Search Documents

By L. D. Fetterolf, G. T. Mahler, W. M. Peirce, R. K. Waring

Until recently, the only commercial method of producing magnesium has been fused salt electrolysis, despite a considerable amount of experimental work on the direct reduction of magnesium oxide. In this early work, a number of investigators demonstrated that magnesium oxide would react with any one of several reducing agents to produce magnesium vapor, but that the mixture of magnesium oxide and reducing agent must be heated to a high temperature even in a vacuum. In particular, it was demonstrated that silicon and aluminum are effective reducing agents and that when either of these is used the magnesium vapor can be condensed to massive metal. In spite of this knowledge, no successful commercial reduction process was developed, at least in this country, because of the operational difficulties imposed by the requirement of high temperature and vacuum and because of the high cost of the reducing agent. The outstanding experimental work done by Pidgeon, who carefully reviewed all of the known methods of making magnesium and then selected ferrosilicon reduction, overcame some of the operational difficulties. The process developed by Pidgeon comprises briquetting a mixture of calcined dolomite and reducing agent, preheating the briquets to about 600°C. in an externally heated alloy retort, reducing the MgO with silicon in an evacuated horizontal alloy retort heated externally to about II50 C., and condensing the magnesium vapor to a solid in a cold extension of the retort projecting beyond the front of the furnace. A major advantage of Pidgeon's process is that the retort is not cooled down between charges. Earlier investigators had used apparatus that necessitated cooling and reheating of the retort between charges. Early in January 1942, when the War Production Board was considering the Pidgeon process for quickly increasing the production of magnesium, The New Jersey Zinc Co. offered to have a research investigation of the process carried on, with the hope of assisting in its further development. This offer was accepted, and a two-retort pilot plant was built at Palmerton and put in operation on Jan. 29,1942. An intensive investigation of certain phases of the process was carried out in the ensuing four months. This investigation was completed in the last part of May 1942) and the pilot plant was then shut down. Subsequently, The New Jersey Zinc Co. was requested to have further development work done on the process, and a more extensive investigation was undertaken in August 1942 under contract with the War Production Board and under the supervision of the War Metallurgy Committee. This paper describes the ,phases of the investigation that are thought to be of sufficient general interest to merit publication.

Jan 1, 1944

By W. D. MOTTER

THE following brief description of the status of operations of the Chile Exploration Co. at Chuquicamata, Chile; and of the plant as it exists today, points out the-great progress that has been made since the initiation of prospect drilling in 1912. During the 11 years which have elapsed since then, a group of small mines, eking out a 'precarious existence, has been consolidated into one large operating property,, taking high rank among the world's producers of copper. After a drilling campaign followed by a construction period, the plant first started operations in 1915. Since then production has been gradually increased, as world conditions permitted, until the present status has been reached.

Jan 1, 1924

By Alexander Bowie

IN many places throughout the Western mountain plateau regions of the United States coal beds in place have been burned over very extensive, areas, the fire evidently originating on the nakedly exposed outcrop of the coal bed and gradually burning its way into the bed for considerable distances under very heavy cover. . The surface evidences of the burned-out coal beds are seen in the calcined and discolored rocks overlying the places of the outcrop. The greater the mass of the burned coal the higher the results of its combustion can be seen in the overlying strata. I have noted many instances of this condition in the States of South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. In the lignite fields of Dakota and Wyoming I noted stretches of level country many square miles in extent where the surface rocks were roasted and vitrified by the burning of a great bed of lignite lying nearly level and with a light cover; this is probably the most favorable natural condition for the burning out of a coal bed. The less the depth of the rock covering overlying the coal bed, the better the .chance for a continuous supply of air to the fire; but when the coal bed clips heavily into the ground, or even if level, if it, passes under a hill or mountain which gives the bed a heavy covering of strata, the fire has more chances of being extinguished from natural causes than in the first condition described. The distance which, a crop fire may extend into a coal field is very much influenced by the dip, the thickness of the coal bed, and the nature of the rock covering immediately overlying it.

