Search Documents

By A. H. Shoemaker

THE shutdown of Homestake by Government order L-208, with its consequent disruption of a very stable and trained working force, coupled with postwar inflation and the coincidence that a mining depth had been reached that posed problems of ventilation, access to exploration areas, and choice of mining methods that would be applicable to zones of greater rock pressures made a very searching analysis of every phase of Homestake's operations a necessity. Any changes to be made had not only to meet the problems of deeper mining but also had to provide greater efficiency so that the mine might operate at a substantial profit until such time as a gold price adjustment might be forthcoming that would offset post-1945 inflation.

Jan 6, 1958

By R. G. Clay, C. F. Seaman

THE mines of The Tennessee Copper Co. are in the Ducktown Basin, in southeastern Tennessee. The ore is a heavy sulphide consisting principally of chalcopyrite, pyrite and pyrrhotite and in places running as high as 05 per cent sulphur and iron. Operating mines are the Burra Burra and Eureka. Development of the Boyd ore body was started in 1940. Late in 1939 the decision was made to change from fuse and cap to all electric blasting and at the same time electric cap lamps were installed to replace carbide. These changes were made to improve the safety and working conditions in the mines. Both the Bureau of Mines and explosives manufacturers recommended electric blasting as a safety measure. Until that time, electric blasting had been used only for shaft sinking and in places where it was absolutely essential for safety. Very few men had had experience in this type of blasting, as the places where it was required were those that also required direct supervision. It was necessary for the mining staff to work out methods, procedure, and equipment to he used. In this they were ably assisted by representatives of the explosives manufacturers. Many mistakes were made and it is the purpose of this paper to describe the original plan and installation, show the major difficulties encountered, the remedies applied, and present the practices now being followed. Comparison of costs of the two methods will also be discussed. About six months were required to make the change and eliminate fuse and cap blasting entirely. The first electric blasting stations were installed in November 1939 and the last fuse was taken underground in May 1940. A very unusual condition forced the use of fuse for a short time in one heading after May, but that will be discussed later. ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT AND INSTALLATION A power line is generally recommended as a source of current where permanent blasting stations are used. The plan worked out for electric blasting was to tap 220-volt alternating-current lines when they were available and use 250-volt direct current from the trolley wire at all other places. A blasting machine would he available at each shaft for places where there were no regular blasting stations and could he used if a regular station should fail. The equipment decided on was No. 16 duplex reinforced lamp cord for lines to within about 50 ft. of the working place and No. 20 lead wire from that point to the shots. An open double-pole, double-throw switch with slate base was put in the circuit, so connected that the down position would close the line to the shots and the up position would connect it to the line from the power contactor. This switch was located in the circuit as close to the blast as was safe (should the shots explode when it was placed in the shooting

Jan 1, 1942

By Paul A. Bailly

2.1-1. The Exploration Function in the Mineral Industry. With regard to a new mine, exploration can be technologically defined as all the activities and evaluations necessary before an intelligent decision can be made establishing size, initial flowsheet, and annual output of the new extractive operation based on a certain mineral deposit. The activities that follow such a decision are called first development, then operation (90). Thus, in the U.S.A., exploration may continue in the technological sense after a mineral property has entered the "development stage" as defined for tax purposes. Regulations under Sections 1.615.1 and 1.616.1 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code state that the "development stage" has been reached when "deposits of ore or other minerals are shown to exist in sufficient quantity and quality to reasonably justify commercial exploitation by the taxpayer" (95). There are, of course, many instances where additional later exploration discloses additional reserves which justify a plant much larger, more efficient and more profitable than the minimum feasible commercial operation. After a surface mine is put into operation, additional search generally will increase the reserves and thus warrant expansion of the rate of output and/or extend the life of the operation. The methods and techniques in such search are similar to those used in predevelopment exploration. This activity has produced a major part of new reserves for all mineral commodities but is not considered as exploration in the context of this chapter. The objective of exploration is, briefly stated, to find and acquire a maximum number of new economic mineral deposits with a minimum cost and in minimum time. The search must be so organized as to maximize the overall probability of discovering commercial mineral concentrations within a minimum time with the funds available. As shown by Celasun (27) these statements are neither adequate nor complete from a pragmatic point of view. Each actual exploration venture must define its objectives in terms of a minimum rate of return on investment for any deposit found

