Search Documents

By Tommy Wilson

OIL well drilling fluids have become a vital part of the drilling industry during the past 25 years. From chance usage of drilling mud at the fabulous Splindletop field in 1901, drilling fluid control has become an extremely technical and exacting science. Drilling for oil today involves exploration at depths ranging to 21,000 ft, nearly 4 miles. Geological formations encountered at these depths offer a tremendous challenge to the production, research, and service facilities of any drilling mud company.

Jan 5, 1954

By James T. B. Ives

The map exhibited* as an example of my method of construct ing geological strata-maps is essentially an educational appliance. The method, however, is available for the production of maps of comparatively small areas, which, I am confident, will be found of great practical value to mining engineers. Before stating how the method may be so applied I will briefly describe the map exhibited, as the easiest way of making my meaning clear. Almost any region might be taken. This map represents the eastern half of the United States; and the geology is that of the map issued by the Geological Survey, and revised and extended subsequently by Professor Hitchcock for your Institute. I use ten cards, of the colors used in the geological map, each having the geog raphy of the area printed upon it; and I superimpose these in the order in which the colors occur in the index to the map. I next cut away a portion of each card, excepting the lowest, leaving only so much of each as represents the exposure of the formation of that color plus all those which overlie it. When that is done, the whole, looked at from a distance, appears to be an ordinary geological map. Looked at more closely, however, the formations are seen to overlie one another, as in nature. The cards are covered with glass in a frame, which, hinged at the bottom edge, can be let down. The cards are then found to be all hinged in the same manner, and they, too, may be lowered, one after the-other. I am told by teachers of geology of great experience and the highest reputation that by this appliance they will be assisted in im parting to students the first facts and principles of geological sci ence. Having let down the whole series of cards, until that repre senting the Archaean is seen underlying all the rest, the teacher will gradually rebuild it. The Cambrian will thus be laid down upon the Archaean before the eyes of the class, the Silurian upon that,

Jan 1, 1888

The Ortiz Mountain property is located approximately 40 km (25 miles) southeast of Santa Fe and 13 km (8 miles) from the village of Cerrillos. The property embodies a Spanish mineral grant from which Gold Fields acquired about 2, 200 hectares (900 acres of surface and mineral rights. Following a period of exploration, metallurgical testing and development of a feasibility study in 1974, the decision was made, because of the higher gold price in the fall of 1978, to place the property into production. the gold is confined in a quartzite breccia; it is an unusual occurrence because the gold in this host rock is leachable at minus 19 mm (3/4 in. ). Total ore reserves are estimated at approximately 3.6 million mt (4 million st) averaging 1.89 g per mt (0.055 oz per st) based on a cut-off of 0.7 g (0.02 oz). The ore will be recovered by open pit mining at a stripping ratio of 1. 2:l. Production is scheduled for 13,600 mt (15,000 st) of ore per week or approximately 680,000 mt (750,000 st) per year. Primary crushing of pit-run material is by a 1,070 by 1,015 mm (42 in. by 40 in.) jaw crusher. Crushed ore is conveyed to stockpile and then to a 2.13 m (7 ft) standard crusher with the screened over- size crushed in a 1.5 m (5 ft) tertiary cone crusher. The screen undersize, the final product for leaching, is minus 19 mm (3/4 in. ). A 1, 360 kg (3,000 lb) sample is cut from the crushed ore stream, further crushed in a small jaw crusher and then sampled in two more stages by Vezin samplers to produce a final 13.6 kg (30 lb) sample for assaying. Pebble lime is then added to the ore on the belt as it is sent to the conveyor gantry spanning the leach pads. A tripper on this moving gantry stacks the leach ore without compaction. The entire crushing plant and conveying system is of open-air construction. Leach pads have a total length of 515 m by 60 m (1,700 ft by 200 ft) wide with usable dimensions of 490 m by 58 m (1,600 ft by 190 ft). The directional length slope is 3. 870 with 370 on the width. The pad is constructed of 175 mm (7 in. ) thick asphalt containing a rubberized asphalt membrane. It is divided by a 300 mm (1 ft) high curb into eight segments. Each segment is loaded with 13,600 mt (15,000 st) of ore, which is one week's production. Optimum working height of a pad is considered to be 3. 0 m (10 ft) with a maximum height of 4. 0 m (14 ft).

Jan 1, 1981

By F. W. SUTTER

IN order to have ore available on the completion of the beneficiation plant at Clifton and to provide for continuous production while underground development was carried out, it was decided to develop an open-pit through the crest of a long hill in which the ore outcropped, using 40-ft. vertical benches.