Jan 2, 1914

By G. D. Tranter

THE importance of ladle and teeming practice and its relationship to the yield and quality of the product has focused considerable attention on this phase of open-hearth operation. Inherently bad steel cannot be perfected by manipulation during teeming, but through the proper handling of "off heats" serious losses, which in many cases arise, can be greatly minimized. Conversely, good steel can be ruined as a result of poor workmanship in the -pit, and rendered unsuitable for application to orders where exacting surface and physical requirements are essential. Sufficient evidence has been secured to warrant careful investigation of pit operations when an abnormal number of basic defects develop in the semifinished product or are found on the inspection table. This paper is written from the standpoint .of the problems involved in making satisfactory ingots for sheet rolling. Furthermore, since rimming steel is almost universally used for manufacture of sheet, the data presented herein refer particularly to that type of steel. Going back some 30 years in open-hearth .history, the word "pit" properly described the hole into which the ladle was lowered to receive the metal tapped from the furnace. The working space was necessarily limited, and the disposal of slag and metal overflowing the ladle or lost because of breakouts presented a serious problem. The equipment, of course, was rather crude in the light of present-day development. Often no ladle stands were provided, the ladle being hung on the crane beneath the runner. When delayed taps occurred, the ladle was often held in position for many hours, thus tying up pit operations and causing delays to adjacent furnaces. Because of crowded conditions, slag thimbles were not used and a network of cast-steel triangles and old tapping bars, placed before the heat was tapped, was the means for removing slag from the hole. Furnaces of different capacities were used

Jan 1, 1935

By S. Zador, C. B. Alcock, K. Sudo

Measurements have been made of the standard free enevgies of formation of the sulfates of cobalt, Cupric copper, nickel, and ferric iron in the temperature range of 750° to 950°C. Dynamic gas-solid techniques have been employed in which oxide-sulfate and basic sulfate mixtures were placed in a stream of gas of controlled SO3 potentials. Thermal analysis and thermogvavimetry were used as detection methods, and it was found THE formation of sulfates during the roasting of sulfide ores is now considered to arise in many cases from the interaction of sulfur trioxide in the gas and the metal oxide which is formed on the sulfide as a first step.' As a preliminary to the investigation of the kinetics of sulfate formation during roasting, measurements have been made of equilibria from which the free energies of formation of cobalt, copper, nickel, and iron sulfates can be that the range of temperatures which could be investigated and the choice of method was largely controlled by the kinetics of these gas-solid reactions. The results are compared with previous results obtained from static measurements with which they agree quite well, and calculations have been made employing themal data to interrelate the present results with those for other sulfates. calculated. The method used has been to expose the solid sulfate (or basic sulfate) to a controlled flowing gas mixture of SO,, 02, and SOs and to observe the temperature of decomposition. The onset of decomposition was detected by thermal analysis or thermogravimetry. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS The thermal-analysis method was similar to that employed by Dewing and Richardson.' The sulfate was dehydrated at 250°C in air, and placed in a small alumina crucible which was held by a quartz ring in the hot zone of a horizontal furnace. The reaction tube of this furnace was made of mullite.

Jan 1, 1965

By Harold Rose

THE peak of production from the Appalachian natural gas field was apparently reached about 10 years ago, and the annual production from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio has now dropped to about two-thirds of the amounts obtained in 1916 and 1917. This .falling off in production has occurred in spite of vigorous efforts and large expenditures by producing companies to maintain or increase their output. The greatly increased costs of development and handling are reflected in the present average value of natural gas at the point of consumption, which value in the three states referred to, has more than doubled in the past 10 years. While it is true that the natural gas production of the United States has increased during recent years, this increase has come from southwestern states, particularly from Oklahoma, California, Louisiana and Texas, which states are now leaders in the production of this valuable but fleeting resource. Pennsylvania, originally the leading state in natural gas production, occupies sixth place in the latest (1924) U. S. Bureau of Mines statistics. West Virginia, which held first place for 15 years, has dropped to third rank, and Ohio is the seventh state in the order of natural gas production. Domestic and industrial demands for gas are constantly increasing everywhere in the United States. These growing demands have accentuated the difficulties in the localities with depleted natural gas supplies, and serious shortages have already occurred during winter months in the Pittsburgh district. Some relief has been obtained by placing restrictions on the industrial use of natural gas, and by increasing the price (which tends to reduce consumption). Yet these are but temporary expedients for checking gas consumption, which fail to solve the problem of adequate future supplies of gas.

