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Jan 1, 1938

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Jan 1, 1938

By W. P. Sykes

Seven years ago, Dr. S. L. Hoytl presented a masterful discussion of the hard metal carbides and cemented tungsten carbide. His lecture summarized most of the data then available in the field; many of the details relating to the production, properties and structure of cemented tungsten carbide had never been previously published, for, in fact, this information was only then being acquired. During the intervening years, the cemented carbides have assumed a place of real importance in the commercial field, with an ever widening variety of applications due to constant improvement in the control of production technique and the unremitting search for new compositions that might better the performance of the alloys in one or another type of service. The most recent summary of production methods, properties and guides for the successful application of the cemented carbides appears in the 1936 edition of the Metals Handbook. Of necessity, much detailed information relating to structures and physical properties is not included in such a summary, and it is with such details that the present discussion is concerned. Steps in Preparation While the past 25 years have contributed a valuable store of working knowledge in the field of powder metallurgy, many of the process controls are derived entirely from experience and are not as yet finally explained by a specific physical or chemical phenomenon. For most of the cemented carbides such difficulties are aggravated by our lack of knowledge not only of the complex alloy systems involved, but also by the possible changes in structure and even in composition which may accompany variations in temperature, heating time, and furnace atmospheres. The principal steps in the preparation of these cemented carbide alloys are fairly well known, but to supply a foundation for discussion these steps are briefly outlined as follows : 1. Formation of the metal carbide in the form of powder by heating a mixture of carbon and the metal powder or oxide for several

Jan 1, 1938

By Merrill, Charles White

MOST extraordinary of the technical developments in placer gold mining during the last five years has been the rise of the dragline dredge, by which is meant a floating washing plant for auriferous gravel, fed by a dragline excavator. The idea originated in the fall of 1933, when Horace Onyett constructed a floating washing plant to which gravel was delivered by a dragline excavator standing on dry land. Onyett's operation near Oroville, Calif., and another started by H. F. England later on Wyandotte Creek, Butte County, Calif., yielded '75 oz. of fine gold before the end of 1933. Although the first operation was abandoned shortly as un- profitable, the dragline-dredge method of gold recovery soon began to expand at a boom rate. As a matter of interest, the Onyett operation was taken over later by Lord and Bishop, who are re- ported to have succeeded in making it the first financially successful drag- line dredge. In California alone drag- line dredges produced $3,294,970 worth of gold in 1937, and the pros-

Jan 1, 1938

By Lawrence B. Wright, Lester G. Morrell

ON the steep slopes of the Kootenays, 15 to 20 miles south of Nelson, B. C., are a number of ore occurrences (Fig. 1). One that has many features of mining and geological interest is the Ymir Yankee Girl Gold Mines Limited. Discovery of this property was made in 1899 at an outcrop on the hillside, some 2500 ft. above the village of Ymir. This proved to be a branch vein 20 ft. long leading to two main veins, the Yankee Girl and the Spur (Fig. 5). The ore pattern as now delimited shows a remarkable increase in ore area with depth below the outcrop. This recent development is of interest particularly in view of the fact that the property was nearly condemned, professionally. Another interesting feature, which has a bearing upon its history, is the persistent excess of tonnage produced from period to period over visible reserves. This is not ascribed to lagging mine development, but to detailed vein characteristics, which we will endeavor to make clear by giving a description of the veins and their surroundings. HISTORY AND PRODUCTION Little interest was evidenced in this district until the building of the railway in 1893 provided easy access and the discovery of the Ymir mine [t] in 1896 attracted attention. As a result, the Ymir Yankee Girl group of claims was staked in October 1899. In 1907, an American syndicate took over the property and subsequently extended the 50-ft. drift and opened the present 400 and 540-ft. levels. In 1908, the Syndicate, without recording any shipments in the meantime, dropped its lease, which was taken up by H. L. Rogers, who bonded the Yankee Girl group. Rogers shipped 2622 tons of ore, mainly from the uppermost stope in the mine, which is reported to have yielded

