Search Documents

By AIME AIME

THE program of government drilling, conducted jointly by the U. S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines, has demonstrated the presence in Texas and New Mexico of potash-bearing beds of considerable importance. Information regarding the ex- tent and location of the potash deposits as presented at the non-metallic sessions was of great interest to many engineers. These subjects will be covered in greater detail in later paragraphs. The first session, with about 50 in attendance, convened at 10 a.m. on Feb. 18, with Oliver Bowles, chair- man of the Committee on Non-Metallic Minerals, pre- siding. The first paper was on "Soapstone Mining In Virginia," presented by C. W. Ryan of Lynchburg, Va. The nature and extent of the soapstone deposits of Nelson County were described in some detail. In origin, the soapstone is undoubtedly related to a basic peridotite rock though its mode of formation is some- what uncertain. This main soapstone deposit occurs in three veins, the western, middle, and eastern, the middle vein being of greatest economic importance. Methods of stripping, quarrying and milling the rock were described and the uses of soapstone were enum- erated. In discussing this paper, C. P. Berkey, of Co- lumbia University strongly favored the theory of igneous origin of the soapstone and the need for further detailed geological study. J. L. Gillson of Cambridge, Mass., stated that the Vermont and New York talc deposits were always associated with characteristic minerals, such as, a chlorite of one particular variety, siderite, amphibole, magnetite, and biotite. C. H. Behre of Cincinnati, Ohio, raised the question of parallelism in the soapstone structure and Mr. Ryan stated that such parallelism was in evidence in some parts of the deposits. H. A. Wheeler of St. Louis, Mo., also took 'part in the discussion.

Jan 1, 1929

By Wilbur E. Sanders

AT some period during the operation of metalliferous and other commercially valuable mineral-deposits in connection with their underground mining, when the developments therein have become so extensive that their description is tedious and confusing, some scheme for naming or numbering the various workings and their parts is necessary for convenience of ; reference.. A simple and symmetrical yet expansive system of classification must be devised, one that is capable of being extended to cover all possible exigencies and conditions of future operations within the property. Such a scheme, properly arranged, greatly simplifies communication between the various departments of the mining business, as, for instance, between the administrative and the operating departments of the concern, and is of the greatest assistance to the officers of the mine in enabling them to locate and describe particular points and parts of workings and specific kinds of work. Again, in the proper segregation and differentiation of mine-accounts, when they are carried out with that detail which will furnish ready information concerning the cost of a particular piece of work, or the various items and totals of expense connected with the, development,, operation and repair of each or all of the mine-workings, some such method of designation becomes a necessity. . Moreover, such a plan is admirably adapted to the needs of the mining engineer, who, in connection with his reports upon mining-properties, is sometimes required, in his descriptions of certain blocks of ore, to locate lists of assays of samples taken from many and various places, and to designate workings and parts of workings that are located in different parts of the mine, sometimes at points wide apart.

