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By Sandip K. Mukherjee, Anthony W. Laurito, Madan M. Singh, Jon C. Volkwein

In the past, little attention has been paid to the costs of ventilation, since it seldom represented a significant portion of the total mining cost. However, in recent years adverse mining conditions and increases in power charges have caused ventilation costs to rise. The federal regulations have set minimum standards for volumetric airflow rates in underground coal mines. As a mine develops, the air volume and pressure requirements increase. There are several methods by which the quantity of airflow to the mine and working faces can be increased. Some of the methods include (1) increasing main fan output or replacing the main fan by a new higher capacity fan, (2) reducing leakage across stoppings and overcasts, (3) adding a new ventilation shaft or borehole, (4) reducing resistance to airflow by reducing the resistance factor of the individual airways, increasing the number of airways (especially the parallel airways), or re- arranging the air courses by using the available entries, and (5) using auxiliary ventilation systems. This paper addresses the cost-benefit analysis of several of these alternatives as applied to a large operating coal mine located in southern Illinois. Pressure and quantity surveys were conducted under-ground, and measurements were taken at the main exhaust fans on the surface. The existing ventilation network was modeled by using the Penn State ventilation simulator. The input data included the configuration of branches, resistance of each branch (including a component for shock losses), and changes in pressure and volume. The results of the simulation were compared with the survey data to check the merits and accuracy of the model network. The net- work was designed to take into account shafts, major entries, overcasts, regulators, gob areas, working faces, and major leakage paths. The model network served as the basis for the cost analyses of networks designed for increased airflow. The applicable alternatives for increasing airflow were simulated. Performance data obtained from these simulation runs were utilized to conduct the cost-effectiveness analysis. The costs for each f the alternatives included capital, operating and maintenance costs. These costs were expressed as annual costs in terms of dollars per cfm of circulating air, taking into account the economic life associated with each of the alternatives. The benefits were expressed as increased airflow quantity in the critical sections. The result of these analyses show that for the short-range plans evaluated, the most cost-effective way of increasing airflow at this mine would be to reduce leakage through stoppings and overcasts.

Jan 1, 1982

By R. F. Bell, L. W. Eastwood, R. W. James

Among those concerned with the annealing and heat-treating of aluminum and aluminum alloys, it is well known that after co1d-working a coarser grain is usually produced by slow heating than hy more rapid heating. Consequently, for the control of the grain size produced by annealing or heat-treating cold-worked aluminum and aluminum alloys, the heating rate is of considerable practical importance. References in the current literature on the effect of heating rate are numerous, but it appears neither necessary nor desirable to give here a review of the former nark done on this subject. It became evident during some preliminary work on the recrystallizn-tion of aluminium and aluminum alloys that the effect of heating rate depended upon the type of microstructure of the metal. This observation led to the following study of the relationship of the type of microstructure of the alloy to the effect of the heating rate. Materials Investigated Analyses of the aluminum and aluminium alloys investigatted are given in Table 1. Three classes of material are listed, as follows: Class I.— Belonging to the first class are pure aluminium and aluminium containing a second constituent that is soluble in the aluminium matrix at

Jan 1, 1939

By R. F. Bell, R. W. James, L. W. Eastwood

Among those concerned with the annealing and heat-treating of aluminum and aluminum alloys, it is well known that after co1d-working a coarser grain is usually produced by slow heating than hy more rapid heating. Consequently, for the control of the grain size produced by annealing or heat-treating cold-worked aluminum and aluminum alloys, the heating rate is of considerable practical importance. References in the current literature on the effect of heating rate are numerous, but it appears neither necessary nor desirable to give here a review of the former nark done on this subject. It became evident during some preliminary work on the recrystallizn-tion of aluminium and aluminum alloys that the effect of heating rate depended upon the type of microstructure of the metal. This observation led to the following study of the relationship of the type of microstructure of the alloy to the effect of the heating rate. Materials Investigated Analyses of the aluminum and aluminium alloys investigatted are given in Table 1. Three classes of material are listed, as follows: Class I.— Belonging to the first class are pure aluminium and aluminium containing a second constituent that is soluble in the aluminium matrix at