Jan 1, 1938

By E. P. Barrett

THE high-frequency laboratory induction furnace with a rotating liquid crucible enables research workers to conduct certain investigations heretofore very difficult or impossible to realize because vessels are not obtainable that are capable of resisting the physical conditions or the chemical actions to which they are subjected. Applications for patents covering commercial uses of centrifugal liquid crucibles were filed in the United States in 1919,1 in France in 1925, in the United States and Germany in 1926,2 and in France in 1927.3 In 1928, Schuette and Maier,4 of the Bureau of Mines, reported the construction of a whirling table beneath a high-frequency induction furnace. SHAPE AND SIZE OF CENTRIFUGAL LIQUID CRUCIBLES When a vessel containing a liquid is rotated, the inner surface of the liquid takes the shape f a paraboloid under the simultaneous action of centrifugal force and gravity. The internal dimensions of the paraboloid rotating liquid crucible are governed by the diameter of the container and its speed of rotation. Melted Wood's metal was poured into cylinders 2 ½ in. in diameter, which were rotated at 180, 300, and 468 r.p.m. When the metal was solid, a slurry of plaster of Paris was added, and rotation continued until the plaster had set. Fig. 1, a photograph of sections f the cylinders, shows the effect f speed f rotation of the containers upon the shape f the inner surface f the rotating liquid crucibles.

Jan 1, 1938

Jan 1, 1938

By B. S. Norris, Charles R. Austin

IN a recent paper the authors1 discussed the reactions to tempering of hypereutectoid steels quenched from 1000° C., as revealed by studies on changes in hardness, electrical resistivity, coercive force and metallographic characteristics. The data, which related specifically to tempering temperatures of 550°, 650° and 710° C., for varying periods up to 125 hr., permitted the following important conclusions: 1. The rate of softening of the steels at the temperatures examined differed markedly although the steels were of "similar" general chemical composition. 2. The temperature of maximum softening spread over a range from about 650° C. to the eutectoid inversion. 3. The divergence in behavior was ascribed, at least in part, to a profound difference in tendency to graphitization on annealing at subeutectoid temperatures. 4. The node of spheroidization of the cementite, as revealed by metallographic studies, also varied considerably in the different steels. The purpose of the present investigation is to pursue further the study of the difference in behavior of the steels on tempering over a wider range of temperature. To this end the following features have received particular attention: 1. Comparison of temperatures of maximum softening of the various steels when the quenched samples were tempered for 5 hr. and for 75 hr. followed by furnace cooling and by quenching in water. 2. Determination of the effect of quenching temperature, prior to tempering, on the rate of softening. Quenching temperatures of 1000° and 850° C. were used in the investigations. 3. Examination of the microstructures obtained with the various heat-treatments employed.

Jan 1, 1938

By L. E. Young

The purpose of this paper is to start a discussion on: (I) methods of supporting the immediate roof, particularly of local areas of poor roof, during the mechanical loading of coal; (2) methods of increasing the rapidity of the movement of the mining faces so that, without the use of cribs, jacks, park walls, and filling, there will be no danger to men, equipment, and working places from the subsidence of the overlying strata. In the Pittsburgh district the application of mechanical loading devices in mines working in the Pittsburgh seam has been retarded by the difficulties of holding and handling the draw slate. Normally the thickness of this slate averages about 8 in. but the hardness varies, and a cut of coal cannot always be loaded without placing posts or crossbars to support the slate. Locally, the slate may be thicker and special methods of support may be required. If crossbars are placed to hold the slate when the coal averages 5 ft. in thickness, the standard methods of transporting the coal cannot be followed, and the use of conveyors may be desirable. Very little information is available on the effect of increasing the rate of movement of advancing or retreating break lines or longwall faces. A few British publications have presented some data but all such data relate to longwall faces that have moved not more than 6 ft. a day. The most rapid rate of movemerit of longwall faces in Germany is 6 ft. per day. In the ordinary hand-loading mine in western Pennsylvania break lines on full retreat will move about 2 ft. per day. If loading machines are used under similar conditions the rate of retreat may reach 4 ft. per day. In a mine where coal is loaded by hand on conveyors three shifts per day, the rate of retreat has ranged from 11 to 16 ft. per day, with an average of 13 ft. If mobile loading machines could be used to load on conveyors on break lines, the rate of retreat should be increased substantially During 1935 and 1936, the United States Bureau of Mines, under a cooperative agreement with the Pittsburgh Coal Co., carried on studies of roof movement at Montour To. 10 mine. The work war done urider the direction of Mr. H. P. Greenwald, Supervising En neer, Experi-