Jan 10, 1926

By W. W. Coffeen, K. E. Doud

A singular mineral extraction and processing operation is conducted by Metal & Thermit Corp. in Hanover County, Va. The mine presently produces aplite rock, rutile and ilmenite. The deposit lies in the piedmont plain about 25 miles northwest of Richmond. It first drew attention as a result of discovery of float rutile on the surface about 1910. About seven years prior to this, Metal & Thermit through a subsidiary. American Rutile Co., had begun producing rutile'and ilmenite from a deposit in Nebon County, near Piney River, where aplite rock and ilmenite are mined today. Because of the interest in titanium minerals and the similarity of the new deposit to the Nelson County deposit, Metal & Thermit became interested and eventually acquired the Hanover County deposit.

Jan 10, 1962

By Fred DeVaney

THE coercimeter, as its name implies, is an instrument for measuring the coercive force? of magnetic substances. It was developed by Davis and Hartenheim in the Special Studies Section, Metallurgical Division. A detailed description of this apparatus may be found elsewhere.2 The coercive force determinations of magnetic materials are inter-esting because of the relationship established by Gottschalk,4 who showed a linear relationship between the magnetization coercive force and the specific surface of comminuted particles. The value of this relationship in determining grinding efficiency has been shown by Dean.3 The determination of the surface contained in the subsieve sizes has always been a difficult problem for investigators. They made approximate measurements of the surface of coarse materials by sizing on screens, but for the determination of the surface of the sub-sieve sizes it was necessary to make detailed grain counts or, elutriation tests, or to study dissolution rates. The technical literature contains many references to other methods for determining these surfaces, either by some special apparatus or by mathematical calculations based on distribution lines. Many of the methods are long and tedious, and the results of some, at least, are questionable. The turbidimeter gives quick results on ground cement. By using magnetite as the material to be ground, a simple determina-tion of its coercive force by the coercimeter, requiring 10 minutes or less, can be transposed directly and accurately into units of relative surface. This subject has been pursued further by the U. S. Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, Rolla, Mo., and the following is a description of the results.

Jan 1, 1938

By E. C. Houston, R. A. Laurence, F. A. W. Davis, L. L. McMurray, H. S. Rankin

This paper is coodensed from several reports by members of the staff of the Minerals Testing Laboratory of the Tennessee Valley Authority, on a series of experimental tests in the beneficiation of barite of the Valley area. These experiments were conducted upon a large number of samples taken from several mines in three different districts. The area contains numerous producing deposits, nearly all of which are hampered by the high iron and silica content of the ores. Because of the small difference in specific gravity between the iron oxide and the barite, a gravity separation is generally poor. The removal of the iron thus offers a special problem. Some of the operators have turned to magnetic separation to meet the shipping requirements for less than one per cent iron. The present experiments were conducted to determine the application of decrepitation or flotation in simplifying the concentration of the barite by removing the iron oxide and silica in one operation. Practically all the barite marketed in the area has been as "off-color" crude. The bleaching studies were made to determine the bleach-ability of the ores to alleviate this inferior grading, placing them on the market as bleached barite. Geology Barite has been produced at many places in the Tennessee Valley area, and prospects and minor deposits are known at many other places, but practically all the production of barite in the Valley has been from the Sweetwater district of East Tennessee. Other leading areas of former production are the Tazewell-Russell counties areas of southwest Virginia, the Del Rio-Stackhouse district of East Tennessee and western North Carolina, and the Fall Branch district of upper East Tennessee. The areas described in this paper are those from which samples used in the concentration tests were obtained.

