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NEW MEMBERS The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the period May 10 to June 10, 1915: Members ANDREEN, HARRY MAYO, Millman: and Assayer Thane, Alaska. BANKS, HUBERT RAYMOND, Min. Engr., Mill Staff, Consolidated Arizona Smelting Co., Humboldt, Ariz. BASSETT, ARTHUR F., Min. Engr., Care Consolidated Arizona Smelting Co., Humboldt, Ariz. BLACKNER, LESTER A., Slope Engr.... Care Ray Consolidated Copper Co., Ray, Ariz. BUSHNELL, C. E., Draftsman Butte & Superior Copper Co., Butte, Mont. CAVAGNARO, DAVID AMILE, Min. Engr., Genl. Supt., Wisconsin North Fork GravelMines, Forest, Sierra Co.; Cal. COGHILL, WILLIAM HAKES, Met., Ore Testing Laboratory, 3705 Hueco St., - - El Paso, Tex.

Jan 7, 1915

By A. L. Holley

The application of scientific methods to the investigation of natural laws and to the conduct of the useful arts which are founded upon them, is year by year mitigating the asperity and enlarging the outcome of human endeavor. More notably, perhaps, are these the facts in that system of productive and constructive arts of which engineering is the general name. In metallurgical engineering especially, within the period of our own recollection, how rapid has been the rate and how wide the scope of progress: the scientific discovery and mining of metalliferous veins; the economical separation and reduction of ores of every grade; the production and regulation of high temperatures; the varied improvements in the manufacture of iron, in saved heat and work, in uniformity and range of products; and, most important of all, the creation and the utilization, to be counted by the million tons a year, of the cheap constructive steels. Wonderful as this range and degree of development may appear to the public eye, the close and thoughtful observer must, nevertheless, conclude that neither the profession nor the craft of engineering may congratulate themselves too complaisantly, but that they should rather acknowledge to each other the embarrassing incompleteness of the union between engineering science and art. There is a small school of philosophers whom we may designate as original investigators, men who come close to nature, who search into first principles, and who follow that scientific and therefore fruitful method by which the relations of matter and force are discovered, classified, and brought within the reach of practice. These wonderful men do not indeed create the laws of nature, as they sometimes almost seem to, but they go up into the trembling mountain and the thick darkness and bring down the tables upon which they are written.

By J. B. Neale

FRom the beginning of its activities, the members of the National Production Committee have felt that the following points were essential to the success of its work: The operators must feel that their operations were not 100 per cent. efficient; that they should be courteous and fair in their treatment of their employees; and that they should set an example of hard work and patriotic interest in increased production. Every move made must appeal to the sense of fairness of all parties concerned. The men must feel that in working more faithfully, and consequently producing more coal, they are rendering a distinct service to their Government in the time of its great need. As the workers feel that greater efficiency on their part results only in greater profits to the operators, the advantage to the operator should be lost sight of, as far as possible, and the advantage to the Government in fighting the war emphasized. Both operators and workers should know that the Government considered increased production an obligation, and opportunity for service, resting on both parties and not on the operators or the workers alone, and that both parties could very much better the efficiency of the pre-war period. Had the committee intimated that it thought the coal shortage was due entirely to the idleness and inefficiency of the workers, its campaign would have failed, for the men would have resented the charge because only too frequently their efforts to produce more coal were thwarted by bad management; besides, the operators would have lacked stimulus to better effort. On the other hand, had the impression been given that the committee thought that the coal shortage was due entirely to bad management, the operators would have resented the charge because only too frequently their efforts to produce more coal were thwarted by the idleness and inefficiency of the workers; and the workers, having been thus indirectly pronounced 100 per cent. efficient and patriotic, would have lacked stimulus to better effort.

Jan 1, 1920

By William B. Potter

It is a time-honored custom in this, as in other kindred bodies, for the retiring President on giving place to his successor, after a year of official duties which have been the means of directing his attention in a more than usual degree to the work and interests of the Association, to report the results of his observations from this outlook, and the thoughts that may be suggested by the view. In looking out over the many fields of activity within the range of this Institute, the attention may be arrested by special features marking recent progress and development, or such as by their meager outline or lack of important detail stand in less pleasing contrast, or. even form unsightly objects in the view. It may be that the special field and particular work in which one is engaged will, when observed from the more distant standpoint, or in the light of the whole outlook of the profession, assume a different aspect or develop features of new interest and importance. In this way some special object may suggest to the observer a, fitting theme for the occasion. To others, again, an outline of the whole view may seem a more useful subject for study and review. All fields are examined and the wide horizon of the whole profession scanned to note and report whatever is new in knowledge and practice—the new permanent bench-marks that appear near the horizon designating ground definitely located; the stakes which mark reconnoissance into new territory, and even the prominent objects that faintly appear through the mist of the distant atmosphere, and which may serve later on as points of attachment for the advancing lines of survey into the unknown. And besides these, there is the progress of the work in older and nearer fields—what has been attempted, what accomplished,

