future. The Administration is continuing its activities in the field of powdered metallurgy now gaining in practical importance, particularly in the automotive industry. The Bonneville Power Administration also continued to stimulate interest in electrolytic manganese.

The availability of titanium-bearing sands caused the Administration actively to stimulate research in the utilization of the titanium fractions for the use of pigments. Much interest is developing in the industrial potentialities of this resource.

An important plant for the manufacture of resinous plastics for the plywood industry has been established by one of the key companies in this field. Continuous contact and release of the "Preliminary Report on the Plastics Industry" by the Administration had a direct bearing on the establishment of this plant.

Activity and interest in the production of rare metals such as lithium have been followed closely by the Administration and continuous contact with one of the major producers of rare metals indicates the possible establishment of a large plant in this region. Culminating 8 years of effort on the part of the Administration in the utilization of electric power for the manufacture of glass was the establishment of a sizable glass-producing unit in a Northwest glass plant utilizing the so-called Cornelius electric glass furnace. The success of the operation will bear definitely on the use of this type of furnace elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest in the coming expansion of glass-producing industries.

Also as part of the interest in chemical industries, renewed activity has taken place in the mining of limestone and silicas. These two materials are the basis for any chemical industries which might develop in the Pacific Northwest.

INDUSTRIAL STUDIES

The industrial contact work indicated above requires careful advance as well as continuing industrial and market analysis. In this respect, studies on limestone and silica and on lead and zinc were prosecuted by members of the staff, together with a multitude of short-run studies required for direct industrial contacts.

The Administration continued with collaborative studies on a wood-utilization experimental pilot plant for the production of charcoal. It also collaborated in basic research work on the utilization of titanium-bearing sands for the production of pigments.

In order to lay a sound basis for market analysis, the Administration began a long-range study of interregional and intraregional freight rates as well as of specific markets for specific power-using industries. Utilization of local coals for the production of charcoal, phenol, and tars was the subject of much contact work. Discussions with leaders of industry and with Government officials on a comprehensive study

of fertilizer use and potential production in the Pacific Northwest have also been carried on in the past fiscal year. Also initiated was a longrange study of railroad electrification, with numerous collaborating contacts with the TVA, Bureau of Reclamation, and various railroads and manufacturers of equipment.

An attempt to stimulate interest in the manufacture of line hardware by local manufacturing enterprise was launched during the year, with interesting initial results.

A long-range program in the use of aluminum and its fabrication in the Pacific Northwest was initiated by the staff. The cooperative relationship of the Administration with the Office of Alien Property Custodian was continued, with many direct contacts made by the Alien Property Custodian representative.

COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES

Staff members prepared testimony and participated in hearings before the United States Senate Special Committee to Study and Survey Problems of Small Business. Particular emphasis was given to problems relating to the disposal of Government facilities in the production of aluminum and in general problems of business and industrial expansion in the Pacific Northwest States. Another committee with which the Administration collaborated was the United States Senate Committee on Centralization of Industry. Numerous conferences were held with State officials on matters relating to industrial and resource development and initial conferences were held in the four Pacific Northwest States with staff members of higher educational institutions for the purpose of developing cooperative programs of research in industry and resource utilization.

THE LIGHT METALS INDUSTRY

Much effort was put forth by the Bonneville Power Administration during the fiscal year 1945 in studying problems of industrial and peacetime operation of Government-owned light metal plants in the Pacific Northwest. Declaring it to be a primary objective of the Bonneville Power Administration to assist in the utilization of Northwest resources for the development of a well-rounded industrial economy to provide maximum employment, Administrator Paul J. Raver, in testifying before the Murray Small Business Committee, maintained that the aluminum industry can and should be a major part of that development. The following recommendations to be undertaken immediately by Government agencies to assist new operators to take over the Government-owned aluminum plants and operate them successfully were made at that time. In substance, they are:

1. In order to prevent immediate shutdown of the major part of the aluminum capacity because of a shortage of war orders, minimum

markets above immediate normal needs should be provided by Government stock-piling of aluminum ingot as a national defense

measure.

2. The Government should control all surpluses of virgin and socalled secondary metal, releasing them gradually so as not to interfere with an orderly change of price levels.

3. Government should provide new operators with access to high grade, imported bauxite to insure an adequate and reliable source of raw material.

4. Government agencies should coordinate and increase efforts in the direction of assisting private enterprise to appraise both export and domestic use of light metals. The question of freight rates is basic to the aluminum marketing problem, and the Bonneville Power Administration has started studies of freight rates on electro-industry products.

5. In order to help overcome problems of improper location, fractional capacity operation and reopening of shut-down plants, the Government should provide engineering assistance in appraising production costs, grant flexible terms of lease and assume the costs of plant alterations and, where necessary, finance relocation of improperly located plants or their equipment. So far as power rates are involved in this problem, the Bonneville Power Administration has pointed out its obligation to pay for the cost of the power projects out of revenues as provided by Congress in the Bonneville Act.