May 1, 1906

By S. C. Lindsay, D. J. I. Evans

With each year that passes hydrometallurgical processes are being more widely used to recover base metals from ores and concentrates. Generally these processes involve liquid-solid separation of metal-bearing liquors from barren residues. This may be done by countercurrent decantation, thickening and filtration, or filtration or centrifuging only. Choice of method is governed by chemical and physical characteristics of the pulps; cost of labor, power, materials, and waste disposal; and even by the amount of capital available when building plans are under way. Since all these controlling factors change with time and location and with technological advances, the separation method must be re-evaluated when new plants or expansion programs are contemplated. At the Sherritt Gordon refinery in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, an ammonia pressure leaching process recovers nickel, copper, and cobalt from the nickel concentrate produced at Lynn Lake, Manitoba.' Pregnant liquors are separated from the barren leach residues in a thickener-filter liquid-solids circuit. The decision to use this type of separation was based on a summation of economic factors during the pilot plant and design stages. Although countercurrent decantation was not incorporated in the refinery flowsheet, the problems solved in thickening the leach residues and the experience gained in operating the commercial plant are pertinent to countercurrent decantation, particularly where it is applied to slow-settling leach slurries or slurries having a relatively high vapor pressure of a valuable, obnoxious, or poisonous vapor. The nickel sulfide concentrate is leached under pressure with air and ammonia to dissolve the nickel, copper, and cobalt and most of the sulfur, leaving a residue of iron and siliceous material to be discarded.2,3 During a subsequent distillation stage to recirculate part of the ammonia used for leaching, copper is recovered from the solution as a high-grade sulfide. After further purification to remove traces of copper and undesirable sulfur compounds, the nickel is precipitated by hydrogen under pressure at an elevated temperature. The cobalt, together with unreduced nickel, is precipitated as a mixed metal sulfide by hydrogen sulfide for eventual cobalt recovery. The end solution is then evaporated to produce a crystalline ammonium sulfate byproduct. As shown in Fig. 1, the nickel concentrate is leached in a continuous, two-stage, countercurrent circuit. In the first stage, or adjustment leach, the fresh concentrate is partially leached (60 pct) in the liquor produced in the second stage, or final leach. This system is necessary to produce a solution suitable for treatment in the copper sulfide precipitation step. Both stages are carried out at 170" to 180°F under a total pressure, with air, of 100 to 120 psig in large, horizontal, water-cooled autoclaves. The autoclaves are divided by overflow weirs into four compartments to give a certain amount of staging during leaching. In each compartment a relatively slow-speed (100 to 150 rpm) agitator maintains the nickel concentrate in suspension. Adjustment leaching, carried out in two autoclaves in parallel, is followed by a thickener-filter liquid-solids separation. Final leaching is done in two parallel trains of three autoclaves using aqueous ammonia to extract metal values from the adjustment leach residues. This too is followed by a thickener-filter circuit. Here the residues are repulped once with aqueous ammonia and twice with process water and refiltered after each repulping stage, to insure a maximum recovery of soluble metal, before being discarded to the tailings pond. The adjustment leach is followed by a seven-disk Dorr-Oliver American filter, with an agitator in the filter boot to keep the residues in suspension. Agitators have also been installed beneath the four ten-disk filters following the final leach thickener. Slurry Characteristics: A typical analysis of the Lynn Lake nickel concentrate, produced by differential flotation,' is given in Table I. The concentrate comprises 35 to 49 pct pentlandite, (Fe, Ni)S; 3 to 6 pct chalcopyrite, CuFeS,; 1 to 4 pct pyrite, FeS2; and 24 to 42 pct pyrrhotite, Fe1-2S (where x varies between 0 and 0.2) together with various siliceous minerals such as actinolite, hornblende, and talc. During leaching, the sulfur in the pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and part of the pyrrhotite is successively oxidized through the thiosulfate and poly-thionate radicals to sulfate and sulfamate." Simultaneously the nickel, copper, and cobalt are converted to soluble ammine complexes and the iron in the pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and part of the pyrrhotite is oxidized to a spongy hydrated iron oxide. The hydrated iron oxide is readily broken down by the agitation needed to sustain the concentrate in suspension and to maintain a satisfactory mass transfer of the oxygen from the air to the slurry. Table I shows typical chemical, screen, and

Jan 1, 1961

By CHAS. A. R. LAMELY

In the extreme northeast corner of the State of Washington, on the Canadian border, lies the Metaline mining district. This district is old in history, but young in production. The Metaline district is a zinc-lead area of the replacement type in dolomite and limestone. The ore bodies of the Josephine horizon are in many ways similar to the ore bodies of the famous Tri-State zinc fields. The beds are faulted and folded and have varyng low dips in varying directions, and underlie large areas of the district. Production started in 1927 on a very limited basis. The property is now mining and milling 700 tons per day. The mine is opened by adit tunnels and a vertical shaft. As the ore horizons gained depth, it was necessary to sink inclines to follow the ore horizon (see Fig 1). From 1927 to date, approximately 600,000 ft of diamond drill was put down This work indicated that sufficient tonnage existed to justify a redesigning of the whole operation, surface and under- ground. After four years of general study, the following program was planned :

