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By J. B. Darby

In an investigation of various equiatomic alloys of transition elements, Dwightl did not find evidence for the CsC1-type ordered structure in VMn. More recently waterstrat2 has reported the occurrence of this structure in the alloy his sample had been homogenized at 1150°C and subsequently reannealed at 725°C after crushing to powder. The purpose of this note is to confirm the existence of the CsC1-type ordered structure in VMn and to report a lattice parameter. An equiatomic alloy was prepared by arc-melting under an argon atmosphere vanadium and electrolytic manganese having a purity of at least 99.9 pet. The composition was obtained by charging an excess of manganese and monitoring the weight loss until the stoichiometric composition was achieved; the assumption that the loss during melting was due to the vaporization of manganese appears to be a valid one.' The calculated composition of the sample prepared was 49.85 at. pct V and 50.15 at. pct Mn. Specimens taken from the fractured as-cast buttons were wrapped in molybdenum foil and encapsulated in quartz capsules under vacuum; there was no evidence of a reaction between the alloy and foil. The X-ray patterns were obtained using filtered copper or chromium radiation with a Straumanis-type Debye-Scherrer camera having a diameter of 114.6 mm. The CrKa radiation is best suited for detecting the superlattice lines since it overcomes the slight difference in scattering powers of the components by making use of the anomalies in atomic scattering factor which occur when the frequency of the radiation is close to the characteristic absorption frequency of one of the elements.394 A specimen in the as-cast condition, as well as one which had been annealed for 1 week at 900°C and water-quenched, gave a diffraction pattern for the disordered bcc solid solution. However, when samples were homogenized at 900°C for 3 weeks followed by a subsequent anneal at 700°C for 6 to 7 weeks and then water-quenched or furnace-cooled, the (loo), (1111, and (210) Ka superlattice lines were observed in films taken with chromium radiation. An ao = 2.904 * 0.001 was determined by a Nelson-Riley extrapolation from a film taken with CuKa radiation. The author wishes to thank Mr. J. W. Downey and Mr. L. J. Norton for carrying out the experimental portion of this investigation. This work was performed at the Argonne National Laboratory under the auspices of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Jan 1, 1963

By J. D. Edwards, C. S. Taylor, A. S. Russell

Solubilities and densities are reported for alumina hydrates in NaOH solutions under the conditions of the Bayer process employed to purify alumina for aluminum production. The equilibrium constants for reactions to form A102- accurately correlate the effects of NaOH concentration on the solubilities; the temperature coefficients of the equilibria lead to heats of solution of 7.34, 4.76, and 5.24 kcal for the a trihydrate, a monohydrate, and ß trihydrate, respectively. Moderate calcination does not change the solubility of the a trihydrate but increases that of the a monohydrate. At solution temperatures above 100°C, the trihydrates transform rapidly to a monohydrate. Hydro-thermally produced a monohydrate is the stable phase above 20°C. CORNERSTONE of the aluminum industry, the Bayer process for alumina production is based on the difference in solubility of hydrated alumina in NaOH solutions between 170" and 40°C. Solubilities and densities in this system were determined thirty years ago by M. Tosterudl under the direction of J. D. Edwards and C. S. Taylor. The solubility data, which still appear more concordant than those in the literature, are employed to sort out the complex equilibria in this system. The nomenclature for the alumina hydrates is that presented in The Aluminum Industry' and more recently summarized in Alumina Properties.3 a trihydrate is the purified phase analogous to gibbsite, a monohydrate is similarly akin to boehmite, and ß trihydrate is sometimes known as bayerite. Literature Goudriaan4 reviewed the early literature on alumina in NaOH solutions and presented data on the solubility at 30°C of several forms. The gel precipitated from aluminum sulphate or chloride with ammonia and dried at 130" to 140°C had the highest solubility but was unstable, its solubility being cut to one-tenth on standing in NaOH. The solubility of the gel was decreased one-third on calcination at 300" to 400°C, while that of the gel transformed in NaOH at room temperature to a crystalline trihydrate was unchanged on calcination. The preparation produced by slow hydrolysis of sodium aluminate solution with CO, in the air gave solubilities in rough agreement with later values for a trihydrate. The solubility of this form was increased slightly by the calcination. Fricke and Jucaitis5 extended the work to 30" and 60°C with a trihydrate. They also gave solubilities for ß trihydrate (bayerite b), although the residue belonging to the left branch of the solubility curve corresponded to a trihydrate. The residues at high NaOH concentrations were mono and trisodium aluminates, the latter being 3Na2O . AL2O3 • 6H2O. Solubilities of a trihydrate at 95°C and of a monohydrate at 150" and 200 °C come from the work of Magarchak.6 a trihydrate transformed to a monohydrate above 95°C. A few measurements on the solubility at 25°C of an alumina trihydrate prepared by slow hydrolysis of NaAIO, solutions were presented by Sprauer and pearce.? Their analyses showed the monosodium aluminate to have the composition Na2O.Al2O3-2.5H2O.

