Search Documents

By Thomas M. Drown, P. W. Shimer

In a communication to this Institute at the Baltimore meeting, February, 1879,* on the "Determination of Silicon in Pig Iron and Steel," the method recommended was the treatment of the metal with nitric acid until action had ceased, and then evaporating with sulphuric acid until the nitric acid was nearly or quite driven off. After filtration of the siliceous and carbonaceous residue, and washing with hot water and hydrochloric acid, a silica was obtained, on ignition, which was quite pore. Since this paper was read before the Institute, we have had large experience with the method, and

Jan 1, 1880

By Arthur Redfield

IN ESTIMATING the unmined petroleum reserves of Central America, it is not feasible to employ the methods that have been worked out in the oil fields of the United States. No producing wells have been brought in and no drilling sections have been made public. It is accordingly necessary to fall back on a crude "barrels per square mile" estimate. The method chosen is a comparison of the structure of the foreign field of unknown reserves with that of some supposedly analogous North American field of which the reserves have been estimated. This method makes no pretense at scientific accuracy; bit furnishes a working basis for an estimate. The areal geology of Central America is illustrated in the map prepared by Sapper and more recently in the geologic map of North America accompanying U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper No. 71, "Index to the stratigraphy of North America." Disregarding for the present the Arrow Quaternary coastal plains and alluvial deposits of the river valleys, three chief zones may be distinguished. These are: A zone of late eruptive and effusive rocks; a zone of highly folded pre-Cambrian(?) or early Paleozoic crystalline schists and slates, considerably intruded by pre-Tertiary plutonic rocks; and a zone of more or less folded sediments, chiefly of Cretaceous or Tertiary age. The zone of late eruptive and effusive rocks of Central America begins in southeastern Chiapas, Mexico,. and extends, with increasing breadth, across southern Guatemala, across practically the whole of El Salvador, and across southern Honduras to the valley of Rio Goascorán, where the igneous zone attains a width of about 100 mi. (160 km:) East of the Goascorán Valley late eruptives and effusives play a subordinate part, being confined largely to the Departments of Valle and Choluteca. Dikes and sills of igneous rocks intrude the sedimentary formations of central and northern Honduras.

Jan 7, 1922

By Stanley D. Michaelson, Ben. H. Slothower

The depletion of most high-grade ore reserves coupled with growing demands for metals and fuels has made it necessary to bring into production increasingly lower grade deposits. Improvements in technology have made lower grade ores economically recoverable in spite of major increases in labor and material costs and the initial investments required to open new mines and build their metallurgical and service plants. To remain competitive, managements of mining companies must keep abreast of and exploit these often complex technical developments. The proper application of these improvements in technology requires extensive and detailed study. In addition, managements of mining and other industries are becoming more deeply involved in public affairs and the myriad of other nontechnical problems common to all industries. These involvements, plus the demands of evaluating technological developments as well as the necessary work related to the routine administration of operations, have required mining managements to delegate additional study and review functions to staff services. To help overcome the problems involved in adopting the best technologies, managements have generally expanded their engineering and research staff services. Integrated, base-metal-producing companies, having open pits, concentrators, smelters, and refineries, are generally more research and engineering oriented than are most smaller mining companies and quarries. However, mining methods for even the simplest open pits and quarries are improving rapidly, and installations of these improvements are essential to combat increasing costs. Because of this, the managements of smaller operations may also require enhanced engineering staff services to realize the potential benefits.

