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By A. W. Gauger

For perhaps one hundred years scientists have been engaged in attempts at devising a satisfactory method of classification of coal. During this time many charts, tables and graphs have been proposed, some of which have had considerable merit, but no one system has been found to be applicable to all ranks of coal, nor has any one system received general acceptance. In many of the proposals, water eliminated between room temperature and 105" C. has been regarded as extraneous matter and calculations have been made to the air-dry or water-free basis. Such methods of calculation do not lend themselves to satisfactory grouping of the high-moisture coals.1, 2 A consideration not only of the properties of the high-moisture coals and their behavior on drying but of the generally accepted ideas of the coalification process and the role of water in this process indicates that water is an essential constituent of all coals and therefore should not be neglected. For example, in such low-rank coals as the lignites of the Northern Great Plains' deposits the inherent moisture of the lignite as mined plays a very important part in the physical properties thereof. Freshly mined lignite contains upwards of 30 per cent water and is extremely tough and resistant to shock. Upon exposure to the atmosphere, the lump loses part of its moisture and checks and splits, leaving a friable and broken up residue. So far as we have been able to determine, water is the only thing lost in this process and we are forced to the conclusion that moisture plays an extremely important part in the structural properties of the original lignite. With reference to the coalification process, Mack and Hulett3 pointed out in 1917 the important part that water played therein. They observed that water cannot be removed from peat or coal by pressure alone, but only as the result of chemical reaction, and suggested that peat in its early stages may be largely a hydrosol. Slow chemical changes occur over a long period of time until finally the mass becomes more largely a hydrogel. These views are substantiated to some extent by the experi-

Jan 1, 1932

By John McCoy, Edward Thimons, Kenneth Heller

As the working levels in domestic mines are developed to greater depths and work areas move further from the shafts, maintaining a safe and healthful working environment becomes more difficult. Increased temperature and humidity at greater depths becomes first a factor in productivity and then a threat to the miner's safety. Initially, a miner might develop listlessness leading to reduced productivity and reduced alertness. Continued overexertion can lead to heat stroke and possibly death. Mine ventilation engineers, therefore, must not only provide clean air to work areas, but also must provide cooled air. The following article describes the United States Bureau of Mines (USBM) and Foster-Miller's successful development of a high performance, low maintenance direct water to air contact heat exchanger for mine cooling. While heat problems frequently do not develop until mining operations descend below sea level, problems will arise any time mining penetrates high temperature rock. Hot fissure water will increase the severity of the situation, causing increases in wet bulb temperature - the temperature to which perspiring miners reject metabolic body heat. All energy expended in mining adds to the heat load which must be absorbed by the ventilation air. Just when the cooling capacity of ventilation air is needed most, adiabatic compression (autocompression) of air descending the shaft raises air temperatures 1.3g°C (2.5'F) to 2.94"C (5.3OF)/305m (1000 ft) depending on humidity. Increased temperatures decrease the ability of the air to absorb heat from the mine, and work area temperatures rise. Once forced ventilation air can no longer maintain safe work area temperatures, refrigeration methods must be employed. Many mines now use cooling coils for this purpose. A cooling coil uses refrigerated mine water to cool the air by passing the air through banks of copper tubing filled with cold water. Heat from the air is transferred to the water through the pipe with the aid of fins. Conventional water to air heat exchangers prove troublesome for many mines be- cause of the high levels of dust that are encountered, causing these exchangers to operate at relatively low efficiencies. A more satisfactory approach to work- place cooling is desired - one that offers reduced maintenance and increased cooling efficiency.

Jan 1, 1982

By Clinton M. Ball

Magnetic iron-ore is found in many localities throughout this and other countries, in large bodies and in convenient proximity to other materials required for its conversion into iron and steel; and these bodies of ore would have great commercial value on account of their nearness to consuming markets if they were generally suitable in their natural state for use in the larger operations of steel-making. In the manufacture of iron and steel it has been found, however, that not all ores are equally valuable as sources of raw material for the finished products of furnace, forge and foundry; and, as is now well understood, this is because of the intrusion, in the process of formation of the ore-bodies, of substances which can enter into deleterious combinations with the iron itself, or form compounds associated with the iron oxide which will hinder, if they do not altogether prevent, the production therefrom of the higher grades of finished metal. It is only since the development of the modern method of steel-making by the Bessemer process that the art of the chemist has been called to a critical study of the nature and effect produced by the presence of these pernicious substances in the furnace while the iron is undergoing reduction to the metallic state. Phosphorus and sulphur are the most common and obnoxious elements, and the admixture of one or the other, or both of these, in small percentages and varying proportions, will greatly modify the final results of manufacture. It so happens that generally, although not always, these hurtful elements are found in compounds in the ore which are not magnetic, and this circumstance has led to the expenditure of much ingenuity and money over a long period of time, in attempts to utilize the attractive power of magnets to separate the magnetic oxide of iron out of its crushed ores and from sands, in