Jan 1, 1949

By G. R. Love

i\ program has been written which allows fully automatic conversion of data for X-ray intensity, as a function of time, to finished conventional pole figures. The program accepts input data in the serial order in which they are taken and is therefore immediately compatible with automatic data-acquisition devices. From these data taped instructions are prepared for the Calcomp plotter to construct ink-on-paper drawings. Because both Siemens and Norelco pole figure goniometers are used in this laboratory, the program was written for pole figure data obtained from one or more interpenetrating spiral scans during which both the polar angle, @, and the equatorial angle, a, are varied simultaneously and continuously. The reference direction for a scan, that is the point @ = 0 deg, may be chosen coincident with either the normal direction (N.D. figures) or the rolling direction (R.D. figures). In either case the plotted figures are drawn with the transverse direction (a = 0 deg) at the right and the rolling direction at the top. The full, circular, pole figure is drawn as two semicircular figures labeled "front side" and "back side". As presently constituted, the program will also accept data from circular scans taken at constant values of @. In every case the angular coordinates of each intensity entry are generated in the computer from a relatively small number of auxiliary data. The X-ray intensity data are corrected for background scattering by direct subtraction of the intensity measured with 28 set appropriately "off" the Bragg angle. It is possible to enter this correction as an additional spiral scan through the a, @ space; because the background correction does not normally vary rapidly enough to warrant this detailed a determination, the background corrections are entered as one or more auxiliary data. All data are normalized to a multiple of random intensity. The data taken in this laboratory for N.D. figures are normally taken in a reflection geometry from from sheet samples and do not extend beyond <p = 75 deg; for these data random intensity must be determined from separate experiments and entered as auxiliary information. When the auxiliary information is not available, a number is chosen to give intensity values normalized to a scale of 1 to 10. In this laboratory, R.D. figures are based upon hemispherical samples for which data are taken out to @ = 90 deg; for these data random intensity is calculated by direct numerical integration of . sin @ d@ using the trapezoidal rule and the background-corrected values of the input data. Points necessary to the construction of the pole figure are identified by simple linear interpolation between adjacent data points to determine the loci of contour lines. Points lying on a given contour are connected to one another with straight-line segments and the search-calculation-drawing sequence is patterned to assure that different contour lines do not cross, that a single line does not branch, and that lines do not end in space. However, so that there be no ambiguity in the data presentation, all contour lines end at the limits of the input data. Since the curves are constructed of straight-line segments, they are not continuous in their derivatives. However,

Jan 1, 1969

By Wittenau, E.

OPERATION of a pilot mill of 100 tons&apos; daily capacity during 1930 and 1931 proved that the copper minerals of the Colorado and Clay sections of the Morenci ore body could be successfully concentrated by the flotation process. Economic conditions caused postponement of further testing work until late in 1938 when the former No. 6 Concentrator at Morenci was converted into an experimental mill of 1500 tons&apos; daily capacity which was known as the Test Concentrator. The Test Concentrator began continuous operation on April 3. 1939, using such crushing and grinding equipment of the No. 6 Concentrator as was appropriate. Modern classifiers and certain flotation machines were installed and later other types of flotation machines, a large grate-type grinding mill. mechanical screens, a short-head cone crusher, and a disk filter were added to the test equipment. Operation was uninterrupted until Dec. 31, 1941.

Jan 1, 1942

By Max Boehmer

(Pittsburg Meeting, March, 1910.) AFTER 30 years of development and after an output of $350,000,000 in value of gold, silver, lead, zinc, and copper, there has not been published a satisfactory explanation of the origin of the immense deposits of the Leadville district. The original examination find survey of Leadville by members of the U. S. Geological Survey was a most magnificent piece of work, but their attempt to explain the origin of the ores was based upon the then-accepted theory of lateral secretion, originated by Sandberger, which theory was afterwards disproved in many cases by further development in numerous districts. This theory contended that the ore in the veins had been leached by surface-waters from the eruptive rocks in the immediate vicinity, and it had its origin in the fact that the neighboring eruptive rocks all contained, to an appreciable degree, the several metals found in the ore-deposits. But the practical miner, reasoning in a simple manner from the condition of things as he found them underground, soon discovered the fallacy of this proposition. He reasoned that, in the case of the Leadville deposits, this theory could not be true, because, if the ores were leached from the overlying eruptive rocks by surface-waters, they would as a matter of necessity be controlled by the action of gravity, and the main bodies would collect in- natural depressions of the underlying limestone, and at all points where such depressions existed. But this was not in accord with the channels of ore as he found there ; and hence the theory of lateral secretion in this district was never accepted. Another objection to it consisted in the fact that large areas within the ore-bearing district contained no ores whatever, although their formation was the same, and the same limestones were covered by the same thick sheet of

