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By F. V. Lenel

This discussion is concerned with the method of manufacturing, the design possibilities, and the properties of pole pieces for direct-current electric . motors and generators made from iron powder. In such applications as pole pieces, the electric and magnetic properties of the material are of major importance, therefore they are discussed somewhat more fully. However, the main advantage in making pole pieces from powders lies in the rapid and inexpensive method of manufacturing these pieces, and in the flexibility of design, rather than in their superior electrical properties. As a matter of fact, pole pieces from iron powder have found their principal field of usefulness in small electric motors for controls and similar applications where the highest possible flux density in a given design is not required. Fig. I shows a number of different designs for pole pieces made from iron powder. The steps involved in fabricating them are: (I) briquetting—with each stroke of the briquetting press a complete . pole piece is produced; (2) sintering, and (3) sizing, which is a one-step coining operation in a hand-operated punch press. Conventionally small pole pieces are made from laminated electrical sheet steel stock by punching out the laminations and riveting them together (Fig. 2). The powder method has the advantage of being rapid and inexpensive; also, it makes possible the molding of pole pieces with a round hub, which are better from a design standpoint, as will be shown later. It is difficult to make such round-hubbed pieces from laminated stock. The pole pieces could, of course, be machined from solid stock, but this method is not widely used. The raw material for making pole pieces from powder is straight iron powder without the addition of any alloying ingredients. However, the grade of powder used is of considerable importance, as will be shown later when the influence of the grade of iron powder upon the magnetic properties is discussed. Pole pieces are briquetted in the same way that other iron-powder machine parts are made. Because the pole pieces are flanged—i.e., they have a hub and a wing section—they are made in presses that apply pressure from both ends. For best mechanical and magnetic properties, the density throughout the piece should be even and also should be constant from piece to piece. For that reason a powder of constant compressibility from batch to batch is needed for briquetting pole pieces. One method of obtaining the required magnetic properties is to sinter the pole pieces at temperatures higher than are used for most iron-powder parts. A temperature of 2400°F. and an atmosphere of hydrogen has been found satisfactory. No automatic furnaces of the roller hearth or mesh-belt type have yet been developed for such high temperatures. A box-type furnace heated with Globar heating ele-

Jan 1, 1945

By Karl F. Peterson, H. K. Najarian, Robert E. Lund

R. E. Powers (Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh)—Several of the processing methods at the Josephtown smelter might well be considered by plants producing iron blast furnace sinter. In making blast furnace sinter the objectives are much the same as at Josephtown: To produce a strong yet porous agglomerate which has a size consist in a preferred range. The emphasis however is on production rate rather than on the size or other quality characteristics of the sinter. Therefore the technique is entirely different. Blast furnace sinter plants attempt to make their product in one pass with a minimum recirculating load and without sizing treatment after the sinter leaves the machines. Many plants are beginning to feel that more attention paid to quality characteristics would make the product a more desirable blast furnace material. The pelletizing of very fine material before placing it on the bed is not deliberately done at iron sinter plants, although the installed equipment sometimes gives a simila; action. Such pelletizing seems to be a promising way of accommodating the down-draft sintering Drocess to very fine materials. he recirculating load at Josephtown is extremely high. Two plants' producing blast furnace sinter from raw material of comparable size have a recirculating load of about 100 pct of production. At Josephtown it is notable that the size and the rate of feeding of return fines are under control. This is not the case in most blast furnace sinter plants. The sinter slicer appears to be a worthwhile aid in effecting such control. It is similar in action to rakes and plows used at a number of plants, but it has the advantage that the sinter dislodged is positively removed and not left to the inefficient action of a stationary grizzly screen. Blast furnace size specifications for sinter are not at present so rigid as the Josephtown specifications. If the sizing of blast furnace sinter does become important, then the Josephtown crushing practice, in which a large recirculating load is maintained on the crusher in order that minimum fines be produced, may be of interest. H. K. Najarian (authors' reply)—We note that Mr. Powers appreciates some points that we tried to emphasize in our paper as being of importance in making zinc sinter of good quality and which may well be applied to iron blast furnace sinter. Fig. 2 shows the pelletized nature of the feed going on to a Dwight-Lloyd type sintering machine in our plant. Practically, the entire feed consists of more or less rounded particles which permit more uniform air passage through the charge, while the larger particles in the charge roll on to the surface of the grate, which helps to keep the grate openings from being clogged by excessive fines. An agglomerated charge of this character may preferably be made by rolling action while being mixed in a rotating drum and wetted by water sprays to bind the fine particles together and give the charge the desired moisture content. From our observations of several iron ore and blast furnace flue dust sintering operations, we believe that if the fines from the sinter discharged from the machines were to be recirculated and agqlomerated with the new feed, not only sinter of better quality but larger capacity from the machines may be realized.

Jan 1, 1952

By A. C. Wallace

THE development of the natural resources of any district of any magnitude, inevitably gives rise to many problems off title, usually due to the greatly enhanced value of the land. The development of the mining industry in the Quapaw Agency has been no exception to this general rule. Our problems, how-ever, have not been many or particularly serious. The Quapaws were allotted and patents issued by the United States Government in 1895. These patents contained a restriction against alienation for a pe-riod of twenty-five years. The effect of the restric-tion was to prevent the Indian from selling, leasing, or in any way encumbering his land. The Govern-ment, in a paternalistic spirit, sought to teach the Indian thrift and industry and to insure him a place of residence. This is evidenced by the first Leasing Act passed by Congress, which permitted only incom-petents and those physically disabled to lease their land for either agricultural or mining purposes. The able-bodied Indian was denied the right to lease. It soon became apparent to the Government, how-ever, that this was a mistaken policy, and in 1897 a General Leasing Act was passed by Congress and it was under this act that the mining industry in the Quapaw Agency was developed. The act, reads as follows: "That the allottees of land within the limits of the Qua- paw Agency, Indian Territory, are hereby authorized to lease their lands, or any part thereof, for a term not ex-ceeding three years, for farming or grazing purposes, or ten years for mining or business purposes. And said al-lottees and their lessees and tenants shall have the right to employ such assistants, laborers, and help from time to time as they may deem necessary: Provided, That when-ever it shall be made to appear to the Secretary of the Interior that, by reason of age or disability, any such allottee cannot improve or manage his allotment properly and with benefit to himself, the same may be leased, in the discretion of the Secretary, upon such terms and conditions as shall be prescribed by him. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this are hereby repealed." It was the interpretation of this Act that gave rise to our first serious problems. It will be noted that the Act says that "allottees of land" within the limits of the Quapaw Agency are authorized to lease their land. Thus, the first question was presented by the use of the term "allottee," and the question was as to whether or not Congress intended to limit the Quapaw Indian to the leasing of his own allotment or did Congress mean that the term "allottee" was synonym-ous with "Indian" and intend to give the Indian a right to lease both his allotment and his inherited land and was an Indian without an allotment an "allottee" even though he was a member of the Qua-paw tribe and the owner of the Quapaw land by in-heritance, and not being an allottee, could he lease his inherited Quapaw land under the authority granted in this Act?

