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By John Griffen

THE distinguishing principle of the Tromp process is the use of a medium in the bath which is not stable, i.e., the solids will settle and the density of the medium increases with depth. A medium of uniform density can most easily be effected by agitation or by means which increase the viscosity of the medium. Either of these works against the sharpness of separation of coal from its impurities. The Tromp process grinds the medium solids to relative coarseness, allows them to settle downward in the bath without hindrance, and introduces horizontal currents of medium at intermediate levels between top and bottom of the bath. This prevents any accumulation of particles denser than the upper layer of the medium from which the clean coal is conveyed away or an accumulation of particles lighter than the bottom layer or medium whence the refuse is removed. In a relatively shallow bath making a two-product separation, the intermediate horizontal currents sweep these intermediate gravity materials away to be discharged with the refuse removed by the conveyor. Such a system provides a number of advantages. The gravity of separation can be changed simply by changing the density of the medium without changing particle size of medium solids or other conditions, as would be necessary with a system requiring uniform or stable density throughout the bath. Some installations in Europe separate at 1.40 sp gr on one shift, producing a superclean coal, and on the next shift reclean refuse from dry cleaning units and effect a separation at 1.80 sp gr. Medium solids may be much coarser in size consist, which reduces the viscosity of the medium and promotes its fluidity and in turn the sharpness of separation. Coarser medium solids with a more rapid settling rate are much more easily recoverable from the dilute medium rinsed from the products. The Tromp process is not limited to the use of medium solids having magnetic properties. Instal-

Jan 1, 1952

By L. Dudley Stamp

On April 1, 1937, Burma, formerly a province of the Indian Empire, was formally separated from India and became an independent unit of the British Commonwealth. In future, therefore, statistics of oil production in India will exclude Burma and those for Burma will be separately published. The last few years have been marked by noteworthy, almost spectacular, developments in the oil fields of Burma and the Punjab. In Burma these developments have been the proving of unexpected extensions of the existing fields and not the discovery of entirely new fields. The new extensions are important not only to Burma in giving a new lease of life to her fields, but also in general as stressing some interesting geological aspects hitherto neglected. Production The production of crude oil in Imperial gallons has been: Burma India 1934 254,760,070 67,265,210 1935 251,338,974 . 71,323,362 1936 265,656,393 69,241,504 1937 (eat.) 270,000,000 70,000,000 The Chindwin Fields.—The small field at Indaw continues to produce steadily about 3,000,000 gal. a year, but no really deep test has yet been successfully carried out and resources are thus not yet fully known. The remote location of the field, inaccessible except by river and situated 22 miles from the Chindwin 270 miles up that river from its junction with the Irrawaddy, has not encouraged active exploitation. The field is worked exclusively by the Indo-Burma Petroleum Co., Ltd. (I.B.P.), using now an automatic gas-lift system, and the company formerly refined the oil at a small refinery at Pantha on the river near by. The chief market was for kerosene in upper Burma. The refinery has now been closed. The oil is stored on the field during the low-water season

Jan 1, 1938

By O. P. Hood

.NONE of the methods now in use for the transportation of materials underground is entirely free from more or less serious objection. The great flexibility, ease, of control and economy of operation of electric tramming are accompanied by the serious menace of a trolley-wire distributing system. As the gasoline locomotive has even greater flexibility of application and requires no similar dangerous distributing system, it might be considered a safety device which would make possible the elimination of the dangerous trolley system were it not possessed of other objectionable qualities peculiar to itself. It is found that the exhaust gases from the engine may be injurious to the health of those breathing the air in which the locomotive has been operating. While electric shock may kill the individual who makes contact with uninsulated parts, the gasoline engine may be detrimental to the health of all those who have to work within the atmosphere corrupted by exhaust gases. The degree of pollution meas-ures the magnitude of the menace. This may be negligible at times, but with careless operation it becomes serious. The exhaust gases from an engine are composed of, nitrogen, a little free oxygen, hydrocarbons, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, the last two being considered dangerous. The presence of carbon dioxide as a product of combustion of the gasoline was recognized as an objection from the beginning of the use of these machines, but attention was called to the fact that the amount produced was relatively small as compared to that from other sources of this gas, and it was not likely to be made in dangerous quantities. The effect of carbon dioxide, except in relatively large percentages, is confined to the effect it may have in reducing the oxygen content of the air that is breathed.