Jan 1, 1889

By Samuel Doak

THE utilization of rotary kilns, of the well-known cement type, for the preparation of iron ores, for the blast furnace, has become of considerable economic importance within the past 10 years in certain localities, notably those where the native ores are lean. Such kilns may be used simply for the agglomeration of ores too fine to be charged into the blast furnace (i.e., ores whose loss in the dust catchers is excessive, and whose fineness is detrimental to the working of the furnace), or for the desulphurization of lump and fine ores the sulphur content of which does not exceed 6 or 7 per cent. The desulphurizing action can be combined with that of agglomeration provided the kiln is sufficiently large. Other processes have been developed for the same purpose, but while I am not able to draw a comparison between them by reason of lack of sufficient data, it is safe to say that the kiln, if properly dimensioned for the character of ore to be treated, will compare favorably in its results, both as to economy and quality of product, with any other process. It is not, however, as well adapted for the treatment of flue dust, as is a sintering operation, on account of the large percentage of fine coke contained therein. Any combustible entering the kiln at its feed end renders the process very much more expensive and unsatisfactory on account of the difficulty of controlling the temperature, also because of the rapidity with which long "rings" form, due to the increased heat at the cooler end of the kiln. The greatest value of the kiln at present is in the treatment of pyrites cinder; that is, the residue from pyrites ore after the extraction of the greater part of the sulphur. This cinder, while high in iron content, has too much sulphur remaining in it to be allowed to form a large part of the blast-furnace burden, without further treatment. It will range in metallic iron from 42 per cent., representing a very low-grade cinder, from a domestic pyrites, to 64 per cent. of the residue from the best Spanish ore, and the corresponding silica content will vary from the maximum of about 25 per cent. to 1 ½ per cent. The residual sulphur depends largely on the type of burner used in the original desulphurization. In general, the leanest original ores retain the greatest amounts of sulphur. In

Jan 9, 1915

The Sub-committee on Safety of the Industrial Organization Com-mittee of the Institute has been asked to cooperate with the National Safety Council, and has made certain recommendations to the Board of Directors of the Institute regarding ways and means of bringing about this cooperation. The National Safety Council has been in existence seven years. Its inception was at a meeting of the American Iron and Steel Electrical Engineers held in Milwaukee in 1912. The first annual congress was held in New York City in October, 1913, at which time the Council was definitely organized. Its membership now consists of nearly four thousand members, representing industrial plants, railroads, public utility companies, insurance companies, state labor commissions, Chambers of Commerce, manufacturers' organizations, etc. These members are in all states of the Union and in eleven foreign countries, and through them the National Safety Council reaches more than six million workers.

Jan 7, 1919

FOLLOWING the passage of resolutions by a num-ber of the western local sections, which have beer printed in previous issues, the Board of Directors appointed a committee consisting of Messrs. Reynders, DeGolyer, Taylor and Merica, to call on the Director of the Budget, and to bring these resolutions to his attention. In response to a request to the committee Mr. Reynders has addressed the following letter to General Lord. In response to a suggestion made in the course of the conference held between you and President DeGolyer of this Institute at Washington on Oct. 6, I present herewith a brief statement of the reasons that have led the mining engineers and metallurgists of this country to urge upon the Government a policy of increasing support from year to year to the United States Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines. While these are not the only technical bureaus to which we look for data and guidance in our work of winning and rendering useful the mineral re-sources of the country, they are the ones on which we chiefly rely and the usefulness of which extends over all the industries which are based on mines and mining. In calling this matter to your attention and to that of the departments in which these bureaus are situated, I am acting on behalf of a special committee appointed by the Board of Directors and which includes men in close and intimate contact with the iron, coal, petroleum, metals and metallurgical industries; men well qualified by experience and position to voice the real feeling of these industries. The subject is not a new one to our Board, which has long kept a watchful eye on the work of the two bureaus as would be natural in that the American Institute of Mining Engineers, represents the largest group of technical men and executives and the one of most wide-spread interest in the American mineral industries. With 9000 members and. 27 local chapters scattered among the mining states, the Institute is in a peculiarly favorable position to know and to set out the feeling among mining men and metal-lurgists as to the proper scope of activities of these Federal bureaus, the quality of their work, and the gaps in knowl-edge that most need filling.