Jan 1, 1943

By P. R. Bradley

NO thought had been given to deep level mining at the Alaska Juneau mine prior to 1930, but in that year a prospect winze was started and continued for 1000 ft. vertically below the main haulage or adit level. The point at which this winze was started was selected entirely by the prevailing physical conditions, such as proximity to established workings, convenience, and the presence overhead of a substantial pillar of dimensions sufficient to lo¬cate the sheave wheel and loading pocket. It was, therefore, with some surprise that the unusually high-grade ore found just below the collar of the winze persisted, with certain vari¬ations, to a full depth of 1000 ft. vertically. Likewise this unusually high-grade ore was found to persist on the various crosscuts driven on levels at 200-ft. vertical intervals. To be brief, this deep level work found richer ore than any yet found in the mine over like areas, and inasmuch as the area was sufficient to plan for extensive deep level mining, plans for such work were given extended consideration.

Jan 1, 1936

By S. K. Asunmaa, W. D. English, N. A. Tiner, W. A. Cannon

This paper discusses the reaction of metal surfaces with fluorine. Fluorination reactions result in the formation of metal fluoride films which are "passive" toward further reaction of the metal with fluorine. These films are very adherent, and do not easily detach from the substrate metal by mechanical flexing or thermal shock. Exposure of passive films to a humid atmosphere produces hydrated metal fluorides which cause secondary fluorination reactions upon reexpo-sure of the metal surface to fluorine. The surface films formed range from 10 to 30A in thickness and they pow at the expense of surface oxide films. The apparent film formation is completed rapidly in 15 to 30 min on stainless steel and nickel surfaces. On copper and on Monel surfaces, the film at first grows rapidly, then increases slowly over an extended period of time. Passive films are formed at all fluorine pressures in the range from 0.1 to 1.4 atm at room temperature. ALL metals react when exposed to fluorine. These reactions generally produce surface films which consist of metal fluorides. The rate of reaction is largely determined by the extent to which these films are protective. Although there is an extensive literature concerning reactions of oxygen with metals, there are very few investigations reported concerning fluorine-metal reactions. Brown, Crabtree, and ~uncan' investigated the kinetics of the reaction of gaseous fluorine with copper metal which had been freshly reduced in hydrogen. The reaction rate was independent of pressure over the range from 6 to 60 torr. A logarithmic rate law was obeyed in the temperature range from 25" to 300" ~. There was some deviation at higher temperatures which could have been the onset of a parabolic law. The calculated film thicknesses ranged from about two molecular layers, 10A, for 5 hr exposure at room temperature to thirty-five molecular layers for 5 hr exposure at 200" . The authors concluded that no single mechanism could explain all the observations. O7Donnell and spatkowski2 studied the reaction of fluorine with copper at 450°C at pressures from lo to 133 torr. The reaction was found to be pressure -dependent and followed a logarithmic rate law. It was not entirely diffusion-controlled, and fluorine was thought to be the migrating species in the reaction. Miscellaneous metal-fluorine reactions were investigated by Haendler et ~1.~ Reaction products were identified but no rate data were determined. Air Prod- ucts and Chemicals, Inc., have conducted an investigation of reactions between fluorine and various metal powders at room temperature and 85° C. Fluoride film thickness as a function of time of exposure was reported on the assumption that the reaction takes place between fluorine and metal to form the normal metal fluoride. Surface areas of the powders were only estimated so the relative film thicknesses may not be exact. The data showed reaction rates which were generally logarithmic in character, the rate of film growth virtually ceasing after a few hours exposure time for some alloy powders. The effect of moisture on fluoride films was also investigated by measuring additional reaction with fluorine after exposure of passivated powders to atmosperic moisture. The fluorination of iron was studied by 0'~onnell~ at temperatures from 225" to 525" ~ and at pressures ranging from 20 to 200 torr. In all ranges, the reaction followed a logarithmic rate law and was dependent on the square root of the gas pressure. The author concluded that fluorine gas passes through pores in the film. As the film grows, the blocking of pores leads to a rapid decrease in reaction rate; hence a logarithmic rate law is observed. Jarry, Fischer, and Gunther' investigated the mechanism of the reaction of fluorine with nickel at about 600" to 700°C. On the basis of the metallographic examination of fluoride scales growing on the nickel and from separate radioautographic data, it was claimed that fluorine is the migrating species in the reaction. This is in sharp contrast to the growth of oxide films on nickel where it has been shown that nickel ions migrate through the scale to the gas-solid interface to react with oxygen. Few investigations have been reported of the reaction of fluorine with metal oxides. Such investigations should be of great significance for a better understanding of passivation in view of the ubiquitous oxide films on technical alloys. Haendler et al.3 studied the reaction of fluorine with oxides of copper, tin, titanium, zirconium, and vanadium. Copper (I) oxide reacted as follows in the temperature range 150" to 300"~: temperature above 300" ~ was required for the CuO to react to form additional copper fluoride. Ritter and smith7 also investigated the reaction of fluorine with copper (11) oxide. An oxide powder comprised of spherical particles with a fairly high surface area was reacted with fluorine, starting at room temperature and increasing to 100° C over a period of 3 or 4 hr. The initial reaction was slow until the fluoride film thickness reached about to or 15R at which time the reaction rate accelerated, then decreased again. Most of the kinetic data was obtained during this final phase of reaction. The authors conclude that the film grows slowly at first until the stresses developed in the distorted lattice are sufficient to rupture the initial