Feb 1, 1910

By J. S. Marsh

AN incomplete statistical analysis performed wearily on the morning after Thursday, Feb. 12, indicates that the unavoidable items of conversation among steelmen were the current shortage of sleeping time and the "Normandie." No analysis is needed, however, to be certain that many thousands of valuable words were uttered, both in and out of technical sessions, concerning matters of deep interest to members of the Iron and Steel Division. The opening session consisted mostly of papers that have appeared, or will appear shortly, in Metals Technology. One, however, that was not finished in time to be printed in any form, but that aroused great interest, was by E. L. Ramsey and L. G. Graper (Wisconsin Steel Works). Its subject was the production of high-sulphur steel by treatment with sulphur dioxide derived from anhydrous sodium sulphite or bisulphite added to the ladle or to the mold. The sulphide distribution in the finished steel is such that increased machinability and longer tool life result. Both items are of obvious importance in these days of mighty production.

Jan 1, 1942

By C. A. Heiland

IN the third year of war, geophysical oil exploration broke all records to keep pace with the demand for increased reserves. Geophysical prospecting for strategic and other minerals also grew in scope. The trend of geophysical oil exploration throughout the war is indicated in Fig. 1. This figure resembles the one presented in the last annual review issue of M&M (February 1944, p. 62), corrected for data on-operations in the last months of 1943 and extended into 1944. The average number of geophysical oil prospecting crews in the field in 1944 was 451, whereas the total in 1943 was 340. An upward trend in the use of all geophysical methods is clearly evident throughout the year. Seismic operations were 67 per cent, gravimeter surveys 28 per cent, and other methods 5 per cent of the total. Seismic reflection and refraction crews increased 181/2 per cent over the 1943 average, gravimeter operations increased 73 per cent, and other methods gained 92 per cent. The increase in seismic and gravimeter operations, particularly the latter, is probably due to an increased production of equipment and the organization of new service companies. Miscellaneous methods gained largely through a revival of magnetometer work, and an increase in the use of torsion balances and electrical equipment. In comparison with the prewar average of 1941, it is noteworthy that seismic operations increased 58 per cent, gravimeter operations 88 per cent, and miscellaneous other methods gained as much as 283 per cent. Unfortunately the expansion in the number of geophysical crews does not indicate a proportionate increase in efficiency or in areal coverage, as will be brought out later.

Jan 1, 1945

By AIME AIME

LIFE will not be difficult for those who attend the fall meeting of the Petroleum Division at the Conoco Club, Ponca City, Okla., Sept. 30-Oct. 1. An attractive program to appeal to oil company executives and lawyers, as well as technologists, has been arranged and the Continental Oil Co. has contributed for the occasion the buildings, grounds and facilities of the club. E. 0. Bennett, Continental Oil Co., Ponca City, is chairman of the arrangements committee, and reservations for rooms and trips, requests for information, etc., should be sent to him.