Jan 10, 1914

Arrangements have been completed in New York whereby the re- sources of The Engineering Foundation, under the auspices of the four principal national engineering societies, are placed at the disposal of the National Research Council, which was appointed by the National Academy of Sciences* at the request of President Wilson. The object of the Council is to coordinate the scientific research work of the country in order to secure efficiency in the solution of the problems of war and peace. The Council was without funds until The Engineering Foundation, established to further scientific and engineering research, offered to place its resources at the Council's disposal, including the services of its secretary, Dr. Cary T. Hutchinson, to act as-secretary of the Council. The offer was accepted and plans for immediate activities have been placed in the hands of an executive committee. In indicating how thoroughly, every branch bf science and engineering is represented, Dr. George E. Hale, Director of the Mt. Wilson Solar Observatory, and Chairman of the Council, when he was in New York attending to the details of the arrangement, called attention to the personnel of the body, saying that it is the purpose to enlist the cooperation, in the solution of our industrial and military problems of a scientific character, of every possible established agency. Medicine, for example, is represented on the Council by Dr. William H. Welch, President of the National Academy of Sciences, Brigadier General William C. Gorgas, , Surgeon Crenera.1 of the United States Army, Dr. Simon Flexner, Director of the Rockefeller Medical Institute, and Dr. Victor C. Vaughan, Past President of the American Medical Society; biological science by Dr. Edwin G. Conklin, Professor of Zoology, Princeton University; chemistry by Dr. A. A. Noyes of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dr. L. H. Baekeland; physics by Dr. A. A. Michelson of the University of Chicago; and electricity by Professor M. I. Pupin, of Columbia University.

Jan 10, 1916

By C. S. Barrett

Measurements of impact hardness of ß-brass are reported for a wide range of temperatures. Abrupt softening is observed when temperatures are raised above 425ºC, accompanied by abrupt widening of deformation bands in the deformed samples. Current theories of these effects, and of the lack of twinning, are discussed. HARDNESS1 and flow stress2 of a sample of ß-brass at room temperature depend upon the temperature from which the sample is quenched. It is believed that the state of order in the superlattice is responsible for this dependence—not the order within individual domains, which reaches near-perfection during the quench from any temperature, but the size of the domains which is presumed to be a minimum in the hardest samples, those quenched from temperatures near the critical disordering temperature of 468°C. Measurements of impact hardness made over a range of temperatures and microstructural studies of samples deformed both rapidly and slowly over a range of temperatures, reported herein, should be of aid in reaching a more complete understanding of the underlying factors controlling the properties of the disordered body-centered-cubic material and the ordered material. It appears that such data have not

Jan 1, 1955

By C. W. Purington, H. B. C. Nitze

The Kotchkar mining-district, known as the Kotchkar System, is situated in the Orenburg government, in Eastern Russia, in the great plateau- or steppe-country immediately adjacent to the eastern slopes of the Ural mountains. Its longer dimension is north and south about 27 miles, while in the widest (northern) portion the distance across is 22 miles. The district lies 40 miles southwest of Miass, a station of the Trans-Siberian railway, and half-way between this village and that of Troitsk. It contains also the not inconsiderable settlements of Kotchkar and Eosobrodskoit., the last a Kossak town. So far as explored, the district is known to contain from 300 to 400 auriferous veins. ? Although the topography is generally of an exceedingly flat character, the country is traversed by several small rivulets running from west to east, and flowing into the Sanarka and Kamenka rivers. Since 1844 placers have been worked in the district, but it was not until 1867 that veins were discovered, and these have been worked only since the impoverishment of the alluvial deposits. The deposit with which this paper especially deals is known as the Ouspensky mine, one of twelve owned by MM. de Zelenkoff & Cie., five of which are situated in the Kotchkar System. An opportunity of visiting this mine was afforded the writers, in eonnection with an excursion of the VII. session of the International Geological Congress; held in Russia during the summer of 1897. The mine is reached by a 40-mile '(troika" journey from the railway station of Bichkil, itself