Jan 1, 1968

With only one certain exception coal was never used by the Indians, before white men came to America, for any purpose except as an ornament or for paint. Within the past few years it has been discovered that the Hopi Indians in Navajo County, Arizona, used lignite for burning pottery, about 1000 A. D., as dated by tree rings. They were able to obtain a clear color in their ware that could not be obtained with brushwood fires. The coal was mined by hammers from outcrop openings, some of which can still be seen, and the tools used have been found in them.1 (See also p. 376.) Small figurines made of splint or cannel coal have been found at various localities in western New York, in Ohio and possibly other places, evidently made for ornaments. There is no reason to think they are of any greater age, if as old, as that mentioned above. Some crushed coal was used by the Indians as a black pigment in painting themselves, but apparently the eastern Indians never used coal for any other purposes. Some think that several tribes of Indians in the Northwest, along the Missouri, used coal as fuel, the basis being a statement attributed to Radisson about 1660. In the Jesuit Relations of 1659-1660 it was stated that Radisson anti Groseilliers had just returned from a visit to Lake Superior and beyond. "In the country of the Poualak, which means 'warriors' they say `as wood is scanty in supply and small in size in their country, nature has taught them to make fire with coal from the earth (charbon de terre) and to cover their cabins with skins.'"2 This statement was only hearsay with the good fathers, and the reputation for veracity of the two explorers is not of the best, and it is extremely probable that instead of coal they used turf, dry grass or buffalo chips. In fact in Radisson's Voyages' he does not mention coal at all in his account of the third voyage, when he was supposed to have seen it used. His accounts of his travels are badly mixed, and he and his companions were much better travellers than narrators. None of the early travellers up the Missouri River saw any evidence even then that the Indians were familiar with the use of coal. In the writer's opinion it is unlikely that coal was used as stated by the Jesuits.

Jan 1, 1942

By H. OSBORG

THE patent literature of alloys for the last two decades or so indicates that the number of liatents referring to smaller and smaller percentages of essential alloying constituents is on the increase, whereas the number of patents relating to considerable percentages of alloying additions becomes smaller. The claims regarding physical properties indicate consistently higher and more rigid values and show the possibility of modifying the physical properties by only slight changes in the percentage of minor constituents or by applying different methods - of treatment. Alloys of the same base have been made suitable for a number of different applications by intelligently and rigid- ly controlling their composition, melting, casting, working, and heat-treatments. Other trends indicated in the development of modern alloys are higher corrosion resistance, higher fatigue limits, and "stability" in volume.

Jan 1, 1937

By Dean Goodermote, Carla S. Stone

I Introduction Coal fuels China. Roughly 70 percent of all commercial energy demand is supplied by domestic coal production and with the recent Chinese opening to the West, the Chinese Coal Industry may figure prominently in the export market as well. Because of the importance of China's coal industry to the future of China and the Pacific Rim energy balance, this paper reviews the industry and offers some cautious projections for its outlook. II Energy's Position in the Current Political and Economic Climate Traditionally, Chinese society has been dominated by the policies of its most important government leaders. Deng Xiaoping, Vice Chairman of the Communist Party is the current leader of China. Deng and his proteges are pragmatists. Although China's government structure is based on Marxist/Leninist tradition, Deng and his followers are promoting experiments with market economics and expanded relationships with Western Countries, which have encouraged foreign investment in China. Energy companies represent just one type of industry that is interested in helping the Chinese to develop their abundant natural resources. Although China's leadership is committed to a program of economic modernization, that program currently is experiencing what the Chinese government terms "readjustment". Readjustment cuts back in imports due to deficient foreign exchange and deemphasizes heavy industry, while it encourages agricultural and consumer goods output and, most imporant, energy production. Increased Chinese coal and oil production is essential both to fuel industry and, equally important, to provide foreign exchange. If sufficient energy production is not forthcoming, then economic growth will be severely retarded. China's 1979 per capita GNP of $260 is only slightly better than the weighted average achieved by low income countries of $230. (1) Delays in growth could lead to social unrest, threatening the position of the current leadership. Since there is no institutionalized mechanism for leadership succession and policy continuation, it is reasonable to assume that leadership changes could result in energy policy changes. III Energy Consumption Energy production is important to China's future economic health as highlighted by the World Bank. If China's economy grows rapidly, 5 percent to 6 percent during this decade, the Bank noted, a significant energy shortfall could occur as early as 1985. This state of affairs contrasts sharply with China's current position as a net hydrocarbon exporter. (2) To assure a healthy economic future, China's leadership is attempting to reduce its rate of increase in energy demand through conservation as well as to boost energy output. A massive conservation promotion program has been underway since 1979 and there is much room for improvement. China's industrial sector is only about half as energy efficient as is U.S. industry. (3) During the last two decades, each percent of increase in GNP has been accompanied by a 1.8 percent of increase in energy consumption. (4) This compares rather poorly with the United States where a less than one-to-one relationship exists. IV Energy Supply The short term prospects for oil production are uncertain. Production increases were rapid in the 1960's and early 1970's, averaging 20 percent annually, but most of this increase came from one field, Daquing. Now that Daquing's production has peaked and the offshore potential has yet to be developed, petroleum production has maintained a plateau of 2.1 million b/d, at least temporarily, of which approximately 15 percent is exported. (5) Output

