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By A. Rakshit, W. E. Kolb, Y. C. Kim

An IBM/XT microcomputer with 10 MB hard disk storage, together with automatic sensing capability of truck movements at several key locations in the pit, formed the core of this automatic truck dispatching system. System software is written primarily in MICROSOFT FORTRAN with supporting subroutines in MACRO assembly language. The software is designed to automatically monitor truck movement throughout the pit, to make heuristic assignments based on expected shovel availability and truck travel times, and to record production statistics. It is currently dimensioned to handle 50 trucks, 10 shovels, 10 dump sites, and three material types. Due to the lack of funds to purchase the necessary communications hardware, the work related to the automatic sensing of truck movements has not been performed to date. Otherwise, the system is fully operational on a realtime mode.

Jan 1, 1986

Executive SCOTT TURNER, Chairman FREDERICK M. BECKET JOHN A. MATHEWS H. A. GUESS WILLIAM WRAITH Finance HENRY KRUMB, Chairman PAUL D. MERICA ROBERT E. TALLY Admissions JOHN M. LovEJOY, Chairman GEORGE D. BARRON ERLE V. DAVELER WILLIAM H. BASSETT W. D. B. MOTTER, JR. Alternates HENRY B. FERNALD F. JULIUS Polls AMOR F. KEENE

Jan 1, 1932

By J. Jones-Parra

In previous Technical Notes, W. R. Rose' and W. Purcell have discussed the capillary pressure data presented by Welge.' Welge obtained capillary pressure curves of the imbibition type in which it was necessary to apply to the apparent wetting phase a greater pressure than that of the non-wetting phase to complete the cycle and reduce the non-wetting phase saturation to low values. Rose suggests in his Note that conditions of equilibrium could not have prevailed, since the. non-wetting phase pressure must always be the greater. Pur-cell in his Note, proceeds to postulate a pore system consisting. of a series of "holes in a doughnut," in which he contends that under equilibrium conditions it is necessary to resort to negative capillary pressures before significant wetting phase displacement can take place. There is a remarkable similarity between the shape of the capillary pressure curve calculated by Purcell and those measured by Welge. It is the purpose of this Note to show that, because Purcell neglected to account for the behavior of the residual wetting phase saturation, his system was not in equilibrium during imbibition; and, furthermore, that if his system had been in equilibrium, negative capillary pressures would not have been possible. In Purcell's pore system, the residual wetting phase will form pendular rings at the interstitial spaces existing somewhere within the system, for example, such as those spaces between "doughnuts" as shown in Fig. 1. The true capillary pressure is that across the pendular ring interface, and for the system to be in equilibrium the pressure drop across all interfaces must be the same, including that across the interface in the tight pores A of diaphragm B (Fig. 1). As the pressure across the cell is reduced, the advancing interface will move into the pore from the diaphragm, but at each pressure, the curvature of the pendular rings must be the same as that of the advancing interface if equilibrium is to prevail. Since equilibrium conditions are the basis for the entire argument, it follows that pendular rings must grow as wetting phase enters the pore, that is, as the pressure across the cell is lowered. In Purcell's calculated curve, the residual wetting phase saturation remains constant as the capillary pressure decreases. Thus, his curve does not represent an equilibrium process.