Jan 1, 1939

By C. D. Broadbent

INTRODUCTION The slope stability research plan at Kennecott was developed to serve the specific needs of large, open pit mines; primarily those developed in faulted and highly-fractured intrusive deposits. The program emphasis is on applied research; being defined in this case as research into the engineering mechanics of discontinuous rock and into the related rock property survey and slope design techniques. The program has been developed in phases, with each phase organized to explore more thoroughly the most significant findings of previous work and to improve on techniques found to be applicable. The current work is based on principles developed early in the program and that show promise of having engineering and economic value. A brief summary of the conceptual principles of the program is given to put our current work in context. This is followed by a review of the two cooperative programs done with the U. S. Bureau of Mines. Most recent work is described and interpreted in terms of practical slope design. Although failure-free slopes are a desirable goal, it is recognized that some failures will occur when overall slope designs approach a calculated safety factor of one. A discussion of failure control research is therefore offered. BACKGROUND In 1965 Kennecott management specified that a slope stability technology must be used to achieve optimum development of ore resources. The subject was carefully explored and by 1960 it had been established that there was no technology readily applicable to open pit slope design. Therefore, in 1962, Kennecott Copper Corporation and the U. S. Bureau of Mines agreed upon a cooperative research program having the objective of developing a mine slope stability science. One of the first decisions made by the cooperating groups was that the research must be conducted primarily in the field and not in the unrealistic environments of a laboratory. Accordingly, the Kimbley Pit, an abandoned mine once operated by Kennecott's Nevada Mines Division in Nevada, was selected for the full-scale research. Fortunately, there was near-universal agreement on the basic stability parameters and thus on the areas to be investigated. These parameters were acknowledged to be: (1) anisotropy (generally due to faults or joints), (2) stress, and (3) water; in that order of importance.

Jan 1, 1972

By G. A. Vissac

In continental Europe the feldspar jig is used almost exclusively for cleaning the fine sizes of coal; it operates with an artificial bed, made up generally of pieces of feldspar or of any other hard and heavy rock with good cleavages. A primitive form of this machine requiring close supervision was used in this country years ago, but output was small. The modern machines are generally air-pulsated Baum-type jigs, with capacities up to 150 tph, and treat sizes from 3/s in. to 0, usually previously dedusted or deslimed. These jigs are equipped with very accurate and sensitive automatic controls insuring satisfactory operation even at low separating gravity and with feeds irregular in quality and quantity. This paper will deal more particularly with coal cleaning separation, but the technical studies apply equally to all minerals.

Jul 1, 1955

By P. G. Linder

The mechanical concentration of ores has not attained any considerable extent in Sweden, by reason of a scarcity of ores calling for this kind of treatment. Of rich iron-ores there is still an abundant supply; and magnetic concentration, which in the future undoubtedly will become of great importance, not being as yet demanded by necessity, has not advanced beyond a few experiments. At the copper-mines mechanical concentration has been superseded by chemical processes; the lead mines are worked out; and it is (with one exception) only the mines producing blende, or blende and galena intimately mixed, that have adopted mechanical methods for enriching their low-grade ores. While the concentrating-plants in Sweden are few and their output is comparatively insignificant, the methods employed, the general features of the work and the results obtained under extremely unfavorable conditions, may offer some points of interest to persons who are engaged in this branch of industry and have similar problems to deal with. Before going into a detailed description of the several plants, I will offer a few remarks that hold good for all of them and constitute a general review of Swedish concentration and its conditions. At all the works the ore to be treated is a mixture of blende and

Jan 1, 1895

By J. T. Price

The study was undertaken to investigate the effect in the charge to a blast furnace of zinc and alkali contents, which tend to form accretions and scaffolds in the upper sections of the furnace. Commercial iron oxide pellets were reduced in a CO:N2, 40:60 gas mixture in a 5-cm by 5-m counter-current reactor (Rist-type apparatus) designed to simulate blast-furnace conditions. Pellets from a commercial magnetite concentrate were prepared in the laboratory with zinc (1% ZnO) and alkali (1% KOH) additions to the concentrate. Reducibility, crushing strength and swelling tests were carried out and the results compared with test data from pellets prepared without additions. The results indicated normal behaviour for those pellets containing zinc, whereas those containing alkali swelled catastrophically under the same reducing conditions.