Jan 1, 1969

By A. F. Meger

REPRESENTED here are the ideas and varied experiences of many people in the Hanna Coal Co. who have helped develop, over a number of years, an efficient and flexible method for spraying con- trolled amounts of oil on coal. Since the George- town preparation plant began operations early in 1951, oil treatment of coal has received special attention. It is believed that oil treating will satisfy present customers and also attract new markets. The first step in developing the new method of oil spraying was the construction of a dust cabinet for testing 50-lb samples of treated coal with the available oil sprays on the market. Tests results were tabulated for both indoor and outdoor storage.

Jan 7, 1954

By W. A. Backofen, G. Y. Chin, W. F. Hosford

The ductile fracturing process was studied in single-crystal and poly cvystalline aluminum deformed in tension over a temperature range from 295° to 4.2°K. At temperatures as low as 77°K, the fracture of "inclusion-free" material, including zone-refined aluminum, was by rupture (-100 pct RA). At 4.2 OK, fracture was brought on by adia-batic shear. Metallographic examination did not disclose any voids or slip-band microcracks, thus negating for inherently ductile metals any mechanism of void nucleation by vacancy condensation or of cracking due to dislocation pile-ups. In Izigh-purity aluminum not treated to be inclusion-free, fracture at temperatures as low as 45°K was of the double-cup type and a result of void formation. The reduction-of-area decreased as temperature was lowered, corresponding to the earlier appearance of voids. Such behavior was rationalized in terms of a larger increase, with decreasing temperature, in the .flow stress relative to the strength of the inclusion-matrix interface. Evidence for low-temperature adiabatic shear was found in discontinuous flow at 4.2"K, in the transition to a localized shear fracture at low temperatures, and in the suppression of shear fracture with an elastically hard pulling device. A simple analysis for the initiation of adiabatic shew permitted a general correlation of the various contributing factors. It has been pointed out that the duration of shear depends upon effective mass and elastic stiffness of the deformation system. IT has long been recognized that fracture* may Throughout this paper, the term "fracture" is taken to mean any process that results in the separation of a material into two (or more) parts. Thus rupture as it may be encountered in a tension test leading to 100 pct reduction-of-area is included in this category. occur in a ductile mode, and that the process can be of great practical as well as general interest. Much information about ductile fracture has also been accumulated over this period, but only recently has an understanding of mechanism begun to appear. Ludwik,' in 1926, first reported fracture in a tensile specimen starting with a central crack in the necked section. Since then, other studies have disclosed that such cracks may form by the coalescence of voids nucleated in this region where hydrostatic tension is highest.2-4 Rogers and Crussard et al.' have emphasized void formation and reori-entation along localized shear bands as a mode of crack propagation. pines6 has considered the tensile rod as a bundle of fibers joined by weak interfaces, which subsequently separate to allow individual fiber contraction. The notion of cavity growth and coalescence by purely plastic processes was discussed by Cottrell: who added that the tensile reduction-of-area ought not to be sensitive to temperature. On the other hand, it has been observed that the reduction-of-area is greatly increased if tests are carried out at high temperaturesa or under high hydrostatic pressure.' Fracturing anisotropy in wrought products lends support to the idea of void formation from preexisting flaws strongly aligned by earlier processing.''-l2 There is evidence that many voids result from the fracturing of inclusions or separation at the inclusion-matrix interface Another possibility is that voids grow out of pore volume produced in the initial solidification and never fully removed in later working. In general, a structure 3f particles, pores, and weak interfaces can be expected, at least in materials of engineering interest. Vacancy condensation has been suggested as an alternative mechanism of void formation for materials considered to be inclusion-free.13 Yet experience has shown that tensile reduction-of-area increases with purity, to the extreme of rupture as so often observed in single crystals. Adiabatic shear has an important bearing on ductile fracture. It occurs when the decrease of flow stress, as a result of local temperature rise from heat generated during straining, becomes larger than the increase due to strain and strain-rate hardening. As demonstrated by experiments on punching of plates,14 a large temperature rise may be brought about by rapid straining. Adiabatic flow as a result of the high strain rate reached in an ordinary tensile specimen just prior to separation may account for the cone formation in cup-and-cone fracture;14 evidence of such local heating has been presented.15 For geometrical reasons, however, pure sliding along the conical surfaces is unlikely, and separation under tensile forces is probably an important accompanying feature of the shear.7 In deformation processing operations, a high shear-strain rate may exist at boundaries between plas-

