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156
BRITISH KINEMATOGRAPHY
Vol. 20, No. 5
Fig. 5. Experimental Store.
Experimental Storage Column.
In 1949, in co-operation with Messrs. Kodak, an experiment was conducted into the construction of a store which would limit a fire to the one reel of origin.5 Storage columns which achieve this object have been designed by the American National Archives of Washington,6 but these were of metallic construction and dependent upon a " cascade " or the formation of a " puddle " of water round each tin. It was an object of the National Film Library design to achieve individual reel isolation without dependence upon water supply and the risk on the one hand of failure of water supply and, on the other, of damage to film by water. The experimental store (Fig. 5), was designed by L. N. Duguid, a member of the Technical Committee, and was erected in the Harrow works of Messrs.
Kodak, Ltd., whose research staff carried out the tests. It consisted of a column of asbestos lined wooden drawers; each drawer large enough to hold a can containing 1,000 ft. of film. The back of the drawer was hinged, in order that pressure of gas should open it, thus avoiding explosion (Fig. 6). The drawers were separated by 1 inch thick wood, lined on the underside with asbestos. The brick structure supporting the drawers was constructed to form a flue through which gases would escape. The top of this flue was closed by a metal flap, similar to those on the existing vaults. At the bottom, a space of one drawer was left in order to produce a current of air up the flue to remove fumes. The tests carried out consisted of igniting a reel of film in one drawer and determining temperature changes in adjacent drawers. The greatest temperature recorded in an adjacent drawer was 121° F., while the external temperature was 47° F. — a rise of 74° F. Films in adjacent drawers remained undamaged.
As a result of the tests, two improvements were suggested. In the course of one of the tests some of the woodwork caught fire, and in order to avoid the possibility of this spreading, it was suggested that the woodwork be treated with a fire resisting chemical, or by making the construction of asbestos instead of wood. It was also found that some of the fumes escaped from the front of the drawer containing the ignited film. Since these fumes are poisonous it would be necessary to modify the drawers in order to provide a better fit at the front.
Artificial Ageing Tests.
Whatever success we have in protecting film from fire, water, physical damage and wear, its useful life is limited by the fact of the gradual decomposition, to the point, where, as I have mentioned, it becomes sticky. This process is most insiduous. The film exhibits no visible signs of the imminence of the sticky condition; you just go to it one day and find all the layers stuck together, the images distorted or perhaps completely faded awav. It was in 1942