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By Van H. Manning

PETROLEUM INVESTIGATIONS. The work of the petroleum division of the Bureau of Mines during the period of the war was under the supervision of Chester Naramore, chief petroleum technologist. In its petroleum investigations the bureau cooperated freely with other Government bureaus and acted as a source of information on petroleum matters. COOPERATIVE WORK ON INTERALLIED PETROLEUM COMMISSION. On July 15, 1918, Mr. Naramore and W. E. Perdew, chemical en- gineer of the bureau, left for London to act as representatives of the United States Fuel Administration and the United States Shipping Board on the Inter-allied Petroleum Commission. Numerous con- ferences were held with representatives from France, England, and Italy on specifications and requirements of the various allied Govern- ments for petroleum products, and for this purpose meetings were held in London, Paris, and Rome. EXAMINATION OF PETROLEUM FACILITIES IN FRANCE. The storage facilities and the transportation system in France were studied, and recommendations based on the information gained were made to the director of the oil division of the Fuel Administra- tion and to the chairman of the Shipping Board. Refinery plants in France were inspected, as well as filling stations and shipping facilities from ports in France and Italy to the various fronts and the petroleum base of the American Expeditionary Force at Romorantin. France. At the request of Ambassador Sharp, a re- port was prepared on the advisability of developing the petroleum resources in France.

Jun 1, 1919

By Edward A. Barrett, Launa Mallett, Charles Vaught, Kathleen M. Kowalski, Michael J. Brnich, Lynn L. Rethi, Robert Randolph, William J. Wiehagen

The goal of the Pittsburgh Research Laboratory's training research is to explore the relationship between valid instruction and improved worker performance. Studies summarized in this paper include: (a) the development and assessment of training techniques that strengthen miners' ability to act competently in emergencies; (b) investigations of classroom simulations that enhance the perceptual, judgment and decision making skills of workers confronted with mine hazards; and (c) field studies of the linkages between financial investments in occupation at skills training and measurable outcomes.' The authors maintain that better ties between training and performance will aid long-term human resource development. The best way to establish this connection is through the use of objective and reliable data.

By Lloyd A. Morley, Robert Stefanko

A major difficulty encountered during the research was that nation¬al countries (almost world-wide) are in the process of revising their electrical hazard reduction standards. Their principal goal is to align their standards with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Recommendations Publication Series 79. (31-37) Additionally, CENELEC is requiring all Common Market countries to harmonize their standards. (85) However in the coal mining industry some hazard re¬duction techniques are not being accepted because some systems may not be applicable. Therefore, past literature might not directly relate a country's current feeling about explosion-proof standards. An authority in the United Kingdom (which has been a leader in hazard reduction mainly through work at the Safety in Mines Research Establishment) brought up an additional point. (15) He hopes that since revising British standards BS229 into BS4683, with the intention of corresponding with the IEC 79 series, the recent CENELEC harmoni¬zation process will also follow IEC. (8, 9, 10) The past trend in other major Common Market countries prior to CENELEC's requirement results in the authors' speculation that the standards will be pattern¬ed after the IEC Publications. (5,17,60,84,102) Several letters were sent to the East Block countries but, disa¬ppointingly, replies were dispatched only from the USSR and Poland. Recent Polish standards (1973) were received, and a very close match to the IEC Publications has been noted. (76,77) Because of their economic community, it is extremely logical to assume that the East Block stand¬ards are therefore in concurrence with the IEC. Japanese specifications also appear to be compatible with the IEC Recommendations. (42,43)

Jan 1, 1974

By David White

The purpose of the studies that form the basis of this report was to learn from microscopic examinations of coal how far and in what ways the grouping of coal by types depends on differences in the kinds of plant material from which it was formed and on the condi- tions of its accumulation, or how far the special characters or qualities of coal of any type were determined by the nature and the state of the plant débris from which the coal was formed. The fact is almost universally accepted that beds of coal represent accumulations of vegetal matter in varying stages of preservation, with, as a rule, very small proportions of the remains of animal life. Mingled with the organic substances are different inorganic mineral sediments, which, together with the mineral matter originally con- tained in the plants themselves, constitute the "ash" of coal. The examination of coal shows that the kinds of ingredient plants range all the way from algee and fungi to large trees of various orders, and that these in turn vary in their own groups according to the depth and the nature of the water in which they grew and according to the other conditions of growth, such as moisture, temperature, soil, light, climate, and the competition of individuals. The species or kinds of plants and the numbers of each kind also differ greatly among themselves, not only during any one geologic period because of the changes of environment, but also from one geologic period to another, and it will be remembered that well-developed coal has been found in the strata of every period since the Silurian." Most geologists now agree that coal is transformed peat. True there is wide difference of opinion as to how the transformation has been accomplished and even as to whether coal started as such peat as is now found. Some writers insist that the higher grade coal, in its processes of development, never passed through geologic stages

