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By F. J. Zuiderweg, G. G. Bemer

Results of a study aimed at assessing kinetics and mechanisms of the batch agglomeration process in suspension are discussed. A recently developed light backscatter technique which enables the increase of average particle size from 1 to 5000 µm to be followed, was used to determine agglomeration kinetics. Growth curves and agglomerate size distributions were obtained in a stirred vessel for various model systems and operating conditions. Four distinct growth regimes were identified, i. e. the flocculation regime, the zero-growth regime, the fast growth regime, and the equilibrium regime. Further, it was observed that large differences in the occurrence and duration of these regimes resulted from small variations in parameters, such as size distribution of the initial particles and the binding-liquid to solid ratio. Mechanisms that determine the occurrence of the relevant regimes are discussed. The growth process was described in terms of population balance equations. In this way, the growth rate, the equilibrium agglomerate size distribution, and the evolution of the agglomerate size distribution were generated. The agreement with experimental results is satisfactory.

Jan 1, 1980

By C. R. Johnson, R. A. Greenkorn, E. G. Woods

A new method of reservoir evaluation called pulse-testins has been developed for describing formation properties between wells. Pulse-testing utilizes a sensitive differential-pressure gauge at a responding well to measure and record the response generated by a series of flow rate changes (pulses) at an adjacent or pulsing well. Since the pulse-test instruments have a sensitivity of about 0.001 psi, pulses of several hours or less in duration will generate a measurable response in most reservoirs. For this reason, many well pairs can be tested in a short period of time with little interference in field operations. Comparison of pulse-test results to conventional testing methods shows that the pulses obey unsteady-state, compressible-flow theory and thus provide a measure of both transmissibility (kh/µ) and storage (Fch). In additian, the method can be used qualitatively to describe communication across faults and between zones, and direction and tnagnitude of fracture trends. INTRODUCTION To obtain maximum usefulness of new reservoir analysis methods as well as to aid the field engineer in understanding local reservoir anomalies, improved methods are needed to describe heterogeneities in specific reservoirs. Optimum well spacing, equipment specifications, well completion design and especially the economics of pressure maintenance and secondary recovery programs depend on the extent and location of the heterogeneities that affect flow behavior in the field. One method for obtaining a measure of areal reservoir heterogeneity is an interference test. In the simplest interference test. constant-rate production or injection is initiated at one well and the effect of this flow is measured as pressure vs time at another well. Thus, during interference tests the flow characteristics of the formation are determined in situ. Despite their obvious usefulness in reservoir delineation. interference tests have not enjoyed frequent usage. Reasons for this have been the weeks or months required in many fields to obtain a pressure response measurable with conventional gauges, and the interruption of routine field operation during the field-wide shut-in normally required during these long times. Also, only average properties of the relatively large volume of the reservoir disturbed during these long times can normally be obtained — variations in properties between individual wells cannot be delineated. To eliminate these drawbacks of conventional tests, a special reservoir description technique called pulse testing' has been developed. Pulse-testing has several advantages that make it more convenient and practical for field use than interference tests. Valid tests are more certain because use of a series of flow disturbances gives rise to a diagnostic pressure response that can more readily be distinguished from unknown trends in reservoir pressure and other "noise." The time required is only a fraction of that for an interference test because a special, high-sensitivity differential pressure gauge can detect a much smaller pressure change. Variations in properties between individual wells can be delineated because of the relatively small volume of the reservoir disturbed during these short times. Finally, wells other than the pulsing and responding wells do not have to be shut in or carefully regulated.