Jan 1, 1968

By J. J. Arps, T. G. Roberts

Since the introduction of the relative permeability concept in the middle thirties1,2 various investigators have shown3,10,11,12,15 how the basic equations for the flow of oil and gas through porous media can he utilized to compute the recovery from depletion type or solution gas drive type reservoirs under certain conditions, when the necessary physical data pertaining to the reservoir rock and its reservoir fluids are known. In the study by Muskat and Taylor" in 1945, the effects of viscosity, gas solubility, shrinkage, and the permeability-saturation characteristics of the producing formation on the production histories and the recovery of gas drive reservoirs were analyzed. Each parameter was varied a limited number of times, while keeping the others constant. The work was not carried to the point where the data could be used directly to estimate the primary recovery in those cases where certain rock and fluid characteristics were known or could be assumed. Since the publication of this classic study, the work by Beal in 194616 and Standing in 1952'" has established general correlations of oil viscosity and shrinkage with gas solubility and oil gravity. In addition. a considerable number of relative permeability relationships for different types of reservoir rocks has been published2,5,13,17,19,20. Also, the burden of the numerical work required in the solutions of the differential equation has. during the last few years, been greatly reduced with the availability of modern electronic computing facilities. The purpose of this paper is therefore to present the results of a large number of such recovery computations covering the normal range of variation of the main parameters such as the type of rock, the API gravity of the oil, and the amount of gas in solution. As is to be expected, the ultimate recovery is found to increase with the oil gravity. except for the higher solution gas-oil ratios. Within the normal range of solubilities, the ultimate recovery generally appears to decrease with the amount of gas in solution for the higher oil gravities, and to show a slight increase for the lower oil gravities. Intermediate oil gravities seem to fall between the two trends. The type of reservoir rock, as identified by its relative permeability relationship, appears to have a very pronounced effect on the ultimate recovery. In general, sands and sandstones show higher recoveries than limestones and dolomites, although certain intergranular limestones seem to show a higher theoretical recovery than unconsolidated sand. The recovery from sands and sandstones generally decreases with increasing cementation and consolidation, while the recoveries from limestones and dolomites are highest for the intergranular type and lowest for the fracture type porosity.

Jan 1, 1956

By Stuart H. Ingram

The term lightweight aggregate implies material which may be substituted for the usual rock, sand and gravel commonly used as the major part of concrete, but distinguished by being much lighter in weight. Background The art of making and using concrete is old and well developed. Research and experience have pretty well determined the qualities necessary in its constituents, and time has tested theories and applications. Elaborate specifications and tests have been devised and generally adopted governing all phases of concrete work, from selection of material, through engineering design and down to mixing and placing. Standard practices have become routine to executives and laborers, and operations have been simplified and costs lowered. Though many lightweight aggregates meet the basic specifications necessary for usefulness, their physical qualities are so different that they fiequently will not pass standard tests, and some of them cannot be mixed and placed with the usual formulas for water and slump. As a rule their use produces a concrete with a lower modulus of elasticity which requires design change, and being produced in much smaller quantities than ordinary aggregate, production costs are higher. This latter works in a vicious circle to restrict their use and maintain prices that are not competitive, except as against each other. Increased Demand In spite of such handicaps consumption has grown steadily for the past two decades and is apparently growing even faster today. It is evident that lightweight concrete must have better qualities, and be sufficiently better to Overcome the higher cost and the other difficulties and disadvantages pertinent to the use of a new and different material in an old industry. Hence the study of its main ingredient should be of interest to all engineers. Our group has a double interest in the subject since most of the materials which have been used as sources of lightweight aggregate are either mined, Or are by-products of mining operations. We are directly interested in their production as well as their use, and since available supplies of materials suitable are limited, the increasing use, and rising demand, make the discovery of new Or or the development of processes to adapt other natural materials to this use, a promising field; and one in which our profession should take an active part. Recent Development Descriptions of ancient work contain references to the use of spalls of tuffs Or pumice in concrete masonry, but it is only since the nineteen twenties that serious attempts have been made to produce and market lightweight aggregates. A period of rapid advance in theory and practice in cements, mortars and con-

Jan 1, 1948

By Edward W. Parker

Note.—The material from which this paper has been prepared was collected tor the U. S. Geological Suvey Bulletin, No. 316, Contributions to Economic Geology, 1906, and appears also, though in somewhat more extended form without illustrations, in that publication. Although the briquetting of coals and lignites has been carried on for many years in Europe, and has reached a particularly high state of development in France, Belgium, and Germany, it has made comparatively little progress in the United States. The causes for the backwardness of the United States in this regard are several, and first among them has been the abundant supply of cheap raw fuel with which the manufactured article has to compete. With our millions of acres of coal-productive territory, from which the product can in moat cases be cheaply extracted, it has appeared in many districts more economical to waste the slack or culm, which constitutes a considerable percentage of the product, than to attempt to save it at the additional expense required for briquetting. It is for this reason that the view in all sections -of the anthracite-region of Pennsylvania is marred by the unsightly culm-banks which encumber the ground, and that in some of the bituminous-districts one sees huge piles of unmarketable slack allowed to burn up in order to get rid of them. When the coal is of a coking quality, or when the slack can be used for steaming-purposes, these losses are not sustained, but many thousands of tons of what might be converted into usable fuel have been wasted every year simply because of the increased expense involved in its preparation.