Jan 1, 1982

By T. C. Desollar

THE group of iron-ore mines known as the Red Ore Mines, owned and operated by the Woodward Iron Co., is on Red Mountain approximately ten miles southwest of Birmingham, Ala. At the, present time No. 1 and No. 3 mines are active, No. 2 mines having been abandoned in 1928. Ore from this group of mines was first mined in 1882, and originally came from open cuts along the outcrop, but, when the "soft ore" (weathered hematite) was mined out and the harder ore was encountered, it became necessary to develop the orebody by means of slopes driven in the ore formation. The three mines to date have produced more than 22,000,000 tons, and the two operating mines now have a capacity of over 1,000,000 tons per year.

Jan 1, 1933

By ir. H. Eraly

The allocation of miners to teams, and of teams to production faces, is complicated by the high degree of absenteism of miners in Belgium. Therefore, the exact knowledge of who is actually present at the beginning of a shift and of the exact skills of those present, enables the foremen and mine captains to constitute their teams before all men go down into the mine in the most effective way possible. This paper describes the system of attendance recording and of displays which the foremen use to constitute their teams and/or to interrogate the personnel data base in order to do so. It shows how the foremen dialogue with the computer, to change the function of a miner within a team, to another team, or the function of a team as a whole. The implementation of the system, data bases, and data communication equipment and procedures, is described. The benefits obtained are presented for each level of the company: foremen and team supervisors, engineers, mine management.

Jan 1, 1977

By T. Sterry Hunt

THE essential principle of this new process, now in operation in Chili and in North Carolina, for the extraction of copper from its ores, is the dissolving of the oxides of copper by a hot solution of protochloride of iron and common salt. In the action which takes place, the protochloride of iron is converted into peroxide, while the oxides of copper are changed into protochloride and dichloride, the latter of which, though insoluble in water, is readily soluble in a hot strong brine. From the solution thus obtained, metallic iron throws down the copper in a metallic state, regenerating the protochloride of iron; which is then ready for the treatment of a fresh portion of oxidized copper ore. In the case of slimy ores, the contact of the bath with the ore is effected by agitation in tubs; but when the ores are granular, lixiviation in large vats is equally efficient and simpler. The hot solutions, charged with chlorides of copper, are digested in tanks with scrap-iron, or better, are made to flow through covered channels containing the scrap-iron, and in their passage lose the whole of their copper; the reaction at the same time evolving so much heat as to keep up the temperature of the liquid. In order to prevent a certain loss of chlorine, which otherwise takes place from the production of some basic ferric chloride in the reaction between the ferrous chloride and the oxides of copper (both protoxide and dinoxide being generally present in calcined ores), a portion of sulphurous fumes from the roasting is made to pass through the regenerated bath before adding it to fresh ore. This has hitherto been effected by injection, with the aid of a jet of steam.

By Graham P. Crutchfield

The W. I. Cook pool in Shackelford County, Texas, has been the subject of a number of papers and articles. Its unique position both as to operation and development has made it an ideal location for unit repressuring. The major portion of the pool is located on the W. I. Cook ranch and most of the oil leases are owned by Roeser & Pendleton, Inc. and the Continental Oil Co. and operated by Roeser & Pendleton, Inc. The Humble Oil & Refining Co. and Tom James operate producing leases which have a vital bearing on the unity of the pool. Both have cooperated in the repressuring project. Practically the entire royalty is owned by Mrs. W. I. Cook and she has given the operators her entire cooperation in all phases of unit repressuring.

