Papers - New York Meeting – February, 1929 - Physical Chemistry of Steelmaking (Round Table)

An informal discussion on the application of physical chemistry to steelmaking was held during the Annual Meeting of the Institute in February, 1929. Alexander L. Feild presided. In opening the session, Mr. Feild said: We are all familiar with the cooperative mining and metallurgical studies that were begun in 1920 by the U. S. Bureau of Mines, the Carnegie Institute of Technology, and the Mining and Metallurgical Advisory Boards, and in particular with the work on the physical chemistry of steelmaking which was launched under the technical direction of Dr. C. H. Herty, Jr., in May, 1926. It was this work at Pittsburgh more than anything else that was the immediate cause of the formation within the Institute of a committee on the physical chemistry of steelmaking. During the latter part of 1927 a small group of Institute members interested in. the general subject of the physical chemistry of steelmaking undertook the organization of a subcommittee within the Iron and Steel Committee, to foster an active interest in this comparatively new field among the Institute membership and to obtain papers for publication in the Transactions, covering the various phases of the general subject. This plan was conceived by C. E. Meissner, to whose active efforts at the outset as well as during the past year is largely due whatever measure of success the plan has thus far attained. The subcommittee, now a committee of the Iron and Steel Division, was recognized and formally made a part of the Institute's organization at the February, 1928, meeting. As originally organized and as const,it,uted during the past year the committee has been made up as follows: C. H. Herty, Jr., C. D. King, A. B. Kinzel, John Johnston, C. E. Meissner, L. F. Reinartz, R. B. Sosman, and A. L. Feild, Chairman. Dr. C. H. Herty, Jr. has just been elected chairman for the coming year and C. E. Meissner has been reelected as secretary. From the outset it has been the settled policy of the committee to make membership an annual rather than a permanent matter and to reconstitute in part the membership of the committee each year by dropping a certain number of members and adding new members. In view of the fact that the work of the committee is still in a