Jan 1, 1953

By J. S. Pascover, J. K. Abraham

The influence of the early stages of precipitation on the kinetics and structure of martensite formation in Fe-27Ni and Fe-29.5Ni alloys containing from 0 to 10 pct Ti was examined with X-ray and electron microscopy techniques. The formation of a coherent, ordered preprecipitate had a profound stabilizing effect on the austenite. The Ms was decreased by increased titanium content and aging time up to a critical time. When the critical aging time was exceeded, the Ms was observed to increase markedly. The formation of the clusters was insuppressible and the volume fraction of clusters formed during the quench was a function of the titanium content. Martensite resulting from transformation of the clustered austenite is tetragonal with the c/a ratio increasing with titanium content. A model for the tetragonality is suggested. The morphology and substructure of the m artensite is inter-preted in terms of the above information and the cur-rent models of twinned martensite. ThE ramifications of precipitation in austenite to the properties of austenite have been the subject of numerous investigations. The current research is concerned with the influence of precipitation in austenite on the kinetics and structure of subsequent marten-site formation. In a previous investigation, Abraham et al.1 followed the aging reaction in an Fe-29.5Ni-4.2Ti* (at. pct) alloy using an X-ray diffraction technique. This technique, employing a Guinier camera, provided kinetic measurements through observation of the side band position as a function of aging time. The salient results of this work were: 1) The initiation of precipitation was not suppressed by quenching, i.e., there was a finite cluster zone size at zero aging time; and 2) The hardness of the aged austenite correlated extremely well with the zone size. During the previous work it was noted that the mar-tensite formed after aging was tetragonal, substanti-ating an earlier observation.2 Systematic investiga-tion revealed that the martensite was tetragonal in both the solution-treated then quenched, and the solu-tion-treated, aged, and quenched condition, and, furthermore, that a marked stabilization of the austenite occurred as a function of aging time. The present work is concerned with documenting the tetragonality and the stabilization phenomena as well as the ob- served microstruction with a suggested rationale for the behavior noted. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The compositions of the alloys are listed in Table I. The analyses were performed after the solution treatment of the strip material. Nickel was determined using the standard dimethy1-glyoxime procedure whereas titanium was determined colorimetrically with hydrogen peroxide and volumetrically by titrating with ferric iron. The materials were melted in a 5-lb vacuum induction furnace, cast into 2-in.-diam ingots, and forged in a temperature range of 950. to 1200°C to 1/2-in. slabs. The three higher titanium containing materials cracked during forging; therefore, to get the alloys into strip form, slices 1/8 in. thick were cut from the slab, homogenized 4 hr at 1150°C, then cold-rolled to a 0.04-in. thickness. The remaining slabs were hot-rolled, homogenized 4 hr at 1065"C, then cold-rolled to a final thickness of 0.03 in. All of the heat treatments were performed under a protective atmosphere of argon. The Ms temperature for most of the alloys is below room temperature; therefore, it was possible to solution treat, quench to room temperature, polish, and then observe the transformation optically on a cold-stage microscope. To determine the effect of aus-tenitizing temperature on Ms, eight of the alloys were treated at two temperatures, 1025" and 1120°C. No measurable variations in Ms were noticed. The remaining alloys were treated at 1025°C. The specimens, : by 5/16 by 0.03 in., were austeni-tized in a vertical tube furnace under a dynamic argon atmosphere. The bottom of the tube was submerged in water for quenching purposes. The question of stabilization that may be operating at room temperature was investigated and found to be negligible. Many of the specimens were held at room

Jan 1, 1970

At the annual meeting of Southern California Section, held on May 28, the following officers were elected: Chairman, W. F. Staunton, vice-chairman, L. C. Mott, secretary-treasurer, A. B. Carpenter; executive committee, J. W. Neill, C. Colcock Jones, Mead Goodloe. ALVIN B. CARPENTER, Secretary-Treasurer.

Jan 8, 1919

By L. G. Huntley

A description f the geology and conditions affecting the occurrence and mining of oil; also the prospects of obtaining oil in different parts of the country. THE Colombian highlands consist of three parallel mountain ranges (Fig. 1) called respectively the eastern, central, and western cordillera of the Andes. A segment of the range that forms the backbone of the Isthmus of Panama also extends into Colombia, along the Pacific coast, as far southward as the mouth of the San Juan River. These four mountain ranges furnish the key to the varying climatic conditions and vegetation of the country. The river valleys are hot and covered with dense tropical growth. This is also generally true of the coastal plain, although in the northern portion there are some fairly open stretches where cattle are raised and even small districts where semi-arid conditions prevail. The population of this heavily wooded wet lowland depends almost entirely on river transportation for all intercourse. The elevated mountainous plateaus of the three ranges are more open and more generally cultivated; all traffic is by means of horses, mules, and the burro. The canoe and river-steamer transportation systems of the valleys are connected with the highland system of trails and roads by short cross trails and the few short railroads of the country. As these cross trails must pass through the intermediate foot-hill region, where the heavy rainfall reaches its maximum, they are exceedingly bad and the life of pack animals is short. The oil development of the Magdalena River valley is in this intermediate region, between the river and the sierras, north of Bogotá.