Jan 1, 1938

The stabilization of a gravel road with soil is a method of treatment developed in recent years by the United States Bureau of Public Roads for the purpose of binding the constituents together better, and maintaining a more durable surface. The process consists in adding to the gravel or crushed stone and sand, a soil mortar, so-called, of fine sand, silt and clay, mixed in the proper proportions. The coarse gravel and sand supply structural strength and hardness; the fine sand adds embedment support to the coarse sand; the silt acts as a filler to prevent the granular particles from rocking; while the clay serves not only as a binder but also provides pores minute enough to cause connecting moisture films which are supposed to have high cohesive properties'. It will be recognized that the clay is an important ingredient both when wet and dry, and should not show excessive expansion when wet, nor correspondingly high shrinkage in drying, as otherwise there is danger of unseating the nonplastie particles. Such a stabilized road, although an improvement on one with a floating surface, will in course of time be subject to wear, and become dusty when the clay dries out and breaks up. It has been found that if some salts are added to the road mixture they tend to maintain the soil moisture and prevent dustiness of the road or raveling of the road surface. In addition to this, it is claimed that these dissolved salts cause a thinning of the moisture films on the particles, thus permitting greater compaction of the road mixture, and thereby increasing its density. This fact can be proved by noting the increased compaction which a road mixture shows when certain salts are added to the soil water. Since certain chemical substances such as sodium chloride are electrolytes, the question arises whether they cannot have wine effect on the qualities of the clay in the soil mortar, and perhaps improve them. In view of the fact that certain salts seem to exert a favorable effeet on the road mixture it is desirable that they he held in the road soil as long a time as possible.

Jan 1, 1938

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Jan 1, 1938

By John Chipman, K. C. McCutcheon

To a very large extent the quality of a mild steel ingot is determined by the manner in which it is poured into the ingot mold and its behavior during the first few minutes after it has been poured. The formation of the solid rim of metal around the periphery of the mold, the effervescent action of the liquid steel within this solidified rim and the upward or downward movement of the metal level are indications of what is going on beneath the surface of the liquid metal, especially at the interface at which solidification occurs. Observation of this "rimming action" enables an experienced observer to predict the thickness of the sound skin of the ingot and the location and extent of cavities or "blowholes" caused by entrapment of gases. The control of rimming action at the hands of a skillful steel pourer is a vital part of the control of quality in mild steel sheet, and the behavior of the liquid steel during the rimming period is a useful criterion of the melting and refining practices employed in the open hearth. The behavior of rimming steel during solidification depends primarily upon the evolution of gases from the molten metal and it is therefore a problem of considerable interest to determine the nature and amount of the gases evolved. A number of attempts to determine either the amount or the analysis of the evolved gases have been reported. Klinger,1 in 1925, analyzed the gases extracted from rimming, semikilled and killed steel ingots and found that the chief constituent of the rimming gas was carbon monoxide. The relatively large amounts of nitrogen reported in his first few samples may have been due to incomplete removal of air from the gas-collecting mechanism. McKune2 reported similar studies of rimming ingots from which surprisingly large proportions of nitrogen and hydrogen were evolved. Ameen and Willners3 determined both the amount and composition of gases extracted from unkilled ingots with the aid of diminished pressure. . Their ingots weighed only 80 kg. (176 lb.) and apparently were solid within two or three minutes, so that their