Jan 1, 1942

By H. S. Rankin, F. A. W. Davis, R. A. Laurence, L. L. McMurray, E. C. Houston

This paper is coodensed from several reports by members of the staff of the Minerals Testing Laboratory of the Tennessee Valley Authority, on a series of experimental tests in the beneficiation of barite of the Valley area. These experiments were conducted upon a large number of samples taken from several mines in three different districts. The area contains numerous producing deposits, nearly all of which are hampered by the high iron and silica content of the ores. Because of the small difference in specific gravity between the iron oxide and the barite, a gravity separation is generally poor. The removal of the iron thus offers a special problem. Some of the operators have turned to magnetic separation to meet the shipping requirements for less than one per cent iron. The present experiments were conducted to determine the application of decrepitation or flotation in simplifying the concentration of the barite by removing the iron oxide and silica in one operation. Practically all the barite marketed in the area has been as "off-color" crude. The bleaching studies were made to determine the bleach-ability of the ores to alleviate this inferior grading, placing them on the market as bleached barite. Geology Barite has been produced at many places in the Tennessee Valley area, and prospects and minor deposits are known at many other places, but practically all the production of barite in the Valley has been from the Sweetwater district of East Tennessee. Other leading areas of former production are the Tazewell-Russell counties areas of southwest Virginia, the Del Rio-Stackhouse district of East Tennessee and western North Carolina, and the Fall Branch district of upper East Tennessee. The areas described in this paper are those from which samples used in the concentration tests were obtained.

Jan 1, 1942

By D. E. Pickett, E. G. Joe

In accordance with good industrial practice, Canadian metallic-ore concentration plants have always recycled a high proportion of process water to save reagents, save power, conserve water resources, and to protect the community water supplies, to give only a few reasons. In the last few years there has been awakened public concern for the environment and, consequently, government regulations have been added as additional reasons. Present recycling practices are summarized as a basis for improved plant design and operating procedures and for further research. In addition, an attempt is made to determine why plants do not recycle water in certain situations. Although not all Canadian mills are covered, the many examples given indicate the problems and the effort being made to solve them. Wherever available, the chemical quality of the water and the process requirements are indicated as well as the other parameters affecting water recycling at each operation.

Jan 1, 1975

By Rex W. Woods, Morris Muskat

A leastmsquare analysis procedure has been developed and applied for the study of the deviations in estimations of oil in place as given by the material-balance equations. The data used were those obtained from field observations on the Jones sand in the Schuler pool, Arkansas, and the Monroe dolomite in the Reed City pool, Michigan. Possible effects of water intrusion were taken into account by expressing the cumulative water influx in terms of various functions previously proposed in the literature. Formulas were developed and values calculated for the minimum deviations and minimal percentage deviations in the calculated volumes of oil in place from the average values, as could be obtained by suitable choice of the water encroachment and initial gas-cap volume parameters. The results show that the fluctuations in these calculated volumes are very insensitive to the values chosen for the rate of water intrusion and initial gas-cap volume, and hence cannot be safely used in discriminating between spurious values for these parameters and such as actually pertain to the producing reservoirs. Moreover, the exact form of the water-intrusion function seems to have but little effect on the fluctuations in the computed oil in place. Accordingly, it is concluded that the material-balance method does not of itself provide a satisfactory criterion for determining the basic physical unknowns of producing reservoirs or in making conclusive decisions regarding the production mechanism, unless independently established geological control data are available for eliminating unreasonable values for the reservoir parameters, even though they may still satisfy the material-balance formulas. If, however, from core or logging data the initial oil in place and the gas-cap volume can be established in advance, the material-balance formulas can be inverted to find the water intrusion. Moreover, by determining by such calculations the water-intrusion coefficient, the iuture production performance can then be predicted by the aid of the materiaI-balance formulas for specified operating conditions. This type of application may be of particular value in predicting the results of Pressure-maintenance operations. Introduction The evaluation of the forces acting upon an oil reservoir is a problem of considerable interest to the operator as an aid in determining the proper method of operation for the reservoir to obtain an optimum recovery of oil. In many pools, the nature and magnitude of the forces acting upon the reservoir remain unknown until an appreciable amount of ultimate recovery is obtained. To be of value to the operator, a reliable interpretation of reservoir performance should be available in the early life of the pool to permit an optimum plan of operation. Progress has been made in an understanding of reservoir behavior and the importance of the different factors involved. The material-balance method of estimating oil in place has been proposed as a tool in analyzing reservoir-performance problems.l The solution of such problems by this method ordinarily involves two or more unknown values relating to the nature of the reservoir, and the results