Jan 9, 1922

By W. E. Gaby

INTRODUCTION SINCE the time of their discovery, the genesis of the ores at Mount Morgan, and the nature of the changes which have affected the surrounding rocks, have been the subject of investigation and speculation by geologists and mining engineers. Developments at this mine, for a long period the greatest gold producer of the world, show that with depth the orebody grades into copper, of which metal it now furnishes a large output, exceeding in value the gold. In earlier times, the purity of the gold and the first extremely heterogeneous character of the ore made it an interesting problem. Now, the probable depth of the copper enrichment, genesis, and true relations of the neighboring rocks furnish equally profitable material for investigation, and the present somewhat detailed description of these ores and rocks, from microscopic study, may prove of interest. The mine occupies a highly silicified portion of a belt of quartz-porphyry, which is believed to be the oldest rock of the region. This belt of quartz-porphyry and allied rocks runs north and south between two areas of a later intrusive granite, as shown on the geologic map,1 Fig. 1. Near the orebody the quartz-porphyry has been intruded by a dense basaltic mass called the "Old Basic." Cutting all three of these igneous masses are two sets of basaltic dikes, one running northwest-southeast, and the other, cross dikes, northeast-southwest. These dikes may be contemporaneous with, instead of later than, the ore. Their number has caused peculiar difficulties in extracting it, as the clay selvage of decomposed material affords no adhesion between dike and ore, causing great blocks to loosen and come down.

Jan 9, 1916

By F. H. Buchella

When Duval Sulphur & Potash Co. awarded pre- mining stripping and early mining at Esperanza to an independent contractor, it was agreed that monthly payments for excavation were to be made on a truck count. At six-month intervals, however, adjustments must be made on the basis of actual excavation or cut from the pit area. It was estimated that it would be three times more expensive to have the pit sectioned by chain and transit survey than to use photogrammetry, since it would take two crews of three men approximately two weeks to do the field work, another two weeks to plot the sections, and additional time to establish a control network. Therefore it was agreed to have the mine area mapped by photogrammetry for both the premined surface and for semi-annual check surveys necessary for intermediate settlements. A triangulation net was established with a maximum distance of 900 ft between control points. In about 30 working days a two-man survey crew, using a theodolite, set up and triangulated 30 stations and calculated their results. For ease in spotting on the photographs, control stations were marked on the ground with white-painted tires centered over the survey pins.

Jan 6, 1960

By J. A. Woolf, E. S. Leaver

THE purpose of this paper is to describe, in a general way, gold-dredging operations in California, with particular reference to unusual features, including types of deposits and recent attempts to improve the recovery of the gold. Dredging Areas The gold-bearing formations that traversed the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas for a north and south distance of some 300 miles furnished the immediate source of the gold found in most of the placer deposits of California. Erosion through a long period carried the gold, together with various forms of partly disintegrated material, to lower elevations and formed placer deposits. Through the classifying action of water in motion, the coarser gold and heavier material of various kinds were - deposited relatively near the source; consequently, in the higher mountain country, old river channels were worked feverishly during the early California gold-rush days because of their high gold content. With the working out of these known high-grade channels, and from the knowledge thus obtained of prehistoric stream beds, drift mining was started and flourished until about 1890. Even today many drift mines are operating with the objective of opening other old Tertiary river channels that have been covered by volcanic flows. Adjacent to these areas, which contained relatively high gold values in the older river channels, smaller particles of gold, gravel, and debris were deposited along the sides of the former stream beds and on the adjoining flat areas, thus forming the large placer deposits, which were worked principally by hydraulic mining. Following the course of the ancient rivers and of the present drainage system to the lower edge of the foothill country, extensive areas of alluvial