Jan 1, 1967

By Thomas L. Wright

Exploration activities were maintained at a high level throughout 1966. Numerous significant discoveries and developments in which geologists played an important part were announced. Although the complete results of exploration activities carried out during the year by private companies have not been announced, the following are among the more important developments that have been made public knowledge. In the western states, exploration for practically all of the metals continued at a high rate. Substantially increased interest in uranium occurred this year, and it is felt by many that a real boom in the demand for uranium may come about in the near future. The reasons have been the more rapid acceptance of atomic power than had been anticipated, and that uranium producers can now sell their product to private interests and even foreign countries. A tremendous demand for uranium is anticipated by many, and this has rekindled exploration activity. On the Colorado Plateau, in Wyoming, and in the area around Grants, N. M., a number of companies have undertaken uranium exploration programs, among which are Kerr-McGee, Homestake, Anaconda and Utah Construction. A new uranium orebody in Texas was brought into production early in 1966 by Susquehanna Western.

Jan 2, 1967

By W. A. Tiller, J. P. McHugh

HE majority of liquidus and solidus surfaces in phase diagrams have been determined by the conventional cooling- and heating-curve techniques.' These techniques have two main shortcomings: 1) the solidus may be in considerable error due to the difficulty involved in completely homogenizing the solid and 2) the determination of liquidus and solidus in more than a two-component system does not enable one to determine tie-lines connecting the specific equilibrium solid and liquid compositions. However, in a recent paper by one of the authors,' a method was suggested whereby the liquidus and solidus surfaces plus tie-lines in an n-component system may be determined. This method utilizes a controlled solidification technique and assumes that interface equilibrium exists during freezing. The present work was undertaken with a twofold purpose; first, to determine the liquidus and solidus lines in the pseudo-binary system Bi2Te3-Bi2Se3 by heating- and cooling-curve techniques and, second, to determine the partition coefficients of Te and Se in the BizTe3-,Sex system by controlled solidifica- tion techniques. The two sets of results can be compared to test the accuracy of the controlled solidification method. EXPERIMENTAL I—The starting materials for this study were 997999 pct Bi, Te, and Se, obtained from the American Smelting and Refining Co. The compounds BizTe, and Bi2Se3 were each prepared by melting together stoichiometric amounts of the elements, followed by twelve zone-refining passes. This produced homogeneous bars of the compounds for use in the phase-diagram studies. The apparatus used to obtain heating and cooling curves is illustrated schematically in Fig. 1. The alloy samples were located in a graphite crucible placed in a stainless steel canister. The canister was supported in a heavily lagged pit furnace by a device which oscillated the canister about its vertical axis at a frequency of about 3 cycles per sec during heating and cooling-curve runs. The graphite crucible was designed to minimize the thermal coupling of the sample to the furnace. A thin graphite sleeve separated the alloy sample from the stainless steel tube that housed the thermo-

Jan 1, 1960

By John A. Mathews

RESEARCH in the steel industry, as in other lines of manufacturing, has for its principal purpose the increasing of profits. That is what manufacturing companies are for, and all departments of the organization must be so coordinated as to lead to profitable operation. To divide a payroll into productive and non-productive labor is misleading. Productive labor, in fact, is necessary labor, and non- productive labor is the labor we can get along without. One might as well say that the steering wheel is not a part of an automobile as to say that the directing minds of an industry are non-productive. Legitimate manufacturing profits in a steel company or any other company are the reward that the public pays for service rendered or risk taken. The desire for profits is the impelling motive that leads investors .to take risks and build up industries that give employment to others. Every department of a company, be it executive, manufacturing, financial, sales, or research, must contribute to the one end which brings success-profits.

Jan 1, 1921

By R. F. Shurtz

This paper relates geostatistical doctrine to classical statistical and mathematical concepts. It is not a contribution to geostatistics; it is a contribution about geostatistics. It uses descriptive and pictorial arguments to assist interested readers in forming an intuitive grasp of the recondite and difficult mathematical issues involved. The method chosen is to cite authoritative literature references from the two fields and trace connections between them. Four broad conclusions appear: first, geostatistics comprises a relabelled subset of concepts detached from classical statistics and mathematics; second, this relabelling artificially isolates geostatistics from the classical fields and restricts its scope; third, the classical fields still have much to offer to the mining industry but will remain fallow unless artifcial communication barriers are removed; and fourth, the unique advantages asserted for geostatistics are neither unique nor necessarily real. These findings should not be regarded as iconoclastic but rather as Pointing the way to a wider and more productive scope for those who evaluate mineral deposits.

