Search Documents

By Oliver Bowles

AMONG mining men as well as in the popular mind the conviction has held sway that mining is pre-eminently a western industry. True it is that gold, silver, copper and other metals have made the States of California, Colorado, Montana, Utah. Nevada and Arizona famous. The prominence attained by these States as mineral producers is, however, not measured alone by the money value of the products of their mines. While the metals are without doubt indispensable in industry, the glamour of the precious metals, and the lure of copper, lead and zinc have given to their ore deposits a sentimental interest that often quite out-weighs their commercial importance. Today a great group of more commonplace minerals are finding a place in commerce and industry rivaling that of the metals, but there is little sentiment attached to them, and,. therefore, they attain relatively little publicity. This is the great group of the non-metallic minerals, exclusive of fuels and oils, including stone, sand and gravel, cement, lime, gypsum, asbestos, mica, phos-phate rock and many others. Almost unnoticed they have grown in production to almost unbelievable pro-portions. The estimated value of metal production for 1925 is given as $1,380,000,000, of the non-metals (ex-cluding fuels) $1,294,000,000. The non-metallic industries are not new, many of them date back almost to pre-historic times; but, as the greatest of them (on a tonnage basis) provides raw materials for the construction industries, it required the activities of the present age of construction to bring about their enormous development. Many of them enter manufacturing as well as con-struction. Non-metallic minerals constitute the back-bone of our great chemical industries. While construction and manufacture reach to all parts of the country their widest development has been in the great industrial centers of the eastern Seaboard and the middle West. Consequently the raw materials of mineral origin required for these great industries have attained a remarkable growth in the eastern half of the- United States. In compiling figures of mineral production for 1924, for which more complete data are available than for later years, the surprising fact is brought to light that the non-metallic mineral produc-tion alone of some of the eastern and middle-western States exceeds by a substantial margin the total min-eral production of some of the western States that have been classed as essentially mining States. Thus the non-metallic mineral production, exclusive of coal and petroleum, of the State of Ohio, was approximately $150,000,000; of Pennsylvania $175,000,000; and of New York $107,000,000. For the same year, 1924, the total mineral production of Utah was $84,357,000; of Montana $70,632,000; of Colorado $61,488,000; and of Nevada only $26,226,000. Even Minnesota, with its enormous iron ore production, reached only $107,845,-000, or a sum about equivalent to the non-metallic min-eral production of the State of New York.

Jan 8, 1927

By Alec M. Crowell, J. W. Sanders

While the production of crude oil and condensate in South Arkansas increased only 1.7 per cent over the 1940 figure, complete utilization of gas produced with the oil and condensate, and heretofore wasted, was beginning to be evidenced. There were 26,229,264 bbl. of oil and condensate produced in South Arkansas during 1941, as against 25,790,380 bbl. for the year 1940. (Fig. I.) Since 1936, deep producing sands have been discovered in 18 fields and during that period only 40 per cent of the total state production has come from Upper Cretaceous formations while 60 per cent came from the Lower Cretaceous and Jurassic formations. The gas produced with crude oil and condensate from the latter formation contains large quantities of hydrogen sulphide, the maximum being 6900 grains per 100 cu. ft. in the Patton pool of Lafayette County. Gas Utilization During the latter part of 1940 and the early part of 1941, pilot plants were placed in operation to determine whether the hydrogen sulphide and deleterious material in South Arkansas gases could be removed economically. The Federal Government desired to build a large aluminum plant in the Ouachita Valley and was seeking cheap fuel for the generation of electricity. The fact that the gases were produced with appreciable quantities of crude oil and condensate made it available at a very low price, since the state's conservation law prohibits the flaring of any gas. As a result of these experiments the first large-scale unit for the processing of gases containing hydrogen sulphide was placed in operation on Sept. I, 1941. The plant is in the Magnolia oil field, Columbia County. It processes residue gas from the Shell Oil Company's gasoline plant in that field and also raw gas from the Village field, 6 miles east of the Magnolia field. The gas entering the desulphuri-zation unit is laden with approximately 1400 grains of hydrogen sulphide per 100 cu. ft. and is stripped to a content of 4 grains per 100 cu. ft. The capacity of the plant is 15 million cu. ft. of gas treated daily under a pressure of 160 lb. per sq. in. The cost of treatment, exclusive of depreciation, is appreciably less than I per 1000 cubic feet. Two other plants of much greater capacity have been announced and priorities have been granted, which should bring the total amount of gas treated to 150 million cu. ft. daily. The gas to be treated will have a maximum hydrogen sulphide content of 4500 grains per 100 cu. ft. and will be processed under a pressure of 600 lb. per sq. in. These developments are something entirely new in field practice for the industry. The fact that this heretofore wasted gas is available at very low cost has led to the location of some eight war industries within the state, in addition to the alu-minum plant. Recovery OF Sulphur The Susearch Corporation and the Southern Acid and Sulphur Co. placed in operation during 1941 pilot plants to de-

