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By Kenneth K. Humphreys

INTRODUCTION What is automation? Why automate? Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines automation as "the automatically controlled operation of an apparatus, process or system by mechanical or electronic devices that take the place of human organs of observation, effort, and decision." This definition gives an implied answer to the second question, )"Why automate?" Automation, automatic control devices and process control equipment receive their justification in supplementing or replacing manpower, which results in decreased operating costs. In the past, processes were operated with a minimum of instruments for the purpose of merely guiding the operators. Processes were manually controlled by the operator on the basis of simple temperature, pressure, flow and level indications on a panel. Today the tendency is to design a new plant to operate in a fully automatic manner according to a preset pro- gram utilizing a minimum of manpower. In addition to this direct cost reduction savings in manual labor, increased equipment capacity results from uniformity of flow and uniform control of process variables. This control eliminates or minimizes surges and permits equipment to be operated at or near its ultimate capacity and, for a given material through- put, permits the use of smaller process equipment. Automatic control, therefore, be it in the field of coal processing or in any industrial field, is simply a problem of economics. Control equipment is justified in terms of its contribution toward increasing productivity, increasing profit margins or producing a new and saleable product at a profit. Instruments and control devices can be divided into two general groups: (1) units which measure, and (2) units which both measure and control a process variable. In coal processing, the first class of instruments, those which measure only, include analytical devices such as automatic ash, moisture and sulfur measuring units and the simple pressure, temperature, flow and level indicating devices mentioned previously. The second group of instruments, those which both measure and control, include a wide variety of units such as continuous weighing devices on conveyor belts and photoelectric cells which gauge the position of railroad cars on the track and insure that the cars are in the proper location for loading (see Chapter 15). The latter types of units as used in the coal industry differ from those used in other industries in one significant point. In coal processing these instruments need not be as highly sophisticated and accurate as in other industries; hence their cost is proportionately lower than in other industries. Because of the economic fact that coal sells for only a fraction of a cent per pound compared to dollars per pound for many chemical products, and

Jan 1, 1968

By R. D. Heidenreich, R. E. McNulty, C. H. Gerould

Jan 1, 1946

By R. E. McNulty, R. D. Heidenreich, C. H. Gerould

Jan 1, 1946

By Roy McLellan

THE slags derived from the smelting of lead and copper ores are composed essentially of silicates. The problems arising from the smelting of these ores consequently involve the study of silicate fusions. In the absence of specific knowledge concerning the compounds occurring in slags, it has been the practice of metallurgists to treat them in terms of their total chemical composition. Slags have been classified as monosilicates, bisilicates, sesquisilicates, and subsilicates according to the relative amounts of oxygen in the acid and basic radicles of the hypothetical salt produced. While this has been a useful guide to metallurgists in computing the furnace charges, it falls far short of a basis for the scientific investigation of slags. In order to understand the nature of a slag as a whole it is necessary to learn the physical and chemical properties of the mineral compounds which go to make up that slag. The efficiency with which an ore is smelted in a furnace depends primarily on the physical properties of the compounds formed during the operation. When the melting points and fields of stability of each of the mineral compounds in slags have been established, it will be possible to determine the properties of any given slag by examining the nature and amounts of its mineral constituents.

