Liquefaction

“ We may define a eutectic substance as a body composed of two or more constituents, which constituents are in such proportion to one another as to give to the resultant compound body a minimum temperature of liquefaction—that is, a lower temperature of liquefaction than that given by any other proportion.2 It will be seen at once by this definition that the temperature of liquefaction of a eutectic substance is lower than the temperature of liquefaction of either or any of the constituents of the mixture. ”

“ Is it due to the regular action of the natural laws which, under the given circumstances, produce the liquefaction, independently of any special act of men designed to bring it about? How does a solid body naturally pass into a fluid condition? ”

“ But at the great pressures within the earth, actual liquefaction is no doubt prevented, and the nucleus remains solid, though at a temperature at which, but for the pressure, it would be like so much molten iron. ”

“ The effluent is higher than the influent in free ammonia, but the reduction of other constituents, particularly suspended matter, is marked.
Septic action is sensitive to temperature changes, and to certain constituents of the incoming sewage. Cold weather or an acid influent will inhibit septicization. In winter the liquefaction of sludge may practically cease, whereas in summer liquefaction may exceed deposition. The amount of gas generated is a measure of the relative amount of septic action. ”

“ It was expected by this gentleman "that the various affinities which take place among the gases under the common pressure of the atmosphere, would undergo considerable alteration by the influence of condensation;" and it was with this in view that the experiments were made and described. The results of liquefaction were therefore incidental, but at present it is only of them I wish to take notice. Mr. ”

“ During the condensation of the gas in this manner, a liquid has been observed to deposit from it. It is not, however, a result of the liquefaction of the gas, but the deposition of a vapour (using the terms gas and vapour in their common acceptation) from it, and when taken out of the vessel it remains a liquid at common temperatures and pressures; may be purified by distillation, in the ordinary way, and will even bear a temperature of 170° F. before it boils, at ordinary pressure. ”

“ The liquefaction is assisted by the residual heat of the first heated material and the pan. The slow cooling facilitates the productive process by thickening the mass, and when the soda has been absorbed, the whole has become fairly thick. ”

“ If the granulated compound metal is now mixed with 1617 parts by weight of quicksilver, it becomes suddenly liquefied and expanded: liquefaction is the reverse of solidification, and hence cold is produced from the natural heat of the compound metals being rendered latent by the change from the solid to the liquid state; so that a small quantity of water placed in a glass tube, and surrounded with the metals whilst liquefying in the mercury, becomes rapidly converted into ice, the fall of the temperature, as shown by a thermometer, being from 60° Fahr. ”

“ It would seem as though carrion liquefaction, deadly to any other stomach, were in this case a food productive of special energy, which stimulates the organism and accelerates its growth, so that the fare may be consumed before its approaching conversion into mould. Living chemistry makes haste to outstrip the ultimate reactions of mineral chemistry. ”

“ Now, inasmuch as even hot water is subject to the laws of gravity and will fall downwards, we submit that for the hot water to remain in the stem or cylinder with its lower extremity quite open, for even ten minutes, would be as truly a miracle as the liquefaction itself is claimed to be. Even allowing some invisible plug to be used to close that opening and to prevent the water from falling down, would not the first and most powerful effect of the heat of the water be manifested in the thin metallic sides of the stem itself, scorching and blistering the hands of the priest that held it? ”

“ Now that we know the pressure of the vapour of chlorine, there can be no doubt that the following passage describes a true liquefaction of that gas. "Upon the compression of nearly two pints of oxygenated muriatic acid gas in a receiver, two and a quarter cubic inches capacity, it speedily became converted into a yellow fluid, of such extreme volatility, under the common pressure of the atmosphere, that it instantly evaporated upon opening the screw of the receiver ”

“ We cannot use liquid manures on a large scale, but thorough pulverization of that which is solid is a very near approach to the former. Immerse a compact clod in water, and the latter will require time to become discolored. But plunge an equal bulk of finely pulverized manure into water, and discoloration almost instantly occurs. Diffusion is inevitable from contact with the water. Now as rain is water, so a heavy shower falling on ground beneath which great clods of manure have been buried, produces in them no more liquefaction than it does on that which has been dropped in a bucket. ”

“ In the pipe connecting the two reservoirs is a tap, which is opened by a float in the lower vessel as soon as the level of the liquid in it sinks a little, and which remains open until the level of the liquid has again risen to a certain height. The float in the reservoir connected with the lamps is arranged so that the level of the liquid is slightly higher than the burners. Under the slight pressure oil continually flows to the burners, and it is not difficult to regulate its flow so that all which reaches the burner is burned. ”

“ If a lump about the size of the fist be placed in a large porcelain basin and suffused with a small quantity of water, preferably poured in a thin stream, the lime, if properly burned, will continue to absorb the water for a considerable time, like a sponge, and will very soon give evidence of a brisk reaction by increasing in bulk and generating such an amount of heat as to cause the immediate evaporation of a few drops of water allowed to fall on the surface of the mass. ”

“ These obstructions are now removed by boring tools forced through the pipe by the hydrostatic pressure. The Superintendent of the Halifax (N. S.) Water-Works records the cleansing of a 12-inch main, 32,000 feet long, in three-fourths of an hour. The preservation of cast-iron pipes, and the prevention of these concretions, are now accomplished by carefully dipping the pipe, previously [129] heated to a temperature of 300 degrees, in a bath of distilled coal tar, mixed, to a proper consistency, with linseed oil, or an oil of the tar. ”