Jan 5, 1928

By C. D. Ramsden

DURING the war years of 1941 to 1945, maintenance of mine locomotives and other mine equipment took the form of rebuilding rather than of renewing. Pur¬chase of new parts became increasingly difficult and mine operators found it necessary to maintain equipment by sal¬vaging old parts. Mine-locomotive wheels, although not representing a high cost per pound of material, contain a con¬siderable amount of steel and without rebuilding would have to be scrapped long before even a moderate percentage of the steel in the wheel is actually consumed. Many mine operators have been re¬building locomotive wheels for several years with automatic open arc-welding equipment. In 1927, the Pittsburgh Coal Co. started such a program, using a single Westinghouse automatic welding head. Since that time, many refinements have been added, until in 1944 the setup was operating very efficiently. A desire to increase wheel life and to hold down rising costs led the company in 1944 to investigate the possibilities of the under¬flux arc-welding process for wheel rebuild¬ing, although at that time, little or no work had been done on multiple pass or "build-up" welding with the underflux arc. Work with this process had been confined largely to welding together flat plates in a "down hand" position. Possibilities for savings were intensified by the fact that the company has 300 locomotives in operation, using actively or as spares 1200 sets of wheels. During 1942 and 1943, about 500 sets of wheels were sent each year to the company's maintenance shop at Library, Pa., for rebuilding. Based on having 800 sets in service (many of the company's heavy locomotives have three- sets of trucks), the average life of a set of wheels was approximately 19 months. Anything that could be done to increase wheel life promised sizable annual savings. OPEN ARC WELDING With the open arc process, a set of wheels could be rebuilt for about 40 pct of the cost of new wheels. Underflux arc welding gave promise of greatly increased welding speeds, more homogeneous, dense deposits and the chance for use of a wider range in welding-wire compositions. Against this was ranged the higher cost of materials and the cost of developing the process from the theory to a practical reality. Since 1927, when a single open arc head was placed in operation, fixed welding procedures had been gradually developed, a positioner for handling a set of wheels was built, and a second head was placed in operation in order to weld two wheels simultaneously. The fixture, or posi¬tioner, which was built to position and turn the wheels under the two welding heads, included a motor drive, controlled by a rheostat, which rotated the wheels through a double set of speed reducers and a removable jaw coupling attached to one end of the axle of the wheel truck.

Jan 1, 1946

By Paul M. Tyler

Higher freight rates and better methods of beneficiation now may make it more economical to open inferior deposits closer to a glass factory than to work higher-grade deposits farther away. Nature of impurities and special treatments as well as common practice of sulphuric acid leaching are described. HISTORICAL concepts of the economics of the glass-sand industry are changing rapidly. The greatly expanded demand for glass containers combined with higher freight rates on raw materials and manufactured products have induced a migration of glass factories toward densely populated centers and the creation of new standards of place value for substandard sand deposits. This migration has been facilitated by the construction of pipelines to bring cheaper natural gas and liquid fuel to large cities and may be further speeded by the adoption of modern mineral dressing methods to permit economical utilization of local raw materials. Our national resources of naturally high-grade silica sand are abundant, but most of the best deposits are situated so far from large centers of population that it now costs $3.00 to $5.00 a ton to carry the sand from the mine to the optimum site for a factory making beverage bottles, scientific and electrical glassware, and miscellaneous blown and pressed ware for local markets. It follows that on the basis of freight savings alone it may be economical to use material from inferior deposits closer to the factory even though the f.O.b. cost of mining and treatment may be much higher than at a higher grade deposit farther away. Particle-size distribution is a feature of glass-sand specifications. As long as glassmakers insisted upon having their sand principally coarser than 100-mesh, any material was automatically excluded from consideration that could not be purified without fine grinding or other drastic treatment which greatly reduces the size of the quartz grains. However, re- cent large-scale tests in Norway' showed that finely-crushed quartz used in a soda-lime-silica glass batch caused it to melt and become refined appreciably faster than when ordinary coarse (Belgian) sand was employed. Dust losses were negligible. Since the pre-war cost of sand was only 3 pct of the manufacturing cost of the glass, it was deemed economical to pay twice as much for crushed quartz because of the saving in wear and tear on the furnace walls. In the author's unverified opinion, sand ranging in size between 150 and 400-mesh would probably be superior to that in the more usual range of 20 to 100-mesh. Former objections to fine sand (other than dust) were doubtless fostered by the natural concentration of impurities in the finer sizes. Ordinarily the most objectionable, as well as the commonest, impurity from the standpoint of the manufacturer of any but the cheaper qualities of colored glass is iron. No natural sands are really pure silica. Even water-clear quartz crystals are likely to contain impurities in the form of solid solution as well as inclusions which cannot be eliminated except by chemical treatment that will break down the silica lattice. Pure white pegmatite quartz will usually analyze 0.01 pct or more of iron oxide, and ordinary vein quartz and the quartz grains in most

Jan 1, 1951

By Herbert Hoover

IT is always a pleasure for me to join in the Ameri-can Mining Congress, for not only has my own professional life been closely linked with the industry, but the Secretary of Commerce is specifically enjoined in the organic act creating the office to promote and foster the interests of the mining industry. And it is a vital part of our national life. It is one of those indus-tries without which. the nation could not go on for a week. It ranks second only to the agricultural industry in its contribution to our raw materials. Its production amounts to nearly 6 ½ billions annually, providing direct support to probably ten millions of our people through employment to about two million workers. But the in-dustry has a greater importance than even these figures indicate, for with agriculture, forestry, and water power it furnishes the raw materials upon which the whole work of our civilization rests. When the raw ma-terials of our mines emerge. from manufacture with the added expenditure of labor and capital upon them, they have a wholesale value of over fifteen billions of dollars. And in this, the second stage of their application, they give employment to another two million workers and support to about ten million more of our people. A large portion of these manufactured commodities must filter through the retail trade; their total value when delivered to the consumer exceeds twenty billions of dollars. And from this distribution arises the support of many more millions of our people. It is estimated that the products of agriculture when they reach . the consumer, with transportation, manu-facturing, and distribution costs added, have about the same value as the mineral industries-each of them thus contributing about one-quarter of our total na-tional income. No other continent has demonstrated its possession of such a magnitude of minerals as has ours, and such a bountiful distribution over our whole land. But our mineral resources differ in one essential from our other natural resources-they are not renewable. Agricul-ture, forests, and water power replenish their supplies from season to season. Some people conclude from the non-renewable character of the mineral supply that they must shortly be exhausted. The practical question is ,one of time, and time in these matters needs to be measured in generations, and apprehension of exhaus-tion needs to be tempered with many probabilities in-cluding the advance in technical methods of extraction. In some of our minerals, such as coal, iron, and building materials we can, through a knowledge of their geologi-cal structure and occurrence, make fairly good estimates of our reserves. We. know that they will outlast many generations of Americans. In non-ferrous metals and oil, geology affords us no great basis for an estimate of future supply. We only know of the occurrence of minerals of this type by actual exposure of them, and we can thus make no estimates except upon reserves which have been proved by actual development by the process of mining. To develop them ahead merely for national satisfaction of assured future supply would imply an unbearable waste of capital. The consequence is that in these groups there is never a demonstrable assurance of more than a few years' supply ahead of us. Yet we have never failed from year to year to find new deposits and extension of old deposits.