Jan 1, 1908

By Shosei Serata

Stress control methods of mining have been developed separately in at least four different parts of the world in entirely different types of mining -- coal, trona, salt and potash -- during the decade of the 1960s. They all utilized yield pillars as tools for ground control. Today, yield pillars are becoming widely used in under- ground mines in a variety of geological conditions. Stress control methods are effective in stabilizing openings in weak, complex grounds, especially at greater depths. Their advantage is that they utilize existing ground media to stabilize mine openings by altering the stress distribution patterns around the openings, by controlling design parameters such as room width, pillar geometry, and excavation sequence, rather than by using a conventional means of artificial ground support such as roof bolts, cribbing, or arches. Stress control methods, therefore, are suitable for both advance and retreat mining, including total extraction mining. Adaptation of these methods results in substantially greater safety, productivity, and ecnomy over conventional methods. These methods are based on scrutiny of the actual stress conditions in the ground, by both in-situ measurement and computer simulation. This paper provides a summary of stress control methods as developed over the last ten years. The field examples are limited largely to salt and potash mining applications, although the method has been used successfully in other mining applications. The examples illustrate that stress control methods actually address general ground weakness problems -- separation at discontinuity planes, swelling by shale expansion, deterioration by brittle fracture, and interference by ground water. That is, although the principle is developed mainly with reference to salt and potash applications, it is generally applicable to weak ground.

Jan 1, 1983

By M. R. Geer, H. F. Yancey

Although the use of dense suspensions for coal cleaning was pioneered in the United States with the Chance sand flotation process, and during the past year a pilot plant using a magnetite suspension has started operation in this country, the more recent developments in this field of coal cleaning have occurred principally in the Netherlands. During the thirties the Dutch developed the Barvoys process, in which a medium of barite and clay is employed, the Tromp process, which utilizes a magnetite suspension, and the Loess process, in which is used the air-borne earth or soil known as loess.1-3 All these processes are finding increasing use in European coal-cleaning practice. Now a fourth process, the cyclone cleaner, is under development by the Netherlands State Mines. A cyclone thickener for reclaiming and thickening the dense suspension is a novel feature of the Loess process. Through accident, the discovery was made that the cyclone could be utilized as a cleaning device for fine coal. When the cyclone thickener at the Maurits mine plugged, the overflow was found filled with clean coal free of refuse, and from this observation developed the concept of the cyclone as a coal cleaner. In June 1945 the cyclone cleaner was observed by one of the authors,' and in September 1945 it was described by Dries-sen6 in a paper presented in London before the Institute of Fuel. As the cyclone seemed to offer unusual promise as a means of extending heavy-medium cleaning to the finer sizes of coal that cannot readily be treated in existing heavy-medium processes, the Bureau of Mines, following Driessen's, presentation, launched an investigation of the cyclone as a coal cleaner. Added impetus was given to this study by the present increased interest in heavy-medium cleaning in this country. Object and Scope of Investigation Driessen's report, although comprehensive in many respects, did not include a detailed description of the cyclone cleaner, and contained almost no information on the influence of the various operating variables of the cyclone. It was necessary, therefore, to investigate the influence of the cyclone adjustments on its performance before studying the application of the cyclone to various coal-washing problems. The present report is confined entirely to these preliminary tests, designed to demonstrate the operating characteristics of the cyclone. The investigation has been in progress