Jan 1, 1899

By R. P. Marshall, L. P. Costas

The solid solubility of lithium in aluminum was determined by two independent techniques, electrical resistivity and microhardness, and the results are in close agreement. The solubility limits X-ray diffraction studies of the intermetallic compound LiAl indicate that its composition is nearly independent of temperature when in equilibrium with the terminal solid solution of aluminum. THE investigation of the aluminum-rich portion of the aluminum-lithium system at the Savannah River Laboratory was prompted by the observation that over-aged alloys consistently differed from the equilibrium states predicted by the latest published diagrams. Chemical analyses of these alloys showed their impurity contents to be quite low; therefore, the results obtained should have very nearly coincided with true equilibrium. A survey of the literature disclosed that previous studies had been made with metallographicig or electrical resistivity methods,4'5 but that agreement between results and technique was poor as evidenced in Fig. 1, which also includes the present results for comparison. The discrepancies have been attributed to impurities,3 and this is undoubtedly true in the early work.1'4'5 The latest Studies,''~ conducted with starting materials of higher purity, employed metallographic analysis, a technique that is quite sensitive to local homogeneity and depends strongly on subjective interpretation. In the present work the problem of defining solubility limits was approached in two ways. The first measured a physical property, electrical resistivity, at the equilibrium temperature. The second, a micro-hardness characterization of a diffusion zone, is a room temperature evaluation of a mechanical property under conditions removed from equilibrium. A close correlation between two such basically different approaches would strongly justify confidence in the results. I) MEASUREMENT OF SOLUBILITY OF LITHIUM IN ALUMINUM BY ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY Experimental Procedure. Alloys for electrical resistivity measurements were made by melting and

Jan 1, 1962

By Malcolm J. McPherson

INTRODUCTION The use of computers to assist the mine ventilation engineer began to grow in the early 1950s when electrical analogue devices were developed for the analysis of mine airflow systems in Europe and the United States (l,2,3). The need for quantitative planning of airflows in mines had become pressing and analogue computers fulfilled a useful purpose for over a decade. From about 1964 onwards, digital computer programs for mine ventilation network analysis became available (4,5) and, superseding the analogues, spread rapidly throughout the major mining countries. The successful implementations of such programs resulted in further research being directed towards the development of simulation programs to model the quality as well as the quantity of air flowing through underground workings. It is no understatement that digital computers have revolutionised environmental planning techniques in modern mining industries. This paper discusses the complex interaction of natural and mining factors which governs environmental hazards in underground mines and further indicates some of the simulation techniques which have entered practical usage or are at an advanced stage of development. THE PROBLEM OF ANALYSING THE MINE ENVIRONMENT The traditional methods of approaching environmental problems underground were based largely on empirical or intuitive techniques. The reason for this lay in the intricate relationships which exist between the many variables that influence the mine environment - and which limit the use of purely analytical methods to the simplest of cases. In order to illustrate the need for simulation techniques, Table 1 shows the three most widespread mine environmental hazards

Jan 1, 1977

By V. Sobitsky

In open cast mining of coal, the cost per ton of output is four to five times less and labor productivity five to six times higher than in under- ground mining. This is why the coal industry of the USSR is oriented toward giving priority to the development of open cast coal mining. Deposits of coal which lend themselves to open cast mining in the USSR are enormous, with 90% of them located in the eastern part of the country. The technique is by no means limited to the eastern part, however-despite wide variations in climate, other parts of the Soviet Union also use open cast mining. The occurrence and type of coal deposits in the USSR vary greatly. Some of them are flat coal seams 2 to 40 m thick, and a few are even thicker. There are also deposits having a complex mode of occurrence, such as a series of seams of different thicknesses with angles of dip varying from slightly inclined to steep, often with dislocations. Overburden materials are quite diverse with regard to physical and mechanical properties. There are three kinds encountered-loose or unconsolidated overburden, medium-hard material, and hard rock. The stripping ratio, i.e., the amount of cover per ton of mined coal, varies from 1 to 12 cu m per ton. SYSTEMS OF MINING The great diversity of natural conditions has brought forth a variety of technologies and techniques in the open cast mining of coal. In open cast practice, the following systems of mining are used : (1) a transportation system in which the overburden is transported to spoil banks by rail or by truck; (2) a system with direct disposal of overburden, the rocks being dumped on spoil banks with a stripping excavator; and

Jan 1, 1969

By Charles Mitke

EXCLUDING top-slicing, and sublevel caving, large production caving methods may be divided into two general classes, the branch raise, or undercut caving method, and the combined shrinkage and caving method, each of which has a number of variations, the result of continual efforts towards obtaining lower costs and better extraction, by the introduction and substitution of minor improvements and modifications. EARLY CAVING METHODS Present caving methods are the cumulative result of developments covering a period of many years, with the most rapid growth during the past 15 years. They originated, presumably, from early English stoping methods, and, as far as is generally known, were first introduced in the Michigan iron district. They have had their greatest expansion and application in the large low-grade porphyry coppers. In their present form, they are probably a development and combination of sublevel caving and shrinkage (back-stoping on ore) with gravity handling of broken material. Sublevel caving, as practiced in the Michigan district today, is a combination of drift, or crosscut, mining, with top-slicing, and caving, supplemented by later refinements in the shape of mechanized handling of broken ore. A height of anywhere from 16 to 20 ft. is generally taken, and the ore is drilled and blasted along the drift or crosscut for half this height (say 8 to 10 ft.), after which the upper 8 to 10 ft. caves and breaks of its own weight, with comparatively little assistance from drilling. This