Jan 1, 1930

By David A. Thomas, David N. French

The lrnrdness of WC crystals has been measured with the Knoop indenter at loads of 100 and 500 g on the (0001) and (1070) planes. The hardness as tneasitred on the basal plane is 2400 kg per sq mm and shows little anisotropy. The hardness on the prism plane, however, shows a marked orientation dependence, with a low value of 1000 kg -per sq mm when the long axis of the Knoop indenter is oriented parallel to the c axis and a high value of 2400 kg per sq mm when the indenter is perpendicular to the c axis. Slip lines (Ire observed surrounding the microhardness indentations and they show slip on (1010) planes, probably in [0001] and (1120) directions. This slip behavior can be explained by the crystal structure of TVC, which is simple hexagonal with a c/a ralio of 0.976. The hardness anisotropy call be explained by [0001]{1010} and (1130) {10l0] slii) and the resolved shear-stress analysis of Daniels and Dunn. HARDNESS anisotropy is a well-known phenomenon and has been reported for many metals, with both cubic and hexagonal structure.1-6 For hexagonal tungsten carbide, WC, a wide range of hardness values is reported in the literature. For example, Schwarzkopf and Kieffer7 give a hardness of 2400 kg per sq mm and report a value of 2500 kg per sq mm by Hinnüber. Foster and coworkerss give the average Knoop microhardness as 1307 kg per sq mm with a maximum value of 2105 kg per sq mm. Although these values and the structure of WC suggest the likelihood of hardness anisotropy, no such measurements have been made. We first detected a large apparent hardness anisotropy in WC crystals about 75 p large, in over-sintered cemented tungsten carbide. Prominent slip lines also occurred around many indentations. This report presents further observations and interpretations of hardness anisotropy and slip in WC crystals obtained from Kennametal, Inc. Both Knoop and diamond pyramid indenters were used on a Wilson microhardness tester with loads of 100 and 500 g. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS The carbide crystals tended to be triangular plates parallel to the (0001) basal plane of the hexagonal structure. The side faces were parallel to the ( 1010) prism planes. Specimens were mounted approximately parallel to these two types of faces and metallographically polished. Laue back-reflection X-ray patterns were used to orient the specimens, which werethen ground to within ±1 deg of the (0001) and (1010) planes. The Knoop hardness values measured on the basal plane are plotted in Fig. 1. There is only a small anisotropy, with a hardness range of 2240 to 2510 kg per sq mm. The additional points at angles from 52.5 to 67.5 deg confirm the sharp minimum hardness at 60-deg intervals, consistent with the sixfold hexagonal symmetry. The average hardness of all values obtained on the basal plane is 2400 kg per sq mm. While the basal plane shows only slight anisotropy, the (1010) plane exhibits marked hardness anisotropy, from 1000 to 2400 kg per sq mm. Fig. 2 shows the hardness as a function of the angle between the long axis of the indenter and the hexagonal c axis, the [0001] direction. The minimum and maximum occur when the indenter is oriented parallel and perpendicular to the [0001] direction, respectively. The anisotropy of the prism plane is contrary to that reported for hexagonal zinc and hard- However, the basal-plane anisotropy is similar to these two metals.1'2 To check the accuracy and reproducibility of the measurements, a series of fifteen impressions was made at 100-g load in the same orientation in the same area of the specimen surface. The average for all was 2040 kg per sq mm, with a range of 1950 to 2130 kg per sq mm, giving an accuracy of about ± 5 pct. Thus the slight anisotropy on the basal plane is almost within experimental error. Fig. 3 shows slip lines around the Knoop indentations on the basal plane. The slip traces are in directions of the type (1130). The presence of slip steps on the basal plane indicates that the slip direction lies out of the (0001) plane. Because WC has a c/a ratio of 0.976,' the shortest slip vector is [0001], which suggests slip systems of the type [0001] (1010). Fig. 4 shows slip lines around the Knoop intentations on the (1010) plane. These slip lines are inconsistent with [0001] slip but can be

Jan 1, 1965

By G. W. Reimers, S. E. Khalafalla

A colloidal solution of a ferrimagnetic material, such as magnetite, in a liquid that is immiscible with and lighter than water is projected for use in selective separation of particles according to their density spectrum. Magnetic levitation forces can be created as an antigravity field when the fluid is properly placed in an inhomogeneous magnetic field. When the gradient of the magnetic field is directed downwards, the levitation force in the fluid will be in an upward direction to float sinking nonmagnetic bodies by counterbalancing their density mismatch with the magnetic fluid. Several nonmagnetic objects with densities ranging from 2.50 to 11.35-g cm' were made to float or submerge at will in a 0.96-g cm' density fluid placed in vertical magnetic field gradients ranging from 0.1 to 1 kilo-oersted cm-'. The magnetic levitation force in dyne cm' was found to vary linearly as a function of the object-fluid density mismatch with a slope equal to one g, the acceleration due to gravity.

