StUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1953 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE MV CENTURY OLD PROBLEM AIRED Professor Investigates Smoke Nuisance By NAN SWINEHART Ever since the thirteenth cen-I tury when visiting royalty was a essary information to groups which may be interested in some particular aspect included in the signal for the town's blacksmith study to close shop for the day, smoke Prof. Sherlock and his asso- and atmospheric sanitation have ciates were consulted in 1934 presented a problem. when smoke from a Chicago sta- Many cities today have this tion went down instead of up problem, and the matter concerns under certain conditions. As a not only cities but also outlaying result of this phenomenon sur- districts where plants and factor- rounding apartment buildings ies are located. In many districts, acquired a layer of soot. measures have been taken to keep After a year and a half's study; smoke from becoming a nuisance. changes were recommended which * * * when made controlled the down- THE STACKS designed for the plant are to be the highest in the world, 707 feet of reinforced con- crete. This is 100 feet higher than the highest ones in existence now. The smokestacks for the atomic power plant must be de- signed to resist vibration due to wind and even earthquakes, ac- cording to Prof. Sherlock. In mentioning earthquakes, he ex- plained that in the past there have been some serious earth- quakes within a 200 mile radius of the area. A similar problem is present in many cities. In some smog ridden cities, it has been necessary for ITM Group Joins ERI In Research Richard F. Stoll, Grad, recently assumed supervision of the Meth- ods Time Measurement for stan- dards and research which recently moved its laboratory facilities to the University. In its new affiliation with the University's Engineering Research Institute, the association will ex- pand its research activities in the field of work measurement, ac- cording to Association president Seth Winslow, of Chicago. Stoll is studying for his doctor- ate in cost and systems analysis at the Rackham graduate school. The diversification of industry in the Ann Arbor area will pro- vide ideal experimental grounds for study of manual motions and operations to be made by the re- search staff under the direction of David L. Ruxhall, Winslow said. WORK ON smoke at the Uni- versity began in 1927, when a sur-k vey was made to find out how much money would be needed toI finance some power lines. At the; ward currents of the smoke. The smoke has been going the right direction ever since. AT PRESENT plans are being Y --Daily-Don Campbell WINDTUNNEL CITY IN MINIATURE-AND GIANT EXPERIMENTERS i UP IN THE AIR: Research, Study Highlight Aeronautics completion of the survey, such a drafted for an atomic power plant factories which could not meet large sum of money was involved on the Ohio River. Prof. Sherlock minimum standards of air sanita- in the project that officials decid- has been consulted on the matter tion to go out of business. ed research was needed on weath- because waste gases, if not con- "Atmospheric sanitation of a er and structure of the wind. trolled. could be very harmful to city depends on how prosperous Prof. Robert Sherlock of the the state park and hospital in the the community is," Prof. Sherlock engineering college was contact- surrounding area. said. When they can afford to,I ed to organize and head the re- The smoke from the plant they sanitize. Because of this the search. Research was done at a contains a quantity of sulphur process is a "piecemeal" one. station in this vicinity where dioxide which would be injur- wind velocities in storms were ious to the vegetation. If this recorded over a period of seven smoke settles on a vegetable gar- years. den while there is still dew on #C M Recording was done through the the plants a reaction will takePLEASECI use of a tower which would com- place and the sulphuric acid pare in height to a 22 story build- formed will eat holes in the ing. An oscillograph was used to plants. record the wind velocity at dif- The problem lies in constructing ferent heights on the tower. smokestacks high enough and per- * * mitting enough exit velocity for ALL INFORMATION resulting gases so that by the time they TAke hom e from the seven years study is now reach the ground, the concentra- on file with Prof. Sherlock. It is tion of sulphur dioxide would be not uncommon for him to supply sufficiently reduced so as not to UY necessary information to . groups harm surrounding vegetation. S / . .. .tAll W '^i Al M l By MARK READER Between the time the Wright brothers decided to fly and Lind- berg 'demonstrated it could ef- fectively be done by taking a jaunt across the