Jan 1, 1928

By J. C. Bartlett

The following discussion was suggested by an experiment of Mr. Krom, the Manufacturer of air-jigs, to illustrate the superiority of air over water as a medium of concentration. The paper is written in the interest of no system of concentration, but simply to test the experiment, and, perchance, to add something to the general fund of information on the subject. To speak of testing an experiment by a theoretical discussion, may seem a misuse of terms, but the theories concerning falling bodies and the resistance of fluids are pretty well crystallized into laws, which may properly be used to show where experiments which seem to refute them were improperly performed, and that instead of refuting they only corroborate. It is well known that a sphere of galena & inch in diameter, and a sphere of quartz 1/2 inch in diameter, are equal falling in water ; that is, these two spheres, being placed together in a column of water at rest or in motion, will practically remain together, filling or rising together, or remaining in suspension. Mr. Krom, to show that these

Jan 1, 1879

By Donald F. Taylor

TANTALUM and columbium are newcomers in the world of metals. Many of the metals described in this volume had been known and used for centuries before either tantalum or columbium was known to exist. The scarcity of the ores and the comparative difficulty of extraction delayed their technology until specialized methods of processing could be developed. HISTORY Early in the nineteenth century, 1801, Hatchett discovered a new oxide, which he called columbium oxide, and a year later, Ekeberg announced that he had found a new element, which he named tantalum. The preparation of the metal tantalum in impure form was first announced by Berzelius in 1824, but the actual production of ductile metal did not occur until 1903, when von Bolton, of Siemens and Halske, developed a process for the production of tantalum pure enough to be drawn into electric-lamp filament wire. The use of tantalum as a filament wire began to decline when ductile tungsten was introduced in 1909. In 1921, C. W. sake, of Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation, produced the first ingot of tantalum metal in America. The first ingot of columbium was produced in 1927 in the laboratory of the same company. There are several good reasons why tantalum and columbium are often mentioned together. They occur together in their important minerals, are similar in many of their properties, and are

Jan 1, 1953

By H. D. Hoskold

As the theory and the practice of valuing mines have never been discussed in the Transactions, a paper on the subject may be acceptable, even though not exhaustive. The method here indicated is set forth, not as a model of perfection to be followed absolutely, to the exclusion of any other system based on sound scientific, commercial and equitable principles, but merely as an aid to mining engineers and financiers in estimating the value of mining-property. This paper is intended merely to point out certain financial features of the question, and not at all to go into the theories of the formation of mineral veins, extremely valuable as it must, of course, be to understand the laws of the earth's formation and of its various changes, which are the basis of such important sciences as geology and mineralogy, and highly useful as guides in determining the probable existence and extension of mineral deposits. Financial Elements of Mine- Valuation. The practice of basing the stock-exchange price of mining shares upon reports, periodically received from the mine-captain or manager, stating that in his opinion the mine is " improving " in this or that level, and is worth so much " per fathom," is, of course, absurd. Everybody experienced in metalliferous mining is aware that a mineral vein varies in thickness and also in percentage of metal in different parts of the same mine. According to the practice just indicated, a mine must have had as many values a per fathom " as there have been given reports upon it at intervals during the year,

Jan 1, 1903

REGULATIONS (proposed) for the location, drill-ing, casing, protection, operation, plugging and filling, and abandonment of natural gas and petroleum wells; having for their objectives. the protec-tion of life and property by prevention of intrusions of oil and gas into workable coal beds, and the conserva-tion of oil and gas resources in territory not underlain with workable coal beds. ARTICLE I Definitions Section 1.-For the purpose of these regulations (proposed), definitions are as follows: Well.-A bore-hole drilled for the purpose of developing natural gas or petroleum, or a bore-hole producing natural gas or petroleum. Well Operator.-Any person, persons, firm, partnership, corporation, company or association that proposes to, or does drill, operate, or abandon a well as herein defined. Coal Operator.-Any person, persons, firm, partnership, corporation, company or association that proposes to, or does operate, a coal mine in territory known or reputed to be underlain with oil or gas-bearing strata. State Mining Department.-The duly constituted authorities of a state having jurisdiction over coal-mining operations. Plat.-A map, drawing, or print made in accordance with the pro-visions of these regulations (proposed). Casing.-The pipe greater than 3 in. in diameter commonly used in wells drilled for natural gas and petroleum. Oil and Gas.-Synonyms, respectively, for petroleum and natural gas. Cement.-Hydraulic cement properly nixed with water only. Workable Coal Bed.-A coal bed in which, in the united judgment of the coal operator, the well operator and the State Mining Department, protection for life or property will be required when wells are drilled through it.