Jan 1, 1937

By Joseph Gurland

EVERAL carbide-cobalt compositions were pre-^-5 pared for the purpose of determining the transverse rupture strength of various carbide-binder systems. The binder content was held at 10 and 37 volume pct Co, so as to be representative of low and high bjnder compositions. The carbides used, WC, Tic, TaC, CbC, VC and ZrC, were selected on the basis of availability, knowledge of their properties, and small solid solubilities in the binder metal at room temperature. The methods of preparation and carbon analysis of the carbides are summarized in Table I. The carbides with cobalt added were ball milled, pressed, and sintered. vacuum sintering was used throughout, except for the WC-Cs alloys, which were sintered in hydrogen. The sintering temperatures ranged from 2500" to 2750°F for the low binder alloys and from 2300" to 2550°F for the high binder alloys. Compositions and properties of the sintered com- pacts are presented in Table 11. For the transverse rupture strength, the average and range of the five best samples of each alloy are listed. Discrepancies between the actual and theoretical densities are attributed to carbon deficiencies in some samples. The theoretical densities were calculated by assuming mixtures of carbides of stoichiometric compositions and cobalt. Representative microstructures are shown in Figs. 1 to 6. The porosity was A-2 or better' in all alloys except those with ZrC. A grain size of about 3 p was

Jan 1, 1958

By R. M. Goldhoff, H. J. Beattie

The high-temperature properties of a 1 Cr-Mo-V forging steel are described. A series of controlled heat treatments was designed to delineate the effects of austenitizing and tempering treatments, temile strength, and grain size on such properties. Studies indicate that the mechanical properties and their varlations under creep can be described by the initial metallurgical structures and their changes droPirzg exposure, particulavly the carbide reactions. Such structures are described and correlated with the mechanical properties. FOR many years the large steam turbine industry has relied on the 1 Cr-Mo-V type forging steel for critical applications. Because of its adequate heat resistance and relative economy, it is currently in use in the temperature range up to about 1050" to 1075°F. Attempts to understand the large property variations attainable in this steel involve the structural modifications due to the wide latitude in its heat treatment. The heat treatment essentially involves a two-step process which includes solution-ing of carbides in the austenite range followed by a suitable tempering treatment below the critical to adjust the level of properties. The latter step is referred to as "secondary hardening" and is basically an ordinary aging reaction involving carbides. In the commercial heat treatment of large components of such steel, homogenizing and stress-relief anneals may be included and have some importance in determining subsequent properties. Several studies of the engineering properties of this steel as a function of transformation micro-structure have been reported.1 3 However, in this steel the carbide reactions, which are a function of composition and heat treatment, appear to be the property-controlling factor rather than the micro-structure defined as a transformation product. Thus, the tempering resistance of this type of alloy steel is mainly a function of the size and distribution of alloy carbides.4 However, it is also necessary to consider the stability of the microstructure and the effect of dynamic carbide reactions on subsequent properties. It is the purpose of this paper to show the interdependence of properties and corresponding structures, particularly carbide reactions, developed for a limited set of controlled heat-treatment conditions applied to 1 Cr-Mo-V steel. MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE The material for this work came from a large production forging whose chemical composition is shown in Table I. The property data accumulated on this steel as a function of heat treatment were room-temperature tensile and smooth- and notch-bar creep rupture at 1050°F (notch geometry: shank diameter = 0.357 in., depth = 50 pct, radius = 0.005 in.). To achieve controlled structural variations the temperature and time of both austenitizing and tempering were varied in a manner to produce a series of eight steels each at one of two grain sizes and one of two hardness levels in proper combination for valid comparisons. This will be clear upon examination of Table I. Structural studies involved the use of optical and electron microscopy as well as X-ray and selected-area electron diffraction. To reveal the nature of carbide precipitations, electrolytic extraction techniques were used with subsequent analysis of the residue by X-ray diffraction. Weight losses of the steel specimens during electrolysis were measured and successive chemical fractionations of the residues were applied and checked by X-ray examination. The details of fine structural distributions, morphologies, and crystallography of the precipitates as well as dislocation distributions were investigated by examining in the electron microscope three common types of preparation. a) Relief Replicas. Mechanically polished sections were etched in 2 pct nital, replicated with a nitrocellulose film, which was shadowed by chromium vapor deposited at a glancing angle of 20 deg. b) Extraction Replicas. A thin film of carbon was vapor-deposited on the polished and etched surface. The carbon films were then etched off and gathered on electron-microscope supporting grids. The carbides left imbedded in the carbon replica in their original distribution were then examined crystallo-graphically by selected-area electron diffraction. c) Thin Films. Specimens were mechanically ground and polished down to a thickness of 0.001 to 0.003 in. Final thinning was done electrolytically in a "chrome-acetic" electrolyte. When holes began to appear in the foil, the voltage was interrupted and applied in several 1-sec bursts. Sections of the foil between holes were thin enough to pass a 100-kv electron beam that carries an image.

