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By George B. Clark

THE " Munroe effect" of shaped explosive charges was discovered by Charles E. Munroe more than 50 years ago (in 1888), but it was not until World War II that it was put to any practical use. Both Allied and Axis armies used the principle effectively in bazooka projectiles, artillery projectiles and in fixed shaped charges. The first two were used primarily to combat tanks and other armor and the latter to assault pillboxes and other fixed concrete emplacements. Many engineers and others who saw the military application of the jet effect of shaped charges believed application would be possible in many industrial fields where blasting is used, such as mining and quarrying. Some work has already been done on the problem of making shaped charges applicable to mining operations. Experimentation conducted at the National Tunnel and Mines' was directed primarily along the lines of use of shaped charges for secondary blasting in connection with long-hole stoping methods. Experimentation initiated earlier and conducted by the author2 at the University of Utah on a more scientific basis was directed at revealing the basic principles of the functioning of shaped charges, as well as the feasibility of using them in mining operations after the principles of their operation had been clearly defined. It was found that: (I) a given design of charge required an optimum standoff to make it most effective, either in penetrating solid rock or steel (see Fig 3); (2) for a given design of charge there exists an optimum ratio of charge diameter to charge height above which the increase in effectiveness of the charge decreases rapidly (see Figs 4 and 5); (3) partial confinement has the effect of making charge performance much more consistent; (4) the higher power and higher velocity explosives tested are much more effective than relatively low-strength explosives; and (5) shaped charges may be adaptable to mining operations in secondary breakage and drilling blasting holes. Fig I is a diagrammatic sketch of the action of a shaped charge for two types of cavities, while Fig 2 shows the approximate manner in which the jets are believed to be formed when an explosive wave encounters the cavity, approaching it from the top. The experimentation already completed has laid the foundation for further research in the study of shaped charges. Standoff effects, effect of the strength of explosives and other features have been fairly well established. Such elements in the design of shaped charges as (I) geometry of cavity liners, (2) relative horizontal dimensions of explosive column, (3) effect of

Jan 1, 1947

By B. W. Frazier

At a recent meeting of the North of England Institute of Min ing and Mechanical Engineers, during a discussion upon the com pression of air, attention was called to an apparent anomaly in the phenomena attending the compression. At a subsequent meeting this apparent anomaly was explained by Prof. Herschel, and all the facts observed shown to be strictly in accordance with the laws of thermodynamics. Upon reading the report of the discussion in the published transactions of the society, it occurred to me that an attempt to determine mathematically the amounts of energy (whether in the form of heat or of work) expended and absorbed in compressing air, and causing it to perform work by expansion, might prove of use to some who have not access to any treatise upon the application of the laws of thermodynamics to the compression of air, and who have not the time or the inclination to make such application for themselves. The apparent anomaly noticed was this: If air be compressed, and at the same time, by the sufficient application of a cooling medium, kept at a constant temperature, the indicator diagrams in the

THE following employment items are made available to AIME members on a nonprofit basis by the Engineering Societies Personnel Service, Inc., operating in cooperation with the Four Founder Societies. Local offices of the Personnel Service are at 8 W. 40th St., New York 18; 100 Farnsworth Ave., Detroit; 57 Post St., Son Francisco; 84 E. Randolph St., Chicago 1. Applicants should address all mail to the proper key numbers in care of the New York office and include 6c in stamps for forwarding and returning application. The applicant agrees, if placed in a position by means of the Service, to pay the placement fee listed by the Service. AIME members may secure a weekly bulletin of positions available for $3.50 a quarter, $12 a year. MEN AVAILABLE Engineer, 43, married. Sixteen years' experience mining. Desires permanent position mine superintendent. Broad knowledge all types underground mining and shaft sinking. Construction and milling experience. Prefer North American continent but will accept foreign. Presently located Australia but available May 1, 1953. M-706. POSITIONS OPEN Mining Engineer with broad exploration experience, young, single status, and must be in excellent physical condition, as nature of work will be under very primitive conditions. Salary about 25 pct more than applicants last salary rate plus travel expenses and living allowance. Duration until July 1953. Location, Burma. Y7498.