Jan 7, 1927

By Colin C. Rae

The absence of paraffin and other oil hydrocarbons in the soil although they are concentrated in extensive deposits in some localities, the common distribution of plant remains through many formations that are not productive for oil, and many other factors, seem to indicate the existence of an intermediate organic compound between the complex plant compounds and the petroleum hydrocarbons; and much evidence points to the humus acids or associated organic compounds, which are probably collected by surface waters and concentrated in certain areas by means of precipitation by electrolytes, which would be contained in sea water or possibly in various inland seas or lakes. Present-day Evidence There are many present-day evidences of the association of petroleum with humus acids. Binney, in 1912, made observations without explanations on the peat mosses of Down Holland, England, where he found petroleum being formed by decomposition in the presence of an infiltration of sea water. The analysis of a typical peat will show its relationship to the humus acids under consideration. Sample No. 1, SamplE No. 2. PXr Cent. PER CENt. Water......................... 20.0 29.6 Ash.......................... 3.0 3.05 Fiber.......................... 47.0 54.95 Humus acids................ 30.0 12.50 J. D. Haseman and others have noted the association of asphalt and hydrocarbons with the swampy, boggy areas, particularly adjacent to the sea. Many of the rivers carry much humus acid in solution, and some tropical rivers carry in the aggregate millions of tons of humus each year. The amount of humus is a variable factor, depending on climatic conditions, and on the salts and alkalies present in the water, also on the density and temperature.

Jan 1, 1923

By Joseph Taylor

THE Ducktown district is in the extreme southeastern corner of Tennessee, its principal railroad point being Copperhill, on the Blue Ridge division of the Louisville &Nashville Railroad, midway between Knoxville, Tenn., and Atlanta, Ga. The ore deposits were discovered about 1849 and development work was begun in the early fifties. Only the "black copper? ores, products of secondary enrichment, from beneath the gossan outcrops and overlying the massive sulphide deposits, were then mined and smelted for their copper content. Upon their exhaustion, attention was directed to the treatment of the pyritic ore remaining, resulting in the devising of a, process consisting of open-heap roasting, followed by blast-furnace smelting, which was practised until 1903, when semi-pyritic smelting was-adopted. In 1908, the companies operating in the district; on account of litigation brought about by alleged smoke damage to forests and vegetation in the adjoining counties of Georgia, were compelled to erect enormous acid plants to prevent the escape of the sulphur dioxide produced in the smelting operations. The utilization of this sulphur dioxide in the, manufacture of sulphuric acid as a byproduct has added to the revenues of the companies, and at the same time has furnished a valuable source of supply of sulphuric acid to the fertilizer trade of the South, and more recently to the manufacturers of explosives for use in the production of war munitions. The steadily increasing demand for sulphuric acid for the manufacture of fertilizers and explosives, together with the decreasing imports of pyrites, from which the acid is generally produced, now makes it imperative that greatly extended resources of pyrite be developed. While the Ducktown deposits do not predominate in pyrite, they do contain an inexhaustible supply of pyrrhotite, admixed with pyrite, which can be satisfactorily employed to supplement or substitute for pyrite in acid making.

Jan 2, 1918

By M. L. Jeremic

Abstract-Observations of ground behavior in mining the Choka Dulkan ore body have been described. Ore recovery was limited to approximately 60% because unconsolidated hydraulic fill did not permit either the widening of stope spans nor secondary ore recovery from pillars. Stope undercutting induced high stress concentrations. However, as extraction progressed, ground conditions improved but before extraction was complete they deteriorated again. After completion of a stope, the remnant rib and crown pillars continued to be deformed by other stresses for some time.