Jan 1, 1932

By Merlon C. Flemings, Theodoulos Z. Kattamis

Examination was made of the distribution of tnanganese and nickel in colutrrnar dendrites of a cast low-alloy steel; more limited work was corzducted on chromium. Corresponding "segregrction ratios" were calculnted and shown to be relntivelv insensitive to cooling rate (&apos;&apos;segregation ratio" is defined (Is the ratio of maximum to minimum concentrations within a volume whose dimensions are the order of the dendrite-arm spacing). Isoconcentratiorl curves were determined by the electron micropvobe and by rt7etallografihic studies on specimens subjected to isothermal-transformation treatments. From construction of isoconcentration curves, morphology of columnar dendrites is descvibed as intermediate between Perfect rodlike and sheetlike morphologies. The study is extended to equiaxed dendrites and it is shown that the strcture of these dendrites is sittlilar in many respects to that of columnar dendrites. On the basis of tlze sheetlike morphology of dendrites, a simple model is pvoposed for calculation of honzogenization kinetics. Results of trzatllevlatical analysis brcsed on this utzodel are given. This analysis relates residual segregation to time at homogenization temperature; it is in agreement with experiment. Calculations are given which show that even for relatively rapidly cooled material (of 1-ine dendrite-artn spacing) treatmets at 1200°C or above are necessary to achieve slgxificant Izomogenization of elenlents other than carbon itz reasonable time (e.g., rnangclnese, nickel). Conlplete homogenization of carbon is obtnined at much lowev tenlperatures (below 870°C). IN dendritic solidification of castings and ingots, solute redistribution during freezing results in mi-crosegregation of most alloy elements. The micro-segregation is such that minimum solute concentrations occur at the center of dendrite arms and maximum concentrations occur between dendrite arms. Residual segregation after subsequent therma1 processing (homogenization) depends on maximum and minimum initial concentration, on the detailed geometry of the isoconcentration surfaces within interdendritic regions, on the diffusion coefficient of the solute, and on time of thermal processing. The objective of this work was to determine, for a low-alloy steel, maximum and minimum concentrations, and the geometry of isoconcentration surfaces, primarily in order to permit calculation of homogenization kinetics. Most of the work reported was conducted on Samples from a unidirectionally solidified, fully columnar ingot. This type of ingot is made by extracting heat during solidification from one face; techniques for accomplishing this have been discussed.&apos; Samples were taken at several locations, up to 5.75 in. from the mold chill face; the bulk of the work was performed on samples at 5.75 in. Alloy cast was, nominally, 0.4 pct C, 1.8 pct Ni, 0.8 pct Cr, 0.7 pct Mn, 0.25 pct Mo, 0.3 pct Si, and the balance iron. Brief study was also made on samples from an ingot which solidified with equiaxed grain structure. SAMPLE PREPARATION AND ANALYSIS Samples for electron-microprobe analysis were incorporated in mounts that included pieces of electrolytic nickel, chromium, and manganese, in order to normalize the intensities of these solutes in the specimens; also, a piece of electrolytic iron was included to measure the background. All specimens were polished in the usual metallographic manner. After the microprobe traces were made, the path was revealed by etching the specimens with picral. All microprobe analyses were made by point counting, integrating for 30 sec. The distance between points was fixed from 2 to 10 p, according to the precision desired in each case, the fineness of the structure, and the concentration gradient existing in a given area. (The distance was chosen 2 to 5 p near the maximum-concentration regions and 5 to 10 p near the minimum concentration.) The "take-off" angle for the A.R.L.-Model No. 21000 microprobe employed was 52.5 deg. Samples for metallographic analysis of isoconcentration curves were prepared by austenitizing at 1540°F for 20 min, quenching to the nose of the TTT curves (1200°F), heat treating isothermally at this temperature for a given time 0, and then quenching to room temperature. Due to concentration gradients existing in a dendritic structure, no transformation will take place for a given time 0 of isothermal heat treatment in the regions where the a.lloy concentration is higher than a given limit. Thus, the dendrite appears limited by an isoconcentration curve and can be made to appear to grow by varying the time of isothermal heat treatment.

Jan 1, 1965

By C. R. Van Hise

PART I.-GENERAL PRINCIPLES. [ ]

