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By Sir Nathaniel Barnaby

We must not conceal from ourselves that, against the perils arising from perforation of the shells or hulls of ships, we are greatly worse off in these days of steel and iron than we were when our ships were built of oak, teak and pine. Apart from the greater

Jan 1, 1891

By R. B. Gordon, D. A. Koss

Ultrasonic-atlenuation changes due to the formation of free dislocations have been observed during tensile tests of magnesium and LiF single crystals and samples of polycrystalline Results on the LiF and samples are similar: A preyield attenzration increase is observed which, however, be-corlzes smaller as the magnitude of the drop in load al yielding increases. This indicates that the yield point observed in these materials is due to dislovation rather than dislocation unpinning and that the initial density ' free dislocations must be low if the yield point is to be sharp,. Tests on the magnesium ere conducted at both 27" and 200C. Magnesium has the unusual property that the yield drop is larger at the higher test temperature and is accomplished by a decrease in attenuation. The latter is due principally to the temprovary pinning of detained dislocations by highly solute atoms. After strain aging., a stress as low as 0.3 bur suffices to unpin dislocations; microstrain measuements of sufficient sensitivity should. reveal plastic flow at stress levels this low IN another paper,' we describe the technique of simultaneously observing ultrasonic-attenuation changes and plastic microstrain during deformation of spher-oidized carbon steels. Changes of ultrasonic attenuation indicate damping effects caused by the oscillation of long, freely moving dislocation segments. Simultaneous microstrain measurements are used to indicate total dislocation motion. The dislocation-damping observations are most useful in the study of the early stages of deformation where the dislocation density is low and the plastic strain is small and relatively difficult to measure. Particularly interesting results are found in materials which display sharp yield points. Observations of these phenomena are reported here for three materials: single-crystal LiF and magnesium, and poly crystalline molybdenum. EXPERIMENTS Dislocation-damping effects were observed by measuring changes in acoustic attenuation with the ultrasonic-pulse method. The end faces of each of the specimens were ground flat and parallel and a quartz 10 Mc per sec, x-cut transducer was attached to one face. The bonding agents used were: a) "Nonaq" stopcock grease with magnesium, b) beeswax with LiF, and c) salol with molybdenum. With the LiF, the best acoustic signals were obtained at 45 and 50 Mc per sec; all other measurements reported are at 10 MC per sec. The Sperry Ultrasonic Attenuation Comparator2 was used to measure attenuation changes. In the

Jan 1, 1967

By J. Poijärvi, J. Rastas

Recently, when increasing attention has been paid to mercury for environmental reasons, the interest of several plants is directed to the removal of mercury from roaster and smelter gases. When Outokumpu Oy built its zinc plant at Kokkola in 1969, intensive development work was started to find an efficient and economic method for mercury removal from roaster gases. A process was developed, after laboratory research and pilot plant tests, to eliminate and completely recover mercury from the roaster gases. The process was commissioned in 1970. The behaviour of mercury in the roasting process and several possible methods of removing it from gases are discussed in this paper. Theoretical investigations and empirical tests show that the removal of elemental mercury from gases by sulphatization is very efficient. Further, it is stated how the technical process was built on this idea. The zinc sulphide concentrates contain small quantities of selenium, chlorine and fluorine. The role of selenium in the process is described. Similarly, the behaviour of chlorine and fluorine in the roasting, sulphatizing and scrubbing units has been discussed. Finally, the recovery of purified mercury and selenium from the precipitates is described.