Jan 11, 1927

By Sidney A. Swensrud

About a year ago, I attempted in a general way to trace the origin and development of some of the marketing problems of the petroleum industry, and to describe certain trends which it then seemed possible to foresee. To summarize briefly, it was pointed out that the consumption of gasoline, after increasing for more than a decade at an almost unbelievable rate, was slowing down, but that the two factors which determine the supply of gasoline —-namely, the production of crude oil and the percentage of gasoline derived therefrom—were tending steadily to mount. It was suggested that, while the increase in gasoline outlets began with and probably was justified at the start by the rapidly increasing demand, long after all reasonable requirements as to number of outlets had been met the number continued to increase—if anything, at a still more rapid rate—because by that time the overproduction of crude had begun to exert an impelling urge upon the owners of that crude to seek assured outlets for it in the form of gasoline. As more and more companies became integrated all the way from crude oil to marketing, there took place an ever-increasing competition among them, not only for the existing outlets but for new ones. The wide margin between wholesale cost and retail price, which is characteristic of the early stages of most new industries, persisted in the oil industry longer than in most industries, for various reasons. The existence of that wide margin provided in large measure the means of attracting new outlets, for as the gallonage per outlet declined with the increasing number of outlets, competing companies simply offered the dealers a larger part of the total margin. The very nature of competition suggests that such a process would continue until practically all of the available margin was thus given away, and such was clearly the tendency. It was a system that in turn produced increasing marketing expense per gallon on account of the diluted gallonage per outlet; this increased expense might seem to have provided a justification for continuing wide margins. Economics, like its parent, nature, however, progresses by mutations and so began to throw out new types of marketers, in the form of tank-car service stations, cut-price jobbers, and the like—heretics or

Jan 1, 1932

By Whitman E. Brown, Louis J. Erck

The installation in 1948 of a Hum-phrey~ spiral concentrator section at the Hill-Trumbull plant of The Cleve-land-Cliffs Iron Co. is the latest commercial method on the Mesabi Range being used for the recovery of fine iron ore. In two stages of concentration 84 spirals treat approximately 120 long tons per hour of minus ? in. ore. These spirals augment the production of the heavy-density plant which recovers the plus 36 in. iron from the plant crude ore. Structure of the ore is such that, when crushed, about 50 pct of the plant crude is minus ? in. size. After de-sliming in a 66 in. Akins classifier, grinding the classifier product in a ball mill and again desliming in a 78 in. Akins classifier about 15 pct of the crude ore remains to be treated in the spiral plant. Overall recovery of the ball mill feed in the Hill-Trumbull spiral plant during the 1948 season was about 53 pct of the weight and 66 pct of the total iron content. Of the actual feed delivered to the spirals from the 78 in. classifier 64.9 pct of the weight was recovered containing 73.7 pct of the total iron. The average analysis of the spiral concentrate is 55.05 pct Fe and 14.83 pct SiO2. An average of mill assays during the 1948 season is given in Table 1. The Hill-Trumbull plants treat both wash ore and jig-type ore. During the 1948 season spirals were used only on the fine sizes of jig-type ore. At times the deslimed minus ? in. size is of sufficient grade to warrant bypassing the spirals but in the main the fine size is delivered to the 48 first stage spirals and thence to the 36 cleaner or second stage spirals. In the past several years numerous Mesabi Range ores in the fine size cate- gory have been tested by a wide variety of beneficiating equipment. The prodigious amount of research devoted to the recovery of values in the fine ore reflects the dire need of the iron industry to squeeze the last possible unit of iron from the mined ore and to develop suitable equipment and processes to satisfactorily concentrate the leaner horizons as they are encountered in the process of mining. Large governmental and private appropriations have been allotted, new laboratories built, research and technical staffs increased, and operator-manufacturer cooperative agreements applied to hasten the solution of the problem. The University of Minnesota, at its Eighth Annual Mining Symposium in January 1947, dedicated as its objective the bringing to light of technological developments in iron ore beneficiation. Papers were given at that time relating to processes being developed. Specifically, these papers reviewed flotation, Baum jig, selective media concentrator, Hardinge concentrator, Dorrco sizer, heavy media concentration, Hydrotator, and the Humphreys spiral. The Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co., after encouraging results from tests in a small pilot plant using one full size spiral, made the first commercial installation of Humphreys spirals on the Mesabi Range at their Hill-Trumbull mine, Taconite, Minn. This company