Jan 1, 1928

By R. B. Rosene, G. L. Foster, A. R. Hendrickson

he properties of some of the common fracturing oils, such as sand-falling rate, fluid loss and viscasity, are a function of the three major constituents of the oil. These are: asphaltic material, parafin waxes and a base oil. The base oil can be either high or low viscosity. Asphaltic material increases viscosity by thickening the oil, decreasing the rate of fall of sand through the oil. at temperatures up to 200" F. When large arnorrnts of parafin wax are present, much of the wax i.s not dissolved, but is present in the form of rnicroscopic crystals. 7'his, of course is limited to temperatures below the melting points of waxe.s. As a result, parafin waxes clo not function primarily as thickener.7, but rother as bullting materials. The functiori of wax, without asphaltic material, in a low viscosity base oil is uniquely unlike that of wax with asphalt coexistent in the oil. The resulting difierence in wax crystal size governs the sand-falling rate to a large extent. An ideal type of fracturing oil is one containing neither asphalt nor waxes. In such cases, the viscosity and resulting low sand-falling rate are apparently due to soluble resin- ous hydrocarbons, which are compatible with formation oils. INTRODUCTION Since the introduction of hydraulic fracturing as a method of stimulating production from oil and gas wells, a variety of fluids have been employed to open the fractures and carry the propping agent. Such fluids include gels, emulsions, and oils. In the latter category, the use of refined oils has increased tremendously, and it is probably safe to assume that such oils represent more than one-half of the total fluid used in fracturing. The general acceptance of refined oils for fracturing can be accounted for on the basis of their relatively low cost and general applicability. To minimize transportation costs, such refined oils are generally obtained within the local areas of operation. As a result there are several kinds of oil used in different areas, with a wide variation in the basic composition. These types may vary from a fair grade of lubricating stock to a highly viscous cut-back asphalt. or road oil. Originally, little attention was paid to the composition of the oils used for fracturing, and any oil which would carry sand was considered satisfactory. Recently, however, service companies and well operators have become more concerned with the type of oils used for fracturing. With this in mind, the present work was undertaken to evaluate and compare many widely used fracturing oils to determine which constituents were most desirable for fracturing purposes. Some of the important properties of fracturing fluids are sand-falling rate, viscosity, and fluid loss. Other properties, that are actually of no less importance, include flash point, pour point, emulsifying tendencies with formation brines, and compatability with the formation oils. This discussion has been limited, however, to the first mentioned properties in order to give some idea of the general composition of the refined oils, how they function, and why. PROPERTIES OF FRACTURING OILS The properties of fracturing oils are a function of the three major constituents of the oil. These may be designated as: (1) asphaltic material, (2) paraffin waxes and (3) a base oil, which may be of either high or low viscosity. The asphaltic material clas-

Jan 1, 1956

By J. P. Martin, A. H. Geisler, J. H. Crede, E. Both

The investigation of a 50 pct Co alloy was undertaken to determine whether there was any direct correlation between the structure and properties of Co-Fe alloys which were given various magnetic heat treatments. The magnetic anisotropy and texture of the 0.002-in. cold-reduced 98 pct material tend to decrease and change in nature with increasing temperature of the recrystallization anneal. Annealing samples in a magnetic field had little effect on either the magnetic properties or texture. However, cooling them in a magnetic field greatly improved their magnetic properties. THE beneficial influence of a magnetic field applied during the heat treatment of certain soft magnetic materials has been known for a long time. Early work showed that the presence of a magnetic field of a few oersteds during the heat treatment of Fe-Ni alloys will cause a large increase in maximum permeability. A pronounced increase in the residual induction which is produced by the magnetic anneal causes the hysteresis loop to approach the shape of a rectangle. Such results are beneficial since the desired properties are high permeability, high induction at maximum permeability, high residual induction, and low coercive force. More recently Libsch and coworkers1 studied the effect of magnetic annealing on the hysteresis properties of a series of Co-Fe alloys prepared from powders. They observed good response for the 35 and 50 pct Co alloys but little response for the 42 pct Co alloy. They pointed out that this was somewhat surprising since the 42 pct alloy has a high linear magnetostriction and zero crystal anisotropy and similar conditions in Fe-Ni alloys give excellent response to magnetic annealing. They found optimum properties to be at the 50 pct composition with residual induction, Br = 19,000 gauss and coercive force, Hc = 0.68 oersteds after the magnetic anneal. Before the magnetic anneal these values were B, = 12,600 gauss and Hc = 1.15 oersteds. The optimum treatment consisted of cooling from above the y-a transformation temperature to 900°C in a field of 20 oersteds, holding 11/2 hr at 900°C, then cooling at a rate of 20° to 25°C per min in the field to below 230°C. Cooling rate mainly affected coercive force with the value decreasing from 1.09 to 0.88 oersteds as the rate was increased from 3° to 48°C per min. Cooling from 1020" to 900°C in a field followed by further cooling to 230°C without the field gave properties decidedly inferior to those for samples annealed with the field applied throughout the cooling. They concluded that to get the best properties the samples must be cooled in a field to a threshold temperature above which the alloy is plastic enough to be affected by magnetostriction. In this respect the holding temperature must be high enough so that the alloy exhibits good plasticity to permit the optimum orienting of magnetic domains by relaxation of magnetostriction. In contrast, the holding time was of less significance for there was little improvement when the time exceeded 1/2 hr. The improvement in properties effected by magnetic annealing has usually been attributed to the establishment of a domain texture caused by the "freezing in" of magnetic strains. On the other hand, Smoluchowski and Turner2,3 apparently found that a magnetic field applied during recrystallization could alter the crystal texture. If this effect is real, improved properties would also be expected when