Atlantic, the University had set up the first aeronautical engineering course in the United States leading to a degree under the direction of Prof. Felix A. Paulowski.. The "flying bug" had not bit- ten deeply then and students prov- ed to be few-but as time pro- gressed and air flight became an accepted part of the American transportation system, the aero- nautical department mushroomed in population. TODAY THE department bus- ties with activity and it is diffi- cult, if not impossible, to recall all the projects that student engi- neers and faculty members have engaged in during the past decade. Research activity now ranges from determining just how streamlined the new Studebaker actually is, to taking samples of the earth's atmosphere at alti- tudes of 250,000 feet and better. The massive department located in the East Engineering Bldg. with. research centers at ,Willow Run and a new hub planned for the University's North Campus is di- vided into four major fields of study. Aircraft Structure, Aircraft Pro- pulslon, Aircraft Design and Air- craft Instrumentation constitute the major training fields of con- centration for engineers planning to enter the aeronautical industry. THE DEPARTMENT continues to train students not only in the theoretical phases of air problems but also in the practical applica- tions of their learning. Upon gra- duation most students are ready to enter inta the industrial field of airplane production-many stu- dents snaring top posts in the in- dustry after appropriate training. Comparatively few students remain in the Aeronautical De- partment to work on a much coveted PhD. In fact less than a dozen engineers received their PhD's at the end of the second World War. However, the number of gradu- ate students in the field is com- paratively high when matched against other schools around the country devoted to the same sort of training. The pressing desire on the part of the Air Force for the most up-1 to-date air discoveries has brought more and more students into the graduate program offered in the department. * * * THE AIR FORCE has sent manyj of its men to study here in order to pick up valuable information on guided missiles-one of the many courses open to graduates. However, as one of the grad- uate students was quick to point out, many of these stu- dents must first be trained in the rudiments of propulsion, an integral part of aeronautical training. With the rapid advance made during the past few years on the general stock of basic information in aircraft a simple knowledge of the mechanical workings on the part of an engineer is no longer sufficient in itself. Intensive courses in physics and chemistry as they relate to the aircraft industry are now neces- sary to continue the advancements in the field. * : s RECENTLY, THE entire curri- cula of the department was re- vised to bring it up to date in or- der to meet the requirements and demands of practicing industry. Now most students add to their education by working in aircraft industries during summer vaca- tions. Research projects continue to be numerous. Perhaps one of the most interesting is work be- ing done on the construction of wind tunnels. One of the most noteable achievements in this field was the construction of a supersonic wind tunnel built shortly after the war which is capable of testing minia- ture airplanes in conditions equal- ing four times the speed of sound. The tunnel's test section is only 8 by 13 inches. * * * ANOTHER problem being work- ed on is the construction of a tun- nel capable of changing speeds drastically while a plane is being tested. Still another tunnel is nearing completion for the study of low speed turbulence on air- craft. The low speed wind tun- nel has proven more difficult to construct than the regular high speed one. This tunnel when completed will be 5 by 7 feet and will be used to study the effects of gusts of wind and other similar na- tural phenomena on planes in Iflwi h been dropped from tremendous heights to detect the various wind currents circulating about the earth. Research on the la- test rockets is also being con- ducted by the department. Most of the research involves develop- ing a better combustion engine to allow higher temperatures and lower fuel consumption by the rocket. The main objective though is designed to allow students to en- ter the industry at some future date.I Investigation on jet engines isI being carried on at the depart- ments and centers around ram- jet and turbo-jets. Extensive wnrk is t kin- e nino denl tonn- N AND BROWSE a Michigan enir k 1 4I I Ii I I ', i rgni .WorK is axig place oln ~l Plans are underway to construct tioneproblems in the firing of the a larger and more perfect low tur- I-jet engine. bulence wind tunnel on the pro- * * * jected