Jan 1, 1965

By E. Orowan

LONG before the role of dislocations in the plastic deformation of crystals was recognized, the stress-strain field around dislocations received considerable attention in the theory of elasticity. It seems that Weingarten1 was the first to consider dislocations as simple and typical sources of internal stress in elastic solids, and Volterra2 and Timpe3 investigated their elastic field. Fig 3-1 shows the two basic types of dislocations considered by Volterra. The first arises by making a straight-edged .plane cut in a solid, displacing the two surfaces of the cut in their own plane relatively to one another by a constant amount in a direction perpendicular to the edge, and welding them together; this is shown in Fig 3-la, where the outer cylindrical surface represents the boundary of the solid, and the thin spiral cylinder around the edge of the cut has been removed in order to avoid infinities of stress and strain. The second type of dislocation is shown in Fig 3-lb; here the surfaces of the cut have been displaced relatively to one another by a constant amount parallel to the edge, and then welded together. After J. M. Burgers,4 these two types are called edge and screw dislocations, respectively. They represent simple limiting cases; in the general case, the surfaces of the cut are displaced by a constant vector that lies in the plane of the surface but has components both parallel and perpendicular to the edge of the cut. This vector is the Burgers or slip vector. The name “dislocation” was given by A. E. H. Love;5 it was bor-

Jan 1, 1954

By Olof Löfgren

PART 1 INTRODUCTION All modern pelletizing plants are equipped with either the drum or the disc circuits. Choice of one or the other circuit is not simple and it is desirable to establish a firm basis for such a task. For a meaningful and a fair comparison it is necessary to have the two systems working in parallel in the same plant with the same concentrate under the same supervision. Furthermore, the comparison has to be based on a defined green ball quality and size distribution. BALLING CIRCUITS The LKAB straight grate plant at Malmberget, Sweden, was started up in Septenber 1973. It was designed for a 2.5 Mton annual capacity and was equipped with five balling drum circuits. During the first year of operation it was found that the induration plant had the potential for a higher capacity which required increased balling capacity. For this purpose it was decided to install a balling disc circuit complete with a roll screen. The reasons for selecting a disc were space limitations and LKAB's desire to gather experience on balling disc circuits. The disc circuit was started up in 1975 and was run in parallel with the balling drums in the same plant and with the same raw material and under the same operating personnel. The necessary conditions for a comparison were thereby fulfilled. The data for the size distribution and quality of the green balls were obtained on random sampling during one year of operation, so that all the variations which appear in a commercial plant are covered.