Jan 1, 1954

INTRODUCTION Besides the European export credit agencies covered in Ted Rides' paper in this Chapter, other agencies are also active (see Appendix) but the most notable for mining projects are The Export-Import Bank of the United States ("US Exim") and the Export Development Corporation ("EDC") of Canada. Mexico's Fomex is basically a short-term trade-finance fund administered by the Central Bank. US Exim This independent agency can provide loans, guarantees, and insurance. Like all export-credit agencies, its mandate is to support the export of goods and services from the US as a means of competing against other countries' products. If a piece of mining equipment can only he made in the US, the US Exim may very well not provide any financial assistance. (It is important not to place the order for any item for which export credit is sought because, once ordered, the situation is no longer competitive in US Exim's eyes.) Direct Credits and financial guarantees ("buyer credits") are commonly in amounts greater than 85 million and for terms longer than six years. An example here is the $48.5 million provided to PT International Nickel Indonesia (see Robert de Gavre's paper in Chapter 12). US Exim usually requires a 15% downpayment and, therefore, finances up to 857 of the goods; less if the US content is lower. The dollar funding can he US prime, London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), or other sources. Exim can fund in either or both of the following ways: 1. Under a US bank Letter of Credit ("L/C") 2. Reimbursement to the buyer/borrower via a US bank account. US Exim will, without charge, issue a preliminary commitment. It will, however, need to approve the various credit agreements and prefers to tie other parallel financings into one loan agreement. US Exim's total commitments are large, up to $5R billion in aggregate under various programs. US Exim has been the world's leader in medium-to long-term minerals project financings/ co-financings but suffers from (i) aggressive foreign export-credit competition whereby other nations mix in soft-loans or aid programs ("mixed credits") to increase the percentage financed and lower the interest margin and (ii) an imbalance in its own cost of funds. A common US Exim package would be as follows: 15% Banks under US Exim guarantee, floating rate over prime or LIBOR. 35% US Exim funding, fixed rate 35% Pefco funding, fixed rate 857 Drawn down pro-rata under US bank L/C 15% Cash down payment (may have been financed within a project/corporate credit) 100% Repayment usually begins six months after planned start-up in equal semi-annual instalments, with the banks usually paid out first, Pefco next, and US Exim last. Medium-term credits ("supplier credits") are issued for US equipment exports for terms up to five years, again for 85% of the equipment costs although the exporter is expected to bear at least 10% out of that 857 for its own risk. The buyer is required to be a first-class credit such as some governments or highly credit-worthy companies. Otherwise a bank L/C would be required. (This may be wrapped into an overall project-finance package for a minerals development. The project-finance banks provide an L/C to US Exim instead of funding that portion themselves.) US Exim guarantees 100% of the political risk and either 85% or 95% of the commercial risk for

Jan 1, 1985

By Paul M. Tyler

Higher freight rates and better methods of beneficiation now may make it more economical to open inferior deposits closer to a glass factory than to work higher-grade deposits farther away. Nature of impurities and special treatments as well as common practice of sulphuric acid leaching are described. HISTORICAL concepts of the economics of the glass-sand industry are changing rapidly. The greatly expanded demand for glass containers combined with higher freight rates on raw materials and manufactured products have induced a migration of glass factories toward densely populated centers and the creation of new standards of place value for substandard sand deposits. This migration has been facilitated by the construction of pipelines to bring cheaper natural gas and liquid fuel to large cities and may be further speeded by the adoption of modern mineral dressing methods to permit economical utilization of local raw materials. Our national resources of naturally high-grade silica sand are abundant, but most of the best deposits are situated so far from large centers of population that it now costs $3.00 to $5.00 a ton to carry the sand from the mine to the optimum site for a factory making beverage bottles, scientific and electrical glassware, and miscellaneous blown and pressed ware for local markets. It follows that on the basis of freight savings alone it may be economical to use material from inferior deposits closer to the factory even though the f.O.b. cost of mining and treatment may be much higher than at a higher grade deposit farther away. Particle-size distribution is a feature of glass-sand specifications. As long as glassmakers insisted upon having their sand principally coarser than 100-mesh, any material was automatically excluded from consideration that could not be purified without fine grinding or other drastic treatment which greatly reduces the size of the quartz grains. However, re- cent large-scale tests in Norway' showed that finely-crushed quartz used in a soda-lime-silica glass batch caused it to melt and become refined appreciably faster than when ordinary coarse (Belgian) sand was employed. Dust losses were negligible. Since the pre-war cost of sand was only 3 pct of the manufacturing cost of the glass, it was deemed economical to pay twice as much for crushed quartz because of the saving in wear and tear on the furnace walls. In the author's unverified opinion, sand ranging in size between 150 and 400-mesh would probably be superior to that in the more usual range of 20 to 100-mesh. Former objections to fine sand (other than dust) were doubtless fostered by the natural concentration of impurities in the finer sizes. Ordinarily the most objectionable, as well as the commonest, impurity from the standpoint of the manufacturer of any but the cheaper qualities of colored glass is iron. No natural sands are really pure silica. Even water-clear quartz crystals are likely to contain impurities in the form of solid solution as well as inclusions which cannot be eliminated except by chemical treatment that will break down the silica lattice. Pure white pegmatite quartz will usually analyze 0.01 pct or more of iron oxide, and ordinary vein quartz and the quartz grains in most

Jan 1, 1951

By Richard R. Bains

"When l hear - I normally remember 10 percent When I hear and see - I can remember 15 to 25 percent When I hear, see, and do - I usually remember up to 50 percent" While this is not a truism in relation to each and every individual; on the average, this is the case. If we use this as a premise in training operator and maintenance personnel, then it must be obvious that we can't rely on a mere presentation, even one which includes the needed classroom participation and/or hands on work, to do a thorough job and to make this personnel totally proficient - 100 percent proficient. We have to have some other device some other means to make this a continuing process, a process wherein the people can grow in knowledge while performing their normal duties. We have to feel that the words "normal duties" are the key to the whole program. If you would ask a crusher operator what his duty is, he might say "To run this crusher so that we produce 250 tons per hour of a minus 13mm (minus 1/2 ") product." A maintenance man could say "To fix the unit when there is a problem." Both of these answers are legitimate but, they are only a part of the total picture. In order for each of these individuals to do the best job, he must know not just the specifics about the machine he works with or on - he must know the interrelation of all the machinery in the crushing circuit - how the efficiency of each machine affects the others - why a minor problem on one piece of equipment can generate a major problem for another unit which follows it or precedes it. In short, you cannot separate machine operation and maintenance from the application of the equipment in the crushing circuit - and obtaining this knowledge must be a part of the normal duty of crushing plant personnel. As an example a crusher - any crusher - is designed to crush oversize material. It is not designed to accept feed which is already at or less than the required product size. If sized material goes to the crusher, increase wear results by using the crusher as a chute or the crushing chamber can be clogged up with the fines. This latter point is particularly true with cone crushers, especially in the third (Short Head) stage of crushing. When a Gyradisc is used (fourth stage crushing) it is even more critical that the product be removed before the material goes to the crusher. The crusher cannot control this - the screen ahead of the crusher does. The screen must be of adequate size and be functioning properly to allow the crusher to work at optimum. Screening is both an art and a science. Since there are so many variables which affect the output of the screen, it is always best to have a screen which is larger than the sizing calculations dictate. The screens are the most important elements in the circuit. Without screens, specification materials cannot be made and the size of the screen will ultimately aid or hinder your ability to get the most production possible out of the plant. There is a formula available from all screen manufacturers which is designed to calculate the proper screen size. It takes into consideration the