Jan 1, 1938

By William Catron, Cyril U. Colledge

BECAUSE the rich La Colorada orebody of the Cananea Consolidated Copper Co. does not outcrop at surface, after its discovery (by churn drill) and before mining was begun, a large amount of development work was done to learn the shape and extent of the ore and to provide for economic and effective mining. As these openings progressed, the actual shape of the orebody became known and with this knowledge came the realization that mining this rich and unusual deposit without loss of ore or danger to workmen presented several difficult problems. This paper will describe one of these problems; namely, the handling of an inverted cone-shaped core of barren rock, on the periphery of and below which the ore occurred. It was clear that as the ore was mined out from around and under this inverted cone of rock, weighing about 3,000,000 tons, it would hang over the workings, held suspended only by its own tensile strength and threatening to crash into the stopes below with disastrous results to men and mine. The method of mining developed during the years 1928, 1929 and 1930 anticipated and provided for the eventual collapse of this core of rock. In November 1936 the core settled down gradually on the edges of the stopes descending a total of about 50 ft. vertically. The men in the stopes had ample warning and no lives were endangered. There were no air blasts in the mine. The core broke loose from its top support at the 500-ft. level along old fracture planes and evidently is crushed to the ninth level. Movement was of short duration; the following shift went to work in the stopes as usual. No ore was lost. GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE The shape of the orebody is illustrated in Fig. 1. The geology of the Colorada orebody has been described by V. D. Perry1 and by W. G.

Jan 1, 1938

With the inauguration of Petroleum Technology this year, and approval by the Board to add an Assistant Secretary to the New York staff to serve the Petroleum and Coal Divisions, the Petroleum Division looks forward to greater opportunities and responsibilities. An improved medium of publication offers further incentive to engineers and investigators in the oil industry to make contributions. The authorization by the Board of Directors of a new Assistant Secretary is an appreciation of the splendid contributions made to the industry by the open forum of the Petroleum Division. It is also a recognition of the possibilities of greater service to the membership along the lines established ten to fifteen years ago by DeGolyer, Fohs, Ambrose and Lovejoy, to mention a few leaders. It isexpected that the new officer will spend a substantial part of his time in the field, visiting the student sections, the respective Divisions, helping in the arrangement of papers and Section meetings and intensifying interest in the Institute. The Petroleum Division will hold three meetings this year. The Fall Meetings will be held on Oct. 6 and 7 in San Antonio and on Oct. 20 and 21 in Los Angeles. The programs for these meetings will deal chiefly with engineering research and production engineering problems. Papers on production statistics and general economics of the industry are reserved for the Annual Meeting in New York. The annual production symposium and statistics are accepted as standard for the industry. With continuously deeper penetration into the earth in search for and exploitation of petroleum, it is necessary to have a better understanding of reservoir conditions and to place more phases of the operation under engineering control. Among the subjects relating to reservoir conditions tha thave been proposed for the fall meeting programs are phase equilibria at high pressures, interfacial tension between oil and water, the flow of oil and water through sands, the chemistry of films and underground temperatures. Investigations relating to control of operations include methods of continuously logging while drilling both visually and electrically, methods of studying drilling samples, properties of drilling fluids, improved cementing practices for isolating thin sands under high-temperature conditions and gas conservation, particularly production from high-pressure reservoirs. Additional suggestions of general themes or individual subjects will be welcomed, since it is desirable to build a backlog of material for Petroleum Technology. 9

Jan 1, 1938

By Charles Reed

WITH the increasing importance of clay in drilling operations which demand more precise and exacting control over its behavior, there has come the realization that most of our present methods of control over many of its important properties still represent more of an art than a science. Such a situation with respect to a material of such industrial significance is unfortunate, and naturally many investigations have been conducted to improve our knowledge. In general, these investigations have revealed the complex nature of clay behavior and while sometimes they may not have seemed to contribute directly to a solution of the field operator's problems they have been of inestimable importance in bringing to light the broad fundamental scientific principles upon which must be based any effective working theory correlating the known facts of clay behavior and predicting profitable new lines of attack for its improvement.

