PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2786, 2 June 1916, Page 9

PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

ADDRESS BT ME. E. PAKRX

The inaugural address of the Technological Section of tho Philosophical Society was .delivered by tho chairman (Mr. E. Parry) at tho Museum Buildings oil Wednesday. Mr. Parry chose for his subject "The Application- of Electricity to tho Smelting and Defining of Iron." He referred at the outset to the signal success of two New Zealand men, Mr. Overend and Mr. Grinlington, who had succeeded in inventing a solder and devising a process for soldering aluminium, which had passed the most rigorous tests by tho War Office at Woolwich, and had been forthwith adopted by them. Their snccess is all the more notable because ever since aluminium came into general use countless efforts have been made, to solve tlio problem. Mr. Parry went on to explain the. pr'uciples governing the operation of the ordinary blast-furnace, and showed that under certain conditions electricity could be profitably applied to the smelting process, but as a general rule electric smelting could not compete with fuel for this purpose. It was explained that, electricity entered into the smelting and electrolytic field wliere high temperatures were required for bringing _ about tho necessary reactions, and which temperatures conld not. be obtained by means of fuel, or, if obtained, were obtained with difficulty and at a high cost. Instances were given of liigh-priced alloys ot iron, .such as ferro-silicon, fcrro-tungsten, also carborundum, calcium carbide, and aluminium, which requires high temperature in tho process of production, aim which could not be conveniently obtained except by the agency of electricity. lia next dealt with electricity in the refining of steel, and -showed that field-here was much morn extensive, and that the use of electricity -for obtaining high qualities of. steel, for melting scrap, lor heating, annealing, and casting was growing at a very Tapid rate, and that already the power used for this purpose exceeded 100.000 horse-power. The lecture was accompanied by illustrations showing clectric iron smelting furnaces, and tho different types of electric steel furnaces in use.