Jan 1, 1949

By K. C. Gilbart, Edgar Stansfield

One of the most striking features of the coal series passing from peat through brown coal, lignite, etc., up to anthracite is the gradual reduction of moisture content with the increased coalification of the original plant material. Thus drained peat from a bog may contain 90 per cent water, brown coal contain 50 per cent, lignite 30 per cent, while a bituminous coal may contain only 1 per cent moisture. Moisture, therefore, is one of the important factors to be considered in coal classification, especially with the lower rank coals. With bituminous and higher rank coals the moisture content is less satisfactory for classification; it may even pass a minimum value and then increase with increasing rank to anthracite and superanthracite. Coal in an undisturbed seam contains moisture which is an integral part of the coal, but it may also be wet with free, underground water percolating through the seam. Only the former must be considered in evaluating the moisture content of the coal for classification purposes; this will be called the "true moisture" of the coal. When the seam is mined and sampled the sample taken may show the true moisture; on the contrary, it may contain in addition free mine water or, especially in dry, well ventilated mines, it may contain less than the true moisture. Coal contains unstable organic compounds which may decompose, with the production of moisture, when the coal is exposed to air at ordinary temperatures, or is heated with or without exposure to air. The potential moisture of a coal therefore is higher than its actual moisture. The lower the rank of the coal, the greater its instability, as a rule, and the greater the care necessary to avoid oxidation or decomposition in any investigation of moisture content. The majority of coal workers have preferred, on account of the difficulty in evaluating the true moisture of a coal, and for other reasons, to classify coals by analyses calculated to the dry-coal basis. A number of workers familiar with lower rank coals have recently insisted that the classification of such coals can be satisfactory only if analyses on the moist-coal basis are employed. The moisture-holding capacity of coal is therefore intimately connected with coal classification, and in this paper a procedure is outlined for determining the true moisture of a coal,

Jan 1, 1932

By Douglas Bunting

The first presentation of this paper was before the Pennsylvania Anthracite Section of the Institute in May, 1914, after which a committee was selected to verify and add to the data contained in the original paper. The author is indebted to G. W. Engel, H. W. Montz, R. V. Norris, and H. H. Otto, of this committee, for additional information. I also wish to acknowledge the courtesies extended me by a number of the mining companies for information relative to accidents, systems of proving, and mining practice. The paper should bring forth additional criticism and recommendations, which will be of value in establishing future practice relative to this subject. Throughout the northern anthracite field of Pennsylvania glacial and alluvial deposits of sand, gravel, and clay exist in varying quantities. The extent and character of these deposits are described by N. H. Darton in Bulletin 45 of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, entitled, Sand Available for Filling Mine Workings in the Northern Anthracite Basin. It is estimated that the northern field contains 10,000,000,000 tons of these deposits, or a sufficient quantity to cover the 176 square miles of coal area to a depth of about 25 ft. These deposits of sand, etc., overlying the coal measures attain a maximum depth of more than 300 ft., and are usually saturated to such an extent as to render them semi-fluid. It is this condition of fluidity that limits the mining of coal seams cropping in or in close proximity to these deposits, and it is in the interest of safer and more efficient mining methods under these conditions that the study of this subject is here presented. The dangers incident to mining under deep deposits of sand have long been realized by operators in the northern anthracite field, and much has been done to prove the contour of the rock and vein croppings underlying these water-bearing deposits of sand and gravel. Although, as far as we know, the accidents of the past have not resulted in the loss of life, except in two instances, yet nearly all were attended with more or less miraculous escapes of men working in the vicinity of the breaks, so that the probable existence of pot holes, etc.,

Jan 1, 1915

By Burton H. Boyum

Greater depth of exploration drill holes and increasing cost of drilling have been principal factors in reviving interest on the Mar-quette Iron Range in controlled directional drill-hole deflection. This deflection is obtained by the application of the Hall-Row wedging technique. Modifications were made in the technique and equipment in the effort to simplify and strengthen the procedure. The practice is similar in many respects to the oil well type of deflection with a whipstock. Introduction The deflection of diamond drill holes by wedging was a widespread practice in Canada, South Africa and the Lake Superior District as early as 1907 to 1920. Several basic schemes were used, with local variations.' The deflecting wedge assembly was the idea of Mr. Welldon and Mr. Payne-Gallwey operating under the supervision of Mr. William Gallagher of Johannesburg, South Africa. All schemes employed some means of plugging the old hole. A footpiece of various styles was placed in the hole on the plug. In some methods, the orientation of this piece was determined before placing the deflecting wedge. Some techniques permitted continuing the hole the same size after wedging, while others necessitated a size reduction. Interest in wedging diamond drill holes in the Lake Superior District waned after 1920. The Hall-Row patented system for deflecting holes was developed in Canada about 1918.2 Interest centers on the wedging process for the following applications: 1. Maintaining a given course and inclination of the drill hole. 2. By passing an obstruction in a drill hole. 3. Resampling an ore body. 4. Exploring an area overlain by surface conditions not favorable to drilling. During the period of 1913 to 1920, The Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. used the wedging technique under a variety of conditions. In general, the practice was not applicable again until 1946. Meanwhile the Hall-Row system of drill-hole deflection survived years of application as the best technique available. In the intervening years, our depth of exploration has increased as well as the overall cost of drilling. As exploration becomes deeper, there is the possible economy of cutting the ore body at a moderate distance from the parent hole without redrilling from surface. Thus a branch hole started near the mid-point of a deep hole can reach the ore horizon at a considerable offset from the parent hole. This permits a greater interval between surface drill holes as drilling becomes deeper. Our interest revived in the subject and a wedging program was initiated. General Description Results The maximum theoretical angular deflection possible, based on the deflecting