Jan 1, 1973

By G. D. Just

INTRODUCTION Large scale underground mining involves the bulk handling of fragmented material. The cost and efficiency of the mining systems is there- fore significantly influenced by material flow characteristics. Flow problems may occur in the form of ore pass blockages which interrupt the free flow at extraction openings. The costs of such delays can be readily assessed and compared to the costs incurred in reducing blockages by improved fragmentation or larger ore passes. In practice the problem is more complex than this statement suggests because it is generally un- economic to design for zero ore blockages. Another major flow problem occurs in the form of relative movement of ore and waste as the fragmented material is extracted. This produces waste dilution in the recovered ore and influences total ore recovery. This flow problem is much more complex than the ore block- age phenomena. Many questions concerning the precise flow characteristics remain unanswered because of the variability of size distributions, particle shapes, material properties and the total extraction layout and design. Model studies can provide a visual and quantitative illustration of probable flow characteristics but full scale data collection is necessary to evaluate the precision of such information. The methods and types of data obtained must be carefully selected to recover the maximum volume of useful information for operational control and future design. It is essential that honest precision levels are assigned to the data and any subsequent analyses. Grade control data may give misleading short term information on flow characteristics because of the difficulty in knowing the true grade of the mass of material before extraction commences. However, in the long term control of extraction grades is vital to the profitable operation of the mining system. The most efficient extraction design and operational schedule can only be determined after all of the facts and variables are known. This is usually only possible after the orebody has been completely extracted. However, if design and operational personnel have a full appreciation of the nature and variability of material flow under different conditions the best possible results should be achieved. The most significant features of material flow are out- lined in this paper in order to provide mine planning and mine management personnel with some of the necessary information relating to material flow. Available facts and reliable figures from selected publications are noted in association with unbiased and hopefully accurate opinions of the relevance of the data to mine design and mine system control. Possible future developments and profitable areas for research into material flow problems are also detailed. MATERIAL FLOW AND MINING METHODS The effects of material flow on the design and operation of an integrated underground ore handling system is one factor which is common to most mining methods. Analysis of the system as detailed by Just, 1980, permits the identification of unit process objectives. For example, a typical underground ore handling system as illustrated in Figure 1, involves the following unit operations:- (i) Gravity flow of ore in stope (ii) Ore extraction at base of stope (iii) Ore haulage on the production level (iv) Dumping of ore into ore pass system (v) Gravity flow of ore in the ore pass (vi) Underground crushing of ore (vii) Haulage of crushed ore to shaft (viii) Hoisting of ore to the surface. Average flow rates in each of these unit operations can be misleading due to variability in incremental capacity caused by flow blockages and machine delays. Thus to effectively analyse the probable performance of the system, it is necessary to have a measure of the flow loading and haulage rate variability. Mechanical equipment performance specifications can be used to provide such information for loading, haulage and crushing; however, in the case of the gravity flow of material field measurements are required to relate the probability of "hang-ups" to the degree of fragmentation. Factors affecting the frequency of flow stoppages are, size, distribution and cohesiveness of broken material and the geometry and size of the flow channel. Ore pass channel design is relatively simple since regular cross-sectional shapes are used

Jan 1, 1981

By Eugene Guccione

For at least a decade, the energy crisis was accurately predicted by a small number of industry people who were ignored until last year, when they suddenly found themselves accused for their "lack of planning" and "greed." With the worsening shortage of natural gas and oil, the current scramble is for alternate energy sources-which means: a big rush into coal and uranium mining. (Some big plans are also on the drawing boards regarding geothermal steam, oil shale, tar sands, and even solar energy. But developing such new industries from scratch would be difficult enough even in a healthy economic climate-which is not exactly what the country currently enjoys.)

Jan 8, 1974

By Hallan N. Marsh

The subject of this paper is apt to bring to mind wells ranging from 6000 to over 8000 ft. in depth. However, it is uncommon to pump wells at depths greater than about 5000 ft. Fig. 1 shows the number of wells being pumped at various depths by one company in Southern California. A few companies have a very few wells pumping at depths greater than this. This paper will deal with wells between 3000 and 5500 ft. in depth. Most California oils at these depths are between 25" and 35" gravity. The subject is so broad that it will be necessary to omit many interesting phases, and to treat others very briefly. Power, power transmission equipment, power efficiency, counterbalancing, sucker rods, pumps and volumetric efficiency will be discussed. Power As a source of power, the 50/20-hp. electric motor is generally preferred. Input is generally between 10 and 25 hp. Due to the uneven-ness of the load, an input of 20 hp. on the low range is generally about all that these motors will carry without overheating, in spite of their overload capacity. In some cases the capacity of the motor limits the speed

Jan 1, 1929

By P. D. Bush, E. H. Gates, M. D. Vijayaraghavan, L. F. Engle

The process developed over the last few years by Republic Steel Corporation in conjunction with Colorado School of Mines Research Institute has been used as a basis for the conceptual engineering of full size plants. The paper will cover the equipment design criteria, equipment design itself, and the integration of the complex unit operations. There are unique features of agitation and use of gas media through- out. The paper will provide an illustrative example of the process requirements for a variety of raw material feeds. It will discuss the materials of construction approach required.