Jan 1, 1942

By Alec M. Crowell, J. W. Sanders

While the production of crude oil and condensate in South Arkansas increased only 1.7 per cent over the 1940 figure, complete utilization of gas produced with the oil and condensate, and heretofore wasted, was beginning to be evidenced. There were 26,229,264 bbl. of oil and condensate produced in South Arkansas during 1941, as against 25,790,380 bbl. for the year 1940. (Fig. I.) Since 1936, deep producing sands have been discovered in 18 fields and during that period only 40 per cent of the total state production has come from Upper Cretaceous formations while 60 per cent came from the Lower Cretaceous and Jurassic formations. The gas produced with crude oil and condensate from the latter formation contains large quantities of hydrogen sulphide, the maximum being 6900 grains per 100 cu. ft. in the Patton pool of Lafayette County. Gas Utilization During the latter part of 1940 and the early part of 1941, pilot plants were placed in operation to determine whether the hydrogen sulphide and deleterious material in South Arkansas gases could be removed economically. The Federal Government desired to build a large aluminum plant in the Ouachita Valley and was seeking cheap fuel for the generation of electricity. The fact that the gases were produced with appreciable quantities of crude oil and condensate made it available at a very low price, since the state's conservation law prohibits the flaring of any gas. As a result of these experiments the first large-scale unit for the processing of gases containing hydrogen sulphide was placed in operation on Sept. I, 1941. The plant is in the Magnolia oil field, Columbia County. It processes residue gas from the Shell Oil Company's gasoline plant in that field and also raw gas from the Village field, 6 miles east of the Magnolia field. The gas entering the desulphuri-zation unit is laden with approximately 1400 grains of hydrogen sulphide per 100 cu. ft. and is stripped to a content of 4 grains per 100 cu. ft. The capacity of the plant is 15 million cu. ft. of gas treated daily under a pressure of 160 lb. per sq. in. The cost of treatment, exclusive of depreciation, is appreciably less than I per 1000 cubic feet. Two other plants of much greater capacity have been announced and priorities have been granted, which should bring the total amount of gas treated to 150 million cu. ft. daily. The gas to be treated will have a maximum hydrogen sulphide content of 4500 grains per 100 cu. ft. and will be processed under a pressure of 600 lb. per sq. in. These developments are something entirely new in field practice for the industry. The fact that this heretofore wasted gas is available at very low cost has led to the location of some eight war industries within the state, in addition to the alu-minum plant. Recovery OF Sulphur The Susearch Corporation and the Southern Acid and Sulphur Co. placed in operation during 1941 pilot plants to de-

Jan 1, 1942

By H. E. Montgomery

Engineering trends for some years have been toward higher temperatures, both in process work and in steam generation. Progress in design has been dependent upon the development and evaluation of suitable alloys. Elementary knowledge of the limitations of copper-base alloys indicate their unsuitability for the higher ranges of operating temperatures; say, for steam to 950°F. Emphasis upon the more severe conditions perhaps is a reason why more complete evaluations have not been made for copper-base alloys over their range of suitability. However, the few studies made show clearly the need for more accurate evaluations. Some copper-base alloys long looked upon favorably because of superior room-temperature properties are not as desirable as some others perhaps not so "strong" and "hard," as measured by usual acceptance tests. Load-carrying capacity and structural stability arc two important factors. Structural stability as influenced by temperature, by presence of corrosive media, or by the effects of stress itself, frequently is a limiting factor. An early reference to creep properties of the cast copper-base alloys is that of Brown1 (Admiralty gun metal, Cu 87.5, Sn 10.1, Zn 2.3 and Pb 0.08). His tests were similar to present-day stress-rupture tests without measurement of creep elongrttion. Loading was in steps with usually 24 hr. between steps, and continued until failure. He advocated a "useful strength value" of 61/2 tons (I4,560 Ib.) per sq. in. at 572°F. (300°C.). A specimen broken in 1/2 hr. at 572°F. had a strength of 21 tons (26,880 Ib.) per sq. in. The strength values as determined by 1/2-hr. tests and those by the longer stress-rupturc start to differentiate at 392°F. (200°C). This is the temperature at which time at load began to play an important part. Bolton, Price and Hebemann2 give creep curves on 88-10-2 (A.S.T.M. B-60, CU 88, Sn 10, Zn 2) and steam or valve bronze (A.S.T.M. B-6I, Cu 87.50, Sn 6.00, Zn 3.75, Pb 1.70) at 500°F. Direct comparison of the two alloys under 7500 lb. per sq. in. stress showed the steam bronze (A.S.T.M. B-61) superior in creep strength to the 88-10-2 (A.S.T.M. B-60). The steam bronze shows no creep after 700 hr. (1540-hr. test). The 88-10-2 shows a rate of about 7.0 per cent in 100,000 hr. over the last 700 hr. of the test. Creep curves on the steam bronze are also given at the same temperature (500°F.) with loads of 6500 lb. per sq. in. and 8000 lb. per sq. in. These indicate "creep strengths" (creep rate within I per cent in 100,000 hr.) in excess of 8000 lb. per sq, in. for this alloy. It was found that higher percentages of tin are detrimental to creep resistance. This is caused by the presence of or formation during test of considerable alpha-delta eutectoid in the higher tin alloys. Bolton also states that the high