Jan 1, 1896

By Ronald R. McNaughton

The most recent group of papers on the general subject of lead smelting were published in AIME Transactions, vol. 121, in 1936. The lecture deals with changes which have taken place in the Past 30 years in this industry. The subject matter covers the essential steps of charge preparation, sintering, blast furnacing, dross treatment, refining, and slag fuming together with the subsidiary or associated activities of analytical procedures, dust and fume collection, maintenance, and hygiene. IN 1936 the AIME published Transactions, vol. 121, entitled "Metallurgy of Lead and Zinc". In the preface to this volume the chairman of the Committee on the Reduction and Refining of Lead and Zinc, Carle R. Hay ward, said in part: ... since the World War few papers of major significance have appeared on the production and refining of lead and zinc, although many improvements in technique have been made, which have attracted little attention because they were merely developments of existing practice. Other changes of a more radical nature have also been made, but... they have been given little publicity. It seems appropriate, therefore, at this time that the AIME should sponsor a volume on lead and zinc metallurgy... . That the publication of this compilation was timely is attested by the rapidity with which the surplus stock was depleted. It has now become a collector's item. Although a comprehensive monograph on the occurrence, extraction, refining, and uses of zinc was published by the American Chemical Society in 1959,' one could almost repeat Professor Hayward's words to describe the present situation in the literature of lead reduction and refining. So it is my intention today to discuss briefly some of the changes and improvements which have taken place in the metallurgy of lead in the interval since the publication of vol. 121. The lead blast furnace, which made its appearance in America about 1870, is still dominant in the reduction field. However there are other reduction methods in use today in special situations. In those rare circumstances where the material to be treated is very high grade, consideration might be given to the Bolidens electric furnace method2 or the Lurgi self-fluxing process3 or possibly to the rotary ore hearth. Each of these latter three processes makes use of the roast-reduction reactions with the result that fuel require-

Jan 1, 1969

By Donald C. Bradford

THE place of geophysics in the curriculum of a college or an engineering school has been much discussed. There is uncertainty as to whether the graduate may be called a "geological geophysicist" or a "geophysical geologist." Some have used the term "geophysical engineer." The question of the specialized undergraduate curriculum versus a general undergraduate training in the parent sciences with the addition of cultural electives has been and is still being argued. The literature during the past 10 years shows that there are two rather definite schools of thought on this subject. The prospective employer, engaged in active geophysical exploration, visualizes the graduate in terms of the routine work he will do in the field. The school administrator, grounded in many years of tradition in the cultural type of education, visualizes the graduate in terms of his position in a political and cultural society as well as in his work as a professional geophysicist. Both are right and both wrong. A third school of thought, that of the student himself, has been almost totally ignored. It would seem best, for the purpose of this paper, to treat these various points and allied material separately, and then to integrate the conclusions as a set of conditions that should be fulfilled as far as possible in the ideal curriculum. At the end the relationship of our findings to the curriculum that has been tentatively adopted at the University of Pittsburgh will be considered. DIVISIONS IN DEFINITION OF FIELD OF GEOPHYSICS Geophysics is that field of science in which geological and earth problems are solved with the use of physical and chemical techniques. Altogether too much attention has been paid to the artificial separation in this science of the commercial applications from the so-called "pure" or academic geophysics. The only real difference in the two types of work is one of scale of operations. In the commercial field the scale is large in terms of financial backing, immediate economic importance, and speed of operations. In the academic field the scale is large in terms of breadth of interests, in eventual economic importance, and length of time allowable for theoretical investigations. In exploration work the scale is small in terms of dimensions, since the methods are applicable only to the outer 20,000 ft. or so of the earth's. crust. In academic work, the student is not pressed for results of immediate economic importance, and therefore can afford to spend more time on problems that seem unimportant at the time. In the sense of background knowledge of the parent sciences necessary to the geophysicist, no essential difference can be found. Physics, chemistry, geology, and mathematics together, and in their proper proportionate amounts, form the matrix from which geophysical ideas and methods may spring.

