advanced analysis in the second hall-session, and the fourth-year students also carry out their analytical work in this laboratory.
3. Advanced Laboratory.— Special experimental work of a research character is carried out in the laboratory, such as that of the Corrosion Committee under Dr. Bengough, and atmospheric corrosion for the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association by Mr. Vernon.
4. Metallography.— The equipment, which is used for research and general instruction; includes appliances for cutting, grinding, polishing, and etching, as required for macrographic and micrographic work, as well as hand and photographic microscopes.
5. Library.— This contains current technical periodicals, transactions of Scientific Societies and a number of works of reference, as well as modern metallurgical text-books.
6. Lecture Theatre.— This is a conveniently arranged room accommodating up to 144 persons.
7. Professor's Laboratory.— Used by the Professor of Metallurgy for his own investigations. Work on crystal growth was shown here.
8. Corrosion Research Laboratory.— This laboratory is devoted to the work of the Corrosion Committee of the Institute of Metals, which is carried out under the direction of Dr. Bengough.
9. Testing Room— This room is not yet completely equipped. It contains a 20-ton single lever universal testing machine by Avery and a Brinell hardness tester. Research work in connection with the strengths of metals at high temperatures is conducted in this room.
10. Workshop.— This is used for the construction and the general repairs of machines in the Department, and for the preparation of test-pieces, samples, specimens, &c.
11. Pyrometry.— This consists of a furnace room and an instrument room. The latter contains : zero and deflection potentiometers, Cambridge resistance pyrometers, and Callendar recorder, Whipple recorder, thread recorder, Roberts-Austen photographic recorder, Fery radiation pyrometers, and optical pyrometers.
12. Foundry.— This contains coke, gas, and oil melting furnaces, and is used for the preparation of special alloys and for producing ,simple castings.
13. Electro-Metallurgical and Radio-Metallographical Laboratories. — Plans are prepared' and estimates have been obtained for the installation, in the near future, of equipment of wide range for: (a) Electric furnace work, (b) low tension experiments, and (c) radiometallography. After visiting the various laboratories, the party adjourned to the Imperial College Union for tea, where votes of thanks to the Governors and to Professor Carpenter were carried with acclamation.
THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SWANSEA.
Forty years ago, Swansea competed unsuccessfully with Cardiff for the honour of becoming the seat of the first University College in South Wales, and the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire was established at Cardiff. But the need and the determination to secure a college at Swansea remained, and in 1916 the appointment of a Royal Commission on University Education in Wales gave Swansea a second opportunity. A convincing case was laid before the Commission by the Swansea Borough Council, supported by many public authorities and leading manufacturers in south-west Wales, and as a result the University College of Swansea was incorporated by Charter in 1920. The new College obtained immediate recognition as a constituent College of the University of Wales (the original colleges of which are located at Aberystwyth, Bangor, and Cardiff) under the terms of a new Charter granted to that University. The nucleus of the University College was provided by the advanced scientific studies carried on in the Swansea Technical College. At the outset, the activities of the University College were almost confined to the Pure and Applied Sciences, and all the departments were housed in the Technical College buildings on Mount Pleasant. The end of the first year, however, saw the addition of a Faculty of Arts and the occupation of new headquarters at Singleton. In Singleton Park, the' fine estate recently acquired by the town of Swansea, the College enjoys a site of great natural beauty on the shores of Swansea Bay. The mansion in the park, formerly the residence of the Vivian family, serves as a general headquarters and also accommodates the Faculty of Arts and the departments of Geology and Biology. On adjacent ground the erection of new science laboratories is proceeding rapidly. The College Department of Metallurgy already bears comparison with that of any University in the kingdom ; and the College will soon possess at Singleton a group of physical, chemical, and metallurgical laboratories unequalled in Wales. The new University College has made a most promising start, thanks to the enlightened and generous policy of the Swansea Borough Council and the remarkable support given by the leaders of local industry. Metal firms and associations in the district subscribed more than half of the original endowment fund of £70,000, and in addition they now contribute £9500 per annum towards the maintenance of the College.
The Metallurgical Department.
The Metallurgical Department of the University College of Swansea is the youngest school of metallurgy in the country. It was brought into existence by the foresight and munificence of the industrial metallurgists of the district. The interior of the buildings is extremely well lighted, the situation could scarcely be more delightful, and altogether the conditions under which the work is conducted are most favourable. The ordinary B.Sc. degree can be obtained after a three years' course of study, whilst the honours degree covers four years' study. The latter may, however, be reduced to three years in the case of those candidates who enter the University as "post-intermediate" students. The College offers a number of exceptional advantages to those who desire to enter upon a metallurgical career either at home or abroad. It is situated in the heart of a district possessing a long and interesting metallurgical history, and presents an extraordinarily wide variety of present-day metallurgical practice. It may be noted that special opportunities are given by manufacturers of the district, both to students and staff, to study the practical side of manufacturing processes. In this way students are able to gain a really useful practical knowledge of works conditions during their academic studies. The value of this intimate association with works cannot be overestimated, and it is keenly appreciated by all members of the department. Whilst there is, perhaps, a much closer contact between the department and the industries of the Swansea area than is usually found in other localities, it is generally recognized that researches of a truly scientific nature must be actively undertaken. Hence it is intended to foster this spirit of research for its own sake by encouraging investigations which have no apparent industrial object in view. It is felt that only in this way can the necessary data be accumulated which render further industrial progress possible. Investigations of another kind are being taken up, both because of their scientific interest and bearing upon commercial problems. Researches which are mainly directed to the improvement of industrial processes are also in hand. In this connection, Advisory Committees in Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metallurgy have been set up by the Council of the College for the purpose of making suggestions concerning the nature of the practical investigations which should be undertaken. Each committee consists of representatives of the Council and teaching staff of the College, together with representatives of the principal local industries. The Committee on Ferrous Metallurgy includes representatives of the South Wales Siemens Steel Association, the Welsh Plate and Sheet Manufacturers' Association, and the British Mannesmann Tube Company, Limited. The Committee on Non-Ferrous Metallurgy includes representatives of the South Wales Copper Trades Employers' Association, the Spelter Manufacturers' Association, and the Mond Nickel Company, Limited.