Jan 1, 1945

By R. G. Hudson, H. W. Paxton

The activities of iron and chromium in their binary system have been measured by the Knudsen orifice technique. The system is close to ideal at 1200- 1250 C with slight positive deviations. The effect of this on the liquidus and solidus is discussed and these are calculated for two limiting assumptions. The vapor pressure of pure iron, pure chromium, and one alloy is compared with that obtained by the Langmuir free-evaporation technique. The results agree, indicating a vaporization coefficient close to 1. HERE are no reported data on the thermody-A namic activity of iron and chromium in the solid portions of the phase diagram. It is generally assumed'.' that the liquid solutions of iron and chromium obey Raoult's law. Chen and Chipman" have inferred that the liquid solution obeys Raoult's law. The minimum' in the solidus-liquidus curves for the iron-chromium system shows that there are deviations from ideality in either the solid or liquid or both. Because of the importance of developing reliable techniques for obtaining activity data in alloy systems at high temperatures and of the data so obtained, an investigation of the activity of iron and chromium in the binary at 1200-1250 C was undertaken using the Knudsen cell. Experimental The apparatus and experimental procedures used in this investigation were described in a previous paper." The various materials used for the construction of the Knudsen cell are listed in Table I. The metal used for the determination of the vapor pressure of chromium was 99.9 pet pure, obtained from A. D. Mackay, Inc. The iron was obtained as electrolytic grade from Fisher Scientific Company. The Fe-Cr alloys used are shown in Table 11. The largest error and controlling factor in the accuracy in the experiments reported here are introduced because of temperature uncertainty, which is estimated to be ±3 deg C. This introduces an uncertainty of 26 pet in the measured pressure. Experimental Results and Calculations The vapor pressures of pure iron and pure chromium were calculated from the measurements by the Knudsen equation3 on the assumption that only Cr or Fe atoms were present in the gas phase. For metal vapors, at the high temperatures and low pressures involved in these measurements this should be a reasonable assumption. Whitman" corrections for the cells were made. The data and results of pressure calculations are presented in Table I, and are plotted in Fig. 1. In addition the heat of vaporization at the absolute zero, ?E°°, has been calculated for chromium. These calculations are summarized in Table 111. The data used in these calculations are as follows kelley13 (F° - E°°/T ) Speiser, et al H (F° - E°°/T ) 010 where F" — standard free energy at temperature T It was necessary to calculate the total pressure above the alloys from the total weight loss W of the cell during a run, because of the fact that all attempts to collect and analyze the chromium and iron vapor effusing from the cell in the apparatus available failed. The failure resulted from the re-

Jan 1, 1959

By E. R. Johnson

THE copper concentrator of the Braden Copper Co. is at Sewell, Chile, on the western flank of the main Cordillera of the Andes, at an air distance of approximately 50 miles southeast of Santiago, the capital of Chile. The region is mountainous and space is at a premium because of the rough terrain and the danger of snowslides. The ore, a porphyry copper, is mined by a block-caving method in the El Teniente mine. It is hauled to the crushing plant, a distance of 2.6 miles, through a tunnel because of the severe climatic conditions. The usual large, coarsely set, primary reduction machines found in many ore-treating plants are not required because of the mining method employed and the limiting 12-in. spacing of the grizzlies at the head of each ore pass in the mine. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the numerous improvements made in the crushing section of this large flotation concentrator during the past 15 years to increase the efficiency of the plant and to raise the daily output from around 20,000 to 30,000 tons. The reader should keep in mind that all changes were made within the existing building because of the limited space and the high cost of the heavy mill construction required to withstand the snow loads. The present plant, as well as the former, operates on a 24-hr, 7 days a week basis. FORMER PLANT The crushing plant commenced operations at its present site in 1921, the main equipment being No. 7 1/2 gyratories, followed by 48-in. horizontal Symons disk crushers. Fines were removed by 1-in. stationary grizzlies ahead of each unit. In 1924 a third stage of crushing was provided by the addition of 55 1/2-in. rolls in open circuit. During 1925, the Symons disks were replaced by 73 1/2-in. rolls. All the rolls were changed to closed circuit, with elevators and screens to give a final product of 9 pct plus 3-mesh. The flowsheet of a typical crushing section of this period is shown in Fig I. The ore was withdrawn from a common bin serving the five crushing sections in the plant by means of any number up to six 36-in. wide-apron feeders, which discharged onto a common conveyor belt. This conveyor was equipped with a magnetic head pulley and the crusher attendant was stationed near the discharge end to pick out pieces of mine timber that might be in the ore. The ore was discharged over a 1 3/4-in. spaced bar grizzly and the oversize of this grizzly was crushed by a No. 7 1/2 McCully gyratory crusher set at 1 3/4-in. opening on the closed side. The grizzly undersize joined the gyratory discharge and was conveyed to a set of 73 1/2 by 20-in. Garfield rolls set at I in. These rolls operated in closed circuit with a bucket elevator and two vibrating screens placed in parallel.

