Search Documents

By HOWARD N. EAVENS

DURING the year just closed the bituminous industry has been marked by a continuation of the period of low prices and a steady deflation, accompanied by the closing of mines and the consolidation of small units into larger ones. This pro- gram has marked almost every field in the country, and it bids fair to continue for some time. Some figures recently published for Kentucky show that in 1924 there were 660 mines producing 45,147,000 tons; in 1928 the number had decreased to 537, while production had increased to 61,860,000 tons, and a similar movement is occurring all over the country. Prices throughout the early part of the year were very low, but during the fall and winter the prices received are more satisfactory than they were earlier in the year. One of the leading developments in the marketing of coal during the year was the trade practice movement, which began in the Harlan field, and has now been adopted in the Harlan, Hazard, Appalachian, Logan. Williamson and Kanawha fields. The purpose of this movement is to prevent the shipment of coal except on order, and by the publication of price lists to prevent much senseless price quotation. Where it has been practised the longest this movement has resulted in a considerable degree of stabilization, and, undoubtedly, it will help existing conditions very materially if it becomes universal.

Jan 1, 1930

By ELLSIVOKTH DAGGETT

THE Berlin gold quartz mine is situated in Nye county, Nevada, on the west flank of the Shoshone range, about 40 miles south and 30 miles west from the town of Austin, the county-seat of Lander county. The distance from Austin is about 60 miles by stage-road. The outcrop of the vein, at the top of the incline-shaft, is situated just at the base of the mountain proper, almost exactly at the intersection of the mountain-side with the gravelly bench that slopes for about three-quarters of a mile to the flatter sage-brush plain, or desert valley, below. The -vein itself consists almost entirely of quartz, with perhaps 2 per cent. of sulphide of iron, copper, lead, zinc and antimony, and perhaps a trace of some of the compounds of tellurium with gold and silver, although none of the latter have been as yet positively identified. The relative proportion, by weight, of silver and gold in the ores, varies in different parts of the vein, from 12 silver for 1 of gold, to 7 silver for 1 of gold. The quartz vein-filling is usually frozen fast to the walls, and is very hard and compact, seldom showing the friable, fissured, or shelly structure often to be found in quartz veins. Comparatively little evidence of relative motion of one wall of the vein upon the other is to be found-a fact indicating that during the formation of the vein, and prior to the extensive movements herein described, little disturbance had taken place. No evidence whatever of metasomatic origin has been observed. On the other hand, occasional occurrences of comby structure, in which the axes of the quartz crystals are at right angles to the plane of the vein, rather indicate deposition from solution in a pre-existing fissure. Spurs, or branches, and small parallel veins, while not en-\

Mar 1, 1907

By Charles H. Moore

In the study of the properties of rutile pigments it became apparent several years ago that certain physical and optical properties could not be determined on particles of pigmentary size. Since reflected light is the dominant type which reaches the eye from small particles, the true color of pure rutile was not known. Most rutile pigments are acicular in habit, elongated parallel to the "c" axis. It was considered important to know the nature and tone of light transmitted, for example, by a basal plate. Further, as shown by spectrophotometric curves, there is a very strong absorption of light of 4000 k as measured on particles with random orientation. It would be interesting to see whether this absorption position varied with predetermined and selected orientations. Also, since the behavior of titanium pigments in a vehicle is important, a knowledge of the surface wettability of single crystals by various media should prove very fruitful. Finally, the optical properties of rutile are such that it should show, in a single pure crystal, greater fire and brilliance than the diamond. Mineralogists had long speculated that this would be the case and curiosity was strong to produce a single crystal large enough to cut.

Jan 1, 1949

By Ira B. Joralernon

THREATS of a coming metal famine in the United States have filled many columns in magazines and newspapers in the past three years. This asserted menace has diverted attention from the actual results of recent exploration. Because no one had bothered to look into the facts, the statistical experts assumed that little ore was being found. They often subtracted the staggering tonnage of metals produced during the war from earlier published reserves, and assumed that the difference was all we had left. Naturally, they shuddered, with all possible publicity. For their figures showed an imminent lack of nearly all the metals needed for an industrial civilization, as well as for mechanized war. They concluded that only wholesale imports and development and production of metals by Federal agencies could avert the famine.