Jan 1, 1974

By F. G. Tahmoush, N. J. Grant, E. P. Abrahamson

The effect of grain size on the brittle -ductile transition temperature of pure iron and three dilute Fe-W alloys has been investigated by slow bend tests. The brittle-ductile transition temperature for pure iron increased with increasing grain sizes from 8000 to 500 grains per sq mm where the transition temperature then decreased with further increase in grain size. The dilute additions of tungsten lowered the transition temperature for fine grain sizes, suppressed a reversal of the curve in the coarse grained portion, and raised the transition temperature for this region. The frequency of twin occurrence increased with increasing grain size and decreasing temperature. The object of the present investigation was to re-examine the effect of grain size on the brittle -ductile transition of pure iron and several dilute Fe-W alloys. Current literature normally presents a simple relationship between grain size and the brittle-ductile transition temperature, namely, that the transition temperature increases with increasing grain size. Heslop and etch' have studied the transition temperature of mild steel by V-notch Charpy impact tests for the grain size range between 200 and 6000 grains per sq mm. The result was a linear plot of In 1-1/2 vs brittle-ductile transition temperature, where 1 is the grain diameter. Recent experiments by sipos2 revealed the possibility of a reversal in the slope of the grain size vs transition temperature plot for pure iron; however, his investigation was limited in scope, and the data obtained were insufficient to permit a definitive curve. The present investigation was undertaken in an effort to confirm or extend the grain size effect observed in iron by Sipos. PROCEDURE All alloys were vacuum induction melted, using 99.95 pct Fe containing 0.03 pct 0 and 0.004 pct C. Four ingots were made, ranging from pure iron to iron with 0.035 pct W. The chemical composition of each alloy, after processing, is given in Table I. The four alloys were prepared as 45 lb heats and cast into 4 in. diam by 16 in. molds. They were then extruded into 3/4 in. rods at 1800oF. Specimens for chemical analysis, taken from various positions along the rods, revealed no variation in tungsten content along the length. The extruded rods were reduced to 0.156 in. diam stock by a series of cold swaging operations involving intermediate vacuum annealing treatments. This procedure yielded a final cold reduction in area ranging from 10 to 90 pct. The swaged rods were chemically cleaned, cold pressed to a cross section of 0.10 by 0.18 by 1.0 in. long (2.54 by 4.73 by 25 mm). The specimens were wrapped in iron foil and vacuum sealed (10-4 mm Hg) in quartz. Various heat treatments at temperatures from 700" to 1300oC were utilized to produce grain sizes from 8000 to 1 grain per sq mm. Grain sizes were determined by measuring the average area of grains in a polished section. In specimens with grain size greater than 20 grains per sq mm, the total number of grains in the cross section was counted and then divided by the area to yield grains per sq mm. Grain size was measured both for longitudinal and transverse cross sections. The average of the two measurements was plotted vs transition temperature. An Instron Table Model testing machine was used to determine the transition temperature of specimens tested in three point horizontal bending. The specimen was supported by two 1/4 in. dowels one in. apart. Bending was accomplished with a push rod, the end of which had an 1/8 in. radius. The head speed was 50 in. per min. Temperatures were established through the use

Jan 1, 1963

By D. J. McAdam

Results of investigation of corrosion-fatigue of metals at the U. S. Naval Engineering Experiment Station, Annapolis, Md., have been discussed by the writer in several recent paper~.1,2,3,4 In those papers references were also given to the work of Haigh in 1917.= Efforts by the writer to obtain a better understanding of some of the factors involved in corrosion-fatigue finally developed into a general investigation of the effect of time and cyclic stress on corrosion of metals. Corrosion-fatigue of Metals As described in the papers mentioned, rotating-cantilever specimens, conically tapered so that the stress is nearly uniform over a length of about 1.5 in., were subjected to simultaneous fatigue and corrosion. For this purpose a stream of water was diagonally applied so as to sweep the specimen from the outer to the inner fillet and surround the stressed surface with water. The fresh water is a calcium carbonate water, the composition of which has been given in a previous paper.2 The salt water is Severn River water having a saline content about one-third that of sea water. The previous papers described results obtained with ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The experiments showed that even slight corrosion simultaneous with fatigue may cause failure at nominal stresses far

By Earl E. Hunner

At the end of the year 1914, the main North Star incline shaft had reached the 6300-ft. level, and encountered a vein dipping southwest, or exactly opposite to the North Star. Subsequent development failed to find the North Star vein continuing beyond this intersection, so the 6300-ft. level proved to be the bottom level of the North Star vein, and very little ore was found below the 5300-ft. level. The new vein was called No. 1 vein. Development work carried on for the next 10 years discovered a third vein, called No. 2, branching off about 1200-ft. to the east, with a north-south strike and a west dip. No. 1 vein had about 900 ft. of backs above the 6300-ft. level before reaching the boundary line of the property, and No. 2 vein died out about 800 ft. above. During these 10 years, the money spent on development was increased from $54,000 in 1914 to $184,000 in 1924; the ore reserves steadily diminished until it was evident that the mine must close down unless by some means a large tonnage of ore could be developed quickly. Problems and Plans In order to understand what follows, the general layout and equipment of the mine as it was at this time must be briefly described. Fig. 6 indicates the relative positions of the shafts. The North Star (incline) shaft extends from the surface to the 6300-ft. level following the vein, with an average pitch of 26", between limits of 11" to 38. There is at present no hoisting equipment in this shaft between the 2700 and 4000-ft. levels. The Central (vertical) shaft connects with the North Star shaft at the 4000-ft. level, at a vertical depth of 1600 ft. In two compartments of this shaft 4-ton skips made a vertical turn of 15 ft. radius at the 4000-ft. level and ran down the incline to the 6300-ft. level. A cage operated in the third compartment to the 4000-ft. level. Men and supplies were transferred to a truck running on a third track down the incline shaft to the 6300, operated by an electric hoist on the 4000-ft. station. When the shifts changed double-deck cages were substituted for the skips in the vertical shaft, but they stopped at the 4000-ft. station. The truck to 6300 carried 22 men, and it required 8 min. to make a trip down and back. This arrangement was satisfactory as long as a fairly large proportion of the work was