Jan 1, 1947

By L. Bombardieri, H. F. Mills

IRON KING mine, producing gold-silver-lead-zinc ore, is 10 miles east of Prescott, Ariz. At present the 1806 level is being developed. The echelon pattern of ore deposit continues at depth but is less pronounced, and the orebody is now more or less continuous over 2600 ft of strike length. with widths 5 ft to as high as 26 ft where overlapping of lenses occurs in one section of the mine. Better continuity of ore at depth has encouraged systematic mining and improved plant facilities to offset higher operating costs. With favorable persistence of ore at depth. the three-compartment No. 6 hoisting shaft appeared inadequate to handle increased tonnage from greater depths, and in 1952, a four-compartment steel and concrete shaft was started. This is now at a depth of 1906 ft, and shaft pockets and loading cartridges are being installed on the 1806 level. Ore from the new shaft, hoisted in 51/2 -ton Jeto bottom dump skips, is dumped into a 500-ton shaft bin, from which it is fed to a 16x30-in. gyratory crusher and conveyed 415 ft through an undersurface concrete gallery to the secondary crusher and conveying system supplying the 900-ton mill. Lead, zinc, and pyrite concentrates are floated, and the flotation tailings are cyanided after desliming. Waste from the new shaft is dumped into a 250-ton surge bin, fed from this bin to a 24-in. conveyor, and discharged into the glory hole above the block cave. The new shaft is served by a double-drum 400-hp hoist used for ore and waste; the No. 6 shaft conveys men and material To secure a cheap source of waste fill for stoping operations, a block cave area was undercut In the hanging wall near the north end of the mine above the 600 level. Waste from the block cave is drawn from any of three large drawpoints on the 600 level, and a series of hanging wall transfer raises with controls and bypasses on each level provide a fast low-cost material for fill. The block cave is worked vertically through to surface in the form of a steep-sided hole 350x250 ft and several hundred feet deep, the sides of which cave and provide fill material without any blasting. Fill is a mixture of caliche-cemented surface gravel and small particles of hanging wall schist. Level Development: An orebody 300 times as long as it is wide requires a lot of development work. Former practice consisted of driving a haulage drift about 30 ft from the ore in an andesitic footwall, a drift on the ore, and crosscuts from the haulage drift at 100-ft intervals. Crosscuts are about 90 ft long. At present, only the odd numbered levels are so developed, and on the even numbered levels only the haulage drift and crosscuts are driven. Little or no timber is used for this development. This change resulted in 20 pct reduction of development costs and 50 pet reduction of square set stoping required for removal of floor pillars. Elimination of ore drifts on alternate levels leaves

Jan 1, 1957

By John T. Galey

Production of crude oil for 1940 in southwestern Pennsylvania was off nearly 70,000 bbl., largely as a result of the great number oi abandonments, together with the lack of extension of the Washington and Green County pools. Oil wells completed numbered 51, which is 26 more than last year, but the total initial production of 259 bbl. is only 18 bbl. greater than in 1939. There was an increase of 72 over last year for a total of 209f gas wells. However, 68 7 dry holes were drilled, which is 40 more than a year ago. Thus, 328f wells were drilled during the year, and rigs are erected or drilling is progressing on 59 t more. Shallow Development Oil.—Butler County led in number of oil wells completed, with a total of 27 for an initial production of only 69 bbl. Washington County, with 12 new oil wells, one of which made 40 bbl. from the Fifth sand in S. Franklin township, has 95 bbl., while in Allegheny County 9 wells gave an initial of 86 bbl. for the highest Per well average in the area. This initial was given a considerable boost by one 35-bbl and another 2;-bbl. well in West Deer township, where the Fourth sand produced at 1840 feet. Greene County had only one oil well completed during 1940, and Washington County had 12. The subnormal totals for these counties may be explained by the higher cost of completions and the declining price of crude. The first price change in crude during the year occurred on May 22, when a 25 cut was made. A second 25 cut was made July 12, and was followed by a 156 cut on .Aug. 28. This price held until Nov. 12, when there was a restoration of 156. On Dec. 17 a second 156 increase was put into effect, bringing the price to $I.So per barrel. Gas The large increase in the number of gas wells completed may be attributed to three factors; namely, the recently discovered production possibilities of moderately deep, hitherto little tested horizons, together with increased demand and price. The latter has been made possible by a recent decision of the court, which ruled restraining the public service Commision's prohibition of a raise in the minimum monthly charge to small consumers by one of the major gas companies. A portion of the revenue derived in this manner is being passed along to the producer in the form of higher prices in the field. This higher field rate will remain in effect until a new ruling is made, when it will be reduced in proportion to the reduction of the monthly minimum charge. In an effort to extend the chambers Dam Fifth sand oil pool southwest from Amwell township, Washington County, several wells have been drilled. One of these, in Morris township, washington County, had an initial of 3.2 million cu. ft. open flow from the Big Injun sand. This indicates an entirely new productive area for the latter horizon. Allegheny County had one spectacular well in South Fayette township-—at a depth of about 2500 ft. a 4-million-CU. ft.