Jan 1, 1956

By T. D. Yensen

EFFECT OF ELEMENTS ON MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF IRON THE elements aluminum,1 arsenic,2 silicon,3 tin2 and vanadium,4,8 when used in relatively small amounts as alloying elements, seem to have a beneficial effect on the magnetic properties of iron-i. e., they increase the maximum permeability and decrease the coercive force-whereas there are definite indications that boron,5 carbon,6 nitrogen,7 oxygen,8' phosphorus,6 sulfur6 and titanium,4 as well as the metals of and adjacent to the ferro-magnetic group, nickel,9 cobalt,10 copper,11 and manganese,6 have a detrimental effect on these properties. The effects of calcium4 and magnesium4 are small, if any, while the effect of chromium 12 in small amounts is unknown and in large amounts is generally detrimental.

Jan 1, 1931

By Joseph A. Gill, Ernest A. Curth

The Government and Leeco concluded a cost-sharing agreement in 1976 to demonstrate longwall mining of a thin coalbed, 1 m or less, in a mine near Hyden, Ky. A premining investigation laid the groundwork for mine design and equipment specifications. Four- legged shields, a face conveyor, a stage loader and an in-web shearer were selected to operate on a 183 m face. Lengwall mining began in 1979 and initially was slowed by low mining height and equipment problems. A rock mechanics program provides early warning capability and criteria for future mine design. Monitoring of surface effects is included.

Jan 1, 1981

By V. C. Allison

The explosibility of a dust is favored by its fineness and content of volatile combustible matter; its explosibility is decreased by its moisture and ash content. The explosibility of a dust can be reduced by admixture of either inert dust or water. The major effect of both the inert dust and water lies in their heat capacity; they absorb the heat of the explosion flame until the temperature of this flame drops below the ignition temperature of the explosive heat. The amount of inert dust necessary to make an explosive dust non-explosive can be calculated from its proximate analysis. FOREWORD LARGE-SCALE testing of the explosibility of coal dust as conducted by the Bureau of Mines in its Experimental Mine involves a large initial investment, and a high charge for maintenance and conduct of the test; in addition the work is necessarily slow because of the time required for the preparation of the tests and the cleaning and repairing of the mine after each test. These tests have been made along practical mining lines that admit of a range of mixtures of dust varying from 5 to 10 per cent. and with gas as low as 0.5 per cent. increments. Because of the time and expense involved, efforts have been made to devise a type of gallery for laboratory use in which the results obtained in the Experimental Mine may be correlated as an aid in a study of dusts, the explosibility of which might be approximately determined quickly and at a minimum of expense. The explosibility of coal dust has been studied by a number of European investors, using small laboratory devices; among these may be mentioned the experiments con¬ducted by Galloway, Vital, Hall and Clark, Abel, Mallard and Chatelier, Thorpe, Bedson and Widdas, Engler, Holwartz and Meyer, and Taffanel, results of whose experiments have been reviewed by the Bureau of Mines., The Bureau has conducted many tests with the Frazer-Clement2 apparatus, which gives the pressures set up when the dust cloud within is, ignited with a platinum coil or tube, heated to different temperatures, but for these tests the sample must be especially prepared as to size (200 mesh) and must be dry. An attempt has been made to design an apparatus that may be used for checking and correlating the experimental tests. The first design was a wooden gallery, 8 by