North Campus.j THE MAZE of research activi- The U.S. Signal Corps is pre- ty sometimes leads the research sently sponsoring the department's engineer into strange endeavors atI research into high altitude samp- the department. Once, one of the ling. V2 rockets have been laun- larger corporations in the country ched at White Sands, New Mexico, was planning to construct a gi- to take samplings of the air at 90 gantic plant. miles above sea level. They asked the department to * * * conduct research on how tall I I tongratruiarions. MICHIGAN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ON YOUR 100th Anniversary We feel that we should join in with you in celebration owing to the fact that you are at this time dedicating the Mortimer E. Cooley Memorial Research Laboratory Building. We take pride in having had Valley Metal Products Company's windows selected by the planners and builders of this beautiful memorial. Our compliments on a century of outstand- ing engineering progress. THE VALLEY METAL PRODUCTS COMPANY PLAINWELL, MICHIGAN A Subsidiary of Mueller Brass Co. All wool m U an U elsU l 0. and up Book Ends . . . 2.50 and up Beer Mugs with M Seal Hi Ball Glasses with M Seal .. . 8 for 2.95 Pennants - Pillows - Key Chains Michigan Song Books Michigan Scrap Books ULRICH'S The Engineers' Book Store OPPOSITE THE ARCH h° Several of the school's outstand- they would have to build smoke- ing students participate in this stacks in the plant to clear a program during their summer va- near-by hill. Researchers went cations and from all reports the to work in conjunction with Civ- experience gained on the White il Engineers. Sands project is invaluable. By constructing a model of the - "We don't get much in the way plant, complete to the last detail, of findings though," said one pro- and building the terrain around fessor. "There is a pretty high the structure in scale the answer vacuum at that altitude." was finally found. * * * At another time the manufac- WHATEVER findings are re- turer of billboards asked the re- ported however, are sent to Eng- search staff to find out how strong land and parts of the United a huge billboard would have to be States to be analyzed for future constructed to withstand various use. wind velocities. The investigators Signal- balloons have also came up with this answer also. l -- __-_- 6 STEP OUT IN GOOD TASTE! ri ... Research workers have available modern appa- ratus, such as the infrared spectrometer being used here by Vaughan C. Chambers, Ph.D. Org. Chem., M.I.T. '50. .L ib W w%.0 0- V ./0G 11 11 COMPLIMENTS OF FINGERLE COMPANY 61.7 SOUTH .FIFTH AVENUE ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN 1RQR CHOICE OF ALL-WOOL TWEEDS OR PLAIN FABRICS provides broad opportunities for chemists, physicists and engineers cooperating on many prolilems. For one thing, much Du Pont re- search is fundamental, aimed at ad- vancing scientific knowledge regard- less of specific commercial objectives. However, such research often sug- gests new products.. . each with its own challenging technical problems which must be solved before com- mercial production can begin. Solv- ing these problems offers another great field of work for teams of en- gineers and scientists. "Teflon" tetrafluoroethylene resin is an example of this well integrated teamwork. For coatings, previous research suggested dispersions-minute par- ticles suspended in a liquid. After much study, a team of technical men learned how to suspend particles of "Teflon" about 1/125,000 of an inch in diameter. Then a commercial scale process was devised. This develop- ment made possible thin coatings of "Teflon" and also a process for ex- truding the material. Meanwhile, another group discov- ered how to successfully formulate the new plastic into "Teflon" tetra. fluoroethylene resin finishes and wire enamels. The development of "Teflon" illus- trates the close teamwork that is the basis of research at Du Pont. But this teamwork doesn't end with re- search. Bringing the product to com- mercial reality requires development and design work by chemists and both chemical and mechanical engineers. Next month's Digest will feature in- formation on the opportunities Du Pont offers men interested in this phase of making "better things for better living... through chemistry." ASK FOR "Chemical Engineers at Du Pont." New illustrated booklet de- scribes initial assignments, training and paths of promotion. Just send post card to E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (Inc.). 2521 Nemours Building, Wil- Doing chemical engineering research on a plate in a distillation tower are: C. M. Gamel, Jr., S.M.Ch.E., M.I.T. '48; and J. B. Jones, M.S.Ch.E., Univ. of Mich. 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