Jan 1, 1941

By John M. Kelly

New Mexico produced 39,475,388 bbl. of oil in 1944, the greatest amount in one year in the oil history of the state. This production was 593,046 bbl. or 1.25 per cent more than in 1943. New Mexico retained its position as the seventh largest oil-producing state. The maximum per well allowable on Jan. I, 1944 was 48 bbl. daily and at the end of the year it was 45 bbl. daily. Allocations as set by the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission closely followed the recommendations made by the' Petroleum Administrator for War. The average daily pipe-line runs were within 4 per cent of the allocation. Production by counties was as fol1ows;Lea County, 33,509,548 bbl.; Eddy County, 5,504,498; Northwestern New Mexico 461, 342. Drilling activity for New Mexico in 1944 was well above that of 1943, with 362 completions. Of these, 283 were oil wells, 12 gas wells and 67 dry holes. The ratio of dry holes to producers, about I to 4, was an improvement over 1943. Wildcat drilling during 1944 was responsible for the discovery of six new fields and the extension of two present producing areas. Drilling records were established in New Mexico during 1944 with the deepest producer ever completed, the Humble Leonard Oil Company's No. I at 11,969 ft., in the Ellenburger section of Ordovician age near Jal, Lea County. The discoveries in Lea County during 1944 were as follows: West Lovington field, where Fred Turner, Jr. drilled his No. I State B .in C SE SW sec. 4-17-36 and completed it for 122 bbl. of oil in 8 1/2 hr., in the San Andreas section of Permian age. The Tonto field, where the T-exas Company completed its No. I Baskin at a total depth of 3586 ft. in Seven Rivers lime of Permian age, with an initial production of 254 bbl. of oil in 21 hours. The Drinkard area, where the Gulf Oil Corporation's Drinkard No. I flowed 782 bbl. of oil in 14 hr. from the Yeso section of lower Permian age, thus opening the first lower Permian production in the state. The total depth of this discovery was 6508 ft. and oil was 38.8" A.P.I. gravity. The Dublin area, where the Humble Oil and Refining Co. established a drilling depth record of 11,969 ft. drilling and completing its No. I Leonard Oil Co. well in the Ellenburger lime of Ordovician age. This well flowed 221 bbl. of oil per day, of 48.9º A.P.I. gravity oil. It is in sec. 12-26-37. The new pay horizon discovery of the Continental Oil Co. in the Skaggs area, where the company completed its Skaggs B-23 No. 2 in sec. 23-20-37 for 236 bbl. of oil in 21 hr. from the Wolfcamp section of lower Permian age, at a total depth of 7725 ft. This well was drilled to granite at 10,465 ft. and plugged back to the Wolf-camp for a new pay zone completion.

Jan 1, 1945

By John T. Galey

Production of crude oil for 1940 in southwestern Pennsylvania was off nearly 70,000 bbl., largely as a result of the great number oi abandonments, together with the lack of extension of the Washington and Green County pools. Oil wells completed numbered 51, which is 26 more than last year, but the total initial production of 259 bbl. is only 18 bbl. greater than in 1939. There was an increase of 72 over last year for a total of 209f gas wells. However, 68 7 dry holes were drilled, which is 40 more than a year ago. Thus, 328f wells were drilled during the year, and rigs are erected or drilling is progressing on 59 t more. Shallow Development Oil.—Butler County led in number of oil wells completed, with a total of 27 for an initial production of only 69 bbl. Washington County, with 12 new oil wells, one of which made 40 bbl. from the Fifth sand in S. Franklin township, has 95 bbl., while in Allegheny County 9 wells gave an initial of 86 bbl. for the highest Per well average in the area. This initial was given a considerable boost by one 35-bbl and another 2;-bbl. well in West Deer township, where the Fourth sand produced at 1840 feet. Greene County had only one oil well completed during 1940, and Washington County had 12. The subnormal totals for these counties may be explained by the higher cost of completions and the declining price of crude. The first price change in crude during the year occurred on May 22, when a 25 cut was made. A second 25 cut was made July 12, and was followed by a 156 cut on .Aug. 28. This price held until Nov. 12, when there was a restoration of 156. On Dec. 17 a second 156 increase was put into effect, bringing the price to $I.So per barrel. Gas The large increase in the number of gas wells completed may be attributed to three factors; namely, the recently discovered production possibilities of moderately deep, hitherto little tested horizons, together with increased demand and price. The latter has been made possible by a recent decision of the court, which ruled restraining the public service Commision's prohibition of a raise in the minimum monthly charge to small consumers by one of the major gas companies. A portion of the revenue derived in this manner is being passed along to the producer in the form of higher prices in the field. This higher field rate will remain in effect until a new ruling is made, when it will be reduced in proportion to the reduction of the monthly minimum charge. In an effort to extend the chambers Dam Fifth sand oil pool southwest from Amwell township, Washington County, several wells have been drilled. One of these, in Morris township, washington County, had an initial of 3.2 million cu. ft. open flow from the Big Injun sand. This indicates an entirely new productive area for the latter horizon. Allegheny County had one spectacular well in South Fayette township-—at a depth of about 2500 ft. a 4-million-CU. ft.

Jan 1, 1941

PETROLEUM DIVISION Established as a Division March 24, 1922 Paul R Turnbull, Chairman John R McMillan, Vice-Chairman Morris Muskat, Vice-Chairman William E Stiles, Treasurer Joe B Alford, Executive Secretary 408 Trinity Universal Building Dallas, Texas

Jan 1, 1952

By Albert Sauveur

IT is not without some hesitation, and even misgiving, that I venture into a discussion of the now classical Roberts-Austen Roozeboom diagram, lest I too fail, like so many other writers, in giving a satisfactory and logical explanation of these interesting curves. Roozeboom's original diagram is reproduced in Fig. 1. The generally accepted meaning of the various curves has been so often described before this Institute that it will suffice to recall it briefly before passing to my own interpretation of the changes involved.