Jan 1, 1949

By C. H. Herty

Almost every metallurgist who has given the Howe Memorial Lecture has had a personal contact with the distinguished gentleman to whose honor this hour is devoted. Unfortunately for me, such personal contacts were not possible. However, in the preparation of a thesis on the open-hearth process, one of my earliest tasks was to make a survey of the literature, and it was from Professor Howe's Metallurgy of Iron and Steel that I drew a number of references to previous work which formed the foundation for my reading. In his volume there is such a complete exposition of the then current thought on the subject of slags and on their role in the elimination of phosphorus from steel that I feel no hesitation in discussing in this Howe Lecture the subject of "Slag Control." In the present era of close specification, the drive for uniformity of product, and the close inspection of the product and of the cost sheet, the utmost efforts must be made to control the steelmaking variables to the best advantage of the steel producer. One of the major variables is the slag in the furnace and its effect upon the composition and quality of the metal. What advantages are to be gained from slag control? In the broad sense the advantages must be tremendous, because the very foundations of good steel melting are based on "shaping up" the slag to a point where, with proper temperature, the heat is ready for the final additions. Every melter works toward these ends through his experience with innumerable heats of steel. The elimination of undesirable constituents such as phosphorus and sulphur is entirely a matter of slag composition and physical nature, a point well known for over half a century. The role played by the slag in assisting in proper heat transfer from roof and flame to the steel has been equally well known. In more recent years there has come the problem of oxygen control in the more accurate gauging of additions for making high-grade rimmed steel for the new strip mills, and in the deoxidizing additions for grain-size control and cleanliness of forging steels, both carbon and alloy. In this problem the oxidizing characteristics of the slag are of prime importance.

Jan 1, 1940

By Frank G. Miller

The lower cost of producing oil from naturally flowing wells compared with pro-luction costs accruing from artificial lifting methods has stimulated much research, rith the joint purpose of extending the natural flowing life of wells and of increas-ng the productivity of small wells. The iboratory investigation described herein was made to determine the effect of a lotted liner on the pressure gradient in the icinity of the wall of a flowing well. Flow estrictions caused by the liner induce nergy losses between the oil-bearing for-lation and the inside of the liner, which lay be reduced by improved liner design, nd thereby the flow capacity of wells may e increased. These losses have been evalu-ted for rectangular slots of different sizes, nd means are suggested for reducing them. The dearth of information concerning the ature of the flow of fluids from uncon-slidated sands through small openings in he walls of. pipes—as represented by the ow of oil from an oil sand into a slotted ner—is acknowledged. Although the bene-ts to be realized by operators through the se of optimum liners is just beginning to e recognized generally, Coberlyl in 1937 ointed out that the functioning of screen is is an important factor in the pro-uction of oil. From his study on the :lection of size of oil strings for wells in California, Parks2 concluded, in part, that the perforated section of the oil string deserves continued study, especially with respect to the selection of perforations. The growing use of gravel packing resulting from certain research findings lends even more significance to the problem of selecting optimum liners, as the application of these methods usually requires slotted liners or other kinds of perforated liners. The present study was made to obtain further information for the guidance of engineers and operators in selecting slotted liners and to develop a laboratory method that may be used in analyzing possible pressure conditions surrounding most types of perforated casings used in producing oil wells, so that the present inadequate fund of knowledge on this important subject may be expanded. Discussion of ProbleM At the beginning of the investigation the following assumptions were made regarding bottom-hole conditions of a producing oil well and the oil-sand reservoir it penetrates: (I) Conditions of steady-state flow exist, (') a a homogeneous liquid is being produced) (3) no contaminating material (such as drilling fluid) is present between the liner and the face of the oil-bearing sand, (4) the well is vertical and completely penetrates a horizontal sand stratum of uniform thickness occurring between two impermeable strata, and (5) the flow is wholly viscous. If the foregoing assumptions are made, with the added requirements that the sand