Jan 1, 1977

By A. W. Gauger

For perhaps one hundred years scientists have been engaged in attempts at devising a satisfactory method of classification of coal. During this time many charts, tables and graphs have been proposed, some of which have had considerable merit, but no one system has been found to be applicable to all ranks of coal, nor has any one system received general acceptance. In many of the proposals, water eliminated between room temperature and 105" C. has been regarded as extraneous matter and calculations have been made to the air-dry or water-free basis. Such methods of calculation do not lend themselves to satisfactory grouping of the high-moisture coals.1, 2 A consideration not only of the properties of the high-moisture coals and their behavior on drying but of the generally accepted ideas of the coalification process and the role of water in this process indicates that water is an essential constituent of all coals and therefore should not be neglected. For example, in such low-rank coals as the lignites of the Northern Great Plains' deposits the inherent moisture of the lignite as mined plays a very important part in the physical properties thereof. Freshly mined lignite contains upwards of 30 per cent water and is extremely tough and resistant to shock. Upon exposure to the atmosphere, the lump loses part of its moisture and checks and splits, leaving a friable and broken up residue. So far as we have been able to determine, water is the only thing lost in this process and we are forced to the conclusion that moisture plays an extremely important part in the structural properties of the original lignite. With reference to the coalification process, Mack and Hulett3 pointed out in 1917 the important part that water played therein. They observed that water cannot be removed from peat or coal by pressure alone, but only as the result of chemical reaction, and suggested that peat in its early stages may be largely a hydrosol. Slow chemical changes occur over a long period of time until finally the mass becomes more largely a hydrogel. These views are substantiated to some extent by the experi-

Jan 1, 1932

By T. S. Lovering

The use of geothermal energy is expanding very rapidly. This type of energy has proven commercially profitable for generation of electricity, for space heating, process heating, auxiliary heating of water in conventional steam power plants and for recovery of chemicals contained in natural hot water and steam. Two types of geothermal energy sources are recognized: 1) hot springs in regions of nearly normal heat flow that tap a deep reservoir through which water moves slowly to a hot springs conduit and then rapidly to the surface; 2) hyperthermal areas in which the water is heated by a relatively concentrated heat source related to volcanicity. If there is a geologic trap that provides a geologic analog to a steam boiler, as at Larderello, Italy, the hyperthermal area will have a convecting system that develops superheated water at relatively shallow depth and may provide natural steam in large quantities. If a hyperthermal area is to be productive for a long time, the underflow into the reservoir should be slow enough to allow the heat source and convective system to heat the underflow to the working temperature, and the production rate must not exceed this rate of underflow. A model based on a typical aquifer suggests that the rate of movement of water through the reservoir be such that a few years are spent in transit between isotherms that are spaced about 2°F apart. The possibility of finding blind geothermal areas is illustrated by discussion of the techniques developed in evaluating the subsurface temperatures in the East Tintic district of Utah where a map of isotherms at water level (2000 to 2000 ft below the surface) shows that a hyperthermal area may exist a short distance southeast of the mining district. Very nearly all of the energy that man currently uses comes ultimately from the sun's radiation. This includes water power, fuels such as wood, peat, coal and petroleum, the wind and all our animal power. In the paper summarizing a conference on solar energyl6 the average amount of solar energy received daily on the earth is taken at about 1 cal per m2 per min or slightly less than 2 pcal per cm2 per sec; this is almost exactly the amount of energy on the average that the earth liberates in regions of normal geothermal gradient due to its own internal heating. In many places, however, the energy released is many times the average and in some of these hyperthermal areas, geothermal steam is used for generation of electricity, and hot springs are used for heating buildings and private dwellings, process heating, auxiliary heating of water in conventional steam power plants, and chemicals may be recoverable from both hot water and steam. The use of hot springs waters for heating houses goes back hundreds of years but until recently was confined to a few dwellings close to the hot springs. In Korea, some houses had hot spring water channeled through conduits in the floor centuries ago and thus the Koreans can be credited with pioneer development of radiant heating. In Iceland at present nearly a third of the population uses natural thermal water for domestic heating." The Reykjavik system pipes hot spring water at about 94°C throughout the city and has devised insulated double pipes that allow the water to be piped for some 25 km with a drop of only 1°C for every 5 km. The actual cost to the Icelandic consumer is only one-third the cost of heating by imported coal and yet the industry is one of the most profitable in Iceland. The most profitable use of geothermal energy has been its conversion into electricity which can be transmitted economically much greater distances than hot water. The largest installation at the present time is that at Larderello, Italy, where the Count of Larderello began to experiment in the production of electricity from geothermal steam 60 years ago — in 1904. He installed his first steam turbine, with a capacity of only 250 kw, in 1912 as the result of a local quarrel with the power company which furnished the current required in the Larderello chemical industry - an industry that then dated back nearly a century. As experience was gained in drilling deep holes to tap geothermal steam and in converting it to electric power, the capacity of the installation of Larderello gradually increased, but was all destroyed by the Germans during their retreat from Italy in the closing