Jan 1, 1982

By G. Thodos, R. J. Smialek

A method has been developed that permits the correlations of Mehra and Thodos8 and Dastur and thodos2 for binary systems to be used for the prediction of the vapor-liquid equilibrium constants of the light and heavy constituents, Kland Kh, of a ternary hydrocarbon mixture. Furthermore, the unique relationship observed in this study, i.e., a plot of log Ke/Ki vs log Kp/K h is linear and passes through the origin, permits the calculation of the K-value for the intermediate component. This approach has been used to establish K-values for the constituents of the three ternary hydrocarbon systems used to develop this method and has also been applied to two additional ternary hydrocarbon systems to yield an average deviation of 7.7 per cent resulting from a total of 294 points for the five ternary systems considered. INTRODUCTION The rigorous calculation of vapor-liquid equilibrium constants for systems containing two or more components is a difficult problem and becomes extremely complex at elevated pressures and for conditions approaching the critical point. Although thermodynamic relationships can be developed to account for the vapor-liquid equilibrium behavior of simple systems, their use is limited because the necessary PVT data for these systems are not generally available. To establish a method for calculating K constants directly, without any recourse to the PVT behavior of a system, Mehra and Thodos8 applied the principle of corresponding states to the vapor-liquid equilibrium constants of binary hydrocarbon systems. They developed a series of charts which made possible the prediction of K-values for all binary hydrocarbon systems not containing methane. This work has been extended by Dastur and Thodos2 to include binary hydrocarbon systems containing methane. The charts developed in these two studies cover the high-pressure region and are applicable to conditions in the vicinity of the critical point. The ability of this approach to predict vapor-liquid equilibrium constants of binary hydrocarbon systems suggests that this method may be extended to the prediction of the K-values of the components of ternary hydrocarbon systems. In this investigation, the charts developed for both the methane and non - methane binary systems,2,8 together with mixture rules developed in this study, have been used to predict the K-values of the light and heavy components of a ternary hydrocarbon system. These calculated values are then used to establish the K-value of the intermediate component through the use of a novel relationship developed in the present study. DEVELOPMENT OF METHOD FOR PREDICTING K-VALUES OF TERNARY SYSTEMS The application of the corresponding state charts developed for binary hydrocarbon systems is restricted to those systems containing two components. The extension of these correlations to three-component systems requires that the ternary system be reduced to an equivalent binary, which can be treated in a manner consistent with the corresponding state development. To establish such an approach, the vapor-liquid equilibrium constant of the light component K is first calculated by assuming that the ternary mixture consists of the light component and a pseudo-heavy component of the intermediate and heavy constituents of the original ternary. To establish the vapor-liquid equilibrium constant of the heavy component Kh, the light and intermediate constituents of the ternary are combined to form a pseudo-light component of another equivalent binary system. The calculated values Kl and Kb are then utilized to calculate the vapor-liquid equilibrium constant of the intermediate component EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT FOR LIGHT COMPONENT K To calculate the K value of the light (most

Jan 1, 1965

By H. F. Yancey, M. R. Geer, C. L. Allyn, R. H. Eckhouse

Four coals were treated in the Humphreys spiral concentrator, and the products were examined by float-and-sink and screen-sizing tests to determine fundamental performance characteristics. The efficiency of the separation between coal and impurity was shown to be influenced greatly by particle size. FOUR coals exhibiting different washability characteristics were washed in the Humphreys spiral concentrator and the products examined by float-and-sink and screen-sizing tests to determine the mechanics of the separation between coal and impurity. With one coal, each 1/2-in. increment of the full width of the stream in the spiral was examined separately to determine where each size and specific-gravity fraction of the feed was stratified. The basic performance characteristics of the spiral were found to be the same for all of these coals. The coarsest fraction of heavy impurity stratified so far out in the stream that it could not be removed through the refuse ports and thus either entered a middling product or contaminated the washed coal in the case of a two-product separation. Impurity particles finer than about 100-mesh also were carried out in the main body of the stream and therefore were not removed in the refuse product. Little loss of clean coal in the refuse occurred in sizes coarser than 28-mesh or finer than 100-mesh, but considerable coal of intermediate size stratified in the stream that was drawn off through the refuse ports. Because of this modifying influence of particle size, the spiral is unable to make an efficient two-product separation between coal and impurity without some retreatment. Recirculation of a middling product through the same spiral as a means of obtaining more efficient operation was not attempted in this investigation. The size and specific-gravity composition of the middling product are, however, such as to render it amenable to simple hydraulic classification for recovery of coal. Retreatment of a middling product would improve the efficiency of the spiral, but even when making a substantial amount of middling, considerable clean coal enters the refuse product. Consequently, retreatment of a combined refuse-middling product would appear to offer greater promise for providing maximum efficiency. Because of the sizing characteristics of the spiral, a classified feed can be treated with higher efficiency than is possible on a natural raw coal. For this reason, semiclassified feeds, such as silt-bank or classifier-underflow materials, can doubtless be treated with higher efficiencies than those shown for raw coals in this report. Performance is, of course, only one of many factors that enter into the choice of cleaning equipment. The fact that the one company now using the spiral for cleaning coal has built a second spiral plant is ample evidence that the inherently low efficiency of this unit may be overshadowed by the low operating costs afforded by its extreme simplicity. Introduction A number of factors enter into the selection of coal-cleaning equipment, and most of them bear directly on the final cost of prepared coal. One of these factors is performance of the cleaning unit in terms of the efficiency of the separation it effects between clean coal and refuse. The importance of performance in the selection of a coal-cleaning unit varies with the difficulty of the cleaning problem. Obviously, if the character of the coal is such that only certain types of cleaning units are capable of yielding a clean product meeting market requirements, performance is of prime importance. If, on the other hand, the cleaning problem is so simple that any type of cleaner will provide coal of suitable quality, performance is important only insofar as it affects costs by determining the amount of salable coal lost in the washery refuse. With the objective of providing the coal industry with information that is helpful in the selection of