Jan 1, 1941

By G. D. Cremer, J. J. Cordiano

Aluminum powder is a well-known article of commerce and in various forms has been marketed widely for use in paint, for pyrotechnic purposes and for exothermic mixtures. For a number of reasons, however, aluminum powder has not been employed extensively in powder metallurgy, although a great many proposals along this line have been offered. Aluminum and alumiuum-alloy powders oxidize readily upon exposure to air and the thin film of oxide (or hydroxide) thus formed is highly refractory, in that ordinary gaseous reducing agents such as hydrogen or carbon monoxide do not reduce the oxide to metal at temperatures below the melting point of aluminum. It has been thought that the presence of these films of oxide on aluminum particles would interfere markedly in powder metallurgical work and a number of suggestions have been made, either for preventing the formation of the film through the production of the powders in inert or reducing atmospheres, or for the removal of the oxide by means of powerful reducing agents, including "nascent" or atomic hydrogen released from metal hydrides. A second and more serious difficulty in the use of aluminum and aluminum-alloy powders in powder metallurgy resides in the fact that during compression such powders tend to adhere or cold-weld to the die walls, thus interfering with the formation and ejection of a compact. A third difficulty, which has been encountered only with aluminum-alloy powders, is their hardness when compared with elemental aluminum. Certain of these powders are susceptible to age-hardening, which further hinders the formation of strong green compacts. These conditions are particularly true of atomized aluminum-alloy powders. Even in the annealed condition, plastic deformation of alloy powders under pressure is low when compared with unalloyed powders. This fact, coupled with the lower corrosion resistance of the alloy powders. is probably the significant factor in our failure to obtain strong sintered pieces. Methods of Puoducing the Powder Many methods have been proposed for manufacture of aluminum powder, only a few of which are used commercially. Several of the more important processes include: (I) atomization of the molten metal; (2) mechanical pulverization and other types of comminution; and (3) graining, in which molten aluminum is stirred during freezing. For pigment and certain pyrotechnic uses aluminum flake powder is desirable, because of its greater proportion of surface to volume; and large quantities of such material are made by a procedure that involves stamping or ball milling. In making flake intended for use as pigment,

Jan 1, 1943

By E. F. Kern, W. W. Loo

A review of the literature on the reduction of cassiterite showed that scarcely any progressive changes were made in the methods of reducing cassiterite until within the last two decades, and that during that period many improvements in the metallurgy of tin have taken place. Since 1914 the world's consumption of tin has increased considerably, resulting in the exploitation of primary tin deposits such as the Bolivian lode, which has become an important source of tin. On account of the low tin content of Bolivian ore, and the presence of objectionable impurities of the reduced tin, the smelting of this ore and the refining of the tin has changed considerably from the methods formerly used. A comparative study of the methods of smelting cassiterite concentrates suggested that an investigation be planned so as to determine what factors effect the extraction of tin from its ores by reduction with carbon. The first part of the experimental work was the determination of whether roasted cassiterite concentrates can be reduced by carbon without the use of flux, and the reduced pellets of tin be collected into a single mass separate from the dry gangue residue. The second part of the experimental work was a comparison of the effect of variations of the different factors on the smelting of roasted cassiterite concentrates: first, the effect of varying the composition of the slag; second, the effect of varying the amount of reducing agent; third, the effect of varying the relative amount of the resulting slag; and fourth, the effect of different kinds of reducing agents. Review of Literature Experiments on the smelting of Bolivian tin concentrates were made by James P. Gill in 1920 in the metallurgical laboratory of the School of Mines, and submitted as a graduate thesis. The results of these tests are fully reported as they are preliminary to the experimental part of this paper, and also because they have not been published. The variables investigated by Mr. Gill were: (a) the effect of temperature on the rate of reduction of cassiterite concentrates; (b) the time required for

Jan 1, 1928

By Wilber Stout

In Ohio, the annual output of coke made from native coals has averaged not more than 70,000 tons, or about enough to run a 200-ton blast furnace. Raw coal locally mined from the Sharon, or No. 1, bed was used for iron smelting in Mahoning furnace at Lowellville, Mahoning Co., as early as 1846. This practice was continued in the Youngstown district until the coal became scarce and the Connellsville coke more popular. At present, the Sharon bed contributes a part of the fuel for the production of ferrosilicon iron at Jackson, Jackson CO. About one-third native coal and two-thirds soft coal are used. In this state, coke, on a commercial basis, was first made in Jefferson County probably about 1861 or 1862. The coals used were the Steuben-ville Shaft, or Lower Freeport, and the Strip Vein or Middle Kittanning. The practice, however, was discontinued before 1880 because of the competition of superior foreign cokes. Beehive ovens, later built at Leetonia, Columbiana Co., were operated for only a few years; the coal used at this place is the Lower Kittanning or No. 5. In a desultory way, slack from the Pittsburgh coal has been coked at a few places in eastern Ohio, and attempts, either for experimental or for commercial purposes, have been made in other parts of the state. Small quantities of coke were made from the Upper Freeport coal at Salineville, Columbiana Co., and near Nelsonville, Hocking Co.; the results were poor. Tests were made of the Middle Kittanning coal near Zanesville, Muskingum Co., at Moxahala Furnace, Perry Co., and at Washington Furnace, Lawrence Co.; the cokes were all high in sulfur and ash. Attempts were made to coke the Clarion coal at Vinton Furnace, Vinton Co.; a small battery of molding ovens and a pile of high-sulfur coke yet remain to tell the story. The Pittsburgh coal was coked on a commercial scale at Utley and at Lathrop, Athens Co., but the operations were not successful and were soon abandoned. These failures and indifferent successes are not to be attributed to a lack of demand for a first-class coke, as Ohio has held a commanding place for many years in iron smelting; nor to a deficiency of coals, as the state has a vast reserve of such material. They are to be ascribed to the inferior quality of the native products offered to the trade. The cokes