Jan 1, 1965

The editorial expenses for the preparation of the manuscript of the second edition, as for the first, were provided by grants of the Engineering Foundation and the Open Hearth Steel Committee of the Iron and Steel Division, AIME ; the Seeley W. Mudd Memorial Fund again sponsored the publication of this volume. The companies and research or educational institutions with which the authors, reviewers, and editors are connected also contributed much to the writing and editing of this book through their generous donations of time and travel and office expenses. And finally, the authors and others have given countless hours of their own time with no recompense but the satisfaction of a job well done. In order to give credit to the companies or educational institutions which made it possible for the members of the Editorial Board to devote considerable time to the revision of this book, the names of these members and their affiliations are recorded here as follows W. O. Philbrook, Carnegie Institute of Technology M. B. Bever, Massachusetts Institute of Technology H. B. Emerick, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation B. M. Larsen, United States Steel Company A number of individuals suggested desirable changes in the book before rewriting was started. Almost all manuscripts were gone over critically by reviewers, and the resulting criticisms led to the correction of errors and omissions and greatly contributed to the accuracy and completeness of the text. Other people have supplied additional data or illustrations or assisted in other ways. While some of these contributors must remain anonymous because they are not known to the Editors, the cooperation of the following individuals is gratefully acknowledged: R. D. Allen, Republic Steel Corporation, Chicago Isadore Amdur, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mary Baeyertz, Armour Research Foundation S. P. Bahmer, Republic Steel Corporation, Massillon E. C. Bain and Associates, United States Steel Company, Pittsburgh C. W. Briggs, Steel Founders' Society of America H. W. Briske, Wisconsin Steel Works

Jan 1, 1951

The editorial expenses for the preparation of the manuscript of the second edition, as for the first, were provided by grants of the Engineering Foundation and the Open Hearth Steel Committee of the Iron and Steel Division, AIME ; the Seeley W. Mudd Memorial Fund again sponsored the publication of this volume. The companies and research or educational institutions with which the authors, reviewers, and editors are connected also contributed much to the writing and editing of this book through their generous donations of time and travel and office expenses. And finally, the authors and others have given countless hours of their own time with no recompense but the satisfaction of a job well done. In order to give credit to the companies or educational institutions which made it possible for the members of the Editorial Board to devote considerable time to the revision of this book, the names of these members and their affiliations are recorded here as follows : W. O. Philbrook, Carnegie Institute of Technology M. B. Bever, Massachusetts Institute of Technology H. B. Emerick, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation B. M. Larsen, United States Steel Company A number of individuals suggested desirable changes in the book before rewriting was started. Almost all manuscripts were gone over critically by reviewers, and the resulting criticisms led to the correction of errors and omissions and greatly contributed to the accuracy and completeness of the text. Other people have supplied additional data or illustrations or assisted in other ways. While some of these contributors must remain anonymous because they are not known to the Editors, the cooperation of the following individuals is gratefully acknowledged : R. D. Allen, Republic Steel Corporation, Chicago Isadore Amdur, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mary Baeyertz, Armour Research Foundation S. P. Bahmer, Republic Steel Corporation, Massillon E. C. Bain and Associates, United States Steel Company, Pittsburgh C. W. Briggs, Steel Founders' Society of America H. W. Briske, Wisconsin Steel Works