Jan 1, 1973

"The Midvale. Plant of the United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company, situated twelve miles south of Salt Lake City, consists of mills for concentrating lead-zinc ores and a custom lead smelter.The milling department includes a 475-ton gravity mill for ores from the United States Mines at Bingham, a 100-ton Huff electrostatic zinc plant and a 60-ton pilot flotation mill for differential separation of lead and zinc. The gravity mill and electro¬static plant are being replaced by a 600-ton differential flotation plant, now under con¬struction, for differential separation of lead, zinc and iron. This new mill will have cap¬acity for treating custom ores in addition to ores from the company's mines at Bingham.The smelting department is equipped to handle 1600 tons of charge per day through six blast furnaces, 48 inches by 160 inches at the tuyeres. All gases from both blast furnaces and roasters are filtered through baghouses, which remove the dust from the gases so effectively that even when the plant is running at full capacity no smoke can be seen coming out of the 450-foot brick stack handling rca2ter gases, nor out of the two shorter steel stacks which take the blast furnace gases. On this account the Midvale plant has come to be known as the ""smokeless smelter.""The blast furnace gases are filtered through 832 woolen bags, 33 feet 6 inches by 18 inches in diameter, and 1200 woolen bags, 28 feet by 12 inches in diameter."

Jan 1, 1925

By Norman D. Fitz Gerald

The lack of a continuous operating balance in petroleum refining, which is analyzed in this paper, is by no means a feature solely of this division of the oil industry. Serious disequilibria of a capital as well as an operating nature exist both in the producing and marketing departments, while problems in the former and to some degree the latter are complicated by political involvements. Attention has previously been directed to the unstabilizing influence of present proration formulas in stimulating unnecessary drilling.' While equilibrium in petroleum refining operations has been fairly well maintained in the past decade, examination of departures may prove fruitful. Economic analysis is the application of time and motion study to the functioning of management, rather than labor. Properly applied it may reveal changes in policies that would increase the utility of the properties and facilities of the industry for stockholders, employees and the public, while contributing a stabilizing influence to the general economy. The study of economic equilibrium is essentially one of measurement and interpretation, requiring adequate data and the development of a technique of analysis that employs statistical and mathematical methods as a supplement to the broad descriptive phase of economics. Economic equilibrium in petroleum refining is a dual concept. It embraces both the over-all balance between total storage and total demand for major products and the internal balance between the demands and inventories of the various products. The latter is the more complex of the two for it is concerned with proportionating the supplies of the several products stemming from the joint source to the demands for the individual products which are subject to wide variations. All the products are essentially nondurable goods, and they are used both by producers and consumers but in varying proportions. Motor fuel is very largely a consumer's good, while residual fuel oil is almost entirely a producer's good, the other products falling between these extremes. The peculiar-