Jan 1, 1920

By D. L. Martin, E. R. Parker

IN a previous paper, one of the authors observed that the rate of cooling from the anneal prior to testing greatly influenced the life of copper under sustained load at 200°C. Furnace-cooled bars of oxygen-free copper (with, and without silver) had a life four to twenty-five times that of the water-quenched specimens. The addition of 0.054 per cent silver to the oxygen-free copper increased the life at a stress of 20,000 lb. per sq. in. from about 2 hr. to 50 hr. Fractures in these bars were intercrystalline. An explanation was advanced to account for the profound influence of cooling rate on the rupture properties at 200°C. The suggestion offered was that at the high annealing temperature the minor constituents are distributed at random. By water quenching, this condition is maintained at room temperature, whereas furnace cooling permits some segregation at the grain boundaries. The higher concentration of the minor constituents in the grain boundaries results in a strengthening, so that a longer life at a given stress and temperature results. Small amounts of cadmium or manganese have also been found to increase the life of copper at 200°C., and to a much greater extent than silver .2 The increase in the long-time strength of copper resulting from small additions of cadmium or silver appears to be related, indirectly at least, to the higher softening temperatures of such alloys. The elements, such as silver or cadmium, which greatly increase the rupture life of copper also cause large increases in the softening temperature. As little as 0.05 per cent of cadmium or silver is sufficient to raise the softening temperature more than 100°.3,4 The effects of cooling rate and of minor constituents on the rupture properties are of considerable fundamental as well as practical interest; therefore a more detailed study of their nature was conducted and is reported in this paper. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Materials The materials studied in this investigation may conveniently be classified in two groups: one consisting of a wide variety of commercial coppers, and the other composed of special high-purity, laboratory-prepared coppers. The commercial materials were tested to determine whether or not the effect of cooling rate occurred with all coppers, whereas the high-purity coppers were investigated in order to establish a basis for evaluating the effect of minor constituents on the rupture properties. In Table I are given the analyses of the coppers tested. The samples I to 6 are commercial materials and were obtained for the most part from stock supplies.*

Jan 1, 1943

By William J. Harris, Morris Cohen

INTRODUCTION THE recent application of lineal analysis1,2 to the austenite-martensite reaction has made possible a quantitative study of the kinetics of this transformation during rapid cooling. Martensite range curves can thus be constructed to portray the onset of the reaction at [M.] and its subsequent progress as a function of temperature down to and below the ambient. It now seems in order to investigate other aspects of the martensite transformation, using this quantitative method of approach. One of the least understood characteristics of the austenite-martensite reaction is that of stabilization which has been defined by Troiano and Greninger3 as "a lowering of [M.], resulting from aging, without change in chemical composition of the parent solid solution." In other words, if the hardening quench is arrested at a predetermined subcritical temperature (Th) for a sufficient period of time, more austenite may be retained at a given lower or reference temperature (Tr) than if the steel had been cooled directly and rapidly to Tr in the first place. For the purposes of the work at hand, the extent of stabilization produced by the isothermal treatment at Th, is measured explicitly in terms of the excess austenite [(S)] that exists in the steel at Tr, over and above the amount that is normally present after direct quenching to Tr. Tr is conveniently taken to be room temperature, but this choice is not essential and is sometimes undesirable. The holding temperature (Th) may be above or below [M], and still cause stabilization depending upon the chemistry of the austenite. Stabilization has been found to occur in the presence of bainite4 and of martensite5,6,7,8 as well as in the absence of either.9 The phenomenon of stabilization is not concerned with (and may even be obscured by) ferrite formation or any other type of phase change occurring at Th that alters the chemistry of the remaining austenite. Such a structural change would obviously influence the martensite transformation during subsequent cooling. Stabilization, however, is more subtle; it appears to manifest itself without detectable variation of the austenite composition, whether in the presence or absence of transformation products. There are relatively few direct references to stabilization in the literature. The stabilizing effect of room temperature aging and tempering on the subzero transformation of retained austenite has been clearly shown in plain carbon,6.8 low alloy 6.7.8 and high alloy tool steels.10,5 Starting with the as-hardened steel, the degree of stabilization increases with tempering time and temperature through