Jan 1, 1964

By R. J. Borg, C. E. Birchenall

Vapor pressures of eight compositions of Mg-Cd have been determined by the Knudsen effusion technique. Measurements are made at several temperatures for each alloy and the results interpolated to a common temperature for the calculation of the activities. It is not possible to obtain values for the partial molar enthalpies because of the narrow temperature range spanned by the measurements. The results show less precision than those obtained for pure Cd which are also reborted. These alloys are extremely susceptible to corrosion which provides a possible explanation for the lack of precision. Nevertheless, the values of the activity are in good agreement with the results of electromotive force measurements previously reported for the Mg-Cd system. MAGNESIUM and cadmium are mutually soluble in all proportions in the solid state and form a single phase which has the hexagonal close-packed structure. X-ray investigations of this system1,2 have revealed a rapid variation in the relative dimensions of the unit cell occurring at approximately 50 at. pct. The rate of change of the c/a ratio with composition increases markedly for alloys containing more than 50 at. pct Cd. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the activity of Cd in the neighborhood of 50 at. pct and to discover whether or not the thermo-dynamic properties undergo a similar rapid change. The activities are calculated from vapor pressure data obtained by the Knudsen effusion method. Unfortunately the precision of the data from which the thermodynamic values are calculated is insufficient to establish unequivocally a departure from the normal trend. The results are reported primarily because they substantiate the only previously reported activity measurements3 and because they include values for pure Cd which in contrast to those of the alloys show excellent precision. The Cd-Mg system is known to contain several ordered phases. However, this investigation was made at temperatures considerably above the transition temperatures, and the alloys may be regarded as nearly random solid solutions. EXPERIMENTAL Apparatus—The effusion cells are machined from solid tantalum rod. The lids consist of threaded, flanged rings of tantalum onto which are welded shallow cups of 4 mil molybdenum foil. The orifice, which is located at its center, is made by grinding off a small dimple produced with a sharpened punch. Such an orifice has been mounted in plastic, sectioned, and the thickness of the orifice edge measured in a microscope. The maximum thickness is 0.00016 in., and the Clausing factor is consequently equated to unity. The area of the orifice is determined by tracing its projection on the screen of the metallograph at a known magnification and measuring the area of the tracing with a planimeter. Excellent temperature control is achieved with a 4 by 18-in. alundum core, gradient-wound, furnace

Jan 1, 1960

By A. Spilners, M. Simnad

The rates of formation of the different oxides on molybdenum in pure oxygen at 1 atm pressure have been determined in the temperature range 500° to 770°C. The rate of vaporization of MOO, is linear with time, and the energy of activation for its vaporization is 53,000 cal per mol below 650°C and 89,600 cal per mol at temperatures above 650°C. The ratio Mo03(vapor.lzing)/MoOS3(suriace) increases in a complicated manner with time and temperature. There is a maximum in the total rate of oxidation at 6W°C. At temperatures below 600°C, an activation energy of 48,900 cal per mol for the formation of total MOO, on molybdenum has been evaluated. The suboxide Moo2 does not increase beyond a very small critical thickness. At temperatures above 725°C, catastrophic oxidation of an autocatalytic nature was encountered. Pronounced pitting of the metal was found to occur in the temperature range 550° to 650°C. Marker movement experiments indicate that the oxides on molybdenum grow almost entirely by diffusion of oxygen anions. USEFUL life of molybdenum in air at elevated temperatures is limited by the unprotective nature of its oxide which begins to volatilize at moderate temperatures. Although the oxide/metal volume ratio is greater than one, the protective nature of the oxide film is very limited. Gulbransen and Hickman' have shown, by means of electron diffraction studies, that the oxides formed during the oxidation of molybdenum are MOO, and MOO,. The dioxide is the one present next to the metal surface and the trioxide is formed by the oxidation of the dioxide. Molybdenum dioxide is a brownish-black oxide which can be reduced by hydrogen at about 500°C. Molybdenum trioxide has a colorless transparent rhombic crystal structure when sublimed, but on the metal surface it has a yellowish-white fibrous structure. It is reported to be volatile at temperatures above 500" and melts at 795°C. It is soluble in ammonia, which does not affect the dioxide or the metal. In his extensive and classic investigations of the oxidation of metals, Gulbransen2 has studied the formation of thin oxide films on molybdenum in the temperature range 250" to 523°C. These experiments were carried out in a vacuum microbalance, and the effect of pressure (in the range 10-6 yo 76 mm Hg), surface preparation, concentration of inert gas in the lattice, cycling procedures in temperature, and vacuum effect were studied. The oxidation was found to follow the parabolic law from 250" to 450°C and deviations started to occur at 450 °C. The rates of evaporation of a thick oxide film were also studied at temperatures of 474" to 523°C. In vacua of the order of 10- km Hg and at elevated temperatures, an oxidation process was observed, since the oxide that formed at these low pressures consisted of MOO, which has a protective action to further reaction in vacua at temperatures up to 1000°C. Electron diffraction studies showed that, as the film thickened in the low temperature range, MOO8 became predominant on the surface. Above 400°C MOO, was no longer observed, MOO, being the only oxide detected. The failure to detect MOO, on the surface of the film formed at the higher temperatures does not militate against the formation of this oxide, since according to free energy data MOO3, is stable up to much higher temperatures. At the low pressures employed, this oxide would volatilize off as soon as it was formed. Its vapor pressure is relatively high and is given by the equations" log p(mm iig) = -16,140 T-1 -5.53 log T + 30.69 (25°C—melting point) log p(mm He) = -14,560 T-1 -7.04 log T+1 + 34.07 (melting-boiling point). Lustman4 has reported some results on the scaling of molybdenum in air which indicate a discontinuity at the melting point of MOO, (795°C). Above the melting point of MOO,, oxidation is accompanied by loss of weight, since the oxide formed flows off the surface as soon as it is formed.5,6 Qathenau and Meijering7 point out that the eutectic MOO2-MOO3 melts at 778C, and they ascribe the catastrophic oxidation of alloys of high molybdenum content to the formation of low melting point eutectics of MOO3 with the oxides of the melts present. Fontana and Leslie -explain the same phenomenon in terms of the volatility of MOO,, which leads to the formation of a porous scale. Recent unpublished work by Speiser9 n the oxidation of molybdenum in air at temperatures between 480" and 960°C shows that the rate of weight change of molybdenum is controlled by the relationship between the rates of formation and evaporation of MOO,. They have measured the rates of evaporation of Moo3 in air at different temperatures and estimated an activation energy of 46,900 cal. This compares with the value of 50,800 cal per mol obtained by Gulbransen for the rate of sublimation of MOO, into a vacuum.