Jan 1, 1964

By Hertha R. Freche

The diffusion of magnesium and silicon from the core into the high-purity coating of Alclad sheet is important commercially, and led to the use of a duplex product for the study of diffusion by means of spectro-graphic analysis of successive layers. It has been found that in the duplex materials the diffusion of magncsium from an undersaturated aluminum-magnesium alloy into its high-purity aluminum coating is approximately of the same order of magnitude as the diffusion of silicon from a saturated aluminum-silicon alloy into its high-purity aluminum coating. However, if magnesium and silicon are both present in the alloy in the ratio of Mg2Si, they appear to diffuse in the approximate ratio of this compound. Finally, if the alloy contains silicon in excess of the amount required by magnesium silicide, the amount of diffused silicon in the high-purity aluminum coating will also be in excess. The interdiffusion of metals in the solid state is of both scientific and technical interest, because it is helpful in the study of the alloy structure and in the solution of problems pertaining to the strength and surface condition of the fabricated product. W. C. Roberts-Austenlt carried out the first quantitative determination of the coefficient of diffusion of gold into lead. This classical experiment was followed by a series of investigations on the diffusion of metals and nonmetals in iron and steel and in nonferrous metals and alloys. Recently the diffusion of copper in coated strong aluminum alloys was investigated by A. Burkhardt2. This appeared to be the first published investigation on the diffusion of metals into aluminum. The present investigation was the direct result of a technical question in connection with alloy fabrication and is a summary of some preliminary work pertaining to the diffusion of magnesium and silicon into aluminum. The results necessarily will be subject to some variations, since this is the first attempt to evaluate the coefficients of diffusion of magnesium and silicon into aluminum according to this method of procedure. This

Jan 1, 1936

By Ernest Gayford

This is a nontechnical paper on flotation, subdivided under three general headings: (I) Definition of flotation; (2) what flotation is now doing in Utah; and (3) what is the future of flotation? Definition T. A. Rickard defines flotation' as "the act or state of floating," from the French flottaison, water-line and flotter, to float. The dictionary defines flotation as "the science of floating bodies." The flotation process is a method of concentrating ores by frothing. Weinig and Palmer,2 define flotation as follows: What is the flotation process? Briefly, it consists in the agitation of finely divided ore in water containing bubbles of air or gas, a small amount of oil and, usually, other reagents, soluble and insoluble; under these conditions the small particles of native metals, sulfides, arsenides, antimonides, selenides and tellurides show a tendency to attach themselves to the films of the bubbles, and are thus carried to the surface of the water. The oxidized gangue minerals, such as quartz, feldspar, limestone, hematite, etc., show much less affinity for the bubbles, are easily wetted by the water, and either remain in suspension in the water, or sink to the bottom of the vessel. If the bubbles are sufficiently stable they can be removed, carrying their load of sulfide-mineral particles with them. Thus there can be effected a separation of the two classes of minerals from each other, assuming that the grinding has been sufficient to unlock all of the particles of different composition. The separation does not depend upon differences in specific gravity of the various minerals; in fact, the sulfides are usually heavier than the oxides, and some of the heaviest sulfide minerals are the easiest to float. A particle of mineral may be so large, however, that its weight will counteract its affinity for the film of the bubble. In most cases the ore must be fine enough to pass a screen having at least 48 meshes to the linear inch. Taggart3 defines flotation as follows: Flotation is a method of wet concentration of ores in which separation of mineral from gangue is effected by causing the mineral to float at or above the surface of a body of liquid pulp while the gangue becomes or remains submerged. The method