Jan 1, 1939

By Norman D. Fitz Gerald

The lack of a continuous operating balance in petroleum refining, which is analyzed in this paper, is by no means a feature solely of this division of the oil industry. Serious disequilibria of a capital as well as an operating nature exist both in the producing and marketing departments, while problems in the former and to some degree the latter are complicated by political involvements. Attention has previously been directed to the unstabilizing influence of present proration formulas in stimulating unnecessary drilling.' While equilibrium in petroleum refining operations has been fairly well maintained in the past decade, examination of departures may prove fruitful. Economic analysis is the application of time and motion study to the functioning of management, rather than labor. Properly applied it may reveal changes in policies that would increase the utility of the properties and facilities of the industry for stockholders, employees and the public, while contributing a stabilizing influence to the general economy. The study of economic equilibrium is essentially one of measurement and interpretation, requiring adequate data and the development of a technique of analysis that employs statistical and mathematical methods as a supplement to the broad descriptive phase of economics. Economic equilibrium in petroleum refining is a dual concept. It embraces both the over-all balance between total storage and total demand for major products and the internal balance between the demands and inventories of the various products. The latter is the more complex of the two for it is concerned with proportionating the supplies of the several products stemming from the joint source to the demands for the individual products which are subject to wide variations. All the products are essentially nondurable goods, and they are used both by producers and consumers but in varying proportions. Motor fuel is very largely a consumer's good, while residual fuel oil is almost entirely a producer's good, the other products falling between these extremes. The peculiar-

Jan 1, 1939

By J. R. Coleman, G. L. Corrigan

FOUR factors that largely determine the end product obtained when cement and water are mixed are the chemical composi-tion of the cement, the fineness to which the cement is ground, the amount of mixing water used, and the procedure used in mixing the slurry. In order to study the effect of two of these factors, the other two, the chemical composition and method of mixing, are kept constant, leaving as variables fineness and water-cement ratio. Through years of experimentation and usage it has been well established that the reduction of cement clinker to a very fine state by grinding improves its cementing value, principally because the reaction between cement and water takes place only at the surface of the cement particle, further action being hindered by the accumulation of reaction products that tend to coat the unreacted material. Therefore, the moE finety-ground %cement, and the greater the surface exposed in propor-tion to its mass, the more rapid is the The work covered by this paper was done by the authors in pursuance of graduate studies in the ~epartment of petroleum Engineering at The University of Texas. The present paper is a condensation of a more detailed DaDer from which, for brevity, information such as the procedure for determining permeability and some of the discussion and procedure relevant to slurry volumes and fineness of cement have bsen deleted. It was felt that this information would not be of interest to most readers and should be outside the scope of this paper. Manuscript received at the office of the Institute Aug. 16, 1940. Issued as T.P. 1266 in Petroleum Technology. January 1941. hydration rate. Similarly, the greater the surface exposed, the greater the proportion of the cement that reacts, and the lower the amount of residue that is unreacted and so remains inert and unable to make any contribution to cementing properties.] Although it is more expensive to manufacture a finely ground cement than a coarser cement, the advantages of fine grinding of construction cements were so marked that the fineness of cement has increased considerably in past years. When the manufacture of special oil-well cements was begun, it was necessary to consider properties of cement that previously were considered of minor importance, foremost of these being pumpability. Since, with the water-cement ratio constant, a finely ground cement will produce a neat slurry of higher consistency and shorter time of pumpability than will a coarser cement, there is a tendency to grind oil-well cements to a lower degree of fineness. Therefore, in order to produce oil-well cements that will make a slurry having a long time of pumpability, cements are manufactured that because of their coarseness generally are Poorer cementing materials than some of the more finely ground construction and on the other hand, often it is necessary to Pump oil-well cements for long periods of time to place them properly behind a string of casing in a deep well, and since high strength is not of foremost importance for such cement, there is room for considerable controversy concening the proper fineness range.