“ The system of leaching, as it is termed in the States, is conducted as follows:—Iron tanks are used, with suitable piping, that allows pumping from one tank to another, and also to pump from any one of them up to the causticising tanks in the alkali-room. There is also a water-line by which water may be pumped into any of the tanks, and there is a spout used in washing away the black ash sludge. The leaching-tanks have false bottoms of 2in. by 2in. stuff, placed crosswise, over which is a layer of gravel, on which lies a layer of straw, by which the liquor is filtered. ”

“ SECT. II. Of Lixiviation.
This is an operation used in chemistry and manufactures for separating substances which are soluble in water from such as are insoluble. The large vat or tub, Pl. II. Fig. 12. having a hole D near its bottom, containing a wooden spiget and fosset or metallic stop-cock DE, is generally used for this purpose. A thin stratum of straw is placed at the bottom of the tub; over this, the substance to be lixiviated is laid and covered by a cloth, then hot or cold water, according to the degree of solubility of the saline matter, is poured on. ”

“ There are, in fact, some results producible by cold which no pressure may be able to effect. Thus, solidification has not as yet been conferred on a fluid by any degree of pressure. Again, that beautiful condition which Cagniard de la Tour has made known, and which comes on with liquids at a certain heat, may have its point of temperature for some of the bodies to be experimented with, as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, &c., below that belonging to the bath of carbonic acid and ether ”

“ For those who use larger quantities of lime, several pits should be constructed in preference to one larger reservoir. When the lime is wanted for use it may be dug out with a spade, and readily diluted with a sufficient quantity of water. ”

“ Plenty,” Ralph answered. “Mud is forced down into a well to cool the drill bit and to wash rock cuttings to the surface. You use mud if you have water, that is. In parts of this country, water’s so short, or so expensive to haul, that producers use compressed air for those purposes. We’re lucky. We can pipe plenty of water from the river.”
35
“Then you mix the water with all sorts of fancy chemicals to make something that’s called mud but really isn’t,” said Sandy, remembering tales of the oil country that his father had told him. ”

“ An Artesian well, so called from the province of Artois, in France, is a shaft sunk or bored through impermeable strata, until a water-bearing stratum is tapped, when the water is forced upwards by the hydrostatic pressure due to the superior level at which the rain-water was received. ”

“ By irrigation, by the diffusion and conveyance of the manure to the plant in the medium of water the escape of the valuable substance as a noxious and injurious gas is diminished. [5] Whatever extent of loss there is from manures by decomposition when placed 50on the land in a solid form, and when exposed to the action of the atmosphere, it is stated that there is proportionate gain by holding the material in suspension in water. The simple offensiveness, it may be assumed, is a sufficient ground of exclusion of any process from amidst the habitations of a town population. ”

“ One man attends to the sluice, and sees that the dirt does not choke up in the sluice, or in the claim above it.
The quantity of dirt that can be washed with a hydraulic pipe depends upon various circumstances—such as the supply of water, the height of its fall, the toughness of the dirt, and the amount of moisture in it. More can be washed in winter than in summer, because the dirt is then moister, and requires less water to loosen and dissolve it. The quantity of water used in a hydraulic claim is from forty to two hundred inches. ”

“ The jelly which forms, upon cooling the filtered solution, is dark coloured, but, being dried and redissolved in hot water, it becomes clear and colourless. Lichenine consists of 39·33 carbon, 7·24 hydrogen, and 55·43 oxygen. With potash, lime, oxide of lead, and tincture of galls, the habitudes of lichenine and starch are the same. The mucilage of island moss is preferred in Germany to common paste for dressing the warp of webs in the loom, because it remains soft, from its hygrometric quality. It is also mixed with the pulp for sizing paper in the vat. ”

“ By actual analysis this mud has been found to contain from eleven to fifteen grammes of nitrogenous substances, and from twenty to twenty-five grammes of phosphate of lime, per cubic metre. The whole deposit from a year's sewage of Paris would contain nitrogenous matters enough to suffice for the fertilization of 75,000 acres of land. It is certain that a sale would be gradually found for this valuable matter, the proceeds of which, estimated eventually to amount possibly to 1,500,000 francs a year, would in the end more than defray the entire cost of maintaining the system of extraction. ”

“ But in most regions where irrigation is regularly employed, it is necessary to economize the water; after passing over or through one parcel of ground, it is conducted to another; no more is usually withdrawn from the canals at anyone point than is absorbed by the soil it irrigates, or evaporated from it, and, consequently, it is not restored to liquid circulation, except by infiltration or precipitation. ”

“ As we find the liquid water in nature it is more or less impregnated with vegetable, gaseous, and saline matter, which often impairs its fitness for mechanical purposes. These admixtures are derived from the rocks and ground over or through which the water flows. The incrustations which form in boilers are caused by the precipitation of the impurities in consequence of the concentration of water in the boiler. ”

“ When a fissure crosses a water- bearing stratum, or aquifer, water is forced upward by the pressure of the weight of the water contained in the higher parts of the stratum, and may reach the surface as a fissure spring. A boring which taps such an aquifer is known as an artesian well, a name derived from a province in France where wells of this kind have been long in use. ”

“ They retain a mass of filth in a decomposing condition deep in the ground, where it is but slightly affected by the bacteria and air of the soil. In seeping through the ground it may be strained, but there can be no assurance that the foul liquid, with little improvement in its condition, may not pass into the ground water and pollute wells and springs situated long distances away in the direction of underground flow. ”

“ Some of the substances contained in raw sewage remain in the bed, no matter how carefully the sewage has been previously strained, and these, in combination with the slimy surface coating of the component particles, the accumulation of mineralised substances in the pores, the consolidation of the bed, the disintegration of the filling material, and the liquid retained, lead gradually but surely to the silting or sludging up of the bed. ”