THE BRITISH MANNESMANN TUBE CO., LTD.
The Landore Works were founded in the year 1868 by "The Landore Siemens Steel Company," and it is a fact of historical interest that it was on the adjoining site now occupied by the steelworks of Baldwins, Ltd., that Dr. W. C. Siemens conducted his investigations and installed the first furnaces to produce steel on a commercial scale by the open-hearth process. The steel products then manufactured were ship plates, rails, tyres, bars for the tinplate trade, steel wire, and rivets. Eventually the Siemens Company became associated with "The Mannesmann Tube Company" in the manufacture of weldless steel tubes. In 1899 the Company was reconstituted as "The British Mannesmann Tube Company, Limited," and at that time the annual output of the works was from 3000 to 4000 tons of tubes, employing about 300 men. To-day the capacity has increased to 35,000 tons of tubes per annum, affording employment to 2000 men. In 1916 the Company became entirely British, and the business was immediately extended by the erection of a large and modern tube-making plant at Newport equal to a capacity of 30,000 tons per annum. Further recent developments here include a large lap-welding plant of the most up-to-date design.
MESSRS. W. GILBERTSON & CO., LTD.
The works of Messrs. Gilbertson are situated at Pontardawe, and comprise alloy steelworks, steelworks, tinplate mills, and sheet mills. In the steelworks, forgings, billets, bars, rounds, squares, hexagons, and flats are produced. The Company specializes in all classes of alloy steels, and it is interesting to note that some of the firm's steel was used in the Eagle engines of Captain Alcock's Vimy machine that first flew the Atlantic. In the Sheet Department, both galvanized and black sheets are produced, the latter are principally used for roofing and enamelling. The galvanized sheets are flat or corrugated. Thin sheets are specially produced for the Brazilian and Eastern markets. In the tinplate works, plates of all grades and substances are produced.
WILLIAMS, FOSTER & CO., AND PASCOE, GRENFELL & SONS, LIMITED.
The Morfa Copper Works were built in 1834 by Williams, Foster and Co., and cover an area of about 26 acres. In the year 1892 Williams, Foster & Co. acquired the Middle Bank Copper Works and Upper Bank Spelter Works, covering about 68 acres, from Pascoe, Grenfell & Sons, Ltd., whose interest in these works dated from 1803. It is of interest to recall the fact that at Middle Bank Works Mr. G. F. Muntz completed his important invention in the manufacture of yellow metal, otherwise known as "Muntz Metal." The Company are large manufacturers of copper locomotive firebox plates and rods, copper sheets, circles, pans, raised bottoms, &c.
MESSRS. VIVIAN & SONS, LTD.
The Hafod Copper Works were founded in Swansea by John Vivian, in 1810, mainly for the purpose of smelting Cornish copper ore. His second son, John Henry Vivian, who received a technical education at Freiburg, was put in charge. His eldest son, Henry Hussey Vivian (afterwards Lord Swansea), who also studied at Freiburg, succeeded his father in the management ; the third son, Sir Arthur Pendarves Vivian, being put in charge of the Branch Copper Works at Port Talbot, which was started in 1838, and which, later on, became the Yellow Metal Department. Since those days new branches have been gradually added, and at the present time the concern is laid out with modern plant for the production and manufacture of all products of copper, lead, and zinc, as well as heavy chemicals. Besides copper in bars, ingots, and cathodes, the Company turns out copper sheets, loco plates up to 12 ft. in width, copper tubes, rods, bolts, circles, sulphate of copper, yellow metal condenser plates, sheets and circles, brass tubes and bolts, naval brass, ferro-bronze, lead ingots, sheets and pipes, spelter, silver and gold, sulphuric acid, zinc chloride, superphosphate fertilizers, and a building brick made from the clinker and pots at the Spelter Works. The Company also has a modern fitting shop and foundry. The electric power-station was equipped with Uniflow engines in 1910, the first of this type to be installed in this country, and since then five further engines of this type have been installed. The Lodge electrical fume deposition system is in operation at the Lead Works. Admiralty work has been a speciality of the Port Talbot Branch, and besides supplying the condenser tubes and plates for all the chief battleships and cruisers, the condenser plates of some of the largest liners, such as the Mauretania, have been supplied. Swansea Meeting 499
THE ENGLISH CROWN SPELTER COMPANY, LTD.
These works, originally started on a small scale in 1864, were acquired by the present Company in 1883 from Messrs. Richardson & Co., of Swansea, and at the same time the Company acquired zinc mines in Italy, which have produced since that date over 300,000 tons of zinc ores. The works capacity at that time was twelve furnaces, of old type, with an annual output of 4000 tons of spelter. Since that date the Company has extended its productive capacity, so that in 1900 the output was nearly 6000 tons. With the outbreak of war the capacity had reached 8000 tons, and in view of the urgent necessity the works were further largely added to under agreement with the Government, when the number of furnaces was increased to twenty, equal to a production of about 14,000 tons of metal per annum. It is a point of interest that whereas the agreement with the Government was only signed at the end of May 1916, the first of the new furnaces began producing metal a month later. An acid plant was also added to produce acid from the sulphur driven off as a by-product in the roasting of the ores—hitherto gone to waste. An extended and highly modern pottery was also added.
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