Jan 1, 1952

By Henry Knox

AMIDST the tumult and the shouting of the times, there are perceptible certain tendencies, quiet though serious, to take stock of the situation with a view to putting our house in order, and of these none is more encouraging than the awakening, interest in the higher education, and especially in technical education. Various committees of the professional organizations have cast much light on the matter and have pointed the way to progress and reform, but their scope is necessarily restricted by the requirements of precision and any excursion beyond these bounds must be undertaken by the unfettered individual who is free to rush in where responsible committees fear to tread. A discussion of the bearing of the higher education on character scarcely lends itself to objective treatment and yet, fraught as it is with imponderables and abstractions, the theme cannot be escaped in any com-prehensive scheme of education. The question is being pressed with growing insist-ence, why these United States, relatively to Europe, are deficient in intellectual output, and the ready reply, "Because America is a new country and Americans are too intent on developing their natural resources," is too facile and too false to carry conviction.

Jan 12, 1922

By B. C. Craft

Development and exploratory work in Mississippi during 1934 was rather active, resulting in the expansion of the proven area and the drilling of a number of important wildcat wells. Mississippi showed a decrease in drilling operations during 1934. There were 36 completions from 18 counties during this period compared with 58 completions from 22 counties during 1933. There was a considerable decrease in activity in the Jackson gas field in Hinds and Rankin counties with only 9 completions, resulting in 8 gas wells and 1 dry hole compared with 17 gas wells, 2 oil wells and 7 dry holes during 1933. Leasing and geophysical work was reported from several sections of Mississippi last year. Extensive exploration and drilling were carried on in Lamar, Hancock, Pearl River, Greene and Stone counties and on the flanks of the Jackson anticline. Exploration will be continued in these areas during 1935. Four important wildcats were completed during 1934, all of which were reported as being structurally high, but without having important shows of oil or gas. These tests were: Hix and Germany's, J. J. Newman Lumber Co. No. 1, sec. 21-4N.-15W., Lamar County, abandoned at 3520 it. in the Wilcox; United Gas Public Service Company's Davis No. 1, sec. 30-1N.-5W., Greene County, abandoned at 7439 ft.; Gulf Refining Company's May L. Williams No. 1, sec. 33-5S.-17W., Pearl River County, abandoned at 4800 ft.; and Clarke County Oil Company's S. B. Kirkland No. 1, sec. 10-2 N.-16E., abandoned at 4002 ft. in the Eutaw. Another interesting wildcat was Gulf Refining Company's Dantzler Lumber Co. No. 6, sec. 22-4S.-llW., Stone County, abandoned at 7700 ft. (according to reports below the Selma chalk). A total of 114 of the 132 gas wells completed in the Jackson gas field are still producing and have a combined open-flow capacity of 4,145,-696,000 cu. ft. Four of the abandoned gas producers were never connected to the lines. The open-flow capacity of three wells in the Amory field is approximately 1,000,000 cu. ft. Producing against a line pressure of 50 lb., the demand during December greatly exceeded the capacity.

Jan 1, 1935

By AIME

NEW YORK'S largest hotel, the Pennsylvania, will be filled with mining and oil men and metallurgists the third week of February when some 3000 AIME members, their wives, and guests will gather for the Institute's 1948 Annual Meeting-its 166th general meeting. Except for the usual Sunday afternoon and evening sessions of the Mineral Industry Education Division at the Columbia University Men's Faculty Club, the big assembly will be under one top and members will not this year have to consult compass and map to find their next session. Possibly enervated by the stupendous effort of the Anniversary Celebration last spring and the plethora of highly successful fall meetings, the various committees have been a trifle slow in arranging their social and technical programs, but in mid December as we go to press there is already much to report indicative of substantial fare and high interest. The definite timetable schedule will appear in the February M&M.