Jan 1, 1950

By Seymour G. Epstein

Using a modified capillary-reservoir technique, electromigration of dilute solutions of silver in liquid bismuth has been measured with relatively good precision. The effects of experiment duration, temperature. current density, and silver concentration have been investigated. Chemical diffusion coefficients of silver in liquid bismuth were also measured at temperatures ranging from 300°to 600°C. The effective valence of silver in bismuth was calculated as a function of temperature from a comparison of electric mobilities and diffusion coefficients. In an alloy containing 1 wt pct Ag, the electric mobility of silver increased from 1.65 x X sq cm per v-sec at 300°C to 2.38 x 10-4at 600°C; the diffusion coefficient in-creased from 3.0 to 17.5 x 10-5 sq cm per sec over the same temperature range. Calculated values of effective valence decreased from 0.28 at 300°C to 0.10 at 600°c. ALTHOUGH there has been considerable progress in the theoretical treatment of electron-transport properties in liquid metals, the mechanisms of mass-transport phenomena in liquid metals are still not clearly understood. This is especially true for the case of electro migration, alternatively termed elec-trotransport or electrodiffusion, which is mass transport induced by an applied electric field. A thorough knowledge of the mechanisms governing electromigration will considerably aid in understanding the electronic state of an impurity atom in a liquid metal. Electromigration has been long observed and studied in liquid metals and alloys. However, no satisfactory theory to explain the observed effects has been developed. The disparity in the present theoretical treatments, summarized by Verhoeven,1 has been attributed to the difficulty in describing the momentum transfer between electrons and ions and to the lack of precise measurements in liquid metals, especially at elevated temperatures. Prior to the last decade most of the electromigration studies were qualitative, in that only the direction of migration of alloy constituents was determined with any degree of reliability. These results have been summarized by schwarz,2 who was able to measure the electric mobility of several elements in mercury. More recently electromigration in liquid metals has been measured by a variety of techniques, with a varying degree of success. Mangelsdorf3,4 made precise measurements on dilute amalgams at room temperature, using a technique relating changes in composition to changes in alloy resistivity, but was unable to make measurements at elevated temperatures. Using a modification of this technique, Verhoeven and Hucke5 measured electromigration and resistivities in liquid Bi-Sn alloys. However, the resistivity technique is not sensitive to small composition changes and is impractical for very dilute alloys. Verhoeven and Hucke6 also measured electromigration of several solutes in liquid bismuth by adapting the capillary-reservoir method for determining diffusion coefficients in liquids. The reported precision of these measurements was poor, however, primarily due to the large uncertainties in the chemical analyses to determine concentration changes. Belashchenko7 has summarized the recent Russian investigations of electromigration, many of which, however, are of questionable accuracy. The present study was initiated to develop an experimental technique which would be both versatile and sufficiently sensitive to yield precise measurements of electromigration of solutes in dilute metal alloys at elevated temperatures. Using this technique, a comprehensive study of silver in liquid bismuth was made to determine the effects of experimental variables on the apparent electric mobilities. Chemical diffusion coefficients of silver in liquid bismuth were also measured over the same temperature range for comparison with the electromigration data. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE Electromigration Measurements. Electromigration of silver in liquid bismuth was measured by the capillary-reservoir technique, similar to that used by Verhoeven and Hucke,6 but modified to yield more

Jan 1, 1967

By R. U. Jackson

FACED with rising costs, the mining industry is looking to new methods and equipment to supply the relief necessary for profitable operation. Conveyor transportation is rapidly taking a superior position to motor tramming in underground mines because of lower installation, maintenance, and operating costs. Haulage is always a critical problem in underground mining. The ease of operation and flexibility of a haulage system can have an important effect on ultimate mining cost. With the average tenor of ores on the downgrade, larger tonnages are required for the same metal recovery. This selection of a tramming system can be the key to a successful, paying plant. Because this shift is being made at an ever advancing rate, it may become necessary to tailor mining operations to the transportation system, rather than to select a haulage system fitting set mining methods. In choosing a haulage system, the relative costs of the various methods are of the greatest importance. Adapting the mine to one or the other type of tramming is not considered in the cost analysis, and very likely would make little difference, outside of location of drifts and raises. In the cost sheet, the problem presents recommendations for a conveyor installation and a comparison of equipment, installation, operation, maintenance, and power costs are made. Under the track haulage estimate, no allowance was made for dumping equipment at the shaft pocket or bin. If this equipment was added to the balance sheet, the additional