UTILIZATION ACTIVITIES

Intensive efforts have been devoted throughout the year to investigation and study of electric house-heating systems, particularly installations in service for a season or more. It is immediately apparent from public interest shown in this method of home heating that a large potential market for power exists in this field. As a result of the findings of the Administration's utilization engineers in the field, many of the adverse attitudes heretofore caused by lack of knowledge of energy demands and of the cost of the electric space heating, have been dissipated.

These investigations have included extensive measurements and tests on existing heating installations to determine results and costs of this type of heating. Although a great deal of data have been accumulated, much work remains to be done in this field, particularly because of continuing new developments in electric heating methods.

In the fields of rural and agricultural utilization, considerable investigation has been made into improved methods of hay drying, fruit dehydration, sprinkler irrigation, scientific dairying, and food preservation by means of electric processes.

COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

As a part of the program for developing use of power in the Pacific Northwest, particularly for farm use and electric house heating, a program of cooperative research with colleges and universities in the Northwest was initiated by the Administration during fiscal year 1945. Funds utilized for this research program were those provided by the Congress for advanced marketing activities. Agreements were executed during the fiscal year with Oregon State College, Washington State College, Montana State College, the University of Washington, and Linfield College. With each, a basic memorandum of understanding has been executed outlining the relationships between the institution and the Bonneville Power Administration and forming the basis for specific agreements regarding individual research projects.

With Oregon State College, under a basic memorandum dated May 22, 1945, eight separate studies are to be undertaken. These will include studies on (1) pipe and pipe materials for use with sprinkler irrigation, (2) dairy water heating, (3) home built farm refrigeration units, (4) electric radiant panel heating, (5) reversed cycle heating (6) electric heat storage and its economic aspects, (7) biochemical analysis dealing with preservation of forage crops, and (8) livestock feeding experiments in connection with cured hay.

Five studies will be made by Washington State College under a basic memorandum dated June 12, 1945. These will include studies on (1) cranberry drying equipment, (2) refrigeration for family use, (3) corrosion characteristics of metal pipe used in sprinkler irrigation installations, (4) low-pressure sprinkler investigation, and (5) use of electric welders on the farm and their effect on rural lines.

Under a basic memorandum dated June 23, 1945, the University of Washington will pursue the following studies: (1) Possible improvements or changes in a design of distribution systems resulting in a lower cost of distribution, (2) domestic house-heating installations in and near the city of Seattle, and (3) economics of the heat-pump method for domestic heating.

Montana State College, under a basic memorandum dated June 11, 1945, will make a survey of opportunities for small irrigation pumping plants in western Montana.

Linfield College at McMinnville, Oreg., under a basic memorandum dated June 13, 1945, will prepare a critical survey of the present art of water treatment by ozone and other technological uses of ozone. The total maximum obligation for all of the studies to be undertaken will amount to $63,528.

Work was started on certain of these projects during the month of June, and in other projects initial activities will not be undertaken until late in 1945. The period for completion will generally extend

into late 1946 or early 1947 although in a few instances completion by June 30, 1946, was planned.

Approximately $20,000 has been obligated for studies relative to electric heating. Oregon State College, which has an excellent heating research laboratory, is undertaking to make experimental studies in radiant panel heating, heat storage systems and reversed cycle heating, all with electric energy as the heating medium. Radiant panel heating is perhaps the newest form of heating developed and promises to have considerable future development both because of the inherent advantages of this type of heat and because it appears to be peculiarly well adapted to conversion of existing dwellings from fuel heat to electric heat. Many problems in application of radiant panels are yet unsolved, in part relating to the characteristics of panels of different types, the method of application of panels, and the relative efficiency of panel heating.

Electric heat-storage systems have been in existence for many years and were designed originally in order to control the time of occurrence of the electrical heating load so as to prevent this from coinciding with other loads. With the development of electric heating which will probably occur, it is not likely that this "off-peak" feature will have much practical advantage, but heat-storage systems will enable the maintenance of a constant demand at all times on the electrical system to supply fluctuating heating demands. This characteristic is of great value to electrical distributors. It is hoped by the experiments at Oregon State College that it will be possible to determine the most efficient of the various types of heat storage systems now available and to simplify the designs so as to reduce the cost of installation which now is fairly heavy.

The characteristics of reversed cycle heating or the heat pump are now fairly well known, but application of this method of heating under actual operating conditions, as would be experienced in the climate of this area, are relatively unknown. Experimentation at Oregon State College will uncover the operating problems which are likely to occur and will make possible determination of the technical feasibility of this method of heating. Since the heat pump returns approximately three times as much energy in heat as is required in electricity for operation, a low-cost and practical development of this equipment would enable very rapid expansion of the electric-heating market. The University of Washington's studies in the economics of the heat pump will provide the answer to the present questions of using the equipment under conditions as they exist in the area and will also point the way to determining what reductions in costs or changes in technique are necessary to make the heat pump a practical instru ment of heating.