Jan 1, 1941

By G. L. Corrigan, J. R. Coleman

FOUR factors that largely determine the end product obtained when cement and water are mixed are the chemical composi-tion of the cement, the fineness to which the cement is ground, the amount of mixing water used, and the procedure used in mixing the slurry. In order to study the effect of two of these factors, the other two, the chemical composition and method of mixing, are kept constant, leaving as variables fineness and water-cement ratio. Through years of experimentation and usage it has been well established that the reduction of cement clinker to a very fine state by grinding improves its cementing value, principally because the reaction between cement and water takes place only at the surface of the cement particle, further action being hindered by the accumulation of reaction products that tend to coat the unreacted material. Therefore, the moE finety-ground %cement, and the greater the surface exposed in propor-tion to its mass, the more rapid is the The work covered by this paper was done by the authors in pursuance of graduate studies in the ~epartment of petroleum Engineering at The University of Texas. The present paper is a condensation of a more detailed DaDer from which, for brevity, information such as the procedure for determining permeability and some of the discussion and procedure relevant to slurry volumes and fineness of cement have bsen deleted. It was felt that this information would not be of interest to most readers and should be outside the scope of this paper. Manuscript received at the office of the Institute Aug. 16, 1940. Issued as T.P. 1266 in Petroleum Technology. January 1941. hydration rate. Similarly, the greater the surface exposed, the greater the proportion of the cement that reacts, and the lower the amount of residue that is unreacted and so remains inert and unable to make any contribution to cementing properties.] Although it is more expensive to manufacture a finely ground cement than a coarser cement, the advantages of fine grinding of construction cements were so marked that the fineness of cement has increased considerably in past years. When the manufacture of special oil-well cements was begun, it was necessary to consider properties of cement that previously were considered of minor importance, foremost of these being pumpability. Since, with the water-cement ratio constant, a finely ground cement will produce a neat slurry of higher consistency and shorter time of pumpability than will a coarser cement, there is a tendency to grind oil-well cements to a lower degree of fineness. Therefore, in order to produce oil-well cements that will make a slurry having a long time of pumpability, cements are manufactured that because of their coarseness generally are Poorer cementing materials than some of the more finely ground construction and on the other hand, often it is necessary to Pump oil-well cements for long periods of time to place them properly behind a string of casing in a deep well, and since high strength is not of foremost importance for such cement, there is room for considerable controversy concening the proper fineness range.

Jan 1, 1941

By J. Larsen-Badse

The resistance to dry sliding abrasion us been measured for some hardened and tempered carbon steels. The wear resistance, defined as the reciprocal of the volume loss per unit sliding distance, is found to vary linearly with the hardness of the abraded surface. The data fit two lines, one, of high slope, for the pure metals and for the annealed steels and another, of smaller slope, for the hardened and tempered carbon steels. A relationship is developed showing the alwasion resistance to be proportional to the hardness of the material and to en, where n is the exponent of work hardening. The values of n and of the hardness FOR most materials a high resistance to abrasion is generally associated with a high value of indentation hardness. Brine11 even used the abrasion resistance as a measure of hardness in an attempt at expanding the hardness range covered by his indentation-hardness test.' When comparing different types of materials there is, however, only a very general relation between abrasion resistance and hardness. Sample brittleness seems to contribute to the deviation from a direct relationship. In general, increased brittle- are those relating to the heavily deformed abraded surface. However, for materials having n constant or varying m a regular manner over a wide range of strailts, the wear resistance will also be a linear function of the bulk hardness of the material. For tempered steels containing a dispersion of cementite in ferrite the increase in wear resistance due to the dispersion is found to be a linear function of the volume fraction of Fe3C and of the reciprocal of the mean free ferrite path. This indicates indirectly that the yielding of this material, when it is already heavily deformed, follows the Orowan criterion. ness leads to decreased abrasion resistance.' When comparing materials in the same group, e.g., the metals, the spread is less. Kruschov found that the abrasion resistance of pure metals and of annealed steels is directly proportional to the hardness of the metal. For hardened and tempered steels he obtained another linear relationship, one of smaller slope and intersecting the line for the pure metals at the location of the data for the annealed steels. He also found that the abrasion resistance of cold-worked metals is independent of the degree of cold working. This shows, as he concluded, that the process of abrasion work hardens the metal in the surface region to a very high degree.