Jan 1, 1942

By R. S. Christie

Reservoir pressure is the pressure at which a fluid is held in a state of equilibrium in a porous stratum. This pressure may be a result of the genesis of oil or gas and its subsequent migration into and through an adjacent porous stratum, or of hydraulic head. Reservoir pressure is an indication of the potential energy contained in the reservoir, and when it is known the engineer is in a position to use it to advantage in recovering and lifting the oil. It is important to know the pressures in any type of reservoir, but this knowledge is probably of greater value in a limestone reservoir, as at Hobbs, where producing rates or conditions may be more sensitive to changes in pressures. The Hobbs field is in east central Lea County, New Mexico. The discovery well was completed by the Midwest Refining C I. in 1928, but intensive development did not begin until after the completion by the Humble Oil and Refining Co. of No. 1-A Bowers in February, 1930. There are 143 producing wells on approximately 5500 acres. The field has not been defined to the northwest, but a projection of structural contours indicates that the productive area ultimately may cover 7500 acres. The producing horizon is the White or Crystalline lime of Permian age. The top of the lime is found at an average depth of 4000 ft. and the wells penetrate it an average distance of 200 ft. The main pay zone is an oolitic stratum about 25 ft. below the top, and varies from 2 to 15 ft. in thickness. Other porous or cavernous strata are found lower in the lime but have little saturation. The initial production varied from 100 to 25,000 bbl. per day, depending perhaps to some extent on the structural location but chiefly on the porosity of the pay. The initial gas-oil ratio varied from 325 to 16,000 cu. ft. per barrel. In wells where the top of the White lime was found below 350 ft. below sea level (Fig. 1)) the gas-oil ratio was usually less than 1500 cu. ft. per barrel, while in wells higher than 350 ft. below sea level, the ratio was usually above 2000 cu. ft. per barrel. The water table has been determined at about 620 ft. below sea level, by three wells on the west side of the field. With few exceptions, the wells have been completed with 7-in. casing cemented

Jan 1, 1932

By Persifor Frazer

The following notes on the Whopper and adjoining mines in the Gunnison district of Colorado mere made in the spring of this year. The time chosen for the author to visit the region was, unfortunately, the most unfavorable of an exceptionably unfavorable year. About the middle of May all the hill slopes, which at this period of the pear are generally covered with pasture, were thickly covered with snow. The unusually large precipitation of this Tear caused loacal mountain torrents at every few hundred feet, which wore away the oft foothills into gulches, gouged great chasms out of the roads, and transformed miles of usually dry soil into dangerous quagmires. Travel was totally interrupted for weeks, except on horseback or afoot, and even then with great difficulty and some danger. The Whopper mine is situated on the Whopper Mountain, about two miles from the headwaters of Rock Creek, and on the right hank of that stream. The Whopper Creek flows into Rock Creek horn the east, and, by a precipitous descent, offers excellent facilities for its utilization as a source of power. This stream, which pours past the picturesque Whopper Cabin about thirty tons of water a minute, has a fall of 100 feet in 400 yards, and is said to be a stream of some size, even at the seasons of the year when drought prevails. The Whopper claim extends down the hill a distance of about 250 feet to its intersection with the Whopper Creek (on the other side of which is a small tunnel on its extension called the "Teller") and over the steep hill northwest to the limits of the claim about 1250 feet. The part of the mountain in which this mine is situated is remarkable for its splendid forest, the spruce, fir, and quaking asp covering the mountain-sides with a green growth of valuable timber. The distance from Gothic City to this mine is about eight miles along the valleys of East River and Rock Creek, and on the divide which separates them. The elevation of Gothic City is given from the engineer's notes as 9500 feet above sea-level, and the mean of several observations with a Beck watch-barometer made the elevation of Whopper Cabin (which is about fifteen feet above the floor of the Whopper upper tunnel) about 1260 feet above Skiles's Cabin in Gothic City. The record of this instrument must, how-

Jan 1, 1881

By A. E. Martin, Gerhard Derge

IF the molecular constitution of molten slags were better known, the nature of chemical reactions in slags and between slags and metals could be better understood and as a consequence might be better controlled. Constitutional information can be obtained by studies on either the molten or the solidified slags. Valuable as the studies on solidified slags admittedly are for many purposes, especially as control methods in steelmaking, they are always of questionable value in giving information on the molecular constitution of liquid slags. However, the characteristics of molten slags such as viscosity, rates of diffusion, and electrical conductivity can be determined experimentally and interpreted along with other knowledge on slag-metal and slag-gas reactions so as to provide direct information on liquid slags. Metallurgists are accustomed to regard reactions in molten slags as involving only neutral molecules, whereas it is quite possible that ionic constituents are actually involved. For example, the dissociation of calcium silicate usually is represented as Ca2SiO4 = 2CaO + SiO2 although a reasonable alternative would be to write Ca2SiO4 = 2Ca+2 + Si04-4 Such ionic dissociation has been suggested frequently without adequate experimental proof. This paper deals especially with electrical conductivity measurements on slags of the blast-furnace type. These measurements were made to determine whether or not slags are ionized and, if so, to provide a qualitative estimate of the extent of ionization. Electrolysis experiments that indicate the identity of the ions present are also reported. Since the presence of ions has not been considered carefully in modern slag studies, the relevant literature will be reviewed. REVIEW of LITERATURE In 1906 Aiken1 obtained a patent for a continuous process of producing iron electrolytically by passing a direct current through a bath of FeO-SiO2 to which iron oxide was added periodically to maintain a uniform concentration. The patent also included the addition of CaO and MgO to the bath to lower its melting point. The silicate melts involved were thus in the same system as basic open-hearth slags but with higher FeO and lower CaO contents. Electrical conductivity measurements were made on some molten silicates by Doelter2 in 1907. Natural silicates, such as