Jan 1, 1948

By Walter Kauenhowen

The crude-oil production of Germany without Austria during 1938 amounted to 3,864,518 bbl., representing an increase of 21.7 per cent over the 3,173,373 bbl. produced in 1937. Adding the Austrian production, the crude-oil production of the new German Reich totaled 4,259,717 bbl. during 1938, representing an increase of 25.3 per cent compared with the respective figures of the previous year. According to published official data, and using a conversion factor of 1 metric ton equaling 7 bbl., the oil production of Germany in 1938 was as shown in Table 1. A semiofficial publication1 states that the program of the crude-oil industry for the second year (1938) of the four-year plan was successfully accomplished. According to the same source, new drilling developments at the following localities were promising: Reitbrook near Hamburg, Heide in Holstein, Eicklingen-Sandlingen near Celle, Steimbke near Nienburg, Worms in the Rhine Valley, Gifhorn near Braunschweig, Mölme near Oberg, and at other places. The drilling activity for oil is illustrated by the figures in Table 2.

Jan 1, 1939

By Walter Kauenhowen

The crude-oil production of Germany without Austria during 1938 amounted to 3,864,518 bbl., representing an increase of 21.7 per cent over the 3,173,373 bbl. produced in 1937. Adding the Austrian production, the crude-oil production of the new German Reich totaled 4,259,717 bbl. during 1938, representing an increase of 25.3 per cent compared with the respective figures of the previous year. According to published official data, and using a conversion factor of 1 metric ton equaling 7 bbl., the oil production of Germany in 1938 was as shown in Table 1. A semiofficial publication1 states that the program of the crude-oil industry for the second year (1938) of the four-year plan was successfully accomplished. According to the same source, new drilling developments at the following localities were promising: Reitbrook near Hamburg, Heide in Holstein, Eicklingen-Sandlingen near Celle, Steimbke near Nienburg, Worms in the Rhine Valley, Gifhorn near Braunschweig, Mölme near Oberg, and at other places. The drilling activity for oil is illustrated by the figures in Table 2.

Jan 1, 1939

By R. D. Russell, R. M. Farquhar

ISOTOPIC tracers have become an important aid in following the progress of chemical processes in the laboratory. It has recently been found possible to utilize a system of naturally existing isotopic tracers to obtain information about the geo- logical history of lead ores. Common lead, such as is found in lead deposits, is a mixture of four stable isotopes having atomic weights 204, 206, 207, and 208. Of these, the last three are identical with the lead isotopes produced as stable end products of the radioactive decays of uranium and thorium: the first, lead-204, is not known to be produced on the surface of the earth by any process. Since uranium and thorium occur in the surface regions of the earth in amounts comparable with lead, and since the half-lives of uranium and thorium isotopes are of the same order as the age of the earth, they produce the radiogenic lead isotopes in amounts com- parable to the amount of nonradiogenic lead present. Every significant exposure of a sample of lead to uranium and thorium will therefore lead to the permanent alteration of the lead isotope ratios in that sample.

Jan 5, 1957

By John F. Blandy

Every new mining district has had its own peculiar experiences in inventing and experimenting upon new methods for the various operations of mining, and more particularly in the processes of crushing and dressing ores. As a matter of course, during this period many old things have been reinvented, patented, and cast aside, there to remain until at a future day other geniuses shall bring them forth again as new. In this respect the Copper Region of Michigan has not been behind other mining centres, and probably in no other part of the country has more money been expended in devising new machines and improvements upon old ones for the crushing of the rock. The appliances for washing the sand have not been so varied, simply for the reason that, having but one mineral, or rather metal, of high specific gravity to separate from rock material which varies but little in its character in any one mine, it requires much less care than is necessary in most mining centres of the world. At the beginning of operations in that district most of the work was in the control of Cornish miners, who introduced the simplest of Cornish mills, namely, wooden stem pestles, with wooden shafts and cams. These were well suited to the small mines, and particularly to the limited means of transporting more expensive machinery. As these facilities improved, they were enabled to change to iron, and to vary their patterns of rods, shafts, cams, and mortars. The most approved pattern, finally obtained, is the square or round stem, with collar adjustable by means of keys. In its present form it is a bar of cold rolled shafting, an eye in the top, an adjustable collar with key-plate and keys, the head and a shoe of chilled iron. The stem is fitted into the head by a slight taper. The battery has heretofore been of wood, lined with chilled cast plates, and bed-plate of the same, but within the past year the California pattern has been introduced. The screens are of sheet-steel, drilled with 16 holes to the inch. During this period of trial and gradual improvement in the pestle stamps, in the years 1855-6, the Ball steam-stamps were introduced, and after years of labor and expense, have been made the most efficient and powerful machines ever yet used for the purpose. It is ostensibly the Nasmyth steam-hammer, and yet the