Jan 1, 1967

By Gregoire Gutzeit

The development reported in this paper was begun by the author a number of years ago, while he was a lecturer on complex chemistry and metallurgy at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and in charge of that institution's research laboratory. Completion of the development and reduction to practice did not occur until last year at the Westport mill, laboratories and testing plant of the Dorr Company, where this method is now in general use for identifying and localizing the mineral constituents of both metallic and nonmetallic ores. It has proved to be a practical tool of the metallurgical staff at the Westport mill, devising unusual milling flowsheets for complex and refractory ore bodies. In a number of instances the findings have been successfully used as fundamental factors in the design and specification of complete metallurgical plants. Seven examples of the use of this method in solving practical milling problems are included in this paper. General Outline The microscopic study of an ore, at first only of scientific interest, has proved extremely useful both in practical geology and in ore dressing. The binocular magnifying lenses for rough observation of the products of an ore-dressing plant have been in use for a long time; but only within the last few years has a systematic microscopical examination of ore samples become a normal tool of any research laboratory dealing with ore-dressing problems. Such an investigation avoids considerable loss of time as well as empirical trials and useless experimentation. It will generally indicate the correct grinding and often will suggest the proper method of treatment. . The petrographic determination of transparent minerals in thin sections, or even in grains, has been perfected, and very accurate methods have been devised to meet any requirement, such as Feodorof's rotating stage on the petrographic microscope. Almost all transparent minerals can be positively identified by their optical properties; i.e., isotropism, anisotropism, color, pleochroism, refractory index, cleavage, crystal form, birefringence, and others. The identification of opaque minerals is a much more difficult problem and can be done only by using polished specimens. Unfortunately, most of the valuable metallic ores, and even some of the nonmetallic ones, are not transparent; therefore it has been necessary to develop a special technique for the determination of these minerals. Some optical properties—for instance, isotropism, anisotropism, color, cleavage, reflecting power-—are often adequate in roughly classifying the mineral. Only "reflecting power" is a measurable value, provided special photometric equipment (ocular photometer or Orcel's photoelectric cell) is available. The other optical properties mentioned are more or less relative,

Jan 1, 1943

By Gregoire Gutzeit

The development reported in this paper was begun by the author a number of years ago, while he was a lecturer on complex chemistry and metallurgy at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and in charge of that institution's research laboratory. Completion of the development and reduction to practice did not occur until last year at the Westport mill, laboratories and testing plant of the Dorr Company, where this method is now in general use for identifying and localizing the mineral constituents of both metallic and nonmetallic ores. It has proved to be a practical tool of the metallurgical staff at the Westport mill, devising unusual milling flowsheets for complex and refractory ore bodies. In a number of instances the findings have been successfully used as fundamental factors in the design and specification of complete metallurgical plants. Seven examples of the use of this method in solving practical milling problems are included in this paper. General Outline The microscopic study of an ore, at first only of scientific interest, has proved extremely useful both in practical geology and in ore dressing. The binocular magnifying lenses for rough observation of the products of an ore-dressing plant have been in use for a long time; but only within the last few years has a systematic microscopical examination of ore samples become a normal tool of any research laboratory dealing with ore-dressing problems. Such an investigation avoids considerable loss of time as well as empirical trials and useless experimentation. It will generally indicate the correct grinding and often will suggest the proper method of treatment. . The petrographic determination of transparent minerals in thin sections, or even in grains, has been perfected, and very accurate methods have been devised to meet any requirement, such as Feodorof's rotating stage on the petrographic microscope. Almost all transparent minerals can be positively identified by their optical properties; i.e., isotropism, anisotropism, color, pleochroism, refractory index, cleavage, crystal form, birefringence, and others. The identification of opaque minerals is a much more difficult problem and can be done only by using polished specimens. Unfortunately, most of the valuable metallic ores, and even some of the nonmetallic ones, are not transparent; therefore it has been necessary to develop a special technique for the determination of these minerals. Some optical properties—for instance, isotropism, anisotropism, color, cleavage, reflecting power-—are often adequate in roughly classifying the mineral. Only "reflecting power" is a measurable value, provided special photometric equipment (ocular photometer or Orcel's photoelectric cell) is available. The other optical properties mentioned are more or less relative,