Jan 1, 1956

Jan 11, 1951

A price list of publications of the Geological Survey, complete to May, 1931, and with separate monthly notices of publications to (late, will be sent upon application to The Director, United States Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. A leaflet is issued each month listing new publications; it will be sent upon application to the Director, as well as Circulars containing information about topographic maps. Book publications of the Survey include (1) Annual Reports, (2) Monographs, (3) Professional Papers, (4) Bulletins, (5) Water Supply Papers, (6) chapters and volumes of Mineral Resources of the United States, (7) Folios of the Geologic Atlas of the United States and the World Atlas of Commercial Geology, (8) Topographic Folios and Topographic Maps that bear descriptive texts. Monographs, Folios of the Geologic Atlas of the United States and the World Atlas of Commercial Geology, and Topographic Folios and Topographic Maps, are not distributed free. A publication of one of the other classes can be distributed free only until the end of the fiscal year following that in which it was issued. No person can obtain more than one free copy of the same publication, and general requests for free publications, such as all of any series or all on any subject, can not be granted. In ordering publications one is requested to give both the series designation, as Bulletin 738 or Professional Paper 122, and the title. Give full address, plainly written, including county. Prepayment is required and may he made by postal, or express money order payable to the official charged with the sale of the publications. requested, as indicated in the discussion of each classification following; or it may be made in cash-exact amount -at sender's risk. Postage stamps are not accepted in payment for publications.