Jan 7, 1925

By I. Iwasaki, K. A. Smith

A chlorination process for treating metal sulfide flotation concentrates is described. The process involves low temperature chlorination combined with sulfur chloride conversion and selective oxidation to produce nonferrous metal chlorides, elemental sulfur, and ferric oxide in a three-stage fluidized bed reactor. The nonferrous metal chlorides may then be water leached, separated, purified, and electrolyzed to recover copper and nickel metals and to regenerate chlorine for recycling.

Jan 1, 1986

By W. S. Gresley

The object of this communication is to give a description of some remarkable spheroidal specimens of anthracite coal recently encountered in stripping the Mammoth seam at Milnesville, Luzerne county, Pa. Somewhat similar forms of coal, occurring in France and in Australia, have been described already. In vol. xxxvii. (1888) of the Transactions of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, under the title "Coal Nodules from the Borehole Seam at Newcastle, New South Wales," Mr. T. E. Forster describes and illustrates, with two plates of specimens, a series of " nodular " forms of anthracite coal taken from a depth of 300 feet beneath the town of Newcastle, and possessing the following characteristics : The lines of cleavage of the coal-seam are more or less curved, giving a rouuded appearance to the blocks. Dikes of intrusive dolerite intersect the coal, and the coal-nodules occur with with greatest frequency where the seam is most disturbed. They are easily separated from the surrounding coal. "The seam at this point is remarkable, not only for its splendid proportions but also for its extremely bright and rich appearance, which gives the working-places x strong resemblance to those in the Pennsylvania anthracite mines.....The cleavage of the coal is, in some park of the pit, noticeable for a series of small impressions or concavities about the size of, and resembling roughly in shape, a mussel-shell raised vertically on its longest edge.....To some extent the nodules appear to have a more or less concretionary structure, and to be, roughly speaking, composed of several concentric layers, through which the ordinary cleavage of the coal passes, while in others thin layers may be observed, resembling the coats of an onion!' The chemical composition of one of the nodules, as well as of the seam inclosing them, is as follows:

Jan 1, 1893

Established as a Division December 15, 1948 Clayton G Ball, Chairman Louis C Raymond, Vice-Chairman Sheldon P Wimpfen, Vice-Chairman Henry T Mudd, Vice-Chairman A H Lindley, Jr, Secretary-Treasurer Division of Foreign Activities U S Bureau of Mines Washington, D C

Jan 1, 1956

ALTHOUGH the open-hearth charge contributes CO, C02, H2, and water vapor to the combustion gases and absorbs oxygen from them, in the main the thermal effects in the melting charge and molten bath can be considered independently of those in fuel combustion; the latter then is regarded simply as the source of the net heat required to finish a heat of steel. First of all, it should be remembered that a large percentage of the heat supplied to the bath is furnished by oxidation of the various elements in the charge itself. If this charge consisted of 80 to 100 per cent of hot metal and the oxidation were accomplished by blowing in air or oxygen, as in the bessemer converter, the net heat absorption would be negative; that is, the bath would contribute part of the heat required to keep the melting chamber hot, in addition to that contained in the finished steel and slag. - In actual open-hearth practices, probably the nearest approach to this is in the duplex furnace, charged with bessemer-blown metal and some hot metal, where very little heat is required to complete the refining and nearly all the heat energy from fuel combustion is used to keep the roof and walls of the melting chamber up to around 2900 to 3000 F (1600 to 1650 C), so that the bath will not cool off during the refining. The other extreme is with all-cold charges containing around 80 per cent steel scrap and 20 per cent cast iron or cold pig iron, in which case a very large proportion of the heat in the bath at tap is supplied from the fuel combustion. THERMAL EFFECTS IN MELTING In a typical heat, the fuel furnishes about four million British thermal units per ton of steel produced. The heat required for the metallurgical processes is not easily defined in useful manner but it ranges downward from about one million Btu, depending not only on the charge but on the manner of calculation. In any event, this requirement appears small in comparison with the