Jan 1, 1952

By John McCaslin

ONE of the most common technical terms in the U. S. today is automation-a word not listed in the 1946 dictionary. The influence of automation on the national economy has been tremendous. It has even been the subject of congressional investigations. Automation, writes Aronson, substitutes mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electric, and electronic devices for human effort and decision? Automatic devices and instruments are used extensively in some industries, but many others have yet to take full advantage of these great discoveries. The petroleum industry has been a leader in using automatic controls-some refineries are almost completely controlled by automatic devices. The field of geophysics is entirely dependent on instruments and has progressed at almost exactly the same rate as improvements in instrumentation. In metallurgy and mineral dressing use of instrumentation is increasing very rapidly. Mining engineers throughout the country are beginning to think in terms of instruments and controls.

Jan 3, 1958

By Robert M. Dreyer

Diamond is the hardest known material. The diamond industry is separated into two major segments: (1) industrial and (2) gem. The major industrial use of diamonds is as a high-grade abrasive in a wide variety of applications for which no effective low-cost substitute is available. Table 15.4C.1 gives data on diamond production and on United States diamond imports. In both gem and industrial diamond production, but especially in the case of gems, the quantity of stones produced is not directly correlated to value, for the determination of value is markedly affected by quality. South Africa long has been the world leader in gem diamond production with an estimated production in 1968 (including South-West Africa) of about 4 million carats, equal to 43% of world production. During the past decade there has been a marked rise in gem diamond production in the USSR, so that nation is now the second-ranking world producer, with Angola (Portuguese West Africa) third. In natural industrial diamonds, the major production comes from Congo-Kinshasa (former Belgian Congo) which had a production of 15 million carats in 1968, equal to 47% of world production. In the past six years, there has been a remarkable increase of industrial diamond production in the USSR, which now ranks second with a production of 6 million carats, equal to about one-fifth of world production. South Africa now ranks third followed by Congo-Brazzaville and Ghana. No natural diamonds are produced in the United States. Since the discovery of an economical method for synthesizing small diamonds, there has been a rapid increase in synthetic production from 4 million carats in 1962 (1 carat equals 200 mg) to 11.5 million carats in 1968. Table 15.4C.1 gives the gradually increasing imports of industrial diamonds and indicates a relatively stable price. In 1968, the imports of industrial diamonds were 13.5 million carats with a value of $59.2 million. Table 15.4C.2 shows the rapidly increasing imports of cut and uncut gem diamonds into the United States. In 1968 the United States imported 2.5 million carats of uncut stones with a value of $166 million and 1.5 million carats of cut stones with a value of $175 million. Diamond marketing is dominated by DeBeers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., which, through subsidiaries, controls many of the major African diamond deposits. More important economically, however, through its Central Selling Organization, DeBeers markets 86% of the non-Communist world's natural diamonds, including most of those derived from deposits outside of corporate control. In 1967 the mines owned by DeBeers produced nearly 8 million carats, and the Central Selling Organization sold over $600 million in gem and industrial diamonds. The dominance of diamond sales by