By Robert M. Lewis

At the Scotia plant of Blue Diamond Coal Co., near Cumberland Ky., good recovery and grade can be obtained when floating deep mine coal. When the plant changes over to strip coal, flotation fails, resulting in loss of coal. A procedure was developed at the Minerals Research Laboratory in Asheville, N. C., for recovering strip coal by flotation. Laboratory results were duplicated on a batch scale at the plant. The procedure was found to be effective when tried on a continuous basis in the processing plant.

Jan 1, 1973

By William B. Plank

Mineral engineering student enrollment in U. S. and Canadian schools for 1955-1956 is 11,408, an increase of 11 pct more than last year. The undergraduate and graduate engineering students in both countries number 251,765, or 13 pct more than last year. These figures have been released by the American Society for Engineering Education. The largest increase in the undergraduate mineral engineering group in the U. S. is in ceramic engineering, with 676 students, or 31 pct more than last year. The next largest increase is in mining which shows a gain of 13.5 pct, compared with a gain of 13.1 pct in the total undergraduate enrollment in all engineering schools approved by the Engineers' Council for Professional Development. This figure is 190,355, which approaches the prewar figure. Metallurgical undergraduates increased 13 pct; geological, 5 pct; and petroleum, 2.5 pct. This year the figures for geophysics are combined with those for geological engineering, making a total of 1610 undergraduates, of which the geophysicists comprise about one seventh.

Apr 1, 1956

By E. N. Harshman

Uranium mining and milling are rather new industries in Wyoming and South Dakota, but, in the past 15 years, ore valued at more than $400,000,000 has been mined and milled in the region. The major uranium deposits are in structural and/ or erosional basins or on the flanks of uplifts. The principal host rocks are medium- to coarse-grained sandstones that were deposited in continental or brackish-water environments and were derived in large part from the granitic cores of the uplifts and the sedimentary rocks that flank the cores. The ages of the host rocks range from Cretaceous to Miocene, but more than 95 per cent of the known reserves in the region are in rocks of early Eocene age. The bulk of the ore in the region is unoxidized and lies below the water table; some oxidized ore has been mined in the Powder River Basin and Black Hills districts. The unoxidized ore comprises pyrite, uraninite and/ or coffinite, marcasite, hematite, jordisite(?), and selenium. Minerals in the oxidized ore include hydrous uranium carbonates, phosphates, and sulfates and hydrous uranium and/ or vanadium silicates. The deposits are in the form of ore rolls that contain from a few hundred to a few hundred thousand tons of ore, ranging in grade from 0.1 per cent to 1.0 per cent U3O8. The rolls are at the margins of large tabular bodies of sandstone that has been altered by the orebearing solutions. The deposits are believed to have resulted from the interaction of an alkaline; oxidizing, ore-bearing ground water and a reducing environment. Exploration guides include the spatial relations of ore to altered sandstone, favorable lithology in the host rock, the content of certain elements and/ or compounds in ground water, and the relation of deposits to major paleodrainages.