Jan 1, 1951

By Nathan C. Rockwood

THE title of this paper, I understand, was suggested by professional mining engineers as an opportunity for someone to pose problems rather than to offer solutions for them, but the paper will merely attempt to pose some of the production problems of the mineral aggregates industry in such manner as to create professional interest in their solution by the mining engineer, geologist, geochemist and the metallurgical engineer versed in mineral-dressing technique. DEFINITION OF MINERAL AGGREGATES "Mineral aggregates" may be defined as fragments of any rock or mineral used to supply bulk or volume or substance for a given purpose. For example, mineral aggregates are used in portland-cement concrete to provide bulk with the expenditure of the least feasible amount of cement binder. Mineral aggregates are used without portland cement or bituminous binder in highway and railway roadbeds to provide substance, to carry loads. Mineral aggregates are used in filters for water and sewage, to provide substance for the liquid to trickle through. These are only a few typical uses of mineral aggregates. For all these uses, strength, toughness, resistance to abrasion, and durability are usually prime requisites; so, while theoretically mineral aggregates may be of any mineral composition, what really is desired is a mineral composition as nearly inert under the conditions of use as anything of earthly origin can be. EXPLORATION AND POSSIBILITIES OF DEVELOPMENT The distribution of deposits of mineral aggregate is universal, since almost any part of the earth's crust can be used; even the top soil is sometimes used in stabilized surfacing for highways or airport runways. Nevertheless there is ample opportunity for exercise of the talents of the mining engineer and the geologist in finding the particular deposit that will be most economical to develop, keeping in mind such considerations as: (1) quality and mineralogical characteristics of the material; (2) size and permanency of the market; (3) final cost of opening and development of the deposit; (4) selection of location of plant; (5) methods and costs of distribution of the product in comparison with both present and possible future competition; (6) selection of the proper type of operating equipment; (7) estimation of probable waste products and their disposal. These are typical but there are other considerations also. Because profit margins are far smaller than in any comparable mining operation, it is all the more logical to assume that a higher degree of expert knowledge is desirable to make a success of a mineral-aggregates business. The industry has much engineering talent in its operating branch, but it lacks, to a considerable

Jan 1, 1943

By Fritz Wald, Richard W. Stormont

lHE general constitution of a number of metal-lead telluride and metal-tin telluride systems has recently been studied in an effort designed to furnish background information for the study of degradation mechanisms on junctions between thermoelectric power generation materials and metals.1"4 This paper reports further results of that effort. It was found that cobalt-lead telluride constitutes a stable pseudobinary section through the ternary Co-Pb-Te system. Materials used in the study were lead and tellurium of semiconductor-grade purity (American Smelting and Refining Corp., 99.999+ pet). Cobalt (Johnson Matthey & Co., 99.999 pet purity) was used in the form of slices cut from rods of 5 mm diam. Twenty- gram charges of the alloys were melted in evacuated quartz ampoules. Thermal analysis, as described previously,2'3 and metallographic and X-ray diffraction methods (Debye-Scherrer photographs) were used as investigative tools. Substantial difficulties were encountered in polishing, as reported previously for the lead telluride-iron system.3 A number of different etches were used, including dilute aqua regia, Murakami solution, an etch containing copper nitrate,3 and HC1-HNO3-acetic acid-water mixtures. None of these etches gave consistent results over the complete range of cobalt concentrations. On the alloys containing bulk cobalt in the form of primary