Jan 1, 1930

By T. A. Rickard

RICO, in the southwestern corner of Colorado, is one of the productive mining centers of the San Juan region, so-called because its waters drain into the river of that name, which is tributary to the Colorado. The San Juan region includes the counties of Ouray, Hinsdale, San Miguel, Dolores, San Juan and Montezuma. It is traversed by a network of picturesque mountain ranges on whose lofty summits there rests perpetual snow. The region is peculiarly rugged, and, in the early days of its development, tested to the full the hardihood of the adventurers who first explored its can ions 111 search for gold and silver. A prospecting party, guided by Jim Baker, scout and trapper, penetrated in 1861 this part of the territory of Kansas. At that time the country was in the possession of the Ute Indians. In October, 1873, by the Brunot treaty, they ceded to the United States Government the richest mineral-bearing portion of their

Jan 1, 1897

By C. Schlumberger

SINCE the, beginning of the year 1928 the senior authors and their associates have applied a series of procedures which makes possible the detailed study in situ of the formations traversed by a drill hole before the casing has been landed. They have given the name "electrical coring" to the ensemble of these processes, which now replace in a large measure the mechanical coring performed by the drillers, and permit the gathering of bottom-hole data hitherto unobtainable. Three years have elapsed since the technique and interpretation of these measurements emerged from the experimental stage and entered the field of industrial application on a large scale. The total length of drill holes so far surveyed by the authors and their associates, all over the world, amounts to several millions of feet. Practical and strongly built equipment has been evolved, which permits the examination in a short time of an open hole several thousand feet long. No comprehensive paper has yet been published discussing the essential principles of the processes applied and bringing into evidence their economic interest. This is the object of the present paper.1 Numerous examples of field work performed under varied geological conditions are given, constituting a concrete illustration of the services rendered by the new methods.

Jan 1, 1932

By Pradeep K. Rohatgi, Clyde M. Adams

An analysis of heal conduction in the freezing of a solution has been performed. The case considered is the semi-infinite mass of solution, bounded by a con-stant-temperature plane with one-dimensional heat flow, Numerical cooling rate and freezing rate distributions hare been calcutated for the particular case of unidirectional freezing of aqueous solutions against. a cold copper chill. The solution at each level parallel to the chill surface is subjected to a spectra of frcezing rates; the freezing rate is inilially lour., passes through a maximum, and then decreases until solidification is camplete. Arange and maximum freeeing rates are inversely proportional to the square of distance from the chill surface. The temperature of the chill surface in contact with the solution remains constant during solidification. Experimentally, it is observed that deudrite sparing increases linearly with distance from the chill surface; in the light of heat -flow analysis this means that the dendrile spacing is imersely proportional to the square root of the maximum freezing rate. SOLIDIFICATION of liquids is accompanied by rejection of latent heat at the solid-liquid interface. The over-all rate of liquid to solid transformation is governed by the rate of heat extraction. Analysis of the heat transfer in the liquid during freezing is important since it determines the freezing rate and resulting structure. A considerable amount of work has been done on metallic systems since solidification is frequently a major step in processing metals. Unidirectional freezing from heat sinks has been treated by several investigators.1-4 Much of the work has been limited to the simpler case of substances such as pure metals which freeze isothermally at a unique transformation temperature. In this case the thickness of the solid zone y, next to a chill surface. is a parabolic function of the time. 8. where a and b are constants. Eq. |1| is a close approximation giving the progress of solidification for the case in which there is a small but finite thermal contact resistance at the interface between the freezing liquid and the chill.' It has been used with some success in connection with large steel ingots4 when the therma1 contact resistance is negligibly small (as is the case when water is brought into contact with the metal chill). The constant, b. becomes zero and Eq. [l] is then exact. even when the thermal properties of the chill and the freezing liquid depend on temperature. Analysis of unidirectional solidification of solutions is more complicated since the latent heat is evolved over a range of temperatures. Next to the all-solid zone in contact with the chill surface there is a solid plus liquid zone in which solidification takes place. Although the equations presented are considered quite general the numerical and experimental results are for freezing of aqueous solutions from a copper chill. I) EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Solutions of potassium chloride, sodium chloride. and lithium chloride have been used. These solutions form a eutectic: a typical phase diagram is shown in Fig. 1. A solution at its liquid us temperature is poured