Jan 1, 1928

By Shawn T. Sorrell, Carl Hrovatic

Original by Carl Hrovatic and Shawn T. Sorrell Revised by Carl Hrovatic Land is a precious resource and should be treated as such by all members of our society. The soil covering this earth is only a very thin outer layer, varying in thickness from a few inches to a few feet and covering the rocks and minerals lying beneath the surface. The wise use of this valuable commodity is the responsibility of everyone. Many everyday activities disturb the earth's surface. Examples are highway construction, housing and commercial developments, agriculture, and various types of mining. This chapter discusses the relationships of the environment to land as it applies to surface operations in the coal industry. Mining by surface methods disturbs, for a brief period of time, thousands of acres of land annually. In addition, refuse piles, slurry ponds, abandoned mine structures, unprotected mine openings, and unsightly cleaning plants can also adversely affect land unless properly handled. ACTIVE SURFACE MINING OPERATIONS Mining by surface methods includes rock quarries; sand and gravel pits; huge open pits to extract iron, copper, phosphate, and other ores; and coal mining. Production of coal by surface methods is now approaching 408.2 Mt/a (450 million stpy), amounting to almost 60% of the total coal output. Surface coal mining can be classified into the following five broad categories : Open-pit mining is practiced where coalbeds are extremely thick, as in some western states, or where coalbeds are sharply pitching, as in the anthracite region of the eastern United States. A typical open-pit mine, with coalbeds of 3.05 to 30.5 m (10 to 100 ft) or more thickness and a

Jan 1, 1981

By G. Birkbeck, T. C. Wells

Pearlite morphology in three commercially produced, low-carbon steels has been studied using optical and electron microscopy. A reduction in the cooling rate from 600° to 6°C per hr increased the interlamellar spacing but had little effect on pearlite content. The form of the lamellae was also assessed in terms of a new parameter, the ratio of lamellae length to interhmellar spacing. The variation of this parameter with cooling rate depended on steel composition. For each steel, it would appear that an optimum cooling rate exists at which lamellar pearlite can be produced to the greatest extent, though not necessarily the same extent in different steels. PeARLITE morphology depends principally on steel composition, prior austenite grain size, and either cooling rate or isothermal transformation temperature. Alloying with manganese,'" fine grain size,374 and slow cooling rates reduce the likelihood that a well-developed lamellar structure will be produced. Instead, imperfect structures usually consisting of partly globular carbides are formed in a ferrite matrix. Such structures have been described as granular.1,2,5 degenerate,6 or semi4-pearlite. Manganese additions also progressively lower the eutectoid temperature and the carbon concentration at the eutectoid so so that, for a given carbon content. the pearlite fraction is increased as manganese is added. While the effects of manganese are understood in a general way, quantitative studies of pearlite morphology have been carried out mainly on steels of eutectoid composition;9 little quantitative data is available for low-carbon steels. Certain anomalies exist in the behavior of steels containing -1.5 pct Mn, however. The pearlite morphology in niobium-treated steel differs from that which is generally accepted as typical of low-carbon/manganese steels in that a reasonably well developed lamellar structure is sometimes observed. In the present work, the effects of changes in cooling rate from 600° to 6°C per hr on the pearlite morphology in three commercially produced, low-carbon steels have been studied by both optical and electron microscopy. I) MATERIALS The steels were of the following types: 1) 0.1 pct C, 0.4 pct Mn steel (En 2, a composition similar to specification SAE 1010); 2) niobium-treated, 0.2 pct C, 1 1/2 pct Mn steel (BS 968:1962); 3) silicon-killed 0.2 pct C, 1 1/2 pct Mn steel (En 144, a composition similar to SAE 1320). The chemical analysis for each steel is given in Table I. To facilitate the comparison of pearlite morphology in the three steels, steels 1 and 3 (which were obtained as 1/2-in. plate and 1-in.-diam bar, respectively) were hot-rolled in the laboratory to $ in. thickness, finishing at around 850°C. The BS 968:1962 was received as 1/8-in. plate finished at 885°C and was not further worked. Specimens from each steel were heat-treated in vacuo at 950°C for 1 hr and cooled at rates of 600°, 60°, and 6°C per hr. 11) EXPERIMENTAL Pearlite contents were determined by point counting (500 points) on longitudinal sections mechanically polished and etched in 2 pct nital. Pearlite morphology is usually considered in terms of interlamellar spacing. For pearlite colonies randomly distributed in space and having a true, constant interlamellar spacing So Pellissier et al.9 determined the distribution curve for the apparent spacings of the lamellae on a random section plane. The areal fraction fs of the pearlite colonies occupied by apparent spacings up to a limiting value S is given by:

Jan 1, 1969

By G. W. Healy

Activities of oxides in the ternary FeO-MnO-SiO system are calculated from data on the binaries, using the Gibbs -Schuhmann method. These activity data are used, together with thermodynamic relations, to calculate the contents of oxygen, silicon, and manganese in liquid iron, and the composition of the corresponding oxide phases in equilibrium with it. Excellent agreement was found between calculated and experimental metal compositions, indicating that thermodynamic methods, such as those presented, can supply useful data on slag-metal equilibria, and are therefore capable of wider application. When molten steel containing oxygen is treated with a deoxidizer, the product of the reaction is composed of the oxides of the deoxidizing elements together with more or less iron oxide. This assemblage of oxides is presumably very close to equilibrium with the melt since it is formed directly from elements dissolved in it. Therefore, it is likely that metal analyses corresponding to a given oxide phase composition are calculable with considerable precision where sufficient information is available on activities in both phases. The present study was made to test this hypothesis in the case of deoxidation by silicon and manganese. Here experimental data on the relationship among oxygen, silicon, and manganese in the metal phase are available, as are activity data for the MnO-SiO2, FeO-SiO2, and FeO-MnO binary systems. A further objective was to demonstrate in a specific example how gaps in the data may be filled by judicious interpolation, and how the Gibbs-Schuhmann method is applied to obtain activities in ternary systems. The rigorous derivation of the latter, requiring considerable facility in handling partial differential equations, tends to mask the real simplicity of the method, and repel the very engineers and experimenters who would benefit the most from its use. I) GENERAL PROCEDURE Deoxidation of steel with silicon and manganese results in the formation of two phases, metal and oxide. The number of components is four—Fe, Mn, Si, and 0. The phase rule then gives the number of degrees of freedom: If temperature and pressure are fixed, 2 deg of freedom remain. Consequently, it suffices to fix the concentration of two of the components of the system for all the concentrations to be determined and, at least in principle, calculable. The practical problem is then to discover a straightforward method of calculation with a minimum of trial and error solutions. The type of reactions to be dealt with are like the following: Si (in steel) + 2 O(in steel) = SiO2(in oxide phase) The standard free energy of this reaction is readily obtained from the literature, so that the equilibrium constant can be calculated by the expression: Since the metallurgist is concerned with percentages rather than activities, a real solution requires information that will permit activities to be converted to concentrations. This information is fairly adequate for the elements dissolved in molten steel, but is not available for the FeO-MnO-SiO2 oxide system. Therefore, the first step in this study was to find the relation between activity and concentration for the three oxides making up the system. The next step was the calculation of slag and metal compositions that are in equilibrium with one another. As shown by the phase rule, it is sufficient to assume the values of two composition variables in order to calculate the rest. But which two are picked makes a vast difference in how difficult the calculation turns out to be, so that it is necessary to make preliminary trial of several routes to find the easiest one. A convenient method is to begin with the slag, and to pick FeO concentration and that of one of the other oxides. Starting with the relation between oxygen dissolved in the liquid steel and FeO in the slag permits a good first estimate to be made of the oxygen content of the steel in equilibrium with FeO, because the iron content being fairly close to 100 pct, Fe has an activity close to unity. Using this first estimate of oxygen activity, approximate values of the manganese and silicon contents of the melt are readily calculated from the appropriate equilibrium constants. A minor correction for the depar-