Jan 1, 1983

By M. E. Wadsworth, G. W. Warren

INTRODUCTION Hydrometallurgical processes for the extraction of metal values can be divided into two broad categories: (a) Processes involving the treatment of high grade material (e.g. finely divided mineral concentrates); and (b) processes which treat lower grade material (ores, waste dumps, etc.). This discussion will be directed primarily toward the first category, but in either case a fundamental knowledge of the intrinsic kinetics and thermodynamics is necessary to understand the behavior of the system. The bulk of research efforts in the last decade along these lines has been aimed at the recovery of copper (1-8). However much information has also been reported on uranium (9, 10) , zinc (11) , cobalt and nickel (12, 13). More comprehensive reviews on these areas are also available (14). As discussed by Sepulveda and Herbst (15, 16) one of the most difficult problems facing process designers is the acquisition and scale-up of reliable information concerning the intrinsic kinetics of leaching systems. The scale-up or modeling of these multiparticle systems is far more complex than that of homogeneous ones. This is due to the numerous rate determining steps which are possible with heterogeneous reactions and the broad distribution of properties of a multiparticle feed such as particle size and mineralogical composition (16). In addition, other factors must also be considered such as interactions between particles, the anisotropic nature of individual particles, the effect of solution chemistry, and electrochemical phenomena. All of these factors must be taken into account, often simultaneously. The thrust of this paper will be to more closely examine how the factors mentioned above can be treated. Some elementary examples of

Jan 1, 1980

By Edgar Bain

OF THE important phenomenon of the hardening of steel, Professor Sauveur1 says: "It would seem as if the methods used to date for the elucidation of this complex problem have yielded all they are capable of yielding and that further straining of these methods will only serve to confuse the issue, the point having been reached when this juggling, no matter how skilfully done, with allotropy, solid solutions, and strains is causing weariness without advancing the solution of the problem.. The tendency of late has been to abandon the safer road of experimental facts and to enter the maze of excessive speculations, in which there is great danger of some becoming hopelessly lost. The conclusion seems warranted that new avenues of approach must be found if we are to obtain a correct answer to this apparent enigma. With some degree of fitness we may say, this of other problems. It seems likely that one of the new avenues of approach to many metallographic problems is the study-of crystal structure, or more accurately, the atomic arrangement by means of the X-ray spectrometer. The crystal structure of some materials has been carefully worked out by the mineralogist, but his methods are, in general, unsuited to commercial metals and a method that yields even better information is at hand as the result of work on the diffraction of X-rays by Laue and the Braggs2 and later by Hull,3 St. John, and others. It should be understood that the contour of free crystals, which is the subject of measurements by the crystallographer, is the result of the atomic structure and, in general, bears a simple and obvious relation to it. The use of the X-ray spectrometer4 has been described frequently, so the procedure will not be given here.

Jan 2, 1922

Jan 1, 1880

By Walter Harvey Weed

AMONG the many causes of that perplexing feature of mine-exploitation, the unequal distribution of the ore, the influence of the country-rock upon the vein-contents has long been accepted as an important factor in certain districts, but the general application of the theory has not been proved. It is now possible to obtain trustworthy data with which to test the theory, and either to confirm or to overthrow this time-honored tradition. By the searching methods of modern petrography and chemistry, rock-determinations are now scientifically made, while the examination of thin sections of ores supplements field- and laboratory-study, and affords conclusive evidence of the paragenesis of the ore-minerals. In the great mass of data regarding mineral deposits accumulated during the past century, there are some facts which stand the test as to reliability; but the greater part are not available for use in this discussion. Within the last 20 years, however, many able workers have contributed careful and accurate accounts of various ore-deposits; and it is by the facts given in such papers, and by personal experience, that. I have become convinced that there is in some districts a true relation between the country-rock and the mineral contents of the veins. My own interest in the subject arose from the observation of a number of striking instances of the variation of vein-contents with the nature of the inclosing rock. Having already recorded certain observations of this kind, I venture to present in this paper further notes, together with a few facts from the literature of the subject, which seem to prove the correctness of my view. It is apparent that if the relation holds true, though in limited districts only, it will be of great practical in-

