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.
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