Jan 1, 1945

By H. Foster Bain

AFTER all, mineral sanctions are not a measure of peace, they are a measure of war, and we must regard them as such. We have had two examples now in the world-first, Italy, and secondly, Japan-where we have applied sanctions. When we got ready to apply sanctions to Italy that would hurt, they went to war. In the Far East, when we applied sanctions against Japan, in the latter part of 1941, there was a quick reaction, and the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Jan 1, 1944

E L. DEGOLYER, our new president, though a petroleum geologist by profession, has always s been associated with mining, for soon after his birth at Greensburg, Kan., on Oct. 9, 1886, his parents moved to Joplin, and when he went, in the course of time, to the University of Oklahoma, he intended to follow his course there with another at a mining school. He became a field assistant in the U. S. Geo-logical Survey, however, while still an undergradu-ate, and after field experi- ence in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Colorado and Oklahoma, he went to Mexico as geologist for the Mexican Eagle Oil Co. This was in 1909, and as a result he was unable to complete his work for his degree until 1911. In Mexico, he located the Potrero de Llaño No. 4, one of the world's largest oil wells, and also the dis- covery well in the Naran- jos pool; and the Colorado School of Mines conferred the honorary degree of : Doctor of Science on him in 1925. On his return from Mexico, he engaged in the consulting business, specializing in financial ap- praisement, the Union and Marland companies being among his clients. In 1919, he organized the Amerada Petroleum Co., with the backing of Lord Cowdray. Last year, control of the company was purchased by an American group, headed by Dillon, Read and Co. Mr. DeGolyer is n o w president of the company. He is also vice-president and general manager of the Rycade Corp, the Rycade Oil Corp., and president of the Geophysical Re-search search Corp. The l a t t e r represents the practical appli-cation of his inter-est in the use of the torsion balance in the locating of salt domes, in which he has pioneered, the Nash dome being the first oil field in America actually brought into production by these methods.

Jan 3, 1927

By W. A. Barrows

Mesabi ores differ from all other soft hematite-ores of the Lake Superior region in having but little or 110 binder. When exposed to heat, instead of baking into lumpy masses as do the Gogebic, Menominee or Marquette fine ores, they are changed to a sandy powder; and the finer particles, having little or no tendency to adhere together in the furnace, are carried by the ascending gas-currents into the down-comers and gas-mains forming flue-dust of a fine gritty nature. The term " finer particles " is used in this paper to mean ore fine enough to pass through a sieve with 80 meshes to the linear inch. Ore coarser than this is not likely to be carried over except in case of a slip, or an explosion in the furnace. The higher the percentage of fine particles in an ore from this range, therefore, the greater the amount of dust likely to result from its use. This statement, however, does not hold good in case of fine ores from the other ranges, and ores from the older ranges, carrying as high as 20 per cent. of material fine enough to pass through a 100-mesh sieve, have been in successful use for years, and have left no records of their causing trouble in furnace-practice by dust, slips, or explosions, so common since the introduction of Mesabi ores. Mesabi ores containing less than 12 per cent. of material which will pass through an 80-mesh sieve are considered of good structure; from 12 to 18 per cent., fair structure; and more than 18 per cent., poor structure. It was at first supposed that all these fine particles were carried over when the charge was lowered into the furnace, or during a slip, but the presence of partly reduced iron oxides in the flue-dust, even when no slip has occurred, proves that a part of the dust at least must have been low enough in the