Jan 1, 1913

By Phillip O. Tyree, Joseph W. Mussey

Bio-epigenetic sulphur deposits occur in Pecos, Reeves and Culberson Counties of far West Texas. Sulfate reducing bacteria, utilizing hydrocarbons as energy, transformed gypsum into replacement limestone and hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide, retained in the pores of the replacement limestone, was subsequently oxidized by highly oxygenated groundwaters, and native sulphur precipitated. West Texas sulphur was first recognized at surface exposures by William P. Blake, a geologist attached to the Captain Pope Military/ Scientific Expedition of 1854. Attempts were made in the early 1900's to mine these sulphur vent exposures by a retort method, but the ventures met with little success. In 1967, Duval discovered a large sulphur deposit near some of the old sulphur works in Culberson County. Duval also expanded reserves in a small sulphur deposit in Pecos County. The Frasch process, developed for producing sulphur from Gulf Coast salt domes, proved successful in West Texas type sulphur deposits also. However, modifications of the process were necessary to provide economical and efficient sulphur recovery from the varied ore occurrences. West Texas conditions and logistics require the ultimate in productivity to be competitive in the domestic and foreign sulphur markets. Several companies, in addition to Duval, are producing or have produced sulphur in West Texas. As of June 1, 1984, a total of 29.87 million mt (29.4 million long tons) of sulphur had been produced west of the Pecos River. Duval Corporation has produced more than 88 percent of that total.

Jan 1, 1985

By Homer E. Harris, William C. DeSieghardt, William A. Burgess

Under sponsorship of NIOSH, Eastern Associated Coal Corp., with the Harvard School of Public Health acting as a subcontractor, has determined for the first time the effective protection provided to working underground coal miners wearing approved half-mask dust respirators. This was done by conducting 187 man-shifts of in-mine testing in four different coal mines; included in this testing were 37 different test subjects representing 11 different job classifications and 5 different models of respirators. Presently available respirators on average provided significant protection levels to working miners even though on an intermittent use basis. However, "average" protection values were well below those achieved under laboratory conditions. Protection levels varied from man to man in a given work crew and from day to day for a given man. In addition, some of the factors affecting use and effectiveness of presently used respirators are discussed, as are areas in which improvements are needed, and the need to consider these improvements in context of a systems approach.

Jan 1, 1975

By Louis Huber

THE Liberty tunnels extend through a very steep hill in Pittsburgh (locally called Mount Washington) for a distance of slightly over a mile. The two tunnels parallel each other and are 59 ft. apart, center to center (Fig. 1). They are for vehicular traffic, and in each there is ample space for two lines of vehicles. Northbound traffic, towards downtown Pitts- FIG. 1.-NORTH PORTAL OF LIBERTY TUNNELS. NOTE THE WINDBREAK AT END OF EAST TUNNEL. burgh, is confined to the east tunnel and southbound traffic to the west tunnel. The South Hills residential district is separated from downtown Pittsburgh by Mount Washington, a steeply rising escarpment south of and adjacent to the Monongahela River. The Mount Washington district immediately south of the Monongahela River has been reached, for many