Jan 1, 1933

By D. A. Martin, Laird Crocker, W. I. Nissen

The Federal Bureau of Mines has developed a process for removing SO2 from stack gases. The process comprises absorption of SO2 in an. aqueous solution of sodium citrate, citric acid, and sodium thiosulfate, followed by reaction of the absorbed SO2 with H2S to precipitate sulfur and regenerate the citrate solution for recycle. A pilot plant was operated at The Bunker Hill Co. lead smelter in Kellogg, Idaho, to assess the feasibility of using the process for flue gas desulfurization. Nominal capacity of the pilot plant, which treated .tail gas from the lead smelter sintering furnace, was 1699 standard meters cubed per hour (15 degrees celsius) of 0.3- to 0.7-percent-SO2 gas yielding about 272 net kilograms of sulfur per day. The pilot plant was operated for about 4500 hours and produced more than 45 net tonnes of sulfur. The operation demonstrated that (1) more than 95 percent of the SO2 could be removed from the lead smelter sintering furnace tail gases, (2) regeneration of the citrate solution with H2S and precipitation of sulfur in conventional stirred vessels was readily controlled and highly efficient, (3) the precipitated sulfur could be continuously recovered as a 99.5-percent-pure product by kerosine flotation and melting, and (4) the 77- to 79-percent-H2S gas used for sulfur precipitation could be readily produced from pilot plant product sulfur, natural gas, and steam. Projected operating costs, including capital charges, for a citrate plant, installed at a 118 000-tonne-per-year lead smelter and treating 49 271 standard meters cubed per hour of lead smelter sintering furnace tail gas, are estimated to be $384 per tonne of sulfur.

Jan 1, 1976

By J. F Haseman, J. E. Davenport

In the brown rock phosphate fields of Tennessee there are large deposits of phosphate matrix in which quartz is a major constituent of the gangue, and which cannot be beneficiated by the conventional washing process to yield a concentrate of suitable grade for use in the electric furnace. A huge tonnage of high-grade phosphate concentrate is produced in the Florida pebble district from low-grade siliceous feed. However, the characteristics of the low-grade siliceous Tennessee ore are such that flotation under the conditions employed in treating the Florida ore1,2 results in inadequate beneficiation. Investigation of Flotation Methods Flotation has been used in 'Tennessee primarily to produce a concentrate of premium grade by moderate enrichment of a marketable grade of phosphate. 3,4 A secondary use was to increase the recovery of phosphate from the fines (down to approximately 200 mesh) from medium-grade ores with a concomitant moderate increase in over all grade.3,5 It was considered desirable to investigate methods of improving the grade of washed products from low-grade siliceous Tennessee ore when these products were substantially below the requirements for use in the electric furnace. The present paper describes the results of a laboratory-scale study of factors that affect the beneficiation of such siliceous phosphate ore by flotation. The primary objective of the investigation was to ascertain the conditions under which the ore could be made to yield a concentrate suitable for reduction in the electric furnace. It was assumed that a phosphate concentrate for electrothermal reduction should contain at least 26 pct P2O5 and should have a weight ratio of silica to lime of not more than 0.80. Since a concentrate of moderate grade can be used in the electric furnace, and since, as Grissom4 has shown in detail, the ore will not bear the cost of expensive treatment, the study of collectors was limited to the relatively inexpensive fatty acids. A secondary objective was to determine whether a portion of the phosphate could be recovered in a grade suitable for treatment with phosphoric acid to produce 45 pct superphosphate. The ore consisted of variably cemented sand interlayered with clay. The sand layers were composed of grains of quartz, phosphate, and clay embedded in a matrix of clay and phosphate. Some clay was finely disseminated in the phosphate grains. Little massive high-grade phosphate was present. The material used in the flotation tests was a washed sand that had been separated from the ore in a bowl classifier at the TVA phosphate-washing plant. The percentage composition of the sand was as follows: P2O5, 20; SiO2, 40; CaO, 29; Fe2O3, 2; Al2O3, 3; F, 2.3. The particle-