Nov 1, 1906

By Oliver Bowles

PRICES of quartz sold in the United States in 1938 ranged from $1.15 to $36,000 a ton. This startling variation was due simply to the differences between glass sand and rock - crystal, materials that are virtually the same in composition. It illustrates the complexities in qualities, uses, and values of industrial minerals. It is generally stated that mineral deposits are exhaustible resources which can never be replaced when depleted. This statement is no longer true with respect to certain industrial minerals now recovered in increasing quantities from that most inexhaustible of all sources of supply, the ocean. Salt has long been obtained from sea water, particularly on the Pacific Coast, and reference was made a year ago to the large bromine recovery plant at Wilmington, N. C. Now the Westvaco Chlorine Products Corp. is operating a large plant at Newark, Calif., having a capacity sufficient to recover daily from the ocean raw materials that will produce 60 tons of various magnesium products. Lime is used to precipitate the magnesia from salt-water bittern. The products are chiefly magnesium carbonate for chemical uses, periclase and other refractories, and oxychloride cement for flooring.

Jan 1, 1939

By V. E. Christensen

AT most smelting plants, forced draft, induced by high stacks or fans, is used to carry the gases away from the furnaces, roasters, or sintering plants. Gases moving under forced draft carry varying amounts of solids in the form of dust and fume. Where the weight of the solids is material, and the metal content high, it is usually profitable to treat the gases to recover these solids. Baghouses, Cottrell treaters, and settling chambers are the common forms of plants used to recover solids from gases. To check on the efficiency of these plants it is necessary to know the volume of gas leaving the plant and the amount of solids carried by the gas. As the volume of gas is equal to the product of the velocity of that gas and the cross-sectional area of the flue, the determination of the volume includes the measurement of the area of the cross section and the determination of the velocity. The velocity is generally measured by means of the Pitot tube and Ellison differential pressure gage, although low velocities are best determined by means of an anemometer. The dust concentration is determined by passing a measured volume of sample through a filter and weighing the dust caught. From this the dust concentration per unit of volume may be calculated. It is necessary to assume that the gas is homogeneous or that each cubic foot of the gas contains the same weight of dust as every other cubic foot. Having the volume of gas passing through a flue per unit of time, and the dust concentration of the gas per unit of volume, the amount of solids may easily be calculated.

Jan 1, 1935

By Ralph E. Esarey, George V. Cohee

In Indiana, 349 wells were drilled for oil and gas in the year 1942. Of this number, 125 oil wells and 21 gas wells were successfully completed and 203 were dry holes. Drilling activity declined 37 per cent as compared with that of the year 1941. This reduction was brought about largely by Federal Conservation Order M-68, restricting drilling to one well on 40 acres, in order to save steel. This Order was later supplemented to permit closer spacing of wells drilled to sandstone formations in southwestern Indiana. Most of the drilling in 1942 was in the southwestern part of the state. Posey County ranked first, with 94 completions and 44 producers; Gibson County, second, with 77 completions and 38 producing oil wells and 2 gas wells. There were 58 drilling operations in the state at the end of the year. During 1942 a total of 589,734 ft. of hole was drilled, of which 231,702 ft. was wildcat footage. The total initial production of the oil wells completed was 9974 bbl. and of the gas wells, 11,148,000 cu. ft. (Table 2). Of the 349 wells completed, 122 were wildcat wells (Table 3); 26 were completed as oil wells; 17 were extensions to proven fields and 9 discovered new pools. Posey County was foremost in wildcat drilling, with 37 wells completed (Table 6). Thirty-five per cent of the wells drilled in 1942 were wildcat, as compared with 25.5 per cent in 1941. It is anticipated that the percentage of wildcat wells drilled in 1943 will be greater, although the total number ol ,wells drilled in the state will probably be less. The new discoveries in Indiana in I942 were, for the most part, one-well pools in the southwestern part—in Posey, Gibson and Spencer Counties (Table 4). Most of the development in pools took place in the . Hazelton and Kirksville pools in Gibson County, Mr. Vernon pool in Posey County and the Vernon Heights pool in Vander-burgh County. Deeper production was obtained from the Osage limestone in the Hazelton pool at a depth of 2402 ft., 650 ft. below the productive McClosky limestone. The well had an initial production of 140 barrels. Extensions to 17 pools in the southwestern part of the state were successfully completed (Table 5). An interesting development during 1942 was new production from the Devonian limestone in the Dodds Bridge pool, Sullivan County. The Ohio Oil Co. deepened one of its wells, which had been producing from a shallow sand, to the,Devonian, and it was completed for an initial production of 77 bbl. Five other Devonian producing wells were completed in that area. Crude-oil production in Indiana in 1942 was 6,609,000 bbl. (Table I). The Griffin field, Gibson and Posey Counties, which produced approximately 3,550,000 bbl., accounted for more than half of the state's production. The Mt, Vernon and New Harmony fields were next in importance of production, with 684,000 and 523,000 bbl., respectively. The price of crude oil was $1.22 a barrel for the old