Jan 1, 1927

By W. M. Weigel

The general term "sand" applies to a multitude of similar materials consisting of fine granular mineral. As usually understood, it means the ordinary natural product used for structural purposes and made up largely of grains of quartz. Quartz sand constitutes by far the greater bulk of the production, but there are other grades used for industrial purposes, such as molding sand, glass sand and many others, that may be grouped under the general name of special sands. Under this general group would fall filter sand, sand-blast sand, engine sand, potter's sand, abrasive sands of all kinds, sand for pulverizing, roofing sand, flooring sand, fire or furnace sand, standard sand, burnishing sand, sand for magnesium oxychloride cement-plasters and sand for chemical and metallurgical purposes. Sources of Supply Sand is a widely distributed natural product and even the better grades are low-priced commodities. For these reasons development has occurred near points of consumption where sand meeting the requirements is available. Some special grades, however, cannot be prepared from any sand bed and shipments are often made over considerable distances when the only developed deposit is remote from the consuming center. This is true of filter sand, sand-blast sand, sand for pulverizing and some of the others when chemical purity or grain size, coupled with the need of a properly equipped plant for preparation, are required. New Jersey is a large producer of filter, engine, sand-blast, fire, and pulverizing sand. Pennsylvania, and West Virginia produce special sands for pulverizing, fire sand, abrasive sand, engine sand and sand for chemical and metallurgical use. Ohio produces much sand-blast, fire and abrasive sand, and some filter sand. Illinois and Minnesota produce

Jan 1, 1926

By James J. Scott, John J. Reed

In a year fraught with difficulties, especially to small operators, the more stable mining organizations have shown a dynamic readiness to plunge ahead in the development of new mines, new and ingenious equipment and new tools for management to take the guesswork out of important decisions. New Mining Equipment The mining equipment display at the American Mining Congress in San Francisco demonstrated some rather radical new design concepts and a new willingness to use imagination to come up with ingenious new applications and adaptations of standard equipment.

Jan 2, 1963

THE paper on "Specific Efficiency of the Blast Furnace" by Richard Franchot, which was pub-lished in the September issue of MINING AND METALLURGY, was presented for discussion at the Pitts-burgh meeting. The session opened with a discussion among S. P. Kinney, Mr. Franchot, and J. N. Reese as to the methods and results in sampling for cyanides in the blast furnace. This is covered in detail in writ-ten discussion below. T. T. Read objected to the use of the term specific efficiency as likely to be confusing. The blast furnace has to perform the function of reducing Fe, 03 to Fe as well as that of fusing the metal and, since the reduc-tion of Fe, 0? involves a CO equilibrium, it seems mis-leading to calculate efficiency on the basis of burning the , all carbon to CO? since it is not possible. Mr. Franchot replied that he used the term in the sense defined by Richards in his "Metallurgical Calculations;" but a subsequent search failed to reveal the term in Richards, who says (page 245, 1st edition): The practical conclusion is that a blast furnace generates in itself not much over 40 per cent of the calorific power of the fuel used, and rejects nearly 60 per cent; by using part of the waste gases to heat the blast, however, some of this rejected heat, to an amount representing net 5 to 10 per cent of the calorific power of the fuel used, is returned to and injected bodily into the furnace, thus rendering available for the purpose of running the furnace about 50 per cent of the calorific power of the fuel as a maximum. The efficiency with which the furnace applies this 50 per cent usefully to the objects of the reducing and smelting is another question for investigation.

Jan 2, 1927

By Zay Jeffries

IN this paper, it is proposed to outline a method for the determination of melting points of those metals and alloys having high fusion temperatures. The application of the method as used to determine the melting points of alloys of tungsten and molybdenum will be given. It will be seen from these results that tungsten and molybdenum form a completely FIG. 1.-PARTIAL SECTION OF APPARATUS USED TO DETERMINE MELTING POINTS OF TUNGSTEN AND MOLYBDENUM ALLOYS. isomorphous series. This is also verified by the accompanying photomicrographs. Tungsten and molybdenum have been found to crystallize in the salve system, namely, isometric, and the crystal units are cubes. These determinations were made by examining etching pits in the pure metals.