Jan 1, 1963

By M. Semchyshen, G. A. Timmons

The predominant orientation in both straight-rolled and cross-rolled molybdenum is the {100} [110] texture. Upon complete recrystallization, this same texture predominates, but there is less spread about the ideal orientation. A secondary orientation about the [111] direction as the axis develops in cross-rolled sheet. Compression-rolled sheet exhibits random orientation in the plane of the sheet. Some mechanical properties were measured at varying angles to the rolling direction to determine the effect of preferred orientation on anisotropy in molybdenum sheet which had been straight, cross, or compression rolled. THE development of the arc-cast process has made available large ingots of molybdenum from which it is possible to roll sheet of considerable size. It is anticipated that such sheet will be further fabricated by spinning, drawing, stamping, or forming. Anisotropy of physical properties caused by the preferred orientation developed in the sheet during rolling may be expected to affect the behavior of the metal when subjected to these fabricating operations. To produce a sheet which will be most amenable to the fabrication of a given shape by a particular operation, consideration should be given to the directions and magnitudes of plastic deformations produced in the operation. When possible, the rolling schedule should be controlled to develop a texture which favors the required deformation. The existence of preferred orientations in rolled molybdenum sheet has been reported by Jeffries,' Konobejewsky,' Fujiwara," Goss,' and Ransley and Rooksby." None of these investigators obtained sufficient X-ray data to permit the construction of pole figures; instead, they based their conclusions upon Debye-Scherrer patterns of a limited number of positions. Ransley and Rooksby devoted some attention to transcrystalline cleavage at 45" to the rolling direction, indicating that it is appreciable in polycrystalline material only when the crystals are in the ideally preferred condition, and that this condition is only approached if the metal has been rolled successively in two perpendicular directions. In a recent paper, Custers and Riemersmao introduced the first pole figures to describe the textures of straight-rolled and cross-rolled molybdenum sheet. To increase the knowledge concerning the generation and effects of preferred orientations in molybdenum sheet, an investigation was undertaken to determine the effects of variations in rolling schedule and annealing treatments on preferred orientation, and to correlate preferred orientations with some mechanical properties. The orientations of straight-rolled, cross-rolled, and compression-rolled sheet have been determined by X-ray analysis, both as-rolled and after recrystallization. Pole figures have been constructed to describe the textures produced by these various rolling procedures. Texture of Cast Molybdenum Ingots In the arc-cast process, molybdenum powder is pressed into a vertical column which is sintered to increase its strength as it proceeds downward into a water-cooled mold, where the metal is melted in an alternating-current arc established between the end of the formed powder electrode and the metal bath at the top of the growing ingot. Since the solid-liquid interface moves continuously upward in the mold, the crystal axes are not normal to the cold surface of the mold but have the curvature shown in Fig. la. X-ray analysis reveals that the cube axis is the fiber axis and that it is normal to the cold surface of the mold; that is, the [loo] direction is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the ingot. This substantiates recent work by

Jan 1, 1953

By R. B. Schluter, M. M. Fine

A process for winning copper from pelletized chalcocite concentrate without matte smelting and converting is under development at the Twin Cities Metallurgy Research Center of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The new procedure includes a two-stage fluid-bed treatment in which the pelletized concentrate with 33% Cu and 7% S is first desulfurized to about 0.5% S in an oxidizing atmosphere, and then metallized by reduction with hydrogen. The reduced product is melted with flux to separate metallic copper from the gangue. The metal must be refined to remove residual sulfur and iron. The pelletizing of the fine concentrate into mini-pellets prior to fluid-bed treatment is an important feature of the process, because it permits shorter reaction time, decreases dusting, and facilitates subsequent processing.

Jan 1, 1972

By Kazutami Imai

Effects of heavy metal ions on the growth and the activities of iron and sulfur oxidation of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans were investigated. Mercuric, silver, and stannous ions inhibited both of the growth and the iron- oxidizing enzyme system of the bacterium. On the other hand, uranyl ion inhibited the growth, but it gave almost no effect on the iron-oxidizing enzyme system. The inhibitory effect of uranyl sulfate on the growth of the bacterium is intensified on lowering the cultivating ' temperature from 28 ºC to 7 ºC. In the concentration of 10-3M, cadmium and copper ions inhibited colloidal sulfur-oxidizing activity of the cells 69 and 52 %, respectively, though they did not inhibit the iron-oxidizing activity at all in the concentration. On the contrary, stannous chloride did not givr any effect on the sulfur-oxidizing activity of the cells, though it inhibited the iron-oxidizing activity 55 % in the concentration of 10-3M. Several differences were observed among the cytochrome systems of cell-free extracts of the cells grown on iron and on sulfur.

Jan 1, 1976

By ir. H. Eraly

The allocation of miners to teams, and of teams to production faces, is complicated by the high degree of absenteism of miners in Belgium. Therefore, the exact knowledge of who is actually present at the beginning of a shift and of the exact skills of those present, enables the foremen and mine captains to constitute their teams before all men go down into the mine in the most effective way possible. This paper describes the system of attendance recording and of displays which the foremen use to constitute their teams and/or to interrogate the personnel data base in order to do so. It shows how the foremen dialogue with the computer, to change the function of a miner within a team, to another team, or the function of a team as a whole. The implementation of the system, data bases, and data communication equipment and procedures, is described. The benefits obtained are presented for each level of the company: foremen and team supervisors, engineers, mine management.