Jan 1, 1943

By George V. Cohee, Ralph E. Esarey

In Indiana, 349 wells were drilled for oil and gas in the year 1942. Of this number, 125 oil wells and 21 gas wells were successfully completed and 203 were dry holes. Drilling activity declined 37 per cent as compared with that of the year 1941. This reduction was brought about largely by Federal Conservation Order M-68, restricting drilling to one well on 40 acres, in order to save steel. This Order was later supplemented to permit closer spacing of wells drilled to sandstone formations in southwestern Indiana. Most of the drilling in 1942 was in the southwestern part of the state. Posey County ranked first, with 94 completions and 44 producers; Gibson County, second, with 77 completions and 38 producing oil wells and 2 gas wells. There were 58 drilling operations in the state at the end of the year. During 1942 a total of 589,734 ft. of hole was drilled, of which 231,702 ft. was wildcat footage. The total initial production of the oil wells completed was 9974 bbl. and of the gas wells, 11,148,000 cu. ft. (Table 2). Of the 349 wells completed, 122 were wildcat wells (Table 3); 26 were completed as oil wells; 17 were extensions to proven fields and 9 discovered new pools. Posey County was foremost in wildcat drilling, with 37 wells completed (Table 6). Thirty-five per cent of the wells drilled in 1942 were wildcat, as compared with 25.5 per cent in 1941. It is anticipated that the percentage of wildcat wells drilled in 1943 will be greater, although the total number ol ,wells drilled in the state will probably be less. The new discoveries in Indiana in I942 were, for the most part, one-well pools in the southwestern part—in Posey, Gibson and Spencer Counties (Table 4). Most of the development in pools took place in the . Hazelton and Kirksville pools in Gibson County, Mr. Vernon pool in Posey County and the Vernon Heights pool in Vander-burgh County. Deeper production was obtained from the Osage limestone in the Hazelton pool at a depth of 2402 ft., 650 ft. below the productive McClosky limestone. The well had an initial production of 140 barrels. Extensions to 17 pools in the southwestern part of the state were successfully completed (Table 5). An interesting development during 1942 was new production from the Devonian limestone in the Dodds Bridge pool, Sullivan County. The Ohio Oil Co. deepened one of its wells, which had been producing from a shallow sand, to the,Devonian, and it was completed for an initial production of 77 bbl. Five other Devonian producing wells were completed in that area. Crude-oil production in Indiana in 1942 was 6,609,000 bbl. (Table I). The Griffin field, Gibson and Posey Counties, which produced approximately 3,550,000 bbl., accounted for more than half of the state's production. The Mt, Vernon and New Harmony fields were next in importance of production, with 684,000 and 523,000 bbl., respectively. The price of crude oil was $1.22 a barrel for the old

Jan 1, 1943

By Dale A. Vaughan, Oliver M. Stewart, Charles M. Schwartz

A. U. Seybolt (General Electric Research Laboratory)—The authors should be commended for adding some important information to our knowledge of the solubility of interstitial elements in metals. It is becoming increasingly evident that the effect of even traces of such elements have very far-reaching effects upon the mechanical properties of the body centered cubic metals. Those who have worked in this area know that the accurate determination of the small solid solubility limits in systems of the type reported by the authors is a quite difficult task, and it is therefore not surprising that frequently the results of different workers are not in agreement. It is instructive, and usually helpful, to plot the solubility results on log weight or atomic percent -1/T coordinates to find out if a straight line is obtained. A straight line is expected because in systems displaying solubilities of the order of 1 to 3 at. pet or less, Henry's law is usually obeyed—or at least well enough obeyed so that the deviation from linearity is not very appreciable. If Henry's law is obeyed, one canthen use the Van't Hoff Equation in the form In N = ?H/RT + C, where N is mole fraction, at. pet, or wt pet for small values, and AH is the partial molal heat of solution of the solute. R and T have the usual significance, and C is an integration constant. If one plots the reported nitrogen solubility values as indicated above, the three points fall reasonably well on a straight line. The oxygen values for the two upper temperatures fall very closely to the nitrogen values as shown in the authors' Fig. 15. However, the value at 500°C departs widely from the straight line established by the data at 1500" and 1000°C. It is, of course, true that one cannot place too much emphasis on the significance of a line established by only three points, but in the absence of reasons for anticipating deviations, data exhibiting wide departures from linearity should at least be examined closely. Fig. 16 shows the log at. pct -1/T plots for the authors Ta-O and Ta-Ndata including a solid circle point at 500°C and 1.8 at. pet for Ta-O, which is simply extrapolated from the two higher temperature points. In addition, the data of R. P. Elliott9 for Nb-O are shown. These points were picked off his curve and are not very exact, but as can be seen they line up well on a straight line. It is interesting, and probably significant, that the slope of Elliott's results is not far from those of Vaughn, et al. This is probably to be expected because one would anticipate that the partial molal heats of solution of oxyten in these two very similar metals should be not too far apart. AH for Ta-O is about -1900 cal per mol, while for Nb-O it is near -2300 cal per mol. Hence, this lends some support to the thesis that the point at 500°C for Ta-O is much too high. The data of Gebhardt and Preisedanz10 are also plotted, and it is seen that their data while lying on a linear plot, have an appreciably steeper slope. The possible reasons for this will not be discussed here except to point out that their pressure-composition data show anomalies which suggest that they may have been dealing with a different equilibrium from that being discussed. There is another consideration which would also suggest that the solubility at 500°C is lower than shown. The solubility values were obtained by the classic method of first establishing a lattice parameter-composition curve. This the authors did, and there is probably little doubt that it is quite accurate. Such a plot is generally almost error-free because it has a self-correcting feature in that any deviation from linearity makes a data point immediately suspect, and subject to confirmation. Unfortunately, this is not true with respect to the actual solubility values. These are obtained ordinarily by taking an alloy containing more solute than is soluble at some temperature and then thermally