Jan 7, 1916

By P. V. Roundy

PUBLIC lands in Florida were first withdrawn from entry by President Taft on July 2, 1910, as a conservation measure because of their possible phosphate content. The reserve thus established was subsequently modified by further withdrawals and by restorations, so that on Jan. 1, 1934,' it contained 66,796 acres, of which only a small part had been defi-nitely classified. The reserved land was in scattered parcels, ranging from less than 40 acres to 320 or more, distributed in many counties. For administrative purposes and for final disposal of any of the numerous parcels, mineral classification of the land is legally necessary. In 1934 and 1935 the United States Geological Survey, under two successive grants from the Public Works Administration, prospected some 83 tracts of these lands in Polk County, comprising in all about 3300 acres, and six tracts comprising 240 acres in Citrus and Marion Counties. The tracts in Polk County were all in the so-called land-pebble field and the others in the hard-rock field. The Survey field party was under the direction of P. V. Roundy, from whose unpublished report the material in this paper is largely taken. The foreman of the prospecting crew was J. H. Wingate of Zephyrhills, Fla. The individual tracts were identified through the cooperation of the General Land Office, by transitman Hugh B. Crawford. This prospecting work fitted well the classification adopted for Public Works projects in general: it could not he done on any considerable scale under the Survey's usual appropriations; it gave employment to unem-ployed labor; and it may be expected ultimately to repay the Government in royalties more than the cost of the exploration.

Jan 1, 1937

By W. Francis

OF THE methods that have been used for studying the chemical composition of coal, attack by reagents has not, in general, yielded much information. Most of the reagents used have been strong oxidants such as nitric acid or Schulze's solution. The use of a milder oxidizing agent, such as air at low temperatures, enables progressive changes in the character of the coal substance to be studied and thus helps toward an understanding of its constitution. British bituminous coals frequently have a banded structure. These bands (of four types) can be separated one from another and have been found to possess markedly different chemical characteristics, even when taken from contiguous portions of the same lump coal. It has been found convenient to give each of the ingredients of banded coal a distinctive name, more or less descriptive of its appearance, and the study of the chemistry of bituminous "coal" in England has resolved itself into a study of each ingredient separately. . The coal chosen for this work was taken from the Top Hard seam at East Kirkby colliery, Nottinghamshire, a detailed chemical analysis of which has been recorded by Baranov and Francis.1 The banded structure was well marked and the bands could readily be separated. The research was confined to the brilliant vitreous bands (vitrain), the dull hard bands (durain) and the "sooty partings" (fusain); for previous work had shown that the fourth type, to which the name clarain has been given, is intermediate in character, chemically, between vitrain and durain.

Jan 3, 1925

By Thomas C. Atchison

An understanding of the physical processes involved in breaking rock with explosives will lead to better blasting techniques. In this chapter known rock breakage principles will be outlined, some conjectural ideas will be discussed, and areas needing further study will be pointed out. The principles outlined will serve as a basis for the design of blasting rounds described in the following chapter. 7.2-1. Factors Important to Rock Fragmentation. The efficacy of explosives as tools for rock fragmentation lies in their ability to deliver almost instantaneously large amounts of energy to a limited portion of the rock. When an explosive charge is detonated in a drill hole, its energy is released in a very small fraction of a second in the form of gas at extremely high pressure and temperature. The mechanics of the transfer of this energy to the rock and the resulting breakage are complex and not completely understood. Factors that have been identified as important to the fragmentation process may be grouped in three categories: explosive parameters, charge loading parameters, and rock parameters. EXPLOSIVE PARAMETERS. Explosive parameters known to influence breakage are density, detonation velocity, detonation impedance, detonation pressure, gas volume, and available energy. Detonation pressure is probably the best indicator of an explosive's ability to break solid hard rock. Detonation pressure is roughly proportional to the product of density and the square of the detonation velocity. The relative ability of different explosives to transmit their pressure to stress in a given rock is function of their detonation impedances. Detonation impedance is the product of density and detonation velocity. The volume of gas released in the explosive detonation undoubtedly is of importance, at least in the later stages of breakage, and is probably

Jan 1, 1968