Jan 1, 1902

By R. K. Ham, M. L. Wayman

TD-Nickel has been broken in tension and in fatigue at voom temperature. Rod specimens failed in tension by necking, with axial cracks attributed to voids elongated in the extrusion direction. Fatigue specimens failed in shear. Thin-film electron microscopy showed that the subgrain structure of TD-Nickel was very stable, and that particle-matrix detachment was very difficult, in tension and fatigue. TD-Nickel softened slightly during fatigue but had a high fatigue ratio (0.5at 10&apos; cycles). Fractography suggested that Stage I fatigue crack propagation is greatly extended in TD-Nickel. Td-NICKEL* is a dispersion of 2 pct by volume of thoria (ThO2) in nickel, produced by powder-metallurgical methods including compaction, sintering, and extrusion. The spherical thoria particles, which may have a mean diameter of a few hundred angstroms, are dispersed with a mean planar spacing of a few thousand angstroms. By a combination of cold working and annealing, a subgrain or cell structure of dislocations intimately associated with the dispersion can be produced.&apos; This gives the material useful tensile properties which are extremely resistant to exposure to high temperatures.&apos;-= At the same time, the material shows considerable ductility.3&apos;4 At the beginning of the present work, it was considered of great interest to investigate the mechanical stability of TD-Nickel under conditions of fatigue. On the one hand, materials which derive strength from a cold-worked structure are unstable in that they are susceptible to fatigue softening: in addition, the presence of discontinuities such as the particle-matrix interfaces might be expected to assist in the initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks, in that they may provide local concentrations of internal stress and sites for the initiation of voids." On the other hand, the substantial ductility of TD-Nickel suggests that if it obeys Coffin&apos;s relation8 (or the more refined form proposed by Manson9) it should have good fatigue resistance. The initial purpose of this investigation was to assess the importance of these factors. Also, relatively little fundamental work has been done on the mechanism of fatigue in dispersion-strengthened materials. Work on overaged A1-4 pct CU10-12 revealed a very large Bauschinger effect indicative of internal stresses at the particles, and very great fatigue hardening1&apos; presumably due to the multiple slip stimulated by these internal stresses, followed by softening which was initially due to softening in the matrix, but later might have arisen from cracking at the particle-matrix interfaces. The study of overaged Al-4 pct Cu could not settle this latter point by the electron microscopy of thin films, since the dispersion is too coarse. A previous study of the fatigue of internally oxidized copper13 was complicated by inter granular failure, attributed to oxide particles at grain bouhdaries; internal oxidation of single crystals, however, improved their fatigue properties.&apos;3 Investigations of SAP (sintered aluminum powder) are complicated by the complex particle shapes, and the possibility of continuous internal oxide films.14 It was hoped to avoid these difficulties with TD-Nickel, which had the further advantages that it was commercially available and suitable for study by the thin-film technique. 1) MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE TD-Nickel was purchased from the Driver-Harris Co. as 3/9-in.-diam rod which had been extruded, swaged, and "stress-relieved" (normally at 1010°C for 1 hr). Continuous-radius fatigue specimens with a minimum diameter of -0.1 in. were ground to shape and electropolished in 40 pct phosphoric, 35 pct sul-furic, 25 pct water at 25oC, with a stainless-steel cathode, at -6 v. Fatigue tests were carried out at room temperature with a Sonntag SF-1-U machine operating in push-pull at 1800 cycles per min, and in an Instron TT-C-L modified for reversed stressing at 26 cycles per min as described elsewhere.10 Round tensile specimens were ground with 0.85-in. gage lengths of 0.135 in, diam, electropolished, and tested in a Tinius Olsen hydraulic machine. The surfaces of fatigue specimens were examined with a Reichert metallograph. Discs for electron microscopy with a Siemens Elmiskop I were spark-cut 0.01 in. thick with a modified Servomet 11 employing a tool of moving molybdenum wire, cleaned in 50 pct acetic, 30 pct nitric, 10 pct phosphoric, and 10pctsul-furic at 85oC, and thinned by the window method in the electropolishing solution at -20°C and -6 v. Two-stage replicas (parlodion, then Pt-50 pct C self-shadowed at 40 deg) were taken from fatigue fracture surfaces for electron microscopy. Plane sections parallel to the specimen axis and containing the direction of fatigue crack propagation were polished, etched with Carapella&apos;s reagent, and examined optically. Transmission Laue X-ray photographs of as-received material electropolished to a point were used to determine preferred orientation. 2) RESULTS 2.1) The Structure of As-Received Material. Grains -1 µ diam and elongated 20 to 30 u in the direction of the rod axis were observed, With&apos; elongated "intergran-ular" voids (-4 p diam and -90 µ long and identified as such using longitudinal and transverse sections and

Jan 1, 1968

[Aamot, Clav Crone, (Member &apos;29) Met., Det Norske Aktieselskab for Elektrokemisk, Industri, Inc., Oslo, Norway. Aamot, 0, Crone, (Member &apos;29) c/o Elektrokemisk, Radhusgaten 23, Oslo, Norway. Aase, Glenn D., (Junior Member &apos;40) Jr. Met., American Smelt. & Refin. Co., Selby, Calif. Abadie, Henry G., (Junior Member &apos;43) Div. Petr. Engr., Union Pacific R.R. Co., 422 W. 6th St., Los Angeles 14, Calif. Abbott, Clarence E., (Member &apos;04) Civil Engr., V.P., Tennessee Coal, Iron & R.R. Co., 1542 Brown Marx Bldg., Birmingham, Ala. Abbott, Fred E., Jr., (Member &apos;44) Petr. Engr., c/o Arabian American Oil Co., A.P.O. 816, c/o Postmaster, New York, N. Y. Abel, Raymond L., (Member &apos;28) Chem. Engr., 0. 0., Pittsburgh Chem. Warfare Procurement Dist., American Bank Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa.]