Jan 1, 1976

Jan 1, 1947

By Jacques B. Wertz

Detailed structural studies in southeast Arizona have successively revealed (1) the local attitudes of individual fractures (with lateral and/or vertical displacements), (2) the patterns exhibited by groups of fractures, and (3) the trends and directions shown by fracture groups or zones on a regional scale. The results of the studies have been twofold: First, domes were locally determined from these fracture arrangements, even where other criteria failed; and, second, fundamental breaks brought out the breadth of the Texas lineament in southeast Arizona as well as major northwest- and northeast-trending fracture zones. Coincidence of one or several domes with the major intersections of fundamental breaks can be centers of important mineralization, as in the instances of Bisbee, Ajo and Morenci. THE OVER-ALL STRUCTURE OF ARIZONA A northwest-southeast trending anticlinorium has been suggested as the structural setting of Arizona. Starting in Triassic and culminating in late Cretaceous times, this deformation resulted from stresses of considerable magnitude with varying ratios of com pres sional and uplifting forces. However, the series of parallel flexures could just as well have been caused by isostatic movements involving dilation under tension with only incidental compression, as later emphasized by dike filling and block faulting (Fig. 1). The anticlinorial deformation, which is also suggested by the fact that the Pre-cambrian rocks to the southwest are all concealed by sediments, could be somewhat reminiscent of the conditions that affected the classical swarm of parallel dikes of wager.' ANALYSlS OF DATA As a first step in this analysis, all structural information obtained on such features as fractures and their relative displacements, faults, dikes, anticlines, synclines, and Precambrian and Laramide-Tertiary intrusives were plotted on maps along with structural trends inferred from aerial photographic mosaics. Next, the faults in southwest Arizona were classified according to time of occurrence and relative importance. The fault assemblages were then examined as to geometric or spatial arrangement and correlated with the occurrences of domes and existing Finally, the conjunction of fracture intersections and domes was analyzed and compared with locations of known ore deposits. Differentiation of Faults According to Time and Relative Importance: The faults encountered were grouped as follows: (1) Basin and Range faults, latest in time; (2) secondary faults; (3) primary faults; and (4) lineaments, earliest in time by inference. BASIN AND RANGE FAULTS- Generally concealed by alluvium, the Basin and Range faults are normal

Jan 1, 1969

By N. Brown

From the theories of flow and fracture it is shown that the difference in reciprocals of the transition temperatures (OK) is a quantitative measure of temper ernbrittlement. Experimental data are given which support this conclusion. STUDIES of temper embrittlement have been made with various viewpoints; some involved a study of the kinetics of the reaction,',2'" others were concerned with changes in the mechanical properties," . and still others investigated the structural differences between the embrittled and unembrittled states by means of the microscope," -ray ,' measurements of electrode potential," and electrical resistivity." In all these studies, the difference in impact properties was the criterion for distinguishing between the embrittled and unembrittled states. By common agreement the difference in transition temperatures is now taken as a measure of the degree of embrittlement, and this measure is used as the quantitative measure upon which studies of the phenomenon are based. Vidal and Jolivet"' suggested that the degree of embrittlement was the same whether measured by impact or by a slow bend test. Their conclusion was based on tests at constant temperature. Jaffe and Buffum" using the impact and slow bend test showed that, for a given degree of embrittlement, the difference in transition temperatures varied with the method of testing. Hultgren and Chang" showed that the difference in transition temperature produced by the V-notched Charpy impact test was not the same as the value produced by the keyhole-notched impact test. This is a very fundamental point because there can be no true measure of temper embrittlement unless it is invariant with respect to the test method. Theory The purpose of this analysis is to show how the transition temperature depends on the stress distribution and the state of the material. The criterion for fracture may be stated as follws: where iF is some function of the principle stresses and F is a critical condition depending on the state of the metal. Similarly yielding occurs when Where is another function of the prin-ciple stresses and Y is a critical value depending on the state of the material. There is some controversy as to the exact form of the function f,.(u,, u,, us) but most experimental data give the following criterion:= where 8, and 6, = 21 or 0. Combinations of 6, and 8, give the various criteria such as the normal stress, the hydrostatic tension, and the maximum shear stress laws. Agreement is general that the octahedral shear stress law adequately describes the yield condition. where the bracketed factor will be called the design factor and depends on the stress distribution. Whether the metal decides to yield or fracture is given by the condition that The effect of temperature and strain rate upon Y has been studied by various investigators, It has been shown by MacGregor and Fisher" that