Jan 1, 1931

By William B. Plank

A NEW record-a quarter million students in the engineering schools of the United States and Canada-has resulted from the great demand for engineers following World War II. The figures released by the American Society for Engineering Education and which appeared in detail in the Journal of Engineering Education for January 1948, show that, on Nov. 1, 1947, 252,250 students were studying engineering in 149 engineering schools of both countries. There are 244,390 in the 143 schools canvassed in the United States, and 7860 in six schools in Canada. These figures include both undergraduate and graduate students and are therefore comparable with the figures in previous presentations on this subject. This unprecedented engineering student body

Jan 1, 1948

Jan 1, 1942

By J. A. Goebel, S. Rosen

IN the NiAl phase diagram the NiAl (CsC1-type) phase field extends over a large composition range. At elevated temperatures the nickel-rich phase boundary extends to a composition of about 70 at. pct Ni, a value which is within 5 at. pct of the Ni3A1 (Cu 3 Au-type) phase boundary.' At room temperature, however, the maximum nickel content is only about 60 at. pct. Experiments have shown that alloys containing greater than 63 at. pct Ni when quenched from temperatures below 1000°C contain the equilibrium phases NiAl and Ni3A1. On the other hand, when these same alloys are quenched from temperatures above 1000°C and examined microscopically, a typically martensitic decomposition product appears in the microstructure as shown in the micrograph of Fig. 1. The structure of the martensitic phase has been determined by employing powder X-ray diffraction techniques to be an "ordered" AuCu type (Strukturbericht Llo, space group P/4 mmm - DL). The diffraction pattern of this phase differs from that of AuCu in the appearance of superlattice lines. The structure is shown in Fig. 2. The open circles represent nickel atoms and the half-shaded circles represent nickel and aluminum atoms which are randomly distributed. The sites represented by half-shaded circles would be occupied solely by nickel atoms at a stoichiometry of Ni3A1. The alloys used in this investigation were prepared from 99.99 wt pct Al and 99.99 wt pct Ni by arc melting charges of varying compositions in a water-cooled copper hearth using a tungsten electrode in a gettered argon atmosphere. In all cases chemical analysis agreed within $ at. pct with the nominal compositions of the alloys. Annealing treatments were carried out in a vertical resistance furnace through which a stream of argon gas was flowing. Specimens, which were wrapped in tantalum foil, were quenched by allowing the specimens to drop into a bucket containing iced brine. X-ray diffraction patterns were obtained from -325 mesh powder specimens by using a 114.8-mm

Jan 1, 1969

By C. Jardine, D. Freudenreich

The system concept is to minimize costly unscheduled equipment breakdowns by replacing components earlier than their life expectancy. Periodic unit services are scheduled according to preset constraints. Service sheets are generated by matching a job and component master listing based on assigned cyclic component lives. The system can account for all man-hours reported, and history information can be selectively retrieved. By reducing unscheduled equipment shutdowns, this system allows for better manpower utilization and an overall improvement in equipment reliability and availability.

Jan 1, 1982

Jan 1, 1902

By Eugene McAuliffe

It is not possible to include in this paper, limited as it is in scope, the many diverse steps toward the reduction of mine accidents that are taken in the mines that produce the nation's coal. Every coal-producing state has enacted laws covering proper mining practices, and the major portion of these are directly related to the safety of the mine employees. The United States Bureau of Mines, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, The American Mining Congress, a number of national, regional and state organizations, as well as the coal technical press, have covered time and time again all of the '(do" and "don't" phases of mine operation that bear on the important question of mine and employee safety. Within the past 15 years The Union Pacific Coal Co, has attempted to put into practice in its mines in southern Wyoming these many good recommendations, finding some value in all, and yet, to secure substantial results, the management found it necessary to resort in the end to what might be referred to as i'extra-territorial" methods. It is the writer's purpose to show in this paper that marked and even extraordinary betterment, can be brought about when employer and employee work together with due sincerity. In presenting our own experience, one that has been duplicated in so far as results are concerned on numerous other properties, no theory of perfection of management exists; on the other hand, our organization feels that as long as our record of accidents remains as shown by even our latest and best performance we still have far to go. Safety work in some form has been carried on in and about the mining properties of The Union Pacific Coal Co. since the first mine was opened at the now long-abandoned town of Carbon, Wyo., in 1868. On June 30, 1903, an explosion and subsequent mine fire occurred in mine No. 1 at Hanna, taking 169 lives, and a second explosion occurred in the same mine on March 28, 1908, in which 59 additional lives were lost. Looking back with impartiality on the causes leading up to these two unfortunate disasters, we can only conclude that shooting from the solid, the absence of adequate ventilation, rock dusting, the use of water at the face to allay