Jan 1, 1962

By W. A. Barrows, Carl Zapffe

Jan 1, 1913

?ADAIR, ARTHUR C., Corp 4th Co., 1st. Training Bat., 154th Depot Brigade. ADAMS, HENRY, Major: Chemical Warfare Service. ARLUCK, A. A Headquarters, 1st Corps of Artillery. ASKIN, THOMAS B. H Ensign. BANKS, H. R., 2d Lieut Canadian Engineers. BAYLESS, G. E. S Supply Dept. U. S. Submarine Base. BELL, L. R Co. C, 302d Engineers. BELLIS, ARTHUR E., Capt Ordnance Reserve Corps. I BIRRETT, HOWARD, Lieut., Aviation Section, U. S. Signal Corps, Ellington Field. BOISE, PAUL T 2d Regiment, 24th Squadron. ?BRADLEY, CLARENCE I Convois Automobile Section 585. BROWN, GEORGE M Co. G lot Engineer Replacement Regiment. BUCKINGHAM, ALBERT U. S. S. " Coronet," S. P. 194, Section Base No. 7. BURNS J. J Co. 1-B, E. R. O. T. C. BURT, Co. B, let Engineers Replacement Regiment. ||BYERS, WHEATON B., 2d Lieut Ordnance Dept. CANTON, WILLIAM R., Sgt Headquarters Co., 80th F. A. CARSON, JOSEPH A., Capt A.S. S. R. C.' CHAPMAN, LEWIS C. Corp 29th engineers. CHETNEY, P. C., 2d Lieut 15th Bat. Headquarters Co. CHEVRILLON Louis French Red Cross. CHIDESTER, W. B., 1st Lieut 24th Machine Gun Bat. CHURCH, JOHN L., Capt 308th Engineers. CLAGHORN, D. MONTGOMERY, 1st Lieut 45th Engineers. CLAQHORN, JAMES L., Lieut Aviation Section, Signal Corps. CLARKE, ALEXANDER F U. S. Naval Aviation Service. COMINS, WALDO H. Ca t 41st Co., 164th Depot Brigade. COOK, FREDERICK A., Capt., Engineer Reserve Corps, Asst. to Div. Engr. 79th Division. COOPER, CLAUDE H. Capt C. A. R. C., 50th Artillery. COPELAND, N. R., Lieut. ||CORBY H.. G., 1st Lieut Co. D, 109th Supply Train. CORSA, BEAN, Capt Co. D, 612th Engineers. CORTESE, EMILIO Italian Army. COULDREY PAUL S., Corp British Expeditionary Forces. || CRAGIN, RODNEY S Co. E, 115th Engineers. CURRIE, JOHN M., Ca t Royal Engineers. || CUTTING, G. W., 2d Lieut U. S. Reserves, Field Artillery. V DARRINGTON, PAUL N., 1st Lieut U. S. Infantry. DAVIS, ANGUS W., Lieut-Col British Expeditionary Forces. || DAVIS, THORNTON, 1st Lieut 13th Field Artillery. ELAND, FREDERICK A., Major Engineer Reserve Corps. DOUGLAS, JAMES $ American Red Cross. DOVE, D. R., Candidate 21st Training Battery, F. A. C. O. T. C. Dover JAMES J 6th Co. C. B. DOWS, DAVID,Capt Coast Artillery, Officers Reserve Corps. || DRAKE, M. 6., 2d Lieut Headquarters Co., 325th Infantry. I || EMMERSON, E. Roy British Navy. EVERIT, RICHARD STURTEVANT Heavy Artillery Officers' Training Camp.

Jan 1, 1923

By H. Merton Ruth

THE northern anthracite fields, although facing the same economic problems as the southern fields, are confronted with the additional problem of fast dwindling reserves of anthracite which can be conventionally and economically won. The mining of coal which remains in thin beds and the recovery of pillars from areas heretofore considered unrecoverable, either by reason of cost or surface restriction, pose problems of in- creasing importance to the economic life of the northern field operations. Successful approaches have Been made to this problem and other work is being performed that holds promise. There exists in the northern anthracite field millions of tons of solid coal, the recovery of which has not been too successful due to the following inherent operating faults: inability to concentrate producing areas; the great quantities of rock to be cut and handled, lack of consideration of proper sequence and speed of second mining, and the continued use of the mine car as the basis of payment. A mining system that has successfully solved these major problems has been in operation in the Scranton area since 1944. Over 1% million tons have been produced from veins varying from 3 to 4% ft thick by this method, which is known as the multiple panel-triangular system-conveyor mining.

Jan 1, 1950