Jan 1, 1955

By Ross C. Anderson, William I. Weisman

THE manufacture of anhydrous sodium sulphate or salt cake from natural deposits in the United States has been in general somewhat of a marginal undertaking. Competition from foreign sources and from large quantities of byproduct sodium sulphate produced domestically in the manufacture of hydrochloric acid and other chemicals has existed and continues. For example, most of the sodium sulphate produced is a byproduct or co-product in the manufacture of hydrochloric acid through the reaction of sodium chloride with sulphuric acid. In recent years, many manufacturers of rayon have installed equipment to recover sodium sulphate from waste spin bath liquors; today this is an important source. Before World War II large quantities of sodium sulphate were imported from Germany. In 1949 imported material from Europe again appeared on the domestic market. Natural sodium sulphate from Canada in substantial quantities also enters the United States markets. Despite this kind of competition, numerous attempts have been made to exploit various natural deposits of sodium sulphate in this country, but only a very few of these have survived economically over a period of years. One of these few operations is the plant of the Ozark-Mahoning Co. located 13 miles south of Monahans in West Texas. Several factors contributing to the successful life of this plant may be summarized as follows: 1—Geographical location. Monahans is reasonably close, freightwise, to the Kraft paper mills in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana; the Kraft paper industry is the greatest consumer of sodium sulphate in the United States. 2—Availability of natural gas as low cost fuel. Proximity of the natural gas fields of West Texas has been a tremendous asset, as the availability of low-cost natural gas is to all industry throughout the Southwest. 3—The nature of the deposit. The occurrence of sodium sulphate brines in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas has been very well described by Lang,' who writes that the brines are found in the Castile formation of the Delaware basin. Here weathering has altered the anhydrite so that a relatively porous gypsiferous zone overlies a dense impervious mass of anhydrite. This porous zone provides traps where percolating ground waters that have picked up soluble salts may lodge. These traps or pockets are the natural brine reservoirs exploited at Monahans. Although several hundred wells have been drilled, currently some 25 wells serve to supply brine to the plant. All are within 1 1/2 miles of the plant and are conveniently tied together by an electric power system serving electric motors driving the pumps. Having the raw material in the form of a brine which can be pumped from shallow wells makes possible much simpler and more efficient handling than if it were in form of solids. By contrast, other deposits of sodium sulphate, such as those in Arizona, Nevada, and North Dakota, are in the form of the solid minerals, thenardite and mirabilite, which present somewhat more of a mining and mineral dressing problem.' The largest producer of sodium sulphate from natural sources in the United States is at Searles Lake, Cal., and there a brine also is utilized. 4—Water. Substantial quantities are needed for cooling towers and for operation of gas engines. An area underlain with brine is not a promising source of fresh water, but fortunately, after a long search, an adequate supply was found nearly two miles from the plant. It may be appropriate to discuss briefly the grades of sodium sulphate offered on the market. Salt cake is the name usually applied to the grade of sodium sulphate used by the Kraft paper industry. It may be a low analysis byproduct, 95 to 97 pct sodium sulphate, with as much as l 1/2 to 2 pct residual acid, or it may be a natural product. Usually salt cake is considered a low grade product, but a great deal of a higher grade of material is marketed under this name. The specifications for glassmakers' salt cake are somewhat higher than those of the paper industry, usually requiring 98 pct sodium sulphate. Technical anhydrous sodium sulphate is a high grade material and usually exceeds 99 pct sodium sulphate. It finds the biggest market in the textile industry and is used as a builder in some synthetic detergents. Glauber's salt, Na2SO4. 10H20, is usually of high purity. Preferred for some uses, it normally has been recrystallized from an anhydrous salt. A unique manufacturing process has been developed at Monahans. This process results in the production of an exceptionally high grade of salt cake, and qualifies for nearly all uses, including many which specify the technical anhydrous grade. All of the finished product, which is very white, passes a 10-mesh U. S. Standard screen, and is retained on a 200-mesh U. S. Standard screen. It is over 99 pct Na2SO4 with main impurities being sodium chloride and magnesium sulphate. Iron content is less than 0.01 pct. As mentioned, the raw material at Monahans is a brine drawn from wells. Attention was first attracted to this location because a so-called alkali

Jan 1, 1954

By J. Richard Kyle

Lead-zinc ore bodies in the upper part of the Pine Point carbonate barrier complex are localized in paled-solution structures that developed as the result of post-middle Givetian subaerial exposure. Detritus-filled dolines host prismatic ore bodies, and macropores and stratabound permeable zones contain tabular ore bodies. Sulfides are concentrated in these transgressive paleosolution structures that acted as natural bypasses between aquifers and loci for mixing of fluids of different character. Complex ore textures indicate rapid early sulfide precipitation followed by slower sulfide growth. Evidence for both sulfide-carbonate equilibrium and disequilibrium conditions suggest fluctuations in ore fluid composition, perhaps related to periodic supply of reduced sulfur. District and ore body metal distribution pattern may reflect the nature and movement of mineralizing fluids.