Jan 1, 1948

By W. E. Horst

Flotation feed was hell constant for batch laboratory tests and continuous pilot and commercial plant tests on a spodumene ore to determine the relation.ship between flotation behavior and the size and type of flotation machine. Results. showed that additional retention time would be needed in the plant flotation circuit to duplicate laboratory or pilot plant performance when operating Dariables of the. plant flotation machines remained unchanged. During the past few years of operation at Kings Mountain, N. C., full-scale flotation has generally yielded poorer metallurgical results than those obtained in the laboratory or pilot plant. After 2 min in each size of Denver flotation machine in the spodumene rougher circuit, pilot recovery (41.7 pct) was almost three times that of the plant (13.6 pct) and about twice that of the laboratory (21.0 pct). Pilot and commercial plant data are based on continuous operation, and laboratory results on batch testing of rougher performance. The ore is a pegmatite containing spodumene, feldspar, quartz, mica, and amphibolite. Data were accumulated to evaluate the scale-up relationships between laboratory, pilot plant, and plant flotation cells. Flotation rate constants and dimensional analysis were used to define the relationship existing between flotation behavior and scale of operation. Measuring Flotation Rates: Efficiency of the rougher stage was measured by flotation rate, defined as the recovery that can be attained within a given time." • The problem of measuring flotation rates has been studied by many investigators, whose methods have varied. Published studies an flotation kinetics have been summarized recently by Gaudin.l When comparing flotation rates, it is more satisfactory to compare straight line relationships between recovery and flotation time than exponential curves resulting from plotting cumulative recovery vs cumulative flotation time. To convert the exponential curves into straight line relationships, rate equations were applied similar to those used in chemical kinetics to study the velocity of chemical reactions. Two rate equations have been used in this investigation to measure efficiency of the various cells: 1.5 order Rate Equation dR/dt=k (A-R)1.0 [Eq.1] Second Order Rate Equation dR ---- - K(A - R)2 [Eq. 2] dt Upon integration Eq. 1 becomes 1/(A-R)1/2=k/2 t+1/A1/2 [Eq. 3] and Eq 2 becomes: or fEq. 4] t/R=1/A2K+t/A [Eq. 4] where R = cumulative recovery [percent recovery of total value (spodumene) in flotation feed]. A = initial concentration, pct (100 pct of mineral to be separated). t = flotation time (minutes). k = flotation rate constant for 1.5 order rate equation [units: 1/(percent) 0.5 (min)1. K = flotation rate constant for second order rate equation [units: 1/(percent) (min) 1.