Jan 1, 1977

By Ernst F. Eurich

Alexander Parkes patented in England in 1851-52-53 a process for desilvering lead by means of zinc, making use of the greater affinity of silver for zinc than for lead, discovered by Karsten in 1842. The efforts in England to develop it commercially were not particularly successful, nor was the attempted introduction into the United States. This last was not surprising, as it was about the beginning of our Civil War, and at that period there was very little lead-bullion produced in the United States and there was no field for the process here. There was at that time on Staten Island an establishment that pattisonized lead, probably from Rossie, N. Y., and Chester, Pa., and possibly some Spanish lead, but the production of lead-bullion in the Far West had not yet begun. In 1864, Edward Balbach, of Newark, N. J., patented in this country a process for desilvering lead by means of zinc, and in 1867 Edward Balbach, Jr., patented a " movable black-lead retort with a neck, placed in a furnace," for the purpose of distilling the alloy of zinc, lead, and the precious metals. A brief comparison of the Parkes and the Balbach processes is interesting. The Parkes process as practiced in England consisted in stirring into silver-bearing lead, melted in a kettle, from 1 to 2 per cent. of zinc, cooling, skimming the alloy of lead, zinc, and silver that rose to the surface, liquating it in an iron retort, distilling the residual rich alloy in fire-clay retorts, thus regaining the zinc, and refining the desilvered lead at a low heat in a shallow cast-iron pan that formed the hearth of a reverbera-tory furnace. If the lead was too impure, it was first softened

Jan 1, 1913

THE Institute of Metals Division of the A. I. M. E. has joined with the American Society for Steel Treating and the American Welding Society in support of National Metal Week in Philadelphia, Oct. 8 to 12. Individual and joint technical sessions, plant inspection trips, and a general exposition to be held in Commercial Museum have all been arranged. With the coming of the Institute of Metals Division into the circle, the scope of the exposition has been broadened to cover non-ferrous metals, and exhibits of much interest are promised. Headquarters for the Institute of Metals and the American Society for Steel Treating will be at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel, and for the American Welding Society at the Bellevue-Stratford. The American Society for Steel Treating and the Welding Society will hold technical sessions each forenoon at their hotel headquarters. The Institute of Metals Division will hold sessions Tuesday morning and Wednesday and Thursday afternoons; that for Wednesday being a joint session with the American Society for Steel Treating. The latter society will hold independent afternoon sessions on Thursday and Friday. Registration and information desks will be open at the hotels throughout the week, and an attractive program of entertainments has been arranged.

Jan 1, 1928

By Sidney A. Swensrud

The 24-in. crude-oil line. and- the 20-in. petroleum-products line, built as a war emergency by the United States Government and running from points in Texas to the New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia area, were constructed only because of the inability during the war to continue nor-inal ocean tanker movements from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast. The postwar disposition of these lines may be considered as one of the important problems of the postwar readjustments in the oil industry, if not the most important one. In the first place there appear to be many complications in keeping the lines in crude-oil or petroleum-products service. This conclusion was reached also in a study by T. E. Swigart, President of Shell Pipeline Corporation.' Since the lines are too largc for any one company to utilize, and since it appears likely that a surplus rather than a deficiency of tankers will exist after the war, most companies probably will feel that they can achieve lower costs and more satisfactoiy results from the resumption of tanker movements to the East Coast rather than by endeavoring to take over or utilize the capacity in the large pipe lines under some tariff-rate structure. As for using the lines for making deliveries to the middle west or central eastern areas, it would appear that when the war is over and normal transportation arrangements can be resumed, there will be no need of any extra capacity for such deliveries. Therefore, the War Emergency lines could be utilized for this purpose only if privately owned pipe lines and other transportation facilities were to be displaced. Against this rather unprepossessing prospect for use in petroleum or product service is the fact that at or near the source of the lines lie the greatest developed gas reserves in the world, for much of which there is at present no satisfactory market outlet; and at the other end of the lines lies one of the greatest concentrations of population in the world, which is not now served by natural gas. These who have been fortunate enough to use natural gas can have little doubt of its desirability as a domestic fuel. An analysis of the market potentialities and comparison with other areas where natural gas is being distributed, and where it has displaced manufactured gas, makes it seem clear beyond question that the full capacity of both of the large-diameter lines could be fully utilized in this service, and this without creating any undue drain upon the gas reserves of the nation. On the basis of an estimated capacity of roo to 120 billion cubic feet per year, the gas that might be marketed through these lines would amount to only 3 to 4 per cent of the total con-