Jan 1, 1969

By John J. Gilman

F many years it has been suspected that a correlation existed between pits produced by etching and the density of dislocations in crystals. In 1953, the interest in this correlation was greatly stimulated when Vogel et al' demonstrated a 1:l correlation between etch pits and dislocations in low angle grain boundaries of germanium. About two years ago, the author began attempts to produce etch pits at dislocation sites in zinc mono-crystals. These attempts met with success a year or so ago,' and since that time a survey has been made of the etch pit patterns that are associated with various modes of deformation in zinc monocrystals. Unfortunately, the etching technique that will be described is too delicate for use as an accurate quantitative tool. Nevertheless, it has been of considerable assistance in clarifying the structure of plastically deformed crystals. Technique Many attempts were made to produce etch pits in high purity zinc crystals. It was found that several techniques would produce surface grooves at grain boundaries that had misorientation angles greater than about l°, but no technique was successful for boundaries with smaller angles. Among the things that were tried were: electrolytic CrO, (both etching and polishing concentrations), HNO, in various water and alcohol solutions, dilute HC1, many 0-0,-Na,SO, solutions, Cr0,-HC1 solutions, picral, electrolytic Na,S,O,, and electrolytic NaOH and KOH. A few attempts to use cathodic sputtering and thermal etching were also made.

Jan 1, 1957

Iron and steel lire subjects that will receive the attention clue them at the meeting in. St. Louis. Within the past 2 years the smelting of iron ore on a large scale has been started in the St. Louis area, and the blast furnaces are in full operation. Ore is being received. from the Lake Superior region, in large barges .brought clown the Mississippi River. Firebrick, for the lining of the furnaces, is made in the. St. Louis district to a greater extent than elsewhere in the country. At this meeting, there will probably be a discussion of the possibilities of the increase of manganese production in this country, and of improved methods of using it in steel manufacture.

Jan 10, 1917

The School of Mineral Industries is dedicated to education in mineral conservation and research by which the means may be found to make conservation effective. This includes diligent search for mineral truths and the energetic discovery, complete recovery, and maximum utilization of irreplaceable mineral resources. Standards of living depend upon two factors: human resources-intelligence, imagination, initiative, know-how, work; and natural resources-plants, animals, and minerals, including water, air, soil, heat and light from the sun, and all other such resources that are useful to man. Human relationships have not kept pace with scientific achievement; as a result man, in desperation, wittingly, premeditatively sacrifices freedom for security. Many natural resources, through overproduction, mismanagement, and greed, have definitely moved over into the exhausted or exhaustible category. The United States cannot maintain present standards of living on an agricultural economy alone, and serious harm can ensue if there are marked disproportions in numbers and relationships between city and rural populations. The most materialistic New Yorker must see virtue in bucolic loveliness. The United States is rated wasteful and inconsistent most of the time. It does not make sense to dole out through the keyhole what a wage earner can bring through the open door; to raise wages to lower the cost

Jan 1, 1950

SEC. 1. The membership of the Institute shall comprise seven classes, namely: 1. Members; 2. Honorary Members; 3. Senior Members; 4. Associates; 5. Junior Members; 6. Rocky Mountain Members; 7. Junior Foreign Affiliates. All shall be equally entitled to the privileges of membership, excepting that no member of any class whose residence shall be outside of the United States of America, except those residing in Mexico and Canada, shall be entitled to vote. SEC. 2. Members: A person to be eligible for election or transfer into the class of Member must be at least 27 years of age and must have had at least six years' employment in the practice of engineering, mining, geology, metallurgy, or chemistry, during at least three years of which he must have held positions of responsibility in one or more of these fields. This shall not apply to Rocky Mountain Members.