Jan 1, 1959

By M. P. Tixier

In several log interpretation methods, water saturation is evaluated by use of the ratio of the readings of a short spacing resistivity device and a long spacing resistivity device plus information on the mud filtrate and connate water resistivities, which is often derivable from the SP. These methods are valid over a certain range of conditions, usually specified by moderate invasion and R.. greater than R,. Since these methods involve no explicit evaluation of the formation factor, F, the saturafiion so found may be used in the standard Archie equation to derive a computed formation factor which, as a check, may be compared with the formation factor known from other independent measurements. Discrepancies in the two values of formation factor generally indicate that the ratio method is not within its range of applicability. If the computed F is too low, the corresponding S, is too low; if the computed F is too great, the corresponding S, is too great. By means of this "porosity balance" check, and some knowledge of the probable conditions of invasion, the interpretation can often be improved. The poqosity balance check is discussed for the cases of the Induction-Electrical Log Interpretation Method, the Rocky Mountain Method, and the R.,/R, Method. For the first method, a discussion is also given for the case of shaly sands. INTRODUCTION Al though many logging tools are available to obtain a practical value of porosity, the only logging method reflecting the water saturation is electrical logging. Water saturation is commonly computed from electrical log data by means of the basic Archie formula, Where F is the formation factor, R, the resistivity of the formation water, and R, the true resistivity of the formation. One difficulty in this procedure is a possible error in the evaluation of R, from the logs— for example, in the case of very deep invasion. There is no possibility, inherent in the procedure, which would provide a check of the accuracy of R, and, hence, of the computed saturation. Other approaches have been proposed which are based essentially on the ratio of the readings made with two dzerent devices: one device, with a short radius of investigation, provides a value close to the resistivity of the invaded zone; the second device, with a long radius of investigation, gives a value close to the true resistivity of the bed. By these methods, the determination of saturation is made independently of any direct knowledge of the formation factor. Therefore, if the formation factor (or porosity) is known from other sources (core analysis, neutron log, MicroLog . . .), it becomes possible to take advantage of this additional information in order to check the value of saturation derived from these latter methods. Inasmuch as this proposed check procedure relies on a knowledge of the value of formation factor or porosity, it has been deemed appropriate to call this verification a porosity balance. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the principle and the application of the porosity balance, depending on the method of interpretation being used. Basis of the Method There are in existence three interpretation methods by means of which the water saturation can bc found without a knowledge of the formation factor (or porosity). As just stated, they are based on the fact that the ratio of the two resistivities (one measuring the resistivity close to the hole, the other measuring the resistivity far from the hole) is independent of the formation factor since it affects the two resistivity measurements in the same way. Chronologically, the resistivity ratio methods are: (1) the Rocky Mountain Method, which has been used since 1943 and was explained in a paper in 1949;' (2) the R../R, Method or Shaly Sand Method, presented in 1954, which permits the calculation of the water saturation in both clean and shaly sands2; and (3) the Induction-Electrical Log Method, presented in 1957 for the interpretation of the induction-electrical log combination." Each method requires certain definite conditions in order for the interpretation to be reliable. The porosity balance method will let us know whether these conditions are fulfilled. In clean formations we know that the fundamental Archie relation (Eq. 1) must always be verified. This relation can be rewritten:

PICK AND SHOVEL CLUB, CASE SCHOOL OF APPLIED SCIENCE The last meeting of the year of the Pick and Shovel Club of Case School of Applied Science was held on May 20, 1919. The speaker, Dr. Zay Jeffries, gave a very instructive and interesting talk on the Metallography of Non-ferrous Metals. The club has had a very successful year in spite of the loss of a few months time through the S. A. T. C. Among the speakers for the year were Dr. F. R. Van Horn, Dr. C. H. Fulton, and Dr. W. R. Veazey of our school; Dr. E. S. Moore of Penn. State College; Dr. Ansel St. John, of the National Carbon Co.; and Mr. V. S. Bidle, of the W. S. Bidle Co. The graduating members wish the club the best of success for the coming year. BERTRAND R. WARMELING, Secretary.

Jan 7, 1919

Elected Died 1895 ABBOTT, AI ATTHUR 1908 1882 ABBOTT, ARTHUR V 1906 1905 ABE, MASAYOSHI 1909 1903 ADAMS, CHARLES C. 1905 1903 ADAMS, HARRY C 1917 1906 ADAMS, JOHN C. 1913 1917 ADAMS, LLOYD D. 1918 1905 ADAMS, WILLAMS 1909 1903 ADAMS, W. EDWARDS 1910 1884 ADDY, MATTHEW 1896 1906 AFFLECK, WILLIAM A. 1911 1889 AKERS, WILLIAMS A. 1906 1905 ALABASTER, RUPPERT C. 1911 1899 ALBERGER, LOUIS R. 1911 1895 ALLAN, THOMAS A. 1894 ALLEN R B 1896 1905 ALLEN, R. SCOTT 1906 1886 ALLISON, ROBERT 1916 1874 AMIOT, H. 1892 1886 AMSLER, CARL 1894 1898 ANDRSON, JOHN W 1905 1895 ÅNGSTROM, CARL 1901 1887 ARCHBALD, JAMES 1910 1900 ARLETT, GEORGE H 1906 1895 ARMSTRONG, JOHN F 1898 1905 ARNOLDS, LEO F. 1917 1882 ARNOLDS, HUGO 1886 1875 ASHBURNER, CHARLES A 1889 1872 ASIIBURNER, WILLIAM 1887 1883 ATKINS, C M , JR 1885 1875 ATTWOOD, GEORGE 1912

Jan 1, 1923

By A. H. Dierker

NEXT to the metal itself, molding sand is the most important raw material used in the manufacture of steel castings. There are no accurate, figures available but probably it would be safe to say that the average steel foundry uses approximately 1000 lb. of new molding sand per ton of castings produced. With untreated sands costing from two to four dollars (in some extreme cases it may run as high as eight or ten dollars) per ton delivered at the foundry siding, molding sand is an important item in the cost of making castings, and any information that may help to reduce this sand consumption should be of interest to the industry.