Jan 1, 1951

By R. H. Eckhouse, M. R. Geer, H. F. Yancey, C. L. Allyn

Four coals were treated in the Humphreys spiral concentrator, and the products were examined by float-and-sink and screen-sizing tests to determine fundamental performance characteristics. The efficiency of the separation between coal and impurity was shown to be influenced greatly by particle size. FOUR coals exhibiting different washability characteristics were washed in the Humphreys spiral concentrator and the products examined by float-and-sink and screen-sizing tests to determine the mechanics of the separation between coal and impurity. With one coal, each 1/2-in. increment of the full width of the stream in the spiral was examined separately to determine where each size and specific-gravity fraction of the feed was stratified. The basic performance characteristics of the spiral were found to be the same for all of these coals. The coarsest fraction of heavy impurity stratified so far out in the stream that it could not be removed through the refuse ports and thus either entered a middling product or contaminated the washed coal in the case of a two-product separation. Impurity particles finer than about 100-mesh also were carried out in the main body of the stream and therefore were not removed in the refuse product. Little loss of clean coal in the refuse occurred in sizes coarser than 28-mesh or finer than 100-mesh, but considerable coal of intermediate size stratified in the stream that was drawn off through the refuse ports. Because of this modifying influence of particle size, the spiral is unable to make an efficient two-product separation between coal and impurity without some retreatment. Recirculation of a middling product through the same spiral as a means of obtaining more efficient operation was not attempted in this investigation. The size and specific-gravity composition of the middling product are, however, such as to render it amenable to simple hydraulic classification for recovery of coal. Retreatment of a middling product would improve the efficiency of the spiral, but even when making a substantial amount of middling, considerable clean coal enters the refuse product. Consequently, retreatment of a combined refuse-middling product would appear to offer greater promise for providing maximum efficiency. Because of the sizing characteristics of the spiral, a classified feed can be treated with higher efficiency than is possible on a natural raw coal. For this reason, semiclassified feeds, such as silt-bank or classifier-underflow materials, can doubtless be treated with higher efficiencies than those shown for raw coals in this report. Performance is, of course, only one of many factors that enter into the choice of cleaning equipment. The fact that the one company now using the spiral for cleaning coal has built a second spiral plant is ample evidence that the inherently low efficiency of this unit may be overshadowed by the low operating costs afforded by its extreme simplicity. Introduction A number of factors enter into the selection of coal-cleaning equipment, and most of them bear directly on the final cost of prepared coal. One of these factors is performance of the cleaning unit in terms of the efficiency of the separation it effects between clean coal and refuse. The importance of performance in the selection of a coal-cleaning unit varies with the difficulty of the cleaning problem. Obviously, if the character of the coal is such that only certain types of cleaning units are capable of yielding a clean product meeting market requirements, performance is of prime importance. If, on the other hand, the cleaning problem is so simple that any type of cleaner will provide coal of suitable quality, performance is important only insofar as it affects costs by determining the amount of salable coal lost in the washery refuse. With the objective of providing the coal industry with information that is helpful in the selection of

Jan 1, 1951

By J. R. Kyte, V. O. Naumann, C. C. Mattax

Imbibition and waterflooding tests at reservoir conditions show that conventional tests at room conditions sometimes lead to recovery estimates that are too low. Core samples which are of intermediate wettability at normal test conditions may be strongly water-wet at reservoir conditions. This was found to be true for samples from two of three reservoirs investigated. For the other reservoir, less difference was observed between the wettability of samples at normal test conditions and at reservoir conditions. Samples which became more water-wet at reservoir temperature and pressure also water flooded more efficiently at reservoir conditions. These results show that core analysis tests on intermediate wettability samples should be performed at reservoir conditions to obtain representative data. INTRODUCTION Throughout the oil industry, core analysis tests normally are performed using refined oils and at room temperature and pressure. This procedure has always been subject to question because the possibility is generally recognized that the reservoir environment may influence displacement behavior. Burkhardt, et al,' have performed waterflood tests at reservoir conditions on East Texas cores. They found little difference between results obtained at reservoir conditions and results of conventional flooding tests at room conditions. As they pointed out, however, this situation might not be general since they obtained data on only one rock and crude-oil system. This paper presents data which demonstrate that it is sometimes necessary to perform core analysis tests in a simulated reservoir environment to properly represent the reservoir wettability and displacement characteristics. The work is specifically concerned with reservoirs which were thought to be of intermediate wettability on the basis of conventional test results at room conditions, i.e., core samples imbibed only small amounts of either oil or water and exhibited no decided preferential wettability characteristics. Tests were performed on cores from three such reservoirs to determine their behavior in the reservoir environment. lmbibition and waterflood tests were used to demonstrate the effect of reservoir environment on reservoir rock wettability and displacement characteristics. Results of tests performed at reservoir conditions were compared with results from conventional tests. Imbibition tests were performed on samples from all three reservoirs. Waterflood tests were performed on samples from only one reservoir. Fluid properties for the three reservoirs studied are shown in Table 1. Tests at reservoir conditions were performed using bottom-hole crude oil at reservoir temperature and pressure. The aqueous phase used in these tests was a synthetic brine approximating the reservoir brine composition. Conventional tests were performed at room conditions with refined oils and synthetic reservoir brine. The oil-to-water viscosity ratios were adjusted to the reservoir values. The cores used in all the tests were taken from the reservoirs using either brine alone or a bentonite-car-boxymethylcellulose mud without additives as coring fluids. Previous tests show that these fluids have no significant effect on the wettability of reservoir rock samples.1 The cores were preserved in brine at the wellsite to prevent wettability changes during shipment and storage. Wellsite imbibition tests have been performed on fresh samples from several reservoirs (including Reservoir A) and compared with later laboratory imbibition tests on samples preserved in brine. The comparison showed that the wettability of the preserved cores was the same as that of fresh, surfaced cores at the wellsite.2 IMBIBITION TESTS Conventional imbibition tests were performed on preserved cores using the apparatus and procedures described by Bobek, et al.2 A sketch of the apparatus for imbibition tests at reservoir conditions is shown in Fig. 1. The preserved samples were first centrifuged to expel excess water and then placed in a stainless-steel container which served

By Elton A. Youngberg

J. H. HEARDING, Jr.*—Extremely hard ferruginous chert (taconite) was encountered in driving a drift at the Fraser underground mine near Chisholm, Minn., on the Mesabi Iron Range. In order to get better results in drilling in this ground, it was decided to try tungsten carbide bits. In the beginning, 1½ in. tungsten carbide bits and 1 1/8 in. round-lugged alloy steel drill rods with "jack-stud" inserts were used. Considerable difficulty was encountered because the jack-stud became loose in the drill rods. Because there was not enough alloy steel drill rod on hand, we began to insert jack-studs in the ordinary high carbon drill rods and found, to our surprise, that there was less trouble with jack-studs working loose in these rods than there had been with the alloy steel rods. As a result, use of the alloy steel rods has been discontinued entirely. Under the heading "Drilling Procedures" the statement is made that all holes are started with detachable bits or conventional steel to prevent undue strain on the tungsten carbide bit inserts when collaring a hole on uneven ground. This practice was followed in our work originally for the same reason. It was soon found, however, that the holes could be started with the tungsten carbide without injuring the inserts if the drill operator was careful and did not give the drill too much air until the bit had a chance to seat itself in the rock. J. C. FRANZ*—In a discussion of other technical papers with reference to percussion drills and the use of carbide tungsten bits, it was my impression that the authors reported one of the first difficulties experienced with the use of standard, conventional percussion drills, was insert bit failures due to crushing of the bit inserts when the bits became dull. During the past few years, some of the rock drill manufacturers, I am told, have adopted an air drill for use with the carbide bits that have a lighter blow and faster rotation than the regular machine. This machine has been tested and the carbide bit failures have been considerably reduced. L. W. DUPUY†—The difficulties Mr. Youngberg mentions that were had with rod and coupling breakage call to mind similar troubles experienced at the Picacho mine in California near Yuma.6 The commercial couplings then available were found to be tempered almost to brittleness. Rod breakage was usually in the threads near the end of the rod. The highly-tempered couplings would break as soon as the rod broke. The solution was to thoroughly anneal the couplings and to put in only a very mild temper. Subsequently the alloy used in making the couplings was changed from the original by the manufacturer, but still only a very mild temper was used. The result was that the softer coupling would give but would not snap and release its hold on the broken rod thread. Fishing jobs were reduced to the few where the rods broke at the rod end of the thread. Thread breakage on the rods was further reduced by thorough annealing prior to tempering. The data Mr. Youngberg presents regarding the use of carbide inserts on long blasthole drilling is most interesting and it would appear that the use in this manner of percussion drills and carbide bits will have many applications. W. M. WOODWARD*—How many feet of hole, on the average, do you get from a tungsten carbide bit, and is there much variation from this average? E. A. YOUNGBERG (author's reply) —In recent months the 2 in. tungsten carbide bit footages in long hole drilling hake varied from 115 .to 140 ft monthly. The footages obtained from individual bits vary from several feet to over 300 ft, however the life of a majority of the bits will be within 25 ft of the average.