Jan 1, 1938

By M. R. Pickus, C. H. Mathewson

THE study of the plastic deformation and recrystallization of metals has been the subject of many investigations. In regard to the simple deformational processes, such as tension and compression, the early knowledge gained from studies of polycrystalline material has been supplemented by many significant researches on the behavior of single crystals. Unfortunately, this has not been true for more complicated deformational processes. As far back as 1927, G. I. Taylor1 wrote: It is impossible in the present state of knowledge to do more than give a possible reason why (face-centcred cubic) crystals set themselves with a (110) direction in the plane of rolling, and at right angles to the direction of rolling. The explanation of why the orientation of the crystal axes round the transverse direction is what it is, must be left till the distortion of metals, and particularly single crystals of metals in the process of rolling, has been studied in greater detail. That this gap in the systematic study of deformation and recrystallization has not yet been filled was indicated by C. H. Samans,2 who wrote in 1934 that "only four investigations upon cold-rolled single crystals of any of the face-centered cubic metals have been reported in the literature." Of these four studies, only those of S. Tanaka3 and T. Sakao,4 both of whom worked with aluminum crystals, had quantitative significance. The other two, carried out by F. Wever5 and W. G. Burgers," were of a qualitative nature. It is our hope that the present investigation may contribute something to the knowledge necessary for a rationalization of the origin of rolling textures in terms of the known behavior of single crystals, and may add pertinent information concerning the recrystallization characteristics of deformed single crystals.

Jan 1, 1938

By Mäkinen, Eero

OUTOKUMPU, a large copper mine in eastern Finland, has the distinction of being one of the few important mines in the world discovered by a geologist the late Otto Triistedt, of the Geological Sur- vey of Finland, having found the out- clop in 1910 by tracing glacial ore boulders, some of which had been carried as far as fifty kilometres. As the mine had no connection with either railways or waterways and the possibilities of transport were poor, the owners first tried the Hybinette hydrometallurgical process to extract the copper. The raw ore was finely crushed, treated by a sulphatizing roast. and then leached. The resulting solution was electrolyzed, using lead anodes. This experimental plant, having a capacity of 10,000 tons (all Ions are metric tons in this paper) of raw ore and producing 300 to LEO0 tons of electrolytic copper annually, was built in 1913 and run until dis-

Jan 1, 1938

By Wayne Loel

THE application of aerial photographs to all phases of geologic mapping is set forth, indicating the advantages to be gained in different types of country and under varying climatic conditions, Methods of field and office procedure are given from a geological point of view, as well as suggestions regarding the best methods of aerial mapping for different uses and under varying field conditions, including the study of submarine geology. Aerial photographs with accompanying geologic maps are shown to illus-trate the appearance from the air of different geologic features under varying climatic and topographic conditions.

Jan 1, 1938

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Jan 1, 1938

Gach-Saran.—The most important development of 1937 has been the successful completion of initial exploratory wells in the Gach Saran (formerly known as Gach-i-Qaraghuli) field, about 125 miles southeast of Haft Kel. Two of these wells are rated at 33,000 bbl. per day at flowing pressures exceeding 800 lb. Drilling is proceeding with the object of delimiting the structure. Exploratory drilling is also being undertaken in several areas within the company's concession. In the producing fields the policy of controlled production has been maintained as in the past, and drilling has been limited to that required for maintenance of production and general control of the fields. Acid treatment to increase production when desired has continued to be successful in most cases. Table 1.—Crude Production in Iran Masjid-i-Sulaimana Haft Kel Total Year barrelsb Ton Barrelsb To Barrelab 1936 3,641,247 27,820,000 4,473,849 34,200,000 8,115,096 62,020,000 193P 4,375,112 33,110,000 5,693,849 43,480,000 10,068,961 76,590,000 * Net production; i.e., excluding surplus products re-injected to reservoir. 6 To nearest 10,000. " Correct to November, with an added estimated figure for December. Masjid-i-Su1aiman.—There have been no new developments in this field. The policy of returning, as and when necessary, surplus products to the reservoir has been maintained. Haft Ke1.—Drilling to explore deeper formations has been undertaken, but has not progressed far enough for conclusive results to be drawn. Gasoline retention in the crude by means of multistage pressure stabilization has been continued as in past years. Separation pressures are as follows: well-head separators, 500 lb.; central battery, 190, 85, 40, 20 and 10 lb. per sq. in., respectively. The stabilized crude is delivered to pipe line at atmospheric pressure, or ex the 10-lb. stage, in accordance with refinery requirements.

Jan 1, 1938