Jan 1, 1946

By George H. Found

DURING recent years considerable interest has been focused on the energy-absorption characteristics of metal when it is cyclically stressed in vibration. The most familiar manifestation of this phenomenon, which is called the "damping capacity" or "internal friction" of a material, is involved in the dissipation of mechanical energy of vibration, which otherwise would build up to stress levels where the problems of noise and fatigue are involved. In addition to its engineering importance in structures, the damping behavior of metals, particularly at low stress amplitudes, has also been used as a unique metallurgical research tool with which to provide sensitive means for indicating certain structural changes within metals. Important contributions toward understanding the energy-dissipating mechanisms that are responsible for internal friction in metals have been made in the last few years. The information is not yet sufficiently extensive, however, to provide a useful metallurgical concept describing exactly how the structure affects the internal friction, or to encourage more general use of this technique among metallurgists. Three fundamental mechanisms have been proposed, as a result of recent experimental investigations, to account for the internal friction in nonferrous metals in low-stress amplitude tests. These include damping due to internal thermal currents that are created and flow in metal because of differential vibratory stress effects,1 damping due to localized inelastic stress relaxation at inhomogeneities within the metal,2,3 and damping related to plastic flow of a localized type for which an explanation has been sought in terms of the dislocation theory.4 How each of these mechanisms functions as a result of structural changes in the metal is, in general, not well understood because of insufficient experimental data for which the controlling variables have been segregated and because of uncertainties in regard to the nature of the structural changes themselves. In several investigations the effects of cold-working on the internal friction of polycrystalline brass and aluminum have been described. As reported by Köster and Rosenthal,5 and by Förster and Breitfield,6 there is an initial large increase in the damping when the metal is worked. The initial high value is not stable, but declines rapidly, at first, in a hyperbolic manner. About 100 hr, after straining, a stable value is reached of magnitude proportional to the amount of strain.7 In Fig. I is shown the relationship found by Zener and his collaborators between the internal friction due to cold-working of alpha brass and the amount of cold-working.8 Several investigators have made internal-friction measurements on worked poly-

Jan 1, 1945

By William M. Baldwin, T. S. Howald, A. W. Ross

EXPLORATORY WORK THE related subjects of preferred orientation, directionality in physical properties, and earing tendencies of wrought metal [ ] strip have attracted the attention of metallurgists to such an extent that in the past 20 years hundreds of researches have been published on this one general problem. The anisotropy of tensile strength and elongation have been exhaustively studied in their relationship to the occurrence of ears in cups drawn from strips-20.29 and, to a lesser extent, yield strength7,11,17 and stress-strain curves" have been investigated. Despite the tremendous fund of knowledge thus accrued, no simple quantitative correlation of directionality and earing tendencies has yet been found. In a sense, this is not surprising. The formation of ears in a drawn cup clearly is a special phase of the general study of metal flow; in particular (as will be brought out in the course of this paper), ears are due to anistropy in the rates of deformation of the metal in the radial, circumferential, and "thickness" directions of the original blank. It would be difficult to effect a correlation between earing tendency and a property that may be completely independent of the flow of metal, or at best related to metal flow in an exceedingly complex fashion. Yet, it is this correlation that has been attempted; tensile strength and elongation are attributes of metal rupture, a phenomenon that has quite admirably been shown to be distinct from the phenomenon of metal flow,21 while yield strength and stress-strain

Jan 1, 1945

By W. F. Carew, F. A. Crossley

The stress for rupture in 500 hr at 1000° F has been reported to be about 13,000 psi higher for Widmanstitten than for equiaxed microstructures for the Ti-7A1-3Mo alloy.1,2 Also, limited data indicated Widmanstatten and equiaxed micro-structures to have approximately the same creep resistance at 1000°F.' Recently, data have been obtained which show Widmanstatten structures to be significantly more creep resistant than equiaxed structures at 1000°F, see Fig. 1. These data represent several ingots and several heat treatments of the solution treat and age type. The thermal history and tensile properties corresponding to the creep data are given in Table I. The creep data were taken from creep-rupture tests. The associ- ated rupture data are given in Table 11. It may be noted that total creep deformations are considerably greater for equiaxed structures. Previous evaluations of stability indicated that all of the structures tested are stable with respect to exposure to stress at elevated temperature.1,2 For a minimum creep rate of 10-4 in. per in. per hr the difference in stress levels is indicated to be about 17,000 psi. Holden,et found an irreversible contraction upon heating three a-ß titanium alloys in the equiaxed condition above their ß-transus temperatures. The alloys were: Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-155 A (5Al-1.3Cr-1.5Fe-1.2Mo), and C-130 AM (44-4Mn). The net contractions in length between the original equiaxed and the final Widmanstatten structures measured at room temperature were: 0.4, 0.4, and 0.7 pct, respectively. The greater creep and rupture resistance of the WidmanstStten structure of the Ti-7Al-3Mo alloy may be associated with the phenomenon