Jan 1, 1950

By D. B. Smith, John Chipman

THIS investigation was undertaken as a prerequisite to the study of sulphur activities in the liquid system Fe-Cu-Ni, a continuation of the work of Sherman, Elvander, and Chipman,¹ using the same equipment and the same experimental technique. Temperature measurements are made with a disappearing filament optical pyrometer, sighting through a prism onto the surface of the melt which is heated by induction. To obtain true temperatures by this means, a calibration is necessary, since, in the absence of true black-body conditions, the observed temperature is always lower than the true temperature. This calibration is actually an emissivity correction, since the emissivity is a function of both temperature and melt composition. The original furnace was used with a deeper metal bath to provide sufficient depth of immersion for the thermocouple which was inserted through the sampling hole. The atmosphere was a 50-50 mixture or argon and hydrogen passing through the furnace at a rate of 1000 ml per min, and preheated by means of a molybdenum resistance coil. It was assumed that the rapid gas flow effectively eliminated any error which might have resulted from the presence of metallic vapor. The charge in each case consisted of about 300 g of metal, contained in a high purity, dense alumina crucible. At each melt composition, readings of the optical pyrometer and of a thermocouple immersed in the molten metal were taken simultaneously. Calibration curves of optical vs. true temperature were then made for each melt composition investigated. Thermocouples were made of 0.010 in. platinum and platinum-10 pct rhodium. They were checked against the melting point of chemically pure copper. Silica protection tubes with an outer diameter of approximately 1/8 in. were used. The depth of immersion of the tip in the molten metal was approximately 1 14 in. The life of these small thermocouples was relatively short, varying from approximately 1 min at 1550°C to 10 min or longer at 1300°C. Melts containing iron corroded the protection tubes more than those without iron present. Measurements taken while heating checked those taken while cooling, indicating the absence of a temperature gradient between the molten metal and the thermocouple. Results The temperature range of the. measurements on copper-free metals extended from the melting point to 1600°C. For copper the upper limit was 1380°C, and the data were extrapolated linearly for comparison with observations on the other metals and alloys at 1535°C. Examples of typical calibration curves for various melt compositions are shown in Fig. 1. These curves, besides providing a calibration system for the given experimental conditions, also give a basis for the calculation of true emissivities at the effective wavelength of the pyrometer, 0.65 micron. The starting point of the calculations is the value of the emissivity of iron at its melting point. Taking the melting point of electrolytic iron under hydrogen as 1535°C, and using the corresponding emissivity value of 0.43, as determined by Dastur and Gokcen,² the emissivities can be determined as functions of composition (and temperature, if desired). The relationship used is the Wien equation: ln(Ea)=C2/?(1/T1-1/Ta where E is the emissivity; a, the transmissivity of the optical system; C,, the fundamental constant, 14,380 micron-degrees; A, the wave length of light used (0.65 micron); Tt, the true temperature, OK; and T., the apparent temperature, OK. At the melting point of iron the observed temperature was 1358"; this gives 0.62 for the transmissivity, which compares with 0.65 in the similar system used by Dastur and Gokcen. The emissivities of all the compositions investigated were determined at 1535°C, after obtaining from each calibration curve the corresponding temperature. These results

Jan 1, 1953

By Thomas W. Wälde

BACKGROUND Foreign investment has been a major factor in bringing about the substantial mining industries of Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Brasil and Guyana. But economic nationalism and sentiment against foreiqn domination of vital national industries grew in the 1960s and most major mining projects were transferred into state owner ship. Among the state mining enterprises formed were CODELCO - Chile, MINERO-PERU/ CENTRCMIN - Peru, CCMIBOL - Bolivia (in 1952), Hierro-PERU, GUY-BAU/BIDCO - Guyana, etc. New investment during that time was discouraged because it was subject to the restrictive conditions of the investment regulations of the Andean-Pact, a grouping of Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia. The philisophy was that mineral resources were to be developed exclusively by national enterprises. Essential foreign inputs had to be acquired "depackaged" as separate purchases of equipment and technical assistance services. As a result of the worldwide economic recession which hit the mining industries in 1980-1982, many projects that were viable in 1970 were not developed by the new state enterprises due to lack of capital, managerial and technical abilities and due to problems with marketing. As a consequence of the long-term decline of metal prices, governments experienced difficulty in getting investment organized through national or foreign enterprises and have had to face up to the trade-offs between national control and active mineral development. A change has since taken place in governmental policies. The 1981 Peruvian mining law, the 1982 mining law of Uruguay, the 1979/1980 mineral promotion laws of Argentina, all witness the gradual shifting of emphasis from restriction to promotion. The investment rules of the Andean Pact have been progressively softened through national regulation and today are more or less irrelevant. Nationalizations and forced renegotiations have not occurred in the last few years. Countries have gone to great lengths (without much success) to re-attract foreign investment on terms that accommodate the political sensitivities of the South American countries and the practical requirements of investors and financiers. For this analysis, three contracts have been selected which reflect this accommodation in three South American countries, where miner a1 production plays a major role in the national economy. These con tracts reflect both the attitudes and traditions of the individual countries, but also mark the shift in mineral investment policies that has taken place. EL INDIO AGREEMENT The 1977 investment agreement between Chile and St. Joe Minerals marked a dramatic relationship between Chile and foreign mining investor s. In Chile, mining of copper has played a major role in the country's history. Large scale copper mining was initiated and developed by Kennecott and Anaconda. The nationalization of these two companies under the Allende government in July 1971 started a wave of nationalizations of foreign-held mining and petroleum operations since then in many parts of the world. The military government supported the new Chilean state mining companies ((30DELCO and ENMI) , but it also attempted to accelerate mineral development by prom ting foreign private investment, thus reversing the nationalistic policies followed by the Allende and the preceding Frei government. The new policy by the military government is expressed in Decreto-Ley 600 (1974) which governs foreign investment in Chile. Decreto-Ley 600 is