Jan 1, 1968

By Roy A. Anderson, Roger H. McConnel

The Metaline district from 1906 through 1965 has produced nearly 16 million tons of ore yielding 400,808 tons of zinc and 178,062 tons of lead. The sediments, ranging from Precambrian into the Devonian, are schist, phyllite, conglomerate, greenstone, quartzite, limestone, dolomite, and carbonaceous slates. Quartz monzonite and granodiorite of the Cretaceous(?) Kaniksu batholith are exposed over a large area beginning a few miles south of the district. There is minor Tertiary conglomerate and basalt. Abundant glacial deposits obscure much of the bedrock. Northeasterly trending folds, having steep to overturned northwesterly limbs, and thrust faults, striking northeasterly and dipping southeasterly, characterize the deformation of the Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks. Recent drilling indicates that the Slate Creek fault, too, is also a southeasterly dipping thrust fault. This new evidence suggests that the Valley Block, like the other major structural blocks, may in part be a thrust plate rather than a graben, and that thus the district may have greater structural unity with the surrounding region than has heretofore been apparent. The Cambrian Metaline Formation of limestone and dolomite contains essentially all the lead-zinc mineralization. Most of the ore mined to date has come from a carbonaceous and irregularly siliceous breccia of sedimentary and diagenetic origin, locally called the "Josephine Horizon," that makes up the top few to 200 feet of the formation. The Josephine Unit is a breccia of gray limestone, coarse light gray dolomite, very thin-bedded, dark gray siliceous dolomite, and "zebra rock" believed to be of algal origin, embedded in a matrix of black dolomite or black jasperoid or some mixture of these two. The jaspcroid fragments and irregular blobs embedded in the black dolomite matrix and the jasperoid laminae in the very thin-bedded dark gray dolomite suggest that jasperoid was formed at the same time as the breccia matrix and as the laminated dolomite. So too, the marked tendency of sphalerite and galena to be disseminated mainly in the dark breccia matrix and their tendency to be most abundant in the jasperoid laminae of the very thin-bedded dark gray dolomite, even where the mineralized and laminated dolomite is fragmented and engulfed in black dolomite breccia matrix, suggests that in these ha bits the sulfides also were deposited contemporaneously with the sediments. Yet very commonly, veins and vague veinlets and patches of white quartz, usually carrying rather coarse sphalerite and sometimes galena crosscut all rock types. These contradictory relationships throughout the Josephine Unit suggest that both the black jasperoid and the sulfides were original constituents of the Josephine Unit but that, locally, they later were remobilized and deposited as white quartz and coarser grained sulfides. Possibly, at least in part, this "metamorphism" is one of the effects produced during or shortly after the intrusion of the Kaniksu batholith.

Jan 1, 1968

STANDING COMMITTEES. Executive. CHARLES F. RAND, Chairman. JAMES F. KEMP, JOSEPH W. RICHARDS, ALBERT R. LEDOUX, BENJAMIN B. THAYER. Membership. BENJAMIN B. THAYER, Chairman. KARL EILERS, JOHN H. JANEWAY, JR., JOHN D. IRVING, HERMAN A. PROSSER. Finance. EDWARD L. YOUNG, Chairman. KARL .EILERS, JAMES GAYLEY. Library. JAMES F. KEMP, Chairman 1 JOHN HAYS HAMMOND,3 E. GYBBON SPILSBURY,2 ALEX. C. HUMPHREYS, 4 BRADLEY STOUGHTON.

Jan 12, 1913

Year of Election 1959 Andrew Fletcher, New York, N Y "For his outstanding leadership in the lead and zinc mining industries, and for his able and devoted services to the Institute as its Treasurer and President, and as a Director for many years " 1917 Herbert Hoover, New York, N Y 1955 George M Humphrey, Cleveland, Ohio 1950 Zay Jeffries, Ptttsfield, Mass 1942 Essington Lewis, Melbourne, Vic, Australia 1959 John M Lovejoy, New York, N Y "For his distinguished service to the Institute, for his outstanding contributions in furthering the professional status of petroleum engineers, for his pioneering in application of engineering to petroleum production, and for his outstanding record of public service on behalf of the petroleum industry " 1957 Donald H McLaughlin, San Francisco, California 1957 C H Mathewson, New Haven, Connecticut 1938 Albert M Portevin, Parts, France 1957 Fred Searls, Jr, New York, N Y

