Tairgim:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £10,850 chun slánuithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith an bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1944, chun Oifig Thaighde Eolaíochta Ré na Prainne, maraon le Deontas-i-gCabhair.
That a sum not exceeding £10,850 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending the 31st day of March, 1944, for the Emergency Scientific Research Bureau, including a Grant-in-Aid.
A sum of £22,000 has already been granted to meet the expenses of the bureau by means of Votes on Account. The total provision for this year is £32,850 as compared with £24,500 last year. The increase in the total Estimate is due to the additional amount (£7,850) of the Grant-in-Aid provided under sub-head B and the provision under sub-head A of an additional £500 as honoraria for the members of the bureau. The increase in the Grant-in-Aid is due mainly to additional outlay in connection with certain investigations, in particular those on fuel, iron and steel, fertilisers, explosives and adhesives.
The work of the Emergency Scientific Research Bureau is now in its third year. In moving previous Estimates, I indicated that the main purpose for which the Bureau was set up was to investigate technical problems of industry arising from the emergency. I have outlined the method of work of the Bureau and have given an account of the problems which were being investigated and the principal results obtained. Successful results have been obtained in certain aspects of some of the investigations which I have previously mentioned. Other investigations have been successfully concluded, while some have been discontinued because they did not seem likely to yield promising results, or for other reasons.
The retort plant at Turraun, for producing turf charcoal suitable for use in producer gas plants, has been completed and put into operation. A yield of about 14 tons per week of high-grade charcoal is being obtained. As it is not considered possible, under present circumstances, to obtain the materials necessary for the production of turf charcoal in large retorts, a satisfactory technique for the production on a large scale of charcoal in pits and kilns has also been developed, and will be used if an increased output of turf charcoal is required to meet the needs of producer plants. The work on substitute fuels for use in gas works led to suggestions adopted by the Dublin Gas Company for modifications in their water gas plant. An investigation into the catalytic enrichment of town gas established that the possibilities of development in this direction during the emergency were not sufficiently hopeful to merit continuance of the work. The Bureau's work on producers assisted in conclusions being reached in regard to the minimum requirements in the design of producer plants. Tests carried out on a locally-manufactured producer for use with uncarbonised wood or turf indicate that down-draught producers of the type tested will prove satisfactory with raw turf, particularly for short distance transport. The effect of storage of turf has been studied by the sampling of the large ricks in Dublin.
Medium-scale experiments on the production of iron by electro deposition, and the manufacture of ferro-silicon, have been successfully concluded. The results of these investigations have been recorded, and the processes will be held in reserve for development should the supply position worsen. The manufacture of carbon electrodes for use in electric are furnaces has been satisfactorily developed, and production is being carried out by the company which collaborated in the research. The Bureau has produced, on a medium scale, lead oxide for use in batteries, and has had separators of Irish timber made by a commercial firm. Both components have been tested in batteries on the road with encouraging results. Experiments have been completed which show the feasibility of making concrete lintel beams, without reinforcement, for building purposes.
Success has been achieved in the manufacture of phosphorus and phosphorus sesquisulphide. The recovery of sulphur from spent oxide was successfully developed on a medium scale, but the economic and technical factors involved do not justify development at present. Irish Alcohol Factories, Ltd., have been successfully operating the plant designed by the bureau for the production of formalin. Arrangements were made between commercial concerns in regard to the erection of a plant for the manufacture of aluminium sulphate, required for paper manufacture, following successful experiments carried out under the bureau's auspices.
Investigations on the technical aspects of ensuring certain medical supplies have been completed. Digitalis produced from Irish-grown plants was standardised and tested clinically, and its manufacture has been undertaken by an Irish firm. All the equipment for invert sugar saline has been acquired by a commercial firm. Pharmaceutical glycerine of high quality was produced on the large scale by a commercial concern, with the help of the Bureau's staff.