Jan 1, 1905

The ventilation of metal mines is becoming more of a fundamental requirement than it was 10 or even 5 years ago. There are many reasons for this, and in general they are based on economy or efficiency rather than health or safety, yet the latter enters into the picture in at least some instances. One Montana metal mine which had installed mine fans and a general ventilating system shut down the fan when there was a period of cessation of work; within a few weeks it was found that the underground timbers were becoming so covered with fungus that the fans were put into operation and thereafter continued in operation whether the mine was worked or not. The fungus soon disappeared and the cost of operating the fans was held to be far less than would be the numerous losses from timber decay which quickly started when cessation of air flow was encountered. A large iron ore mine in Michigan had much difficulty in holding men in a slicing region due to foul air under certain surface conditions as to direction of wind. Upon the placing of a moderate sized fan on the surface with some doors, stoppings and regulators underground, not only was the bad air condition removed but there was found to be a decided increase of tonnage per man per shift and timber decay was retarded to a very considerable extent. This particular mining company was rather inclined to be angry when I called attention to some of the what I considered very bad working conditions underground, and the mine superintendent for about a year and a half was on anything but friendly terms with me. Later on when the effect of the placing of the fan was found (the fan had been placed over his protest), that, man came through very nicely with a letter and congratulated me on the recommendation made and congratulated himself and the company on the conditions obtained after the installation of the fan. Poisonous Fumes after Blasting A copper mine in the Southwest with an ore of a high sulfide content has much difficulty due to poisonous fumes after blasting, and the, fan installation is as elaborate as those of many of the most nearly up-to-date coal mines, and coal mine splitting and regulating practices are being

Jan 1, 1927

By Charles McElroy White

IT is indeed an honor to have been asked to participate in the program which celebrates the seventy-fifth birthday of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. This great organization has occupied an important place in the professional and industrial life of this country-of the world. Its members have explored the far reaches of our globe and have played a great part in the discovery, extraction and utilization of the mineral resources upon which our civilization so largely depends. These engineers, together with the restless prospectors, on the one hand, and the scientists, on the other, have literally been the advance scouts of our modern way of life. As such, we owe them a deep and lasting debt of gratitude. May I, therefore, wish many happy returns to the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and express the hope that it may long continue to be of great service, as it has been in the past. The subject assigned to me-Iron Ore and the Steel Industry-is, indeed, important, as one considers the future of our world. I shall give as few figures as possible. Pertinent statistical data are included in the tables in this chapter, which, I think, will prove interesting. Many studies of iron-ore reserves have been -published and are available; hence I shall limit myself mainly to an interpretation of these figures. The statistics data are from standard sources, including the Lake Superior Iron Ore Association, the American Iron and Steel Institute, the United States Bureau of Mines, the United States Geological Survey, the United