Jan 1, 1960

By W. C. Ralston

This note will give the cost of driving an adit at the Melones mine, in 1898, and, for purposes of comparison, the cost of similar work, in 1888, at the Hogsback mine, Placer county, Cal. The property of the Melones Consolidated Mining Company is situated on the Mother Lode of California, on Carson Hill, near Robinson's Ferry, and adjoins on the south the famous Morgan mine. The Mother Lode of California extends for a distance of over 100 miles in length through several counties, with a general strike of northwest and southeast. Three veins (commonly called the east vein, middle vein and west vein) comprise the " lode " in this section. The Melones property is situated upon the east and middle vein, and includes 1407 feet on the east vein and 5166 feet upon the middle vein. A shaft had been sunk on the Reserve mine, which is on the east rein, and within 230 feet of the Morgan mine. At the bottom of this shaft drifts and cross-cuts had been run and a large body of ore developed. It was deemed advisable by the Melones Mining Co., which holds this property under bond from the Melones Consolidated Mining Co., to run a tunnel and develop this body of ore at a greater depth. An option was obtained upon the South Carolina mine, which adjoins the property on the south, and is on the same east vein, upon which a tunnel had been run a distance of 1080 feet. This tunnel was cleaned out and continued to a point within forty feet of the Morgan mine. It passes directly under the Reserve shaft, 425 feet below the 200-foot level. The additional length of tunnel to be run was 1923 feet, and

Jan 1, 1899

(Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Mine Superintendent or Manager. Age 34, graduate mining engineer. Thirteen years' practical mining experience in Canada and United States holding responsible executive positions, mining engineer and mine superintendent. Experience in iron, gold, copper, and pyrite mining. Best references, can go anywhere but prefer location in Canada. At present engaged but desire change. Minimum salary $3600. A-2845. Manager or Superintendent for producing mine or new development. Institute member, 25 years' experience, mining, wet concentration, construction and examination. A-1173. Mining and Metallurgical Engineer. Technical graduate, 11 years' practical experience principally with copper mining, milling, smelting, and electrolytic refining, now holding an engineering executive position, wishes to change to place of more responsibility and opportunity. A-3785. Engineer with 11 years' experience in mining, civil, and industrial engineering, desires to become connected with a strong organization requiring services of thoroughly trained man. Graduated from University in 1909, now employed, having been with present organization nearly 7 years. Available about Sept. 15. A-4071. Metallurgical Engineer, age 31, married, A. M. and Ch. E.; 7 years' teaching and industrial experience, of which 3 ½ have been with electric furnaces. Desires position in investigative or executive work. Minimum salary $3000. A-4176.