Jan 1, 1946

By John S. Crout

TWENTY-FIVE years ago the training of an engineer was of interest solely to the educator and to the student entering the field. At that time the engineer&apos;s position in society was relatively simple. His training emphasized design and operation and he expected to enter industry to handle the engineering problems of raw materials production, mechanical and product design, and the operation of power plants, factories, transportation and communication systems, and similar phases of industrial activity. He was not concerned with or particularly interested in the problems of management, administration, sales, publicity, industrial relations, or of legislation. To a large degree he was content to leave these matters to self-made businessmen, or men trained in law, finance, or commerce. That period in the evolution of the engineer is now history. It is generally conceded that the modern world is dependent upon engineering technology for its day-to-day survival. The continued operation of facilities on which mankind relies is dependent upon the functioning of mines, utilities, chemical plants, and other factories, all of which require the knowledge and the skills of trained engineers. Thus from a purely mechanical point of view, the engineer has become indispensable to

Jan 1, 1947

By T. R. Armstrong

Total crude oil production in Mexico in the year 1941 is estimated at approxi- mately 41,000,000 bbl.; a daily average of 112,700 bbl. and a decrease of about 5 per cent as compared with the daily average of 120,000 bbl. produced in the year 1940, and nearly 11 per cent decrease as com-

Jan 1, 1942

By T. R. Armstrong

Total crude oil production in Mexico in the year 1941 is estimated at approxi- mately 41,000,000 bbl.; a daily average of 112,700 bbl. and a decrease of about 5 per cent as compared with the daily average of 120,000 bbl. produced in the year 1940, and nearly 11 per cent decrease as com-

Jan 1, 1942

By C. Norman Cochran

The pllnse diagvam for the NaF-AlF3 system was used to calcutate an ionic model for the NaF-AlF3 system. Assuming an ideal solution,a series of simultaneous equations expressing equilibria be-tween solid and liquid phases at the euleclic, perilec-tic, and melting points were solved for the activities of the ionic species, the dissociation constants, and the entropies and heats of fusion. The calculations suggest the existence of A13F1415 ions in addition to the F-1+AlF6-3 , and AlF4-4 ions previously proposed by others. The calculaled valnes give better agreement with vapor pressures than the previous model without Al3Fl14-5. Additional possible vefinements of the model are proposed. CRYOSCOPIC1 investigations and density data2 for the NaF-A1F3 system have previously been used to study the dissociation mechanism of Na3A1F6 and to derive equilibrium constants for its dissociation to NaF and NaAlF,. Depending primarily on the heat of fusion assumed for cryolite, the dissociation constants ranged between 0.02 and 0.18 from cryoscopic studies, and from 0.09 at 1273°K to 0.16 at 1363°K from density data. In most cases the values were unable to reproduce satisfactorily the experimental liquidus lines very far on the A1F3 side of the Na3A1Fe composition. This suggested the existence of at least one other ionized compound in the melt besides NaA1F4 in the Na3A1F6-A1F3 side of the system. This is assumed to be liquid Na&13F14 (chiolite), which is already established as a stable solid in phase studies of this system. MODEL FOR THE MELT The melt is assumed to be an ideal solution with ion activities equal to anion fractions. The only cation in the model is sodium so that Temkin and simple anionic activities are identical. Although the compounds are completely ionized to Na&apos; and the respective anion in the melt, molecular rather than ionic notation is used throughout this work. The Na3A1Fe is assumed to dissociate to NaA1F4 and NaF as in the former model, and Na&13F14 to dissociate to Na3A1Fe and NaA1F4. Other valid dissociation equilibria can be written involving these four compounds, but all of these can be obtained by combinations of the two described dissociation reactions and, thus, are automatically considered in these calculations. The model allows for no free AlF3 so that compositions for NAIF3 > 0.5 (mole fraction A1F3 on the NaF-A1F3 basis) cannot be treated. The question of the existence of free AlF3 in the melt will be discussed again later. The constants in the model were evaluated from points along the entire known liquidus line of the NaF-A1F3 system. Previous work employed only the liquidus line or densi- ties near the Na3A1F, composition. The liquidus line compositions used in the solution of the model are from unpublished work by Mr. P. A. Foster, Jr., for compositions between the Na3A1F6 melting point and the Na&13F14-A1F3 eutectic, and from the published works of Grjotheim,1 Phillips,3 and Foster4 for the remainder of the system. The relationships used in solving for the desired dissociation constants and heats and entropies of fusion are listed in Table I, and the points along the liquidus line at which each apply are indicated to the right of the relationships. The mole fractions of each of the separate species in the melt are symbolized by N. Relationships [I] and [2] are the respective dissocia-ation constants, Kl and K2, of Na3AIF6 and Na5A13F14 for this model. For simplicity, these constants will be assumed to be independent of temperature. Relationship [3] follows from the assumption of the ideal solution. The expression relating the values of N to the experimental values of NAIf3, is given in Relationship (41. Relationships [5], [6], and [7] each state the equilibrium between a compound in the melt and its pure solid phase for the portion of the liquidus lines where it precipitates. The heats of melting, AH,, and entropies of melting, AS,, used in [5], [6], and [7] are assumed to be independent of temperature. The compositions and temperatures of all five invariant points (two melting points, two eutectics, and one peritectic) along the liquidus lines from NAIF3 = 0 to NAIF3 = 0.5 were employed in the solution. The eutectic and peritectic compositions were particularly useful because each of these is involved in one more equation than other points along the liquidus lines and thus reduces the number of points required to solve for the constants. Also, their use assures that the inflection points in the derived liquidus line will correspond exactly with those on the experimental liquidus line. The total number of equations is 5k1 — 1, where n is the number of experimental composition points used. The number of unknowns is 4n + 5 (4n- 3 values of N, 3 values each of AH, and AS,, and 2 values of K). Thus, six points must be used in the solution to obtain an equal number of equations and unknowns. The one additional required experimental composition was taken on the liquidus line between the Na3A1Fe melting point and the Na3A1F6-Na5A13F14 peritectic. Previous work indicated this was a difficult portion of the curve to fit. The temperature used for the point was 1161°K, the same as for the NaF-Na3A1Fe eutectic. This choice of temperature gave two points with identical NNa3AIF6 values which simplifies the algebraic solution. The second point at this temperature is denoted 1161°&apos;K. PROCEDURE FOR SOLUTION OF EQUATIONS Values were assumed for NNa,AIF and NNaF at the NaF-Na3A1F6 eutectic at 1161°k. By an iterative procedure, the corresponding values for NNa5A13F14 and NNaAlF4 at 1161°K were determined from 131 and 141. A value was assumed for NNaAlF4 at 1161°&apos;K and