Jan 1, 1947

By William L. Fink and

Although age-hardening in an aluminum-base alloy containing magnesium was observed by Alfred Wilml as early as 1911, it was not until 1919 that a theory of the mechanism of age-hardening was proposed. Merica, Waltenberg and Scott12 studying the age-hardening characteristics of Duralumin at the National Bureau of Standards, came to the conclusion that age-hardening of this alloy is caused by the precipitation of CuAl2, which is less soluble at the aging temperature than at the solution heat-treating temperature. It was postulated that the initially precipitated particles were of fine colloidal dimensions but that they gradually grew in size. Maximum hardness was assumed to be attained when the particles reached a critical size. This theory was at first received skeptically, since it was a widely accepted view at that time that the solid solution state should represent the hardest state of an alloy. Shortly thereafter, Jeffries and Archer proposed their well-known slip interference theory.'13 They suggested that age-hardening was accomplished by the precipitated particles acting as keys interfering with slip along crystallographic glide planes. They showed that this mechanical theory led direct,ly to the assumption that maximum hardening would be produced by particles of a critical size, which they suggested would have a diameter approximately 10 times that of the aluminum atom. This contribution amplified and explained so rationally the age-hardening theory of Merica, Waltenberg and Scott that wide acceptance resulted. Objections to Simple Precipitation Theory From time to time certain experimental facts have been cited against the simple precipitation theory. The first of these was the discovery by Fraenkel4 that, although the electrical resistivity of Duralumin decreased during aging at higher temperatures (from 100' to 250' C.), it increased during aging at ordinary temperatures. This was not in accordance

Jan 1, 1940

By Henry D. Hibbard

A noted ordnance engineer once said to a friend, in speaking of the production of great steel guns, " How is it ? We design our guns with a factor of safety of eight, and the guns burst." The vague way in which internal stresses and strains in iron and steel are often considered and spoken of makes it worth while to examine them, as to their nature, their causes and results, how they may, for useful purposes, be advantageously dealt with, and how, when detrimental or dangerous, they may be reduced or kept within harmless proportions. Rankine defines " strain " as a change of form or dimensions of a solid or liquid mass produced by a stress. This definition seems intended not to cover strains due to internal stresses, and it will help us in the present inquiry to consider strain as a tendency to change as well as an actual change of form. Internal strains in iron and steel are the result of stresses within the mass of the piece, some parts pulling and others pushing in resistance to them; or, in other words, some parts are in tension and some in compression, each part striving to relieve itself from strain and make the piece assume a form in which all parts are at rest. Subdivision, so that each part could relieve its strain by motion relative to the other parts, would, if carried out far enough, practically obliterate strain. The internal strains we are now to consider are not those due to the stresses of the service which the piece is rendering, either alone or as a part of a structure, which may be termed service-strains, but those which originate or at least are contained in the piece itself. Internal stresses in a piece of metal are, like action and reaction, always equal and in opposite directions. The stresses

Jan 1, 1907

By Gordon C. Hicks

Prior to 1950 most fertilizer manufactured in the United States was produced in a nongranular form. In such form, the material caked when stored and was extremely dusty when applied in the field. About this time a wide interest developed in the fertilizer industry for the manufacture of a granular, high-analysis fertilizer of improved physical properties. Thus, TVA began work on fertilizer granulation about 1950 using both a pugmill (double-shaft paddle mixer) for a thick slurry of nitric phosphate and a continuous ammoniator-granulator drum for superphosphate-base mixed fertilizer. Granulation in these units was mainly by agglomeration. The liquid phase generated by the moisture and by the heat of reaction of ammonia with acidic materials, such as superphosphate and sulfuric or phosphoric acids, resulted in agglomeration of the solid ingredients. About 1956, TVA began studies of the use of a pan or disk granulator for production of ammonium nitrate or other fertilizers containing a large proportion of ammonium nitrate, such as 30-10-0 ammonium phosphate nitrate. This is the layering method of granulation. More recently, TVA has demonstrated pan granulation of urea from a highly concentrated solution and granulation of ammonium polyphosphate melts in a pugmill. The bulk of TVA studies throughout the years has related to use of the drum granulator. About 200 granulation plants in the United States have been licensed and built to use the TVA continuous ammoniator-granulator; it is estimated that more than half of the 20 million tons of mixed fertilizer used in the United States in 1974/1975 was produced in these plants. Some other granulation processes developed for use in the drum granulator include diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, urea- ammonium phosphate, ammoniated superphosphate, and most recently, NPK fertilizers by melt granulation using a pipe reactor.

Jan 1, 1977