Jan 1, 1913

By E. P. Youngman

The Ottoman law, which was in force in Palestine before the British con- quest of the country (1917-18), still forms the basis of the legal system. Nevertheless, with respect to mining, legislation has been considerably re- vised since the British occupation and mandate, some of the Ottoman laws having been either radically altered or wholly abolished, in order that the legal status of Palestine might be more in harmony with that of western States. Legal transition is still far from being complete; however, no further mining legislation is pending at the present time (March, 1931). Revisions during the British military occupation (1917-20) took the form of proclamations of the commander in chief. After the establishment of the civil administration (1920) changes in the legal system were a decided de- parture from the Turkish laws. In 1922 the practice was begun of giving con- secutive numbers and short titles to the ordinances. The basic mining law is the mining ordinance of 1925, No. 19 (amended by mining ordinance No. 10 of 1926), an "ordinance to make provision regarding the winning of minerals, and the conditions under which minerals may be gotten, and to replace the existing Ottoman laws relating thereto." The chief regu- latory provisions are embodied in regulations (A) and (B)--mining ordinance, 1925. This mining legislation of 1925 repealed the following laws:

Nov 1, 1931

To develop a comprehensive, practical method for designing longwall gate entries that considers coal pillar size, mine roof quality, and artificial support in an easy-to-use computer program.

Jan 1, 1995

By C. J. Johnson, C. J. Bise

"The occurrence of Coal Worker's Pneumoconiosis (CWP) ·has been potentially linked with several characteristics of coal such as rank, volatility, percent content of ash and non-coal components, quartz content, and the presence of several trace elements. According to the National Research Council, numerous epidemiological Studies: indicate that the incidence of CWP varies significantly with the composition and/or the concentration of the coal mine dust.Although advances in dust suppression techniques have markedly reduced respirable dust levels in underground coal mines, the National Research Council has concluded that chemical characteristics of respirable dust from different coal seams should be studied. With this objective in mind, research has been conducted in underground coal mines located in the eastern and mid-western United States, and in the laboratory to characterize the elemental composition of mining-generated airborne dust and laboratory-generated dust derived from samples taken from these mines. The goal of the research is to determine if a relationship exists between mining-generated and laboratory-generated dust from the ·same mine. Results of this research will be presented. ,"

Jan 1, 1988

To improve operational effectiveness of enclosed cab filtration systems. Background Enclosed operator cabs are widely used on mobile excavation equipment in the mining and construction industries. They protect the operator from bad weather, noise, and airborne dusts. The inside cab environment usually must be kept at very low dust concentrations because of quartz dust generated from the excavation of silica-bearing rock. Most cab designs achieve heating and air conditioning effectiveness by recirculating most of the interior cabin airflow, with a smaller portion of the outside air added to the cab as makeup air. Both the recirculated cab airflow and exterior makeup air added to the cabin should be efficiently filtered, with the makeup air positively pressurizing the cab interior. Ideally, operator cab air filters should provide at least 99% capture efficiency for dust particles as small as 0.3-pm aerodynamic diameters. These higher efficiency air filters provide good dust control for the equipment operator, but tend to accumulate dust more quickly than lower efficiency air filters.

Jan 1, 2001

By E. William Rossi, Sean Gallagher, Richard L. Unger

The purpose of this study was to examine the lifting capacity of low-seam coal miners in four restricted work postures (roof heights of 36", 40", 44", and 48"), investigate the associated metabolic costs, and to examine electromyographic (EMG) data from eight trunk muscles during the lifting procedure. Subjects were thirteen underground miners accustomed to handling materials in restricted work postures. Each subject performed two twenty-minute periods of asymnetric lifting in each of four postures during the day of testing. The. frequency of lifting was 10 lifts per minute. A specially designed lifting box incorporated microswitches in one handle of the box and another in the bottom of the box, in order to examine the trunk muscle function at specific points during the lfting cycle. The data collected will be used by the Bureau of Mines to make recommendations for lifting materials in low-seam coal mines.