Jan 9, 1919

By E. S. Machlin, Morris Cohen

The isothermal formation of martensite in a 71 pct Fe, 29 pct Ni alloy is found to take place mainly by the nucleation of new plates rather than by the growth of existing ones, and is dependent on the temperature and time of the isothermal hold, the amount of atherrnal martensite present, the state of internal strain, and the application of tensile stress. The conclusion is reached that the isothermal nucleation is activated by thermal fluctuations superimposed on localized regions of very high strain. The reaction-path concept, involving martensite nucleation at strain embryos by athermal activation on cooling, or by thermal fluctuations on holding, reconciles the athermal and isothermal modes of transformation, and offers a unified picture of the kinetics of martensite formation. THE phenomenon of isothermal martensite formation has been the subject of considerable study lately,'-' and its reality has been thoroughly established. The existence of such isothermal transformation has been claimed to confirm the nucleation and growth hypothesis as applied to the martensitic reaction.1 " However, the isothermal formation of a martensitic phase is also compatible with the reaction-pathw escription of the transformation. The purpose of this investigation is to examine the isothermal mode of the martensitic reaction, both theoretically and experimentally, in order to test the likelihood of the above two mechanisms. Material and Methods The alloy used in this study contained about 71 pct Fe and 29 pct Ni. The complete analysis was 29.5 ± 0.2 pct Ni, 0.036 pct C, 0.02 pct N, 0.19 pct Mn, 0.09 pct Si, 0.008 pct P, and 0.006 pct S. The amount of isothermal transformation was determined by electrical resistance measurements using a Kelvin double bridge. The specimens were in the form of rods 1/16 in. diam x 4 in. long. Aus-tenitizing was performed at 1095°C for % hr either in a pre-purified nitrogen atmosphere or in an evacuated Vycor tube, followed by oil quenching to room temperature. After this treatment, the samples were completely austenitic, and the transformation studies were conducted at subatmospheric tempera- tures. Lineal analysis and X-ray determinations of retained austenite were used to calibrate the electrical resistance changes in terms of the percentage of martensite. The martensite range curve for this alloy is given in Fig. 9 of ref. 6. The M, temperature occurs at about -18°C (255°K). Reaction-Path Theory The nucleation and growth description of the martensitic transformation that occurs isothermally has already been given by Kurdjumow.','2 However, no comparable treatment exists using the reaction-path concept." Consequently this section presents the reaction-path description of the isothermal mode of the martensitic transformation. According to the latter theory, there is a reaction path (a strain) which describes the relative motion of the atoms during their transference from the austenitic to the martensitic state. The possibility exists, therefore, that the nucleation of a martensitic plate is accomplished by an embryo that comprises a state intermediate between that of austenite and martensite. This state may be attained within a finite volume by means of a homogeneous strain of the austenitic matrix. There is a free-energy barrier (F.) along the reaction path, corresponding to a critical strain in a critical volume. When activation is achieved, a spontaneous increase in strain and volume of the embryo takes place to generate the full-size martensitic plate. This mode of nucleation is to be distinguished from the more conventional mode involving embryos of the martensitic phase that merely grow in size by an interface motion. There are two ways whereby embryos in the austenitic phase can achieve the critical state of strain for isothermal nucleation: 1—through the formation of internal strains by plastic deformation or by stress; and 2—through thermal fluctuations, preferably superimposed upon existing internal strains. The activation free energy F,, must be supplied either mechanically by internal strains or thermally by energy fluctuations, or by a combination of both.

Jan 1, 1953

By J. W. R. Rayner

THE conventional method of making water gas involves individual plants for the separate carbonization of coal to coke and the subsequent gasification of coke with steam. The process demands lump coke, preferably made from the best quality of coking coals. The ash in the coke should have a high melting point and the gasification process suffers a loss of efficiency when cokes with low ash-melting points are used. In Britain, these coals are generally the most expensive and they are readily available only in certain localities. The coals not suitable for making lump coke, or yielding only poor quality coke, are much more widely available and are generally cheaper. DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE PROCESSES In Germany, processes have been developed and operated commercially for the production of water gas from very low-rank coals such as brown coal and lignites, but much less effort has been spent on processes to use coals of intermediate rank, which are widely available in Britain. The brown-coal processes use coal in the form of either dust or briquettes. The most successful of the dust-gasification methods is the Winkler process, which made a substantial contribution to German oil production during the war. It uses coal in the size range 0 to 8 mm and the fuel bed is blown with a mixture of oxygen and steam at a rate high enough to give it a characteristic boiling motion or, in present-day phraseology, at a rate more than sufficient to fluidize it (Fig. 1). Air cannot be used to provide the heat required for gasification, for vari¬ous reasons. In the first place, to make the process continuous by mixing air and steam would involve the production of a lean gas containing much nitrogen. If a separate blow were used, a large amount of potential heat would be lost because the blow gas in such a process would contain a very high percentage of carbon monoxide. Oxygen is necessary therefore and oxygen remains relatively expensive for use in gasification. In the Winkler generator, formation of clinker caused by local overheating does not occur, because of the mobility and high heat transfer of a fluidized bed. These properties of fluidized dusts have been used most successfully.

Jan 1, 1953