Jan 1, 1938

By Eugene McAuliffe

It is not possible to include in this paper, limited as it is in scope, the many diverse steps toward the reduction of mine accidents that are taken in the mines that produce the nation's coal. Every coal-producing state has enacted laws covering proper mining practices, and the major portion of these are directly related to the safety of the mine employees. The United States Bureau of Mines, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, The American Mining Congress, a number of national, regional and state organizations, as well as the coal technical press, have covered time and time again all of the '(do" and "don't" phases of mine operation that bear on the important question of mine and employee safety. Within the past 15 years The Union Pacific Coal Co, has attempted to put into practice in its mines in southern Wyoming these many good recommendations, finding some value in all, and yet, to secure substantial results, the management found it necessary to resort in the end to what might be referred to as i'extra-territorial" methods. It is the writer's purpose to show in this paper that marked and even extraordinary betterment, can be brought about when employer and employee work together with due sincerity. In presenting our own experience, one that has been duplicated in so far as results are concerned on numerous other properties, no theory of perfection of management exists; on the other hand, our organization feels that as long as our record of accidents remains as shown by even our latest and best performance we still have far to go. Safety work in some form has been carried on in and about the mining properties of The Union Pacific Coal Co. since the first mine was opened at the now long-abandoned town of Carbon, Wyo., in 1868. On June 30, 1903, an explosion and subsequent mine fire occurred in mine No. 1 at Hanna, taking 169 lives, and a second explosion occurred in the same mine on March 28, 1908, in which 59 additional lives were lost. Looking back with impartiality on the causes leading up to these two unfortunate disasters, we can only conclude that shooting from the solid, the absence of adequate ventilation, rock dusting, the use of water at the face to allay

Jan 1, 1938

During the latter part of the Civil War an income tax was placed upon coal and the production of coal in the various collection districts during the life of this tax is shown in the tabulation that follows. The counties that include coal deposits are shown for each district. No record exists now of the production by counties, but it is calculated here on the basis of tax collected. The table, of course, does not include any territory not under the control of the northern armies, and not all of that in some cases.

Jan 1, 1942

By L. W. Eastwood

THE structure of eutectics has been studied by a number of investi-gators, and the complexity of the structural relationship of the compo-nents has been agreed upon, especially that of the "eutectic colony," type III of Portevin's1 classification. This paper does not attempt to alter the present classifications of eutectics; rather, it discusses the relationship between the macrostructure and the microstructure of the copper-cuprous oxide eutectic, and describes in detail the mechanism of the formation and the structure of the eutectic. Further, throughout the entire discussion it attempts to point out certain misconceptions in regard to the interpretation of the observed structure of the copper-cuprous oxide eutectic, one of the so-called "eutectic colony" types, and to correlate as much as possible the work done by the writer with that done by other investigators. Of the three types of eutectics listed by Portevin,2 the eutectic colony type has presented the greatest difficulty in interpretation. Although the copper-cuprous oxide eutectic is typical of the eutectic colony type in appearance, it may not be truly representative because the copper forms about 96 percent of the eutectic and the cuprous oxide about 4 per cent. The interpretation of the origin and structure of the "eutectic colony" given here is strictly limited, therefore, to the copper-cuprous oxide eutectic.

Jan 1, 1933

By Noel W. Kirshenbaum, George A. Pouska, James M. Link

Literally millions of words have been written on the subject of mineral slurry pipelining. The sheer bulk of literature on the subject should be enough to convince the interested observer that the method is both viable and widely applied. It is the intent of this paper to examine typical mineral slurry applications. This examination should reveal the reasons that the slurry system was selected over other transport modes and it should provide a framework for determining the applicability of the technique to new projects. Slurry transport involves the conveyance of solid particles by suspension in a moving liquid. Almost any combination of solids in liquids may be imagined, and the conduit may be an open channel or a closed pipe. Historically, the most numerous slurry transport applications consisted of mineral particles in water. However, current research investigations are emphasizing other liquid carriers, specifically those which have greater economic value. Among these are gaseous and liquid fuels and chemical feedstocks. Another area being investigated involves the use of the pipeline as a chemical reactor system. The long residence time and turbulent flow characteristics of the pipeline make it particularly attractive for certain chemical reactions. Because these new systems involve a valuable liquid as well as a valuable solid, there is increased attention to solid-liquid

Jan 1, 1980