Jan 1, 1977

By Lincoln F. Elkins, John T. Cooke

Injection of gas to increase oil recovery has been considered for almost all important discoveries during the past ten or fifteen years. However, the number of gas injection projects having sufficient history and data is too limited to permit valid generalities of effectiveness of gas injection. Management and engineers are faced with a difficult problem of selecting those reservoirs which are susceptible to profitable application of gas injection. Injection of gas to maintain high pressure favors some factors affecting reservoir performance such as viscosity, surface tension, and formation volume factor of oil by keeping gas in solution and favors some operating features such as extending flowing life of wells and storing part of the produced gas for future use or sales. Injection of gas at low pressure involves lower compression ratio, or at least a single gas-gathering system, larger displacement volume in the reservoir per unit of gas handled, and permits effective utilization of the naturally existing energy and agent for oil displacement that is gas dissolved in oil. Each program is thus a compromise to meet optimum economic conditions while striving to attain maximum recovery of this important nautral resource. The statement has often been made that pressure maintenance would greatly increase oil recovery by permitting abandonment of formation oil inflated with gas in solution rather than abandonment of the same liquid volume of tank oil, if the same terminal oil saturation could be attained. Simple calculations indicate increases in oil recov- ery as high as one hundred per cent on this basis for high formation volume factor oil encountered in current deep drilling. Important in this statement is "if the same terminal oil saturation could be attained." Implicit in this statement are the requirement of physical

Jan 1, 1949

By John T. Cooke, Lincoln F. Elkins

Injection of gas to increase oil recovery has been considered for almost all important discoveries during the past ten or fifteen years. However, the number of gas injection projects having sufficient history and data is too limited to permit valid generalities of effectiveness of gas injection. Management and engineers are faced with a difficult problem of selecting those reservoirs which are susceptible to profitable application of gas injection. Injection of gas to maintain high pressure favors some factors affecting reservoir performance such as viscosity, surface tension, and formation volume factor of oil by keeping gas in solution and favors some operating features such as extending flowing life of wells and storing part of the produced gas for future use or sales. Injection of gas at low pressure involves lower compression ratio, or at least a single gas-gathering system, larger displacement volume in the reservoir per unit of gas handled, and permits effective utilization of the naturally existing energy and agent for oil displacement that is gas dissolved in oil. Each program is thus a compromise to meet optimum economic conditions while striving to attain maximum recovery of this important nautral resource. The statement has often been made that pressure maintenance would greatly increase oil recovery by permitting abandonment of formation oil inflated with gas in solution rather than abandonment of the same liquid volume of tank oil, if the same terminal oil saturation could be attained. Simple calculations indicate increases in oil recov- ery as high as one hundred per cent on this basis for high formation volume factor oil encountered in current deep drilling. Important in this statement is "if the same terminal oil saturation could be attained." Implicit in this statement are the requirement of physical

Jan 1, 1949

By David H. Browne

The use of coal-dust fired reverberatory furnaces, or indeed of rever-beratory furnaces of any description, was for the Canadian Copper Co. a matter of necessity, and not of choice. For 20 years smelting had been done in blast furnaces alone, and with the Herreshoff furnaces used prior to 1904 there was no trouble in treating fine ores. But little flue dust was produced, and this, following the time-honored custom, was wetted down and put back with the charge. Whether the flue dust really smelted, or whether it was worn out by being chased around in a circle, was a problem that troubled no one. With the installation of modern blast furnaces and high-pressure blowing engines, in 1904, flue dust commenced to assert itself. Evidently more dust was made than could be smelted, but so many vital. problems engaged our attention at that time that this minor question was pushed to one side. In 1906, the details of blast-furnace smelting and the conversion of matte had been worked out to a satisfactory conclusion, and the ever-increasing piles of flue dust and fine ore on the stock yard demanded serious consideration. Numerous experiments in sintering, briquetting, mixing with converter slag, forming blocks of flue dust with green-ore fines and cement, and so on, were undertaken. None of these showed much promise. Our problem was still further complicated by the question of treating converter slag. The ore was basic, the slag was not needed as a furnace flux, and it was felt that under these conditions the old method of pouring slag in molds and resmelting in the blast furnace was an unnecessary expense. If the converter slag could be settled in basic-lined reverberatory furnaces, in which at the same time flue dust and green-ore fines could be smelted, two problems might thus be solved. Reverberatory practice with our ores was, however, an unknown factor. As carried on in the West, on siliceous ores and concentrates, at least 25 per cent. of fuel was required, and even this ratio depended greatly

Jan 1, 1915