Jan 1, 1929

ALBERT SAUVEUR, Chairman. A. A. STEVENSON, Vice-Chairman. HERBERT M. BOYLSTON, Secretary, Abbot Bldg., Cambridge, Mass. John Birkinbine, William Kelly, J. S. Unger, William H. Blauvelt, Charles Kirchhoff, Felix A. Vogel, James Gayley, Richard Moldenke, Leonard Waldo, Henry D. Hibbard, Joseph ANT. Richards, William R. Walker, Henry M. Howe, C. F. W. Rys, William R. Webster, Robert W. Hunt, E. Gybbon Spilsbury, Frederick W. Wood. J. E. Johnson, Jr., For the meeting of the Institute which is to be held in New York City, Oct. 16 and 17, 1913, the following program has been arranged: October 16, 1913, 10 A. M W. A. Forbes, Blast Furnace Gas Cleaning. W. H. Blauvelt, The Slagging Producer. Prof. F. Peter (Leoben, Austria), The Generation of Steam by Waste Heat from Furnaces. G. C. Stone, The Generation of Steam by Waste Heat from Regenerative Furnaces. W. R. Shinier, Over-Oxidation of Steel.

Jan 10, 1913

By J. K. Lovrien

A Link-Belt roller-bearing conveyor system was in- stalled recently at the Gross-Marble mine of the Oliver Iron Mining Co. at Marble, Minn., for removal of overburden and lean ore. The material, consisting of clay, sand, gravel, and glacial boulders. is excavated by an electrically operated walking dragline equipped with a 10 cu yd bucket working from a boom approximately 150 ft long. This machine loads into a receiving hopper of a rail-mounted screening plant in 45 second cycles. A manganese steel apron feeder under the receiving hopper delivers to an elliptical grizzly, from which the oversize boulders and extraneous material, by way of an apron conveyor, arc loaded into refuse haulage trucks.

Jan 12, 1951

By JOHN R. SUMAN

TONIGHT I want to speak of the current problems and the postwar difficulties facing American industry. American industry has done an outstanding job in adjusting its operations to wartime necessity. The national income for 1942 was nearly $120,000,090,000 and of this outlay approximately $55,000,000,000 went for war material. The enormity of the expenditures for war material is indicated by the fact that the expenditures for war purposes alone were greater than the annual gross national income in the period 1931-34. This tremendous production job in turning out a record output of war products was accomplished by industry in spite of a large number of restraining and hampering influences, and I want to mention several of the more important problems.

Jan 1, 1943

By E. M. Wise

WHEN man became dissatisfied with the mere utilization of physical force and began to use weapons, he made a definite stride forward. At first he used sticks, animal bones and stones, often rudely shaped to some particularly lethal form. These devices, while crude, were moderately effective. How- ever, some of the brighter men of the tribe found that certain particularly heavy "stones" were somewhat ductile and could be hammered into more effective weapons than those previously known. Later, probably through the misuse of one of these weapons to stir the campfire, it was found that heating softened and perhaps actually melted the material. The process of annealing had been discovered! Smelting the more easily reducible metals was in all probability one of those fortuitous accidents which was followed up by thoughtful researchers who ultimately developed the technique of mixing various ores to produce bronze and even some of the nickel content alloys. The resulting products were at first lumps of more or less ductile material which could be hammered to shape, and were thus incidentally hardened by this process. The hardening of metals by alloying and cold working remained for many centuries the only known methods for improving their properties.

Jan 1, 1931

By Sherwin F. Kelly

THE present lull in engineering activities presents an advantageous moment for inquiring into the position now occupied by geophysics in its various fields of application. The recent over-expansion in all lines of work resulted in an uncritical employment of these methods of exploration which was bound to have its harmful reaction. The pendulum has now swung back, producing a decidedly hypercritical attitude toward the new science that had been recently welcomed so joyfully as the panacea for prospecting troubles. The severe retrenchment in exploration has forced upon us a period of waiting and, it is to be hoped, of profitable contemplation. This can well be employed in trying to pass a reasoned judgment on what position geophysics should occupy in the new geological exploration programs that will inevitably ac- company the looked-for industrial recovery.