Jan 1, 1943

By L. G. Huntley

In view of the recent advance made in the knowledge of the nature and conditions accompanying the occurrence of oil and gas, and of the recent activity in drilling in Wyoming, Montana, and western Canada, a discussion of the probabilities of obtaining production in such a reservoir as the Dakota sand in general, and in particular districts, is thought by the author to be timely and likely to result in more intelligent operating in certain parts of the territory underlain by this sand. In Canada particularly it is thought that these general considerations have equal if not more significance in a consideration of the oil and gas possibilities of the formations than have the various local conditions. Age and Nature of Deposition of the Dakota Sand The Dakota is distinctive in that it is known to form a generally continuous sheet of sand underlying the greater part of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North and South Dakota, Montana, and large areas in Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming. It does not seem to have been laid down in more or less isolated lenses, as has been the case with most oil-sand horizons. Except in northern Alberta, the Dakota sand contains fresh-water fauna, having been deposited very uniformly over these wide areas in shallow water with prevailing strong currents. In northern Alberta marine and brackish water conditions prevailed. In this district it forms the basal member of the Cretaceous sediments, directly overlying beds of Devonian limestone along a great unconformity in the Athabasca River valley and eastward. In southern and western Alberta it is underlain unconformably by the Kootenay shales (Lower Cretaceous), and by Jurassic and Carboniferous rocks. In the United States in South Dakota it was in places deposited upon Cambrian quartzites, and in other places directly upon the granite. In the State of Dakota, and in the

Jan 1, 1916

By E. J. Valyi

The purpose of the continuous casting processes is twofold: As the name implies, they aim at performing a heretofore intermittent operation continuously; in this respect, they tend to satisfy the appetite of the beast that modern extrusion plants and rolling mills have grown to be. The effort invested in the development of these methods bore rich dividends in economy and in the improvement of technical characteristics. The other purpose of many continuous casting methods is to reduce the number o-f operations mushrooming between the liquid alloy and the finished mill product, essentially by substituting adequate chill in comparatively small cross sections for one or more "breakdown" steps. It is this second tendency of continuous casting that justifies description of the Soro process within the frame of our symposium: although not continuous, the Soro method constitutes a means of converting molten metal into a nearly finished mill product. The Process The name, Soro, is a composition of initials and abbreviations, with no particular technical significance. The process originates in Switzerland; it was adopted by numerous European plants between 1937 and 1940 and is now being installed in this country. It is applicable to ferrous and nonferrous alloys of an exceptionally wide range of composition. It is capable of producing rod from 1/2 in. to approxi- mately 4 in. in diameter, or other simple solid shapes of corresponding cross-sectional area. , Fig. I shows schematically the succession of operations involved. A ring is cast in a two-part centrifugal-casting metal mold. The cross section of the ring may be round, hexagonal, rectangular or some other solid shape, with the exception of any contour that is undercut with reference to the mold parting line. As cast, the ring has a riser along its inner periphery, which is removed in the next operation, so as to leave the ring with a dean cross section. Following the removal of the riser, the ring is severed at one point and one end is bent outward, leaving a slight clearance between the two ends. The next step is straightening of the ring in a special device, forming a bar with a slight bend; this is followed by any one of the conventional finishing operations that are necessary to obtain forging rod, screw-machine stock or strip. The outstanding features of this procedure are: I. The cross section cast is the same or within a few per cent of the cross section of the finished product (except for fabricating into strip and wire). 2. All operations following casting of the ring are performed cold. Equipment The equipment required is simple and inexpensive. The casting machine is a conventional horizontal-shaft mold assembly, similar to those found in centrifugal-casting foundries. Fig. 2 shows a battery of three machines- with their protecting hoods .swung open. One of these machines,

Jan 1, 1945

Jan 2, 1953

By Earl H. Miller, Henry H. Bruhn

COMMERCIAL beds of sylvite ore were discovered by the Snowden & McSweeney Co. while drilling a wildcat oil well some 25 miles northeast of Carlsbad, N. NI., in 1925. After a preliminary core drilling program the U. S. Potash Co. sank a 1060-ft shaft within 4 miles of the original discovery. This shaft was in an isolated location in a sand desert area with only the roughest of dirt roads connecting it with the neigh- boring town of Carlsbad some 21 ½ miles west.

Jan 6, 1954

By J. B. Nau

A short time ago some interesting experiments concerning a new steel-making process in the open-hearth furnace were made by the writer at the Croton magnetic mine, N. Y.

Jan 1, 1892