Jan 4, 1978

By F. A. Harvey

DURING the last few years, there has been a constant tendency toward increasingly high temperatures in many lines of industry. The necessity for increased production of coke gave a 16-hr. coking period where we used to have 24 or even 30-hr. periods. Mechanical stokers have increased the temperatures in boiler furnaces. The use of a chain-grate stoker with coke-breeze fuel necessitates a low arch in the furnace and temperatures run much higher than firebrick were formerly called upon to stand. These higher temperatures have necessitated more rigid tests and the separation of even high-grade firebrick into separate classes. More severe tests mean higher temperatures and closer control, and this, in turn, means better pyrometer tubes. Platinum couples do not have a very long life when used at temperatures exceeding, say, 1200° C., but the proper selection of a high-grade brick to be used in a-boiler setting will save the cost of several couples; and with freight rates continually increasing it becomes increasingly important to know where brick may be bought, nearest the job, that will prove satisfactory. Couples that will stand continuous use at higher temperatures, of tungsten, molybdenum, or other metal, will doubtless be forthcoming as soon as the need becomes sufficiently urgent. There are on the market several tubes that are entirely satisfactory for temperatures up to 1300° C., if properly protected from heat shock. The Semet-Solvay Co. makes a practice, however, of testing silica and clay firebricks at 1450° C. for 72 hr., and so far we have been unable to find a tube that- is entirely satisfactory for this purpose. A graphic record of the temperature during the entire test is extremely desirable and hence we have been trying out anything that gave promise of success. Several years ago we were using insulating tubes, made purely for electrical work, of vitrified porcelain. These tubes stood up under any temperature we were able to reach and were apparently impervious to gases. When this stock gave out, due to mechanical breakage, we tried other insulation tubes only to have them melt down like glass. Marquardt Masse tubes were tried next under a statement from the distributors

Jan 9, 1919

By J. H. Wiggins

This paper first pictures the economic phase of evaporation losses and the actual evaporative conditions in handling and storing crude and gasoline in the United States; then follows a discussion of some of the theories of physics involved in evaporation loss and lastly an application of these theories to handling oil and gas on producing properties. GRANTING that about 600,000,000 bbl. of light oil will be produced in the United States this year and taking the Bureau of Mines' statement that 7 1/2 per cent. of the total crude production will be lost before the finished gasoline is shipped from the refinery, the volumetric evaporation will be 45,000,000 bbl. of the cream of the gasoline. This is a conservative figure and is equivalent to 1,890,000,000 gal. The real value of this liquid is at least 150 per cent. of the value of an equal volume of motor fuel. At only 10 c. per gal., the value lost is $189,000,000; at 15 c. per gal. the loss is $283,000,000. If 750,000,000 bbl. of light and heavy oil are produced here this year and the average price per barrel is $1.333, the gross return to producers will be $1,000,000,000 and the net returns about $200,000,000, if the cost of production is only $1 per barrel. Thus, the evaporation bill is about 20 per cent. of the gross income and is equal to the net income of the crude-oil producers. Two other comparisons with popular phases of the petroleum industry will help give an adequate conception of the evaporation problem. These are: cost of preventing evaporation compared to cost of cracked gasoline and volume of gasoline evaporated compared to volume of gasoline manufactured from natural gas.

Jan 7, 1924

By C. H. Noren

For some years the Du Pont Company has utilized computer calculations to study the various theoretical properties of explosives. These studies have yielded valuable information on the effects of density changes or formulation changes on detonation rate, detonation pressure, explosion pressure, heat of explosion and numerous other properties, and have aided in evaluating the theoretical potential of explosives. In addition, a multitude of laboratory tests have been utilized for the evaluation of explosives. When comparing the computer data and the voluminous test data it became evident that numerous anomalies existed. Tests in rock were required to study explosives under borehole confinement. This fact was further emphasized after numerous field measurements showed that the borehole velocity of commercial explosives did not match the theoretical value but was dependent on conditions of field use. Since we are interested in the practical aspects of blasting, a program was initiated to evaluate explosives as used in commercial blasting. INSTRUMENTATION Most of you are familiar with the extensive work that has been done by the U. S. Bureau of Mines in their studies of strain measurements in rock. Early in our work we adopted procedures similar to those used by the Bureau of Mines. Strain pulses were measured by gages cemented in boreholes. Since we were primarily interested in the effect of explosives in the zone where fracture might occur, this system offered several disadvantages for Du Pont: 1. Cemented gages were expensive and not reusable. 2. When gage holes were used for several shots, there was considerable question as to the condition of the rock after the first shot.

Jan 1, 1968