Jan 1, 1931

By E. R. Smith

ANALYSIS of the requirements for gun perforation equipment suitable for penetrating casing and cement showed that these points would be involved: (1) Powder charges electrically detonated under high fluid lieads and at remote distances. (2) Selective firing of sliots in sequence. (3) Sufficient velocity for the bullet to penetrate at least two strings of seamless casing and all cement beyond the strings. (4) Heat-treatment of steels to withstand great pressures and penetration. (5) Esclusiorl of fluid under extremely high hydrostatic pressure. (6) Stranded steel wire line acting as weight - suspending and current - carrying medium. (7) Firing controls operated above the surface. (8) Determining gun depth and suspended weight by means of the wire line. (9) Portability for field use.

Jan 1, 1936

By A. H. Bell

DEEPEST hole in the earth, and deepest producing oil well in the world-such is well No. K.C.L. A-2, of the Continental. Oil Co., completed on April 12 in the San Joaquin valley about four miles west of Wasco, Calif. It penetrated the earth's crust to a depth of 15,004 ft.- almost three miles-a depth that exceeds by over 2200 ft. that of the previous record holder in western Texas. It is now producing oil from sands at a depth from 13,092 to 13,- 175 ft., which is about 1500 ft. deeper than the record formerly achieved in Louisiana. Continental's new well was bottomed in what is possibly Domengine-Avenal Eocene sand, and is producing from the Middle Miocene equivalent to the Rio Bravo sand.

Jan 1, 1938

By Graham Bright

T HE chairman of the Mines Committee of the A. 1: E. E. for 1920-21 has had the honor of being also the chairman of a similar committee, the Mine Equipment Committee, of the A. I. M. E. It has been the endeavor during the past year to have the two committees work together since the object of these committees is very much the same. A meeting of the committees was held in Chicago in November of 1920, at which time it was decided that one of the best ways to work together would be to foster joint meetings of the local sections of the A. I. E. E. and A. I. M. E. By these meetings, it was hoped that various engineers in the local sections interested in mining subjects could be brought together and not only become better acquainted but be greatly benefited by the interchange of ideas and by the discussion of papers presented on mining subjects.

Jan 1, 1921

By J. C. Bayles

Jan 1, 1886

By AIME AIME

THE petroleum engineers have the conference habit. They drop in, thresh things over, and drop out. No time is wasted. So it was at the Fort Worth meeting of the Petroleum Division, Thursday and Friday, Oct. 8 and 9; headquarters, Blackstone Hotel. Associate Chairman Albertson arrived the morning of the 7th, to tie in any loose ends of the technical program. S. M. Greenidge, chairman of the local committee, checked the arrangements with his committeemen at a luncheon that noon. By mid-afternoon the next day's attendance was anybody's guess-there were no noses to count. But when the gavel sounded Thursday morning 175 members and guests were present, also the official A.I.M.E. party consisting of President Lovejoy, Secretary Parsons, and George Otis Smith. Shortly after adjournment Friday afternoon all but a handful had vamoosed, lit out, disap¬peared. But, in the meantime, it was a grand conference, attendance maximum every session, and the discussion fast and furious. The discussion came from all over the floor, sometimes as good-natured sniping, sometimes in long volleys that were almost fatal to the reporter. Everyone knew his subject and few there were who had nothing to say.

Jan 1, 1936

By C. K. Leith

CERTAIN ideas on iron and steel sanctions to follow originated in a series of conferences held under the joint auspices of the War Department and Brookings Institute in Washington last spring. The views presented may be regarded as those of substantial segments of the steel industry. In view of the fact that steelmaking capacity can be so quickly converted to the production of armament, any effective control must necessarily include the entire steel industry and not solely the parts devoted to the production of implements of war. It must also be exercised all the way from production and shipment of raw materials through their ultimate conversion into finished products and use. Control will be dis- cussed under two main headings: (I) control of raw materials at the source; (2) control of steel capacity within the Axis countries.

Jan 1, 1944