Jan 1, 1943

By D. B. Robinson, J. Lukacs

A knowledge of the equilibrium water content of hydrocarbon systems under pressure is important to the natural gas industry. The information available on the solubility of water in hydrocarbon, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide systems is reviewed in this paper and the influence of the more important variables such as temperature, pressure and molecular structure on solubility in liquids and gases is discussed. A suitable cbromatographic technique has been developed for determining low concentrations of water. Tailing of the water peaks has been elim inated by adding water to the carrier gas stream The method is applicable for both gas or liquid samples and is effective in the presence of hydrogen sulfide. The experimental study of water solubility in methane-hydrogen sulfide systems at a temperature of 16oF has shown that the presence of hydrogen sulfide causes only a modest increase in water content at pressures up to 1,400 psia. Theoretical considerations and data on pure hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide suggest that the effect of both these compounds will be greater at higher pressures and in the liquid phase. INTRODUCTION Before transporting or processing natural gases and gas condensates, it is usually necessary to dry them using suitable dehydration equipment. The design and operation of this equipment requires a knowledge of the amount of water present in the fluid at the reservoir and operating conditions. This is influenced by temperature, pressure and composition, particular1y when certain non-hydrocarbon components are present. Field experience indicates that hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide, for example, alter the usual water solubility relationships appreciably. However, an extensive search of the literature does not reveal any quantitative data on such systems. For sweet natural gases, generalized empirical correlations such as the one proposed by Katz, et al,6 can be used to predict water solubility with confidence at most temperatures and pressures of interest. However, existing theoretical relationships do not permit a calculation of the deviation from these curves when polar substances like hydrogen sulfide are present in the system. Thus one must resort to an experimental approach to obtain the necessary information. The fact that laboratory experimental methods frequently involve the use of mercury which reacts with hydrogen sulfide in the presence of water, and that hydrogen sulfide interferes with many chemical reactions specific for water has contributed to the difficulty of studying water solubility in systems containing hydrogen sulfide. In this investigation the water content of a limited member of methane-hydrogen sulfide mixtures was determined using a special technique with gas chromatography. REVIEW OF PUBLISHED DATA Experimentally determined water solubility data have been reported for methane, 14 ethane, 15 propane, 9 n-butane, 16 1-butene, 11 hydrogen sulfide 18 and carbon dioxide. 19 These studies report the effect of pressure, temperature and molecular structure on water solubility in single component gases and liquids. Fig. 1 compares experimentally determined water solubilities in several hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide at l00F as taken from this

By T. E. Godson

As this is the age of reform, a uniform mining law for North America is a moot subject for discussion at this meeting of the Institute. The question is one of peculiarly technical and, in many respects, local character. We all appreciate the value of the metal-producing industries and recognize the necessity and importance of a well-considered and evenly balanced mining law as a branch of our jurisprudence either for the Provinces or the Dominion as a whole. Mining has taken its place as a foremost industry and legislation that seeks to control and govern it is the concern of not only the active miner but the citizens of the state. A law that, through its charitable measures brings into being the prospector, the pathfinder and superstructure of all mining activity and industry, protects his interests, safeguards invested capital, and encourages and enforces development, possesses at least the salient requirements of a businesslike Act. The manner of doing so is, I think, one of local and internal concern. May I be permitted to say without presumption that of the five mining codes, or Acts, that we have in the Dominion of Canada born and bred within the Provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, some of them could be materially improved. In many respects they do not measure up to the times; they were no doubt creations of merit at the date of their birth but they have not been clothed in seasonable raiment as the years passed by. It is a stern fundamental principle that all natural resources are the inalienable property of the crown. If it is mineral land, then it follows for the protection of the state and the direct advancement of the occupant that the land should be developed as such. The method or machinery by which this must be accomplished is a matter of detail, not of principle. If the right to possession as a licensee depends on discovery, it is not inconsistent with the duty the crown owes to, the state that a grant in fee should pass to the discoverer if there is imposed, after patent issues, a requirement of continuous work or the alternative of an acreage tax sufficiently burdensome to make it unprofitable that the land should be held in an undeveloped state. If, this requirement is recognized, the mental distinction between a grant and lease ceases to exist. A