Jan 1, 1985

By C. S. Smith

The partial persistence of grain size and grain shape on melting and resolidifying crystalline substances, as well as the general effects of pre-solidifi-cation and of superheating on nuclea-tion rate, have been attributed to the presence in the liquid of crystalline impurities bearing some structural relation to the principal solid and hence capable of serving as nuclei for its crystallization. That such lattice matching does sometimes occur is well established, but it is surely improbable that a compound possessing both high-temperature stability and the requisite structural similarity should be naturally available in almost every system. It is now suggested that a mechanism for producing appropriate nuclei exists in the crystallization of all but absolutely pure substances. Impurities can he of many kinds. Some will give rise to compounds that are less soluble in the solid crystal than in the liquid. A . crystal forming from a melt or solution containing these will be supersaturated in some degree, and the foreign atoms will commence to segregate during or after solidification. They do not necessarily form pure, unstrained, crystals of the precipitating compound with its normal composition and structure. Generally—at least in the metallurgical examples that have been most studied —the first recognizable nuclei have lattice coherency with the surrounding matrix and have practically the same crystal structure and lattice spacing as the material in which they form, differ- ing only in composition. An extremely thin oxide layer formed under appropriate conditions on or in a solid metal will tend to be coherent with the metal lattice, and the first few atom layers of the oxide in contact with the metal will differ in both composition and structure from massive crystalliue oxide. It will resemble the metal more closely than the oxide. If it did not subsequently change on melting, such an oxide film would constitute an almost perfect "template" or two-dimensional matrix to hold a few atoms of the primary metal in the exact array needed to form a nucleus for solidification. Any precipitating material will adopt the correct spacing over a few atom diameters, and with appropriate substitution of other atoms of the correct sizes a precipitate can match the parent lattice over large areas of cohererlce without excessive strain. In metals, the componentsof a host of oxides, silicides, borides, nitrides, carbides, sulphides, and other compounds are always present in minute amounts. Some of these will be eliminated because of extreme insolubility in the liquid, while others will remain soluble in the solid; occasionally, however, particles will be formed in the solid by coherent precipitation—not of pure substances, but of whatever assortment of atoms best satisfies the joint requirements of availability, affinity, and appropriate average atom size. Of these, many will disappear on melting, but a few will persist unmelted as little rafts of complex composition, maintaining in the liquid a surface of the exact geometry needed to nucleate the solid on subsequent cooling. Their number and size distribution will determine the resulting grain size; the dimensions of the largest will determine the degree of undercooling that can occur before solidification commences. A similar process may operate in the case of phase transformations in solids. The coherent precipitation of supersaturated minor constituents in a low-temperature phase should facilitate the nucleation of this phase on subsequent cooling after transforming into another phase at higher temperatures. At first sight this hypothesis may seem little different from the older ones. It should therefore be emphasized that it does not depend on chance to provide the right compound to form a nucleus, but postulates that every crystal, containing minute amourlts of any of a wide range of impurities, automatically engenders particles having the correct surface structure to serve as nuclei for subsequent solidification. It could operate in any system, metallic, organic, or inorganic. The suggested mechanism is closely analogous to the production of antibodies from antigens in living organisms—indeed, it was a description of the matrix theory of this process that suggested to the writer its crystalline analogue.

Jan 1, 1950

By H. H. Klepfer, M. E. Snyder

UNTIL very recently, the commercial availability of the rare earths as metals has been very limited. Fabrication of mill products from these metals has not been studied in most cases. This note reports the results of the development of fabrication techniques for thulium. Thulium has a melting point of about 1550°C and a hexagonal close-packed crystal structure. It oxidizes in air to give a black oxide (TmzO,). The procedures for producing thin thulium foil were developed on one ingot weighing about 220 g and were subsequently applied in processing about a pound of metal to foil. Several alternates for the various fabrication steps were investigated and will be discussed. The metal fabricated was in the form of commercial chill-cast ingots 1 in. in diam and 2 in. long weighing approximately 220 g. Impurities in the ingots were reported by the vendor to be 4000 ppni tantalum, 2000 ppm calcium, 200 ppm nickel, 100 to 200 ppm iron, 100 ppm europium, and less than 100 ppm copper, lutetium, and ytterbium. In addition to these impurities, several salt-like inclusions as large as l/8 in. in diam were revealed along the center line of the one ingot sectioned. Preliminary tests indicated that small wafers cut from the as-cast ingot would not fabricate readily by rolling. Forging of copper-jacketed wafers was therefore attempted. At 1550"F forging was satisfactory but an apparent reaction of copper with thulium demanded investigation of lower temperatures. Therefore, the remainder of the test ingot was forged at 1450°F—with only minor cracking. All ingots forged were inserted into copper tubes of 1 in. 1D and 0.125-in. wall thickness. The jackets were sealed by flattening the ends of the tubes and welding under helium. Heating time at 1450°F was 30 min. Press forgings of 1/8 in. per pass were used, followed by 10 min reheats. When the ingots had been squared and reduced to 0.250 in. in thickness, the original copper jacket was stripped off and replaced by a new jacket in preparation for hot rolling. Hot rolling at 1450" F without edge cracking was readily accomplished after forging. Excellent results were obtained with 10 pct reductions of thickness followed by 5 to 10 min reheats. After reduction of thickness from 0.250 to 0.100 in. the copper jacket was removed. It was found, in fact, that hot rolling in air was possible. A tenacious black oxide similar to that seen on zirconium was formed during 3 min reheats at 1450°F. Reduction in air to 0.010 in. foil was possible taking 10 pct reductions per pass. The oxide coat formed during hot rolling in air could best be removed by sand blasting and pickling. Common pickling solutions containing polar solvents were found to attack the metal too rapidly and a concentrated nitric-hydrofluoric acid mixture attacked neither the oxide nor the metal. The most satisfactory pickling solution was 52 vol pct concentrated nitric acid-48 vol pct glacial acetic acid. After forging to 0.250 in., vacuum annealing and cold rolling was found to be another satisfactory alternate to hot rolling in copper jackets. After forging. a hardness of Rockwell B76 was found. Annealing in vacuum (2 X l0-5 mm of Hg) for 1 hr at 1200"F did not alter this value. Annealing at 1470"F for 1 hr brought the hardness down to R;]63. With cold rolling (5 pct per pass) the hardness returned to about R,1:76 after 20 pct reduction and edge cracking became noticeable. However, cold rolling to a total of 40 pct reduction in thickness (RI,,83) was possible before edge crack propagation became serious. Good surface finish was obtained, and the metal loss due to oxidation was minimized by cold rolling and vacuum annealing. Using this procedure the yield of 1.25 in. wide by 0.010 in. thick foil from a 1-in. diam ingot was about 40 pct.

Jan 1, 1961