The survey of marine algæ has been taken over by the Industrial Research Council. The Bureau's work on this problem was chiefly connected with obtaining algæ suitable for use as a substitute for agar agar. A commercial firm is now in a position to manufacture agar of high quality. Zinc has been successfully reclaimed on the laboratory scale from disused dry batteries.
Many problems in regard to adhesives have been successfully examined. These include casein adhesives, a rubber adhesive for boot manufacture, a mucilage from waste carob seeds, and glue for match manufacture. A process for the manufacture of a substitute insulating tape has been developed by the Bureau and is being worked commercially. Other firms undertook the commercial operation of processes developed by the bureau for the manufacture of flypaper, and the production of a substitute for imported engraving glue.
Methods for the production of acetone, which has many manufacturing uses, were developed, and will be held in reserve against a fresh deterioration in the supply position. Experimental work was carried out in regard to the production of carbon black. Activated charcoal was also produced on an experimental scale.
The Bureau has continued to work in close co-operation with Government Department. For example—the Department of Industry and Commerce concluded, following an examination of the matter with the assistance of the Bureau, that it would not be possible to produce fish oil at an economic price in any general way.
A number of other problems have been successfully investigated, of which a few examples may be mentioned: the provision of substitute wool oil, the production of yeast from home materials, the preparation of fatty acids for use in the manufacture of polishes and the production of insecticides from offal tobacco.
I have now given an account of the principal investigations recently completed by the Bureau. The main part of the work in hand relates to various aspects of the fuel problem. As I mentioned, the plant at Turraun for the production of turf charcoal has been put into operation. Experimental work on the by-products of carbonisation and a general study of the carbonisation process will be continued in connection with this plant. This work will prove of value in the study of the production of gas from peat.
The Bureau's work on producers continues, and attention is being devoted to down-draught producers for use with uncarbonised wood or turf. An experimental producer of this type, based on the most promising of the continental designs, has been constructed and is undergoing tests. The results to date indicate that the continental type of plant is unlikely to be suitable in this country during the emergency in any general way. An investigation on the use of turf for automatic stoking in medium-sized boiler installations is being hampered by difficulties in obtaining fuel of suitable size. Results to date show that turf of suitable size could be burned in standard automatic stokers without great difficulty.
The Bureau's emergency plant for the production of compressed ammonia is being maintained in working order-Many problems relating to the use of adhesives in industry are still under examination. The production of phosphorus and phosphorus sesquisulphide continues.
The Bureau has a considerable amount of work in progress in connection with the production of explosives. Preliminary work has been completed in regard to the production of chlorates, and investigations with a view to production on a larger scale have been commenced.
Experiments have been carried out on the production of an improved fertiliser from Clare phosphate, and tests of the product are in progress. The Bureau co-operated in large-scale experiments carried out by a commercial firm on the use of Avoca pyrites for the manufacture of sulphuric acid, which is required in the production of superphosphate. Encouraging results have been obtained and the experiments are being continued.
The possibilities of the commercial production of plates and oxide for battery manufacture are being explored following successful experiments.
Geophysical surveys for iron and nickel ores are in progress in collaboration with the Geological Survey. The possibilities of the collection of scrap alloy steels for re-use were examined by the Department of Industry and Commerce, with the assistance of the bureau, and methods of spectrographic analysis necessary for the classification of the collected material are being developed by the Bureau.
An amplifier for increasing the power of short-wave broadcasting has been designed, constructed and installed at Athlone. Tests have been made on a limited scale, but there are considerable technical difficulties which still require to be investigated.
A number of other miscellaneous problems were dealt with by the bureau by experimental work or by the provision of digests of literature or information from personal knowledge.
A large part of the Bureau's work would not have been possible without the close co-operation and assistance offered by outside bodies. The Government and the Bureau are thankful to the professors and laboratory staffs of the universities who co-operated wholeheartedly with the work of the bureau, and to the many industrial firms and private persons who assisted in the solution of problems.