Jan 1, 1948

By J. F. Haseman, J. E. Davenport

In the brown rock phosphate fields of Tennessee there are large deposits of phosphate matrix in which quartz is a major constituent of the gangue, and which cannot be beneficiated by the conventional washing process to yield a concentrate of suitable grade for use in the electric furnace. A huge tonnage of high-grade phosphate concentrate is produced in the Florida pebble district from low-grade siliceous feed. However, the characteristics of the low-grade siliceous Tennessee ore are such that flotation under the conditions employed in treating the Florida ore1,2 results in inadequate beneficiation. Investigation of Flotation Methods Flotation has been used in 'Tennessee primarily to produce a concentrate of premium grade by moderate enrichment of a marketable grade of phosphate. 3,4 A secondary use was to increase the recovery of phosphate from the fines (down to approximately 200 mesh) from medium-grade ores with a concomitant moderate increase in over all grade.3,5 It was considered desirable to investigate methods of improving the grade of washed products from low-grade siliceous Tennessee ore when these products were substantially below the requirements for use in the electric furnace. The present paper describes the results of a laboratory-scale study of factors that affect the beneficiation of such siliceous phosphate ore by flotation. The primary objective of the investigation was to ascertain the conditions under which the ore could be made to yield a concentrate suitable for reduction in the electric furnace. It was assumed that a phosphate concentrate for electrothermal reduction should contain at least 26 pct P2O5 and should have a weight ratio of silica to lime of not more than 0.80. Since a concentrate of moderate grade can be used in the electric furnace, and since, as Grissom4 has shown in detail, the ore will not bear the cost of expensive treatment, the study of collectors was limited to the relatively inexpensive fatty acids. A secondary objective was to determine whether a portion of the phosphate could be recovered in a grade suitable for treatment with phosphoric acid to produce 45 pct superphosphate. The ore consisted of variably cemented sand interlayered with clay. The sand layers were composed of grains of quartz, phosphate, and clay embedded in a matrix of clay and phosphate. Some clay was finely disseminated in the phosphate grains. Little massive high-grade phosphate was present. The material used in the flotation tests was a washed sand that had been separated from the ore in a bowl classifier at the TVA phosphate-washing plant. The percentage composition of the sand was as follows: P2O5, 20; SiO2, 40; CaO, 29; Fe2O3, 2; Al2O3, 3; F, 2.3. The particle-

Jan 1, 1948

By H. R. Hanley

THE characteristics of alloyed anodes and their influence on the products of electrolysis and power consumption have been noted previously in the literature.1 This paper presents data in continuation of the subject given in an earlier paper by the authors.2 As noted in the authors' previous paper, the objectives of this work are the reduction in the cell voltage and the purity of the cathode product resulting from the use of alloyed lead anodes. The fundamental facts developed in the previous paper were: (1) that the presence of a small amount of calcium lowers the anode potential approximately 50 per cent. below that of pure lead; and (2) that thallium when present to the extent of 4 per cent. rendered the anode practically stable, thereby lowering the contamination of the cathode by lead to a very insignificant amount. The specific features determined in this recent work are as follows: 1. The lowest limit of calcium in the lead which will still give maximum lowering of the anode potential. 2. The characteristics of the thallium-calcium-lead anode. 3. The characteristics of the silver-calcium-lead anode. 4. The characteristics of the thallium-silver-calcium-lead anode. It was determined that 0.1 per cent. calcium in the anode was sufficient to lower the anode potential approximately 50 per cent. Table 1 shows the characteristics of alloyed anodes tested. The anode composed of 0.1 per cent. calcium, 4 per cent. thallium, and 95.9 per cent.

Jan 1, 1931

By Anthony Anable

The definite trend to stricter specifications with respect to hydraulic concrete has become increasingly manifest in the last six years or so; but it remained for the vast reclamation projects of the Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of the Interior of the last few years to focus attention on this trend, and to demonstrate how thousands of tons of concrete-making aggregates can be produced continuously and automatically with a control of fineness comparable with that obtained with small samples in well equipped private and governmental laboratories. Pioneer work in this direction was done, to be sure, by private companies, notably the Kaiser Paving Co. of San Francisco, prior to the present vast public works program. Then in 1931 came the first great aggregates-preparation plant of the Six Companies, Inc. to supply construction materials for Boulder Darn1 in Nevada, and now, in 1936, the aggregates plant of the Mason-Walsh-Atkinson-Kier Co., general contractors on the Grand Coulee darn in Washington. At Boulder dam and to an even greater degree at Grand Coulee dam, sand production is recognized as probably the most important single element affecting the physical characteristics of the concrete. For in the construction of dams accurate grading of the fine aggregate has considerable bearing on the attainment of a uniform and homogeneous concrete of a high degree of workability and placeability and, at the same time, combining high density and low cement content. Low cement content is of value not only from the standpoint of ceonomy but also because the use of an unnecessarily rich concrete causes certain undesirable characteristics to develop. This paper will relate how at Grand Coulee dam methods that are more advanced than ever before are producing four sizes of gravel and a sand having a fineness modulus of 2.5-3.0. The design capacity is 1000 tons an hour. Significantly, the methods and equipment employed arc broadly those that have been used for a generation in metallurgical mills for accurately sizing and grading both precious

Jan 1, 1938