Jan 1, 1981

By Franklin Moeller

Considering the really short time that has elapsed since hydro-metallurgical processes of extracting copper from ores have been extensively developed, and the large scale on which this method is practised at Ajo, the successful operation of the plant must excite the admiration of every visitor. The application of the mechanical unloader to the purpose for which it is employed at Ajo is but an extension of the use for which it was originally designed, some 20 years ago, for unloading iron-ore vessels at the lower lake ports. At a time when the maximum output of a single machine, with men shoveling the ore into buckets, did not exceed 40 tons per hour, G. H. Hulett invented and constructed a mechanical unloader with a bucket of 10-ton capacity. This machine was of the steam hydrauIic type, and it is still in operation after nearly 20 years of service. Several more machines of the same type were built, but the difficulties of power transmission, and the rapid development of electrical machinery, soon led to the adoption of electrically operated machines, and practically all of the later installations have been thus equipped. This electrically operated unloader has proved so well fitted for the work that the design of the lake boats has been practically revolutionized, with special view to the ease and rapidity of unloading. It is now possible to unload a 12,000-ton vessel with four machines in a little over 2 hr. This has necessitated an increase in the capacity of the machine, and the largest yet built handles an average load of 17 tons, with a possible maximum of 20 to 21 tons. The Ajo excavator is somewhat simpler in design than the iron-ore unloader, in that it is not provided with a larry. In the unloader, the iron ore, picked up by the bucket, is delivered to a larry or transfer car which runs in the lower chord of the bridge; the larry then delivers the ore either into railroad cars, standing on several parallel tracks, or into the stock pile, thereby saving the time that would be required for the bucket to make the trip. At Ajo, the bucket delivers the tailing

Jan 1, 1920

By Walter Rose

Experimentation which measures differences in pressure across the interfaces of immiscible fluids in the interstitial spaces of porous media may be termed "capillary pressure experimentation". In the literature of petroleum technology since 1941 there have appeared twelve papers popularizing capillary pressure concepts and developing applications of these concepts for the solution of problems of practical reservoir engineering importance, such as the determination of connate water, fluid distribution. in transition zones, reservoir rock textural properties, and oil recovery from petroleum reservoirs. Although a review of the literature would be justified at this time in order to reconcile the conflicting viewpoints which are contained in the cited papers, the object of this note will be of more limited scope. It is believed that the recent paper of Muskat alls sufficient attention to many of the uncertainties which arise upon examination of the published literature. such that until satisfactory counter-proposals can be made it will serve our purpose only to mention some other like uncertainties. This will emphasize further the need confronting petroleum technologists to re. consider and reformulate the application possibilities of capillary pressure experimentation. In particular, I sug- gest that we examine the thesis that capillary pressure experimentation as above defined can lead to measurements reflecting the recovery of oil from petroleum reservoirs, as was proposed first" by Amyx and Yuster and was first reduced to practice by the experimentation of Welge . In fact. I shall deal exclusively with the Welge papers since it is the principle one on this subject which has appeared to date. I shall attempt to show that the possibility of describing oil recovery features in terms of capillary pressure phenomena has not been established entirely. The Welge paper was a pioneering effort to evaluate this recovery application possibility. P. P. Reichertz' comments on the Welge paper state that non-wetting phase discontinuities are developed occasionally in the Welge experiment, and restate Muskat's argument that discontinuous fluid elements (partially saturating the interstices of porous media which are elsewhere saturated with some other immiscible phase or phases) are not subject to the requirements of hydrostatic equilibrium. It is the purpose of my comment to show that it is unnecessary to make Reichertz' postulation regarding non-wetting phase discontinuities (however valid) when it is desired to criticize Welge's theoretical treatment of his problem. It can be shown that Welge's method of measuring values for ''capillary pressure" is invalid in many instances of application, such that his reported curves of capillary pressure Versus fluid saturation often have no physical meaning, even throughout the interval of fluid saturation where it might be otherwise suspected that no phase discontinuities occur. By considering established principles of capillary pressure experimentation it can be shown that the pressure difference experimentally observed between wetting and non-wetting fluid phases which are contained in external reservoirs will reflect on the capillary pressure difference at the interfaces of contact between these phases only when the following conditions are satisfied: (a) There shall be a balance between the opposing forces of gravity and capillarity, as obtains under conditions of hydrostatic equilibrium when the positions of the interfaces of contact become fixed in pore spaces of certain geometry (b) The wetting and non-wetting fluids within the interstitial spaces shall everywhere be continuous with the external wetting phase reservoir and the external non-wetting phase reservoir, respectively. It will become apparent immediately that in any instance when a greater pressure is recorded in the external wetting phase reservoir than in the external non-wetting phase reservoir, one may establish either that static equilibrium has not been attained or that discontinuities in one or more of the fluids have been developed. This is because the pressure otherwiee is always gereatest in the non-wetting phase at each static interstitial interface of contact with the wetting phase. such that the externally measured pressure in the non-wetting phase likewise must be greatest if the above conditions are to be satisfied.

Jan 1, 1949