Jan 1, 1959

By W. Vickers

SALKOVITZ1 has given a number of useful angles between planes for use with the Laue method in determining the orientation of bismuth single crystals. Bismuth is usually considered as having a face-centered-rhombohedra1 structure with its axial angle 87°34', Fig. 1. A similar figure given by Sal-kovitz appears to be in error in that the angle there marked as 87°34' should be 92°26. The primitive cell is a single rhombohedron of axial angle 570 14. The structure is almost face-centered-cubic and hence high accuracy in measurements is essential if there is to be no confusion in indexing poles or zone axes. It is easier to get this accuracy if zone axes are plotted on the stereogram because they will lie near the basic circle where the net has a more open scale. The zone axes can be read from the film, using a Greninger chart, and can be plotted more accurately than poles. Also, the angles between points near the basic circle can be read more accurately than those between poles near the center. In order to use the zone axes the angles between directions have been calculated from a formula given by Niggli,2 and are given in Table I. Miller indices

Jan 1, 1958

By E. W. Hough, G. L. Stegemeier

Empirical equations for surface tension of propane and normal butane as functions of reduced temperature are obtained from experimental data. Another correlation relating surface tension to enthalpy of vaporization is given for these two compounds. In addition, new paracbor numbers are calculated for the normal paraffin hydrocarbons. These numbers are utilized for the calculation of interfacial tension of two-component systems as functions of pressure and temperature, using a modified form of Weinaug-Katz equation. The experimental data for two binary systems are approximated by the correlation. From these results it is found that the interfacial tension in the high-pressure region remains extremely low at large pressure decrements below the critical pressure. Thus, it appears that condensate systems may have flow characteristics almost like single-phase conditions even though the pressure is within the two-phase region. Experimental data have shown that interfacial tension divided by density difference approaches zero as the critical pressure is approached. A calculation of wetting-phase saturations indicates that the saturation gradient at the two-phase contact becomes increasingly abrupt as the critical pressure is approached. DISCUSSION Prediction of the surface and interfacial tension of the light hydrocarbons and of two-component hydrocarbon mixtures at various temperatures and pressures may be made if other physical properties are known. Extensive experimental work on single-component and binary systemsl is the basis for the correlations outlined in this paper. Interfacial tension is defined as the specific surface-free energy between two phases of unlike fractional composition, while surface tension is defined as the specific surface-free energy between two phase:; of the same fractional composition. The usual definitions relating interfacial tension to a liquid-liquid interface and surface tension to a gas-liquid interface are not clearly defined when the critical region is included, and there is no sharp distinction between a gas and a liquid phase. Interfacial tension is probably the most important single force that makes one-half to one-third of the total oil actually in place in a reservoir rock unrecoverable by conventional gas-drive or waterflood methods. A rough estimate of this figure for the United States is 100 billion bbl. Interfacial tension presently is used by petroleum engineers in the estimation of saturation gradients at the gas-oil contact and at the oil-water contact. The data in this paper should prove useful for estimates of reserves involving gas-oil contacts. Relative permeability undoubtedly is influenced by interfacial tension, for sufficiently small values. These data should be useful in determining how small the values are In addition, these data should eventually add to our fundamental knowledge of surfaces. At the critical point, all surface excesses approach zero and the thickness becomes very large. SINGLE-COMPONENT SYSTEMS It has been observed1 that the following relationships are good approximations to the physical properties of propane and n-butane.