Jan 1, 1944

By T. Fraser, F. F. Giese, R. L. Sutherland

Under a cooperative agreement between United States Bureau of Mines and the Truax-Traer Coal Company, some operating-scale experiments have been made with the cyclone thickener in the preparation plant of the Shamrock No. 1 mine at Kayford, West Virginia. These tests were made with a 14-in. cyclone of the type developed by the Dutch State Mines in Limburg. It was applied experimentally to the thickening of solids in washery water to obtain performance data to show the range of sizes that may be recovered and other operating characteristics that would indicate the field of usefulness of this device in coal preparation practice. This is a progress report only. It covers results obtained in a series of 17 tests of the operation of what has been considered a unit of commercial size operating on suspensions of fine coal mixed with a relatively small amount of free impurities. The underflow material, after further dewatering in centrifuges, is a marketable grade of coal. The coal at Shamrock No. 1 is mined from the No. 2 Gas seam. It is made up essentially of a low ash coal suitable for byproduct use with one or more bands of splint coal of higher ash content suitable for industrial fuel. The washing plant was installed for the two-fold purpose of removing the free impurities incident to mechanized mining and to separate the run of mine coal into the two types. To accomplish these results it is necessary to make a separation at a specific gravity of about 1.4 to recover the byproduct coal and to separate the splint coal from refuse at a higher gravity. The coarse coal section of the washing plant was put into service about 10 months before the fine coal section was completed. Inadequate screening capacity in the raw coal preparation plant resulted in a portion of the fine coal being fed to the jigs. No provision for preliminary dedusting of the raw coal feed was incorporated in the design. Under the conditions in the initial operating period, separation at the desired lower gravity was not realized, apparently because of the presence of an excessive amount of fine solids in suspension in the wash water. Difficulty in wetting the fine coal may also have been a contributing factor. Additional facilities for the removal of the fine solids from the wash water was indicated. Information then available on the Driessen cone for this purpose was studied and a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Mines for experimental work with a unit of standard size as developed by the Dutch State Mines was arranged. During the time required for construction of the cone it was found the addition of a small amount of wetting

Jan 1, 1950

Jan 1, 1884

By W. J. McConnell

OBSERVATIONS on man exposed to unusual temperatures and humidities, and studies conducted under accurately controlled environmental conditions, have supplied information regarding the physiological responses of the human body which may occur incident to such exposure. These investigations also indicate the relative importance of temperature, humidity and air motion-the three physical air factors that affect human comfort. Many and diverse were the conclusions of early investigators who associated the discomfort observed in crowded and ill-ventilated spaces with changes in the chemical constituents of the air resulting from presumably poisonous exhalations from the body. These are of interest today only because, as a recent editorial in the British Medical Journal1 states, there is still an inclination to believe in the old view that there is some injurious quality of the air in ill-ventilated and crowded rooms, quite apart from dust, microbic infection and heat stagnation. There is a tendency to fly to some mysterious unknown agent such as "deionization," which even certain American engineers are now discussing. This editorial denies the existence of the least proof of any subtle poison being exhaled by human beings or of the ionization of the air having any influence in making open-window ventilation better and more stimulating than mechanical methods which propel heated and conditioned air through ducts. Until proof is forthcoming that certain changes, with which we are not now familiar, occur in the transmission of air from the exterior to the interior of enclosures, the responsible known factors which initiate the physiological responses in human beings are limited to the combined conditions of temperature, humidity and velocity of the air. While some mention was made as far back as 1880 that high temperatures and humidities were undesirable, Hermans,2 of Amsterdam, is credited with suggesting in 1883 that the harmful effects noted in ill-ventilated rooms were due to the fact that the increased temperature and moisture of the air prevented the body from maintaining a proper thermal balance.

Jan 1, 1930