Miners, like everyone else, must be able to see well in order to work well. But simply hauling bigger and brighter lights into the mines does not necessarily produce better mine illumination. This chapter tells why. Increasing the power of the light source can create problems of portability, glare, adaptation and contrast. This chapter also discusses some ways to increase illumination by Improving the reflectability of walls, roofs and other exposed surfaces. In Chapter IV you learned that the "brightness" of a room or work area was really a matter of how much light was reflected from the walls, roof, and other surfaces. Therefore, if you want to Improve visibility you should increase the amount of reflected illumination. O HOW DOES ONE DO THAT? One way of Increasing reflected illumination would be to increase the power of the light source.

Jan 1, 1976

By Ron Merkel, A. Mayton

Operators of underground mobile equipment, particularly shuttle cars, are often exposed to significant levels of whole-body vibration (WBV) and shock. The human factors group at the NIOSH-Pittsburg Research Center has investigated the use of viscoelastic foam to reduce shock for the equipment operator and improve seats on mine shuttle cars.

By M. Brnich, L. Mallett, C. Vaught, K. Kowalski

This paper discusses the data collected during an emergency evacuation training exercise at an underground mine in the United States. The focus of this paper is on the human reaction to smoke and the use of personal protective equipment. Specific issues related to the human stress response during an emergency will be discussed.

By Chas F. Jackson

 The annual reports of the supervising engineers of the several sections of the Mining Division are assembled herein and comprise the annual report of the division. During the year under review the work was oriented entirely to the war program by applying apparatus and technique previously developed in research directly to war problems, as well as by intensified search for and exploration of deposits of minerals necessary in the war.

Oct 1, 1942

Rock mass classification is widely used throughout the underground mining industry—in both coal and hard-rock mines. The technique has been successful because it— • Uses simple measurements to rate rock mass strength. • Helps mine planners to make the best use of geologic information in mine design. • Makes it possible to compare ground control experiences between mines, even when the geologic conditions are very different.

Jul 1, 2007

By H. W. Gillett

This bulletin is issued by the Bureau of Mines as a contribution to the increase of safety and efficiency in the preparation and utilization of the mineral resources in the United States. Notable among the drains on these resources are the demands made by the nonferrous- metal industries, and in these the losses occasioned in melting brass and bronze are worthy of particular attention. This statement will be better appreciated by a consideration of the size of the brass industry.

Jan 1, 1914

By George J. Carter, George H. Todd, Hal J. Kelly

In July 1956, the Bureau of Mines and the J. R. Simplot Co. participated in evaluating and beneficiating drill-hole samples from the Bovill, Idaho, clay-silica deposit and in tests of the beneficiated products. The geology, mineralogy, beneficiation, and potential uses of the clay and quartz fractions of the Bovill deposit are described. Test work showed that a filler-grade clay having an apparent spectral reflectance of 78 percent can be made by bleaching, and by removing some of the submicron-size particles. A quartz product suitable for the manufacture of glass containers can also be made.

Dec 1, 1963

By Wallace R. McCord, William E. Eckard

This report presents a detailed lithologic description of the Big Lime, Keener, Big Injun, Weir, and Berea horizons from a well cored in the Spruce Creek oilfield, Ritchie County, W. Va. Well logs and results of core analysis are also included. The information was obtained during the Bureau of Mines continuing technical evaluation of selected Appalachian area oil reservoirs for increased ultimate recovery. The lithologic study of these important West Virginia oil and gas producing horizons was made on a 4-inch-diameter core. Commercial oil production was obtained by the well owner after the Big Injun horizon was successfully hydraulically fractured.

Dec 1, 1963

Tables

Jan 1, 1992

Jul 1, 2003

By O. C. Ralston, L. H. Duschak, R. D. Pike

Much detailed information on the production of plastic magnesia from magnesite mined near Chewelah, Wash., was accumulated during a cooperative investigation conducted by the Bureau of Mines and the Northwest Magnesite Co. at the laboratories of the University of California in 1919-1921. This bulletin gives mainly the results of the work done with Chewelah magnesite, supplemented by data on similar work with other magnesites, particularly those of California, in the endeavor to produce a plastic magnesia that would be satisfactory for making the so-called " Sorel" cement composition flooring, stucco, and plasters. As standardized methods £or testing such compositions did not exist, it was necessary to examine carefully the various methods in use and choose those that seemed appropriate. In consequence, this report contains many tests made by the methods selected and can be used £or reference by those who wish to adopt standard methods of testing.

Jan 1, 1925