Jan 1, 1948

By R. J. Bethancourt, D. M. Collingwood

The use: of a pilot waterflood is very desirable where all of the pertinent data necessary to initiate a full scale waterflood are not. available. This paper attempts to take a specific case and .show the step by step process of starting with a pilot waterflood and progressing to a full wale flood as results are obtained. INTRODUCTION Many of the older fields of Soutlwest Texas are approaching depletion by primary produrtion methods. As primary protlllc:inp operations on individual properties approach their economic limit. conflicting considerations face management: cm the one hand. plugging and abandonment of wells for equipment salvage; on the other hand, further investment in secondary recovery installtions, equilent, and well workovers in the interests of conservation anal additional oil reserves. In main instances, where primary production by pressure depletion and gas solution drive has been comparatively good, there still exists the possibility of an economic secondary recovery by waterflood. This is not necessarily true to the same degrre of all such fields. nor all portions of large fields. To properly evaluate the economics of a prospective water-11ot1cI requires a considerable amount of precise geological. statitical. and physical data Such information on the older field.; is often very limited. and in the case of the property discussed in this paper was considered inadequate to justify investment in an overall waterflood. Primary production was estimated at :39 per cent of the original oil in place, yet sand conditions of permeability and homogeneity, and position in the field appeared to be favorable for a limited margin of profit from a carefully controlled waterflood. Thus a pilot waterflood, with its minimum initial financial risk, followed by extension as favorable results were obtained, seemed to be the answer for the Sun Oil Co L. Wiederkehr lease in the Nortl Government Wells Field, Duval County. Texas DESCRIPTION OF RESERVOIR Approxinately 8,200 wells have been drilled in Duval County. As of March 1, 1952, there were 3,350 producing oil wells in 92 different fields, with very few flowing wells (Fig. 1.) Sun Oil Co. operates the I.. Wiederkehr lease located in the North Government Wells Field in Duval Countv. 85 mile. west of Corpus Chriti and 100 miles south of San Antonio. The lease has been subjected in part to a controlled five spot waterflood. The North Government Wells Field is roughly 7 miles long and 3 miles wide, with numerous overlapping producing zones. The L. Wiederkehr lease of 3.085 acres. Has seven producing zones from 700 to 7.500 ft. The lease is in the northern section of the field where it is widest, and has 710 acres productive from the North Government Wells .and. (Fig. 2.) The North Government Wells sand, Jackson group. Eocene age, at an average depth of 2.250 ft (minus 1.750 subsea). has a thickness range of 25 ft on the east side of the L. Wiederkehr lease to 4 ft on the west side. It has a slight overall dip to the North and East of some 33 ft to the mile.

Jan 1, 1953

By E. A. Barnard

ARSENIC is a very old substance. The ancients speak of it in their writings, and its use has developed very little until recent years. The ancients used it in making pigments, in medicine, and for poison. They also tell of the difficulties of handling it-an experience which is very similar to our own. Until about 10 years ago, arsenic was very cheap and was a drug on the market. About that time the boll weevil began making serious inroads on the American cotton crops, and after much investigation the Depart-ment of Agriculture developed a very successful poison for this pest, consisting of calcium arsenate. The weevil pest has continued, and as the cotton planters have become convinced that calcium arsenate is the best material to use against the weevil, the demands for it have been steadily increasing, resulting not only in a rising price of arsenic but in a very serious shortage so far as our country is concerned. So serious has this shortage become, and so vital is it to the cotton growing industry, that Congress has appointed a committee to investigate and report on the situation. A meeting of arsenic producers and consumers was held in New York last December to take stock of the situation and to see what could be done. The extreme increase in, the market price of arsenic-from 6 c. to 15 c. per lb. in less than a year-has been very harmful to the producers as well as to the consumers. Some very interesting' data were brought out at this meeting, as follows: CONSUMPTION PER YEAR, SHORT TONS Arsenate of lead 2,000 Paris green 1,200 Proprietary mixtures 750 Sheep dips : 1,000 Weed killers 1,500 Glass : 2,000 8,450 1922 Consumption as calcium arsenate 4,000 12,450 1923 Estimated consumption as calcium arsenate... 12,000 Estimated 1923 consumption 20,450

Jan 8, 1923