Jan 4, 1919

By A. S. Richardson

THE recent installation of a high-pressure propeller type fan at the Moose shaft of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. at Butte, Mont., is of interest on account of novelty of design and also because an appreciable saving was made over the cost of a reversible centrifugal fan such as is ordinarily used where a high pressure is required. The lower cost is due solely to the fact that by means of controls 'on the power supplied to the three-phase, alternating-current, induction. motor, directly connected to the propeller it is possible to reverse the direction of rotation of the propeller and thus reverse the direction of air flow. The extra air ducts and reversing doors required for this purpose with centrifugal fans are not necessary, and their elimination greatly reduces these construction charges, which form a great part of the total expense. The Badger State mine for which the Moose shaft is used as the main outlet air course is now being-developed to the 4100-ft. level. The old centrifugal fan, formerly used at the collar of the shaft, was installed 15 years ago at a time when most of the stoping was being done above the 2400-ft. level, and when the temperature of the rock was much lower than it is now on the bottom levels recently opened. The old fan, therefore, became inadequate to maintain desirable ventilation conditions, on account of the increase in resistance to air flow incident to the greater depth of the mine workings and because a much larger volume of air is required to offset the higher rock temperatures. Propeller, or disk, fans commonly used in the ventilation of mines are not suited to high-pressure work, but economies in the cost of their installation have long been recognized. In South Africa use has been made of a number of propellers placed in series along a common shaft, the number of propellers used being varied with requirements for meeting different conditions of mine resistance, but the mechanical efficiency is described as being low. In Butte, experimental work was done by the writer along similar lines under somewhat different conditions, but with poor results as to both pressure capacity and mechanical efficiency. Tests were also made of two different types of propeller fans of moderate size, which were said by the manufacturers to be suited to high-pressure mine ventilation.

Jan 1, 1932

By Samuel G. Lasky

What the evidence prevails upon the mind to believe, depends upon the mind as well as upon the evidence. M. L. IN a recent discussion of the mineral resource position of the United States, published in the September 1946 issue of MINING AND METALLURGY, I expressed my conviction that ore deposits of major magnitude remain to be found in this country and that they can be found without undue cost or risk. I stated with equally strong conviction, however, that if the search for such deposits is to be notably successful there must be, among other things, a reorientation of philosophy and mental habits on the part of many who would be connected with the search. I would now like to enlarge upon that statement. For such a purpose, we may consider that the search for concealed deposits involves four steps: (I) the selection of areas for further study; (2) the geologic study of those areas in order to verify their general favorableness and in order to choose specific patches worthy of being tested; (3) the decision whether exploration of the patches chosen should actually be undertaken; and (4) the exploration itself. The first two steps and the last rest upon the judgment and skill of geologists. The third step-the decision whether exploration should be undertaken-rests upon management. In my opinion, the philosophies or principles that have guided these steps in the past are now inadequate. PHILOSOPHY OF APPRAISAL If concealed deposits are to be looked for, how are the places of their possible concealment to be recognized? Every known mineralized area still in the prospect stage has already been repeatedly examined and condemned. As for those deposits concealed under later rocks, there may be not even the clue of a near-by outcrop for engineer or geologist to consider. How then, are we to know where to look? Geologic Probability In the early days of our mining industry, ore deposits were found mainly by "following the ore." Later, as such opportunities decreased, and as geologic concepts became accepted, deposits were found more and more through use of the notion of geologic probability. Many instances can be cited wherein a courageous operator ignored the implications of the unsuccessful efforts of predecessors and, solely by "following the ore," converted a discredited prospect into a good mine. Similar experience doubtless will occur in the future, but "following the ore" will no longer in itself find new deposits in the amount needed. Nor can enough new ore be expected from further use of the notion of geologic probability, for, as mentioned above, our known prospects `have already been ex-

Jan 1, 1947

By James E. Harding

The usual method of sampling mineral deposits is to drill holes and assay the sludge or core. Though the results thus obtained may not represent the true average value of the deposit, it is on these results that estimates of practically all large orebodies are made. In a large number of cases, the results of exploitation fall far short of the estimated value of the orebody. The standard method of making these estimates is to find the cubic contents of triangular prisms, in the apexes of which the drill holes are placed, by. multiplying the surface area by the average depth of the ore in the three drill holes and then multiplying the cubic contents by the specific gravity of the ore or rock to find the tonnage. The assay value is found by dividing the sum of the products of the depth of ore in each hole and the corresponding assay value by the sum of the depths of the ore in the three holes. As the latter part of this method is subject to many mathematical errors, it should not be depended on. Some engineers, therefore, use a discount factor, but as this factor is either arbitrarily selected or is obtained by obscure methods, the results are no better than guesswork. The standard method is correct when the drill holes are so laid out that the triangular prisms are equilateral in cross-section. But as ore deposits cannot always be drilled into at regular intervals and because of the human factor, if many holes are drilled, triangular prisms of all degrees of angularity are produced. In such cases it is necessary to assume that the influence of the different holes is not the same in all directions, which assumption of course is absurd. The area of the triangular prism is usually found by scaling; an ore-body of sufficient size to justify churn drilling is too large to be handled conveniently on maps having a scale larger than from 1000 to 1 to 1,500 to 1 and maps of such scales cannot be accurately measured. A variable is thus introduced in the first operation. In addition, the scaling is frequently done from blueprints, which sometimes shrink as much as 4 per cent. between printing, washing, and drying. The error due to scaling may be eliminated by surveying the location of each hole and

