Fortuitous Industrial Accidents

Arial view of Stella Power Station and Anglo Great Lakes Graphite Plant

Subjects: Soap, Graphite, Ceramic Fibre, Stainless Steel, and Radioactive Material

Introduction: Now this is rather a strange title for my new blog post but being in Industry for most of my working life it is rather strange how many of the products I have been  associated with were discovered in fortuitous ways.

Soap
My first experience of industry was when I trained as a Laboratory Chemist with Proctor and Gamble on City Road in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The origin of soap is supposedly from the Greek practice of sacrificing victims on ceremonial altars. Thus the fatty substances resulting from the pyre combine with the alkaline nature of the subsoil of the sacrificial mountain to give a frothy material from which soap can be produced.

Graphite

Whilst Graphite occurs naturally it was first manufactured on an industrial scale by accident. A gentleman called Acheson was attempting to manufacture Silicon Carbide, an abrasive material in an electric furnace at high temperature. The furnace went out of control and the Silicon Carbide decomposed to form Graphite.

Realising the significance of his discovery Acheson went on to form a Company solely for the manufacture of synthetic Graphite. Originally formed from Petroleum Coke and Coal tar pitch the product Graphite formed in electric furnaces was used as Nuclear Power Moderators, Arc Furnace Electrodes, Anodes in the chemical industry, together with the more exotic uses like re-entry cone liners for rockets of sacrificial graphite.

Graphite anodes

I worked at the Anglo Great Lakes Graphite Plant on the North Bank of the River Tyne. We produced high grade carbon for use in Magnox nuclear reactors, Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors and low grade carbon for use in carbon arc burning.

Ceramic Fibre

Kieselguhr is a diatomaceous earth which is a naturally occurring soft siliceous sedimentary rock. This material was been heated in a crucible which developed a hole. A fibrous material spun out of the hole in the crucible and ceramic fibre was born.

When the full potential of this fibre was realised it was formed into blankets and used extensively as a light weight high temperature insulation material. Being light in weight it was an ideal replacement for dense refractories. It is used extensively in the steel industry for lining top hat heat treatment furnaces and is also used in the petrochemical industry as an insulation material. 

A later development occurred when the fibre was formed into boards and hence could be used to replace asbestos with its attendant health hazards.

Sample of Triton Kaowool ceramic fibre board

(Note from Ross - I remember when Dad worked for Morganite Ceramic Fibres he had an impressive demonstration of the properties of ceramic fibre for his clients. He would hold a bowl shaped piece of ceramic fibre containing a 2 pence coin, in an thermal glove. He would then heat the coin until it was red hot with a blowtorch. When clients were invited to touch the base of the bowl it remained cold!)

Stainless Steel
A laboratory in Sheffield had been experimenting with additives to steel and the various samples with different metal additives had been left outside in the elements prior to disposal. After a while it was realised that a particular sample was not rusting and thus Stainless Steel was born.

Critical Mass

Radioactive material was being stored when it was noticed that as the volume stored reached a certain level it glowed blue. It was realised the the principal of Critical Mass had been reached. The pile had become radioactive which is principal of nuclear power stations. In a nuclear power station the control rods govern the amount of radioactive material in the core and when the Critical Mass is reached, the reaction is sustaining and the neutrons formed are moderated by the graphite core. The resulting heat is collected by circulating Carbon Dioxide and the heat is transformed to produce the steam, which drives the turbines and produces electricity.

(Note from Ross - this is Dad's TED Talk - which he is available to deliver on request!)