Jan 1, 1968

By Edward W. Parker

I. INTRODUCTION. AT the Seventy-sixth meeting of the Institute, held in New York, N. Y., February, 1899, I presented a, paper on this subject entitled, Coal-Cutting Machinery,&apos; which has become somewhat out of date, in view of the decade&apos;s development in this feature of the coal-minim industry. It should be explained that the present paper is limited to the use of mining-machines in bituminous mines. Practically all of the anthracite mined is ?shot from the solid," no undercutting being done. Anthracite-mining is therefore not considered in the statistics or other references. The statistical record as compiled by the United States Geological Survey shows that in 1898, the year preceding the presentation of my former paper, there were 32,413,144 short tons of coal undercut by the use of machines. In 1907 the machine-mined coal-product amounted to 138,547,823 short tons. In sympathy with the general decrease in coal-production during 1908, the output of machine-mined coal decreased to 123,183,334 short tons, but the proportion of machine-mined coal to the total output, nevertheless, showed an increase, from 35.1 per cent in 1907 to 37 per cent in 1908. In 1898 only 19.5 per cent. of the total product was undercut by the use of machines. The number of undercutting-machines in use in the bituminous mines of the United States has increased from 2,622 in 1898 to 11,144 in 1907, and to 11,569 in 1908. The total production of bituminous coal in the United States in 1908 was almost exactly double that of 1898, while the machine- * Published by permission of the Director of the U. S. Geological Survey. 1 Trans.. xxix.. 400 to 4,59 (1899).

Sep 1, 1910

By E. J. Roberts

Prior to 1916, thickening was an art, and any accurate decision as to what size of machine to install to handle a given tonnage of a specific ore must have been one of those intuitive conclusions, based on both intimate and extensive acquaintance with thickners and ore pulps. Then in 1916 "knowledge of acquaintance," became "knowledge about" with the publication of the Coe and Clevenger paper.&apos; The unit operation of thickening had graduated to the status of an engineering science. The fundamental similitude relationships for the two major phases of the operation were defined so clearly that batch tests on models as small as liter cylinders could serve to specify protypes as large as 325 ft in diameter.

Jan 1, 1949