Jan 1, 1922

By R. J. Allio, C. H. Randall

An automatic system for the quantitative analysis of microstrulcture has been developed. The method is based upon a statistical model of microstructure and employs phase intercept fractions as fundamental random variables. Structure-sensitive properties can be related explicitly to parameters derived from the distribution of phase intercept fractions in a matevial. THE properties of mechanical dispersions and of multiphase alloys art: intimately related to the amount, distribution, and intrinsic properties of the dispersed material. In many instances, the amount and distribution of the dispersed substances have greater influence on the over-all system properties than do the properties of the dispersed substance-Such properties as average particle size, particle size distribution, homogeneity of dispersion, volume per cent of dispersed phase, and mean free path between dispersed particles thus become critical in any evaluation of the properties of a dispersion. Unfortunately, techniques for evaluating quantitatively the microstructural characteristics of dis~ersions rapidly and accurately have not been available. If necessary, qualitative or semiquantitative devices can be utilized. Some such devices are based merely upon comparison of the specimens in question with arbitrary standards. Other techniques involve superposition of grids and tabulation of particles observed in different portions of the grid. Still other methods based upon lineal analysis entail counting lines or points at random upon the specimen to be examined; the number of intersections of the line with a given phase, the proportion of line or number of points which are covered by given phase are variously recorded. The mathematical basis for most of the techniques of quantitative metallography have been amply reviewed in the literature.'l2 without exctption, however, the standard techniques for quantitative metallography are either imprecise or are exceedingly tedious to apply. For example, tranverse integrating stage for rapid manual areal fraction measurement has been designed by Smith.3 Howerer, as in the case of any device based upon visual eslimation, operator bias may cause appreciable error. Various flying spot devices, on the other hand register particle size distributions in 2-dimensions, from which it is difficult to derive other properties of the dispersion. Thus, e.g., the 3-dimensional distribution cannot be inferred unless certain rather broad assumptions are made concerning the randomness of distribution and geometrical configuration of dispersed phase. Many limitations to the application of quantitative structural analysis can be overcome by the use of the microdensitometer, which is essentially an automated areal analysis device. Data obtained in the form of a distribution of phase intercept values are

Jan 1, 1962

By Alden H. Emery, J. J. Forbes

The data contained in this paper were collected during the course of an investigation which covered 15 representative coal mines in six coalmining states. The purpose of the investigation was to determine by atmospheric sampling how much dust was raised into the air during the various operations of coal mining, such as undercutting with machines, loading coal by hand and transporting it from the working face to the surface. The data thus obtained were considered from two angles; namely, the possible physiological effect of inhalation and the explosion hazard of the dust. No attempt will be made to discuss the former factor in this paper. ConDitions of Mining The mines in which this investigation was conducted were considered representative, and it is believed that the results obtained will suffice for the average dustiness encountered in most coal mines. All of the coal mined was bituminous, from beds 30 to 120 in. thick. Only the ordinary room-and-pillar system of mining was employed. Daily production ranged from approximately 700 to 1500 tons and the men employed from 150 to 450. Coal was undercut by shortwall mining machines in all mines, with the exception of one in which pick mining was employed. Loading at the face wets done by miners; none of the mines used mechanical loaders. Electric drills, both for brushing roof and for shooting coal were commonly used, although some roof work was done with jack-hammers and a little of both with augers. Coal was hauled by motor, mule, or rope power in end-gate cars with capacities ranging from 1800 to 3600lb. With few exceptions, coal was won at the face by dry methods, that is to say, no water was employed for wetting down the dust either during undercutting, loading or transportation. Observations of Sources of Dust The common sources of coal dust as observed, arranged by decreasing amounts, were as follows: (1) Undercutting with mining machines; (2)

Jan 1, 1927

FOLLOWING the presentation of the papers by Messrs. Mahan and Butler, the discussion printed below ensued. A. C. LANE* With particular reference to the New England con-sumer, I entirely agree with Mr. Mahan that intelli-gent marketing methods will do a good deal, but there is more than one way of improving them. For instance, coal can be shipped best to New England about this time of year-after the storms of the winter and before the movement of crops in the summer. For that reason there ought to be seasonal freight rates. This will be agreed to by most coal men if you will ask them, especially those who are connected with large concerns like the Metropolitan Coal Co., and yet they do not get seasonal freight rates partly because the railroads are afraid if they once reduce them they will never have a chance to get them back again. But it would be an improvement to have seasonal freight rates. Another thing: When we are buying in New England we want really a certain amount of heat value in our coal. There is no great advantage in our buying ash, nor is there any particular advantage in the railroad shipping ash and clogging the circulatory system of the body politic any more than clogging the circulatory system of the physical body. It would be desirable if the wholesaler, and to some extent the retailer, could guarantee the amount of ash or sell their coal on heating value. If you are interested in that you will find some interesting charts, in "Anthracite Coal Costs Analyzed," a pamphlet issued by the Anthracite Coal Consumers Association, Inc., New York City, as to rates from various and sundry points for bituminous and anthra-cite coal from the field to New York, Buffalo and Chi-cago. Here in New England they are both up against the competition of oil. About 3 or 3 1/2 bbl. oil will do the work of a ton of coal. One of my millionaire friends who is well posted on the situation is putting oil in his Commonwealth Avenue house because it is the most economical. Moreover, we can get Welsh coal from across the water (and help equalize this matter of exchange with Europe) in close competition with Penn-sylvania coal.

Jan 4, 1928

By John L. Lamont, Walter Crafts

An investigation has been made of the multiplying factors for some of the more common alloying and deoxidizing elements for use in calculating hardenability of steel according to Grossmann's method. The factors for manganese, silicon, and aluminum that were reported in an earlier communication2 have been confirmed by microscopic determination of the half-martensite structure rather than on the basis of an empirically determined hardness corresponding to a half-martensite structure. Measurement of ideal critical diameter by microscopic examination was found to be necessary for other alloying elements, and multiplying factors for nickel, chromium, molybdenum, zirconium, vanadium, titanium, and boron have been determined. The nature and order of magnitude of the multiplying factors reflect the effect of the alloying elements on the structural character of the steel. Except for nickel and vanadium, the multiplying factors agree fairly well with previously published results. Good correlation between actual and calculated ideal critical diameters has been found in developing the multiplying factors and in checking the results against fairly simple steels. However, some discrepancies have suggested the need for a more thorough study of low-carbon and complex steels. Testing Procedure The investigation was conducted principally on steels made at the Union Car- bide and Carbon Research Laboratories, Inc., in high-frequency induction furnaces using Armco iron and standard alloying materials. However, a few open-hearth steels were used in establishing the effect of nickel, and the hardenability factor for boron was based primarily on open-hearth steels. All bars were normalized prior to the machining of Jominy hardenability specimens. The Jominy test was carried out under conditions standard for the test.3 Austenitizing temperatures judged to be appropriate for the compositions of the steels were used. Chemical analysis was determined on a sample taken adjacent to the Jominy specimen. Residual amounts of phosphorus, sulphur, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, and copper were determined on only one heat of each group made with the same materials during the same period. "Acid-soluble" aluminum and zirconium rather than total amounts were determined, as it is considered probable that the acid-soluble amount is more representative of the effective alloy. As tin was present to the extent of only 0.002 per cent, its effect was neglected. The method used to determine boron in the steels shown in Table 9* was developed by Galen Porter, Vincent Napoleon, and Thomas R. Cunningham, of the Union Carbide and Carbon Research Laboratories, Inc., and is a modification of J. Naftel's procedure for boron in soils

Jan 1, 1944

By David V. Ragone, Richard E. Balzhiser

The liquidus uranium concentration in the U-Bi system is given by the following expression for the temperature range 400° to 800°C: No break was observed in the curve over this temperature range. The partial molar enthalpy change for uranium in the liquidus reaction, UBi2— U + 2Bi, was found to equal 12,300 cal per g mole. Copper produced a continuous decrease in the liguihs uranium concentration at 600°C. The presence of copper in the solvent was observed to affect the uranium activity coefficient according to the following expression: duced no change in the liquidus combosition below 0.6 at. pct Pd. Higher palladium concentrations sharply depressed the uranium concentration. SOLUTE behavior in molten alloys has been shown to be strongly influenced by the presence of additional species. Much attention has been given to such phenomena in iron-base systems where a number of alloying elements and/or impurities are likely to be present in small but significant quantities. Frequently, the interaction of these solutes has altered their thermodynamic behavior to the extent that reaction equilibra are appreciably influenced. Consequently, much of the information available for binary behavior must be reevaluated when additional components are likely to be present. Similar interactions can be expected to occur in bismuth-base solvents. Interest in the use of bismuth solutions of uranium as reactor fuels has stimulated investigators to explore the effect of various elements on the liquidus uranium concentration. Criticality requirements necessitate close control of the uranium concentration which, at the anticipated operating temperature of 500°C, approaches saturation. Consequently, elements which suppress the liquidus concentration could produce serious reactivity problems. Since the fuel solution is cer- tain to contain additives, such as magnesium and zirconium, for corrosion inhibition as well as small concentrations of fission products and corrosion products, a better understanding of the possible interaction phenomena is mandatory. This need stimulated experimental programs at the Brookhaven National Laboratory and elsewhere to determine precisely the liquidus uranium concentration in the bismuth-rich portion of several ternary systems. Early experimental efforts were directed toward an accurate dcmtermination of the U-Bi liquidus over the temperature range from 300' to 800°c. As shown in Fig. 1, the results to date exhibit considerable scatter. The investigations of Bareis,' Teitel,2 Greenwood,3 and Cotterill and hon4 agreed well below 700°c. Greenwood and Teitel extended their studies to higher temperatures but failed to concur in their results. A more recent study by Schweitzer and weekss at Brookhaven National Laboratory between 300' and 725°c, produced values 15 pct lower

Jan 1, 1962

By R. H. Thurston

THE writer became convinced, many years ago, that the generally accepted values of the coefficient of friction for lubricated surfaces were not applicable to such heavy machinery as he had been called upon, in the course of professional work, to design, to construct, and to operate. Experience frequently seemed to indicate, also, a wide departure, in such cases, from the accepted "laws of friction." In the year 1869, or earlier, he invented an apparatus to redetermine these laws and these coefficients for a wide range of temperatures, pressures and velocities. The construction of the machine was delayed, however, some time, and no experiments were made for several years, when, finally, the construction of the apparatus was commenced in the workshops of the Stevens Institute of Technology, and experiments were begun in the Mechanical Laboratory organized by the writer in connection with the Department of Engineering. These machines have now been in use about five years, and have furnished an immense amount of valuable information. Those now in use are of two styles: one designed and built by the Class of 1877, Figs. 1 and 2; the other a much larger machine, Figs. 3 and 4. The first has been already frequently described,* and a working drawing of the second has been also published.† For convenience, engravings of both are herewith reproduced. In the “'77 machine,” a journal, F, is made on the overhung extremity of a shaft carried in the two bearings, B B'. This journal is grasped by brass boxes which are carried in a pendulum, II H. They are forced against the journal by a screw which compresses a coiled spring with a pressure which is read off on the scale, N H. A weight at the lower end of the arm, at I, gives it the necessary resistance to deflection. The angle of deflection is measured on the * In Scientific American, Railroad Gazette, Jour. Frank. Inst., Johnson's Cyclopaedia, Knight's Mechanical Dictionary, etc. † Railroad Gazette, Jan. 18th, 1878, p. 25.

Jan 1, 1879

By K. C. McCutcheson

To a very large extent the quality of a mild steel ingot is determined by the manner in which it is poured into the ingot mold and its behavior during the first few minutes after it has been poured. The formation of the solid rim of metal around the periphery of the mold, the effervescent action of the liquid steel within this solidified rim and the upward or downward movement of the metal level are indications of what is going on beneath the surface of the liquid metal, especially at the interface at which solidification occurs. Observation of this "rimming action" enables an experienced observer to predict the thickness of the sound skin of the ingot and the location and extent of cavities or "blowholes" caused by entrapment of gases. The control of rimming action at the hands of a skillful steel pourer is a vital part of the control of quality in mild steel sheet, and the behavior of the liquid steel during the rimming period is a useful criterion of the melting and refining practices employed in the open hearth. The behavior of rimming steel during solidification depends primarily upon the evolution of gases from the molten metal and it is therefore a problem of considerable interest to determine the nature and amount of the gases evolved. A number of attempts to determine either the amount or the analysis of the, evolved gases have been reported. Klinger,1 in 1925, analyzed the gases extracted from rimming, semikilled and killed steel ingots and found that the chief constituent of the rimming gas was carbon monoxide. The relatively large amounts of nitrogen reported in his first few samples may have been due to incomplete removal of air from the gas-collecting mechanism. McKune2 reported similar studies of rimming ingots from which surprisingly large proportions of nitrogen and hydrogen were evolved. Ameen and Willners3 determined both the amount and composition of gases extracted from unkilled ingots with the aid of diminished pressure. Their ingots weighed only 80 kg. (176 lb.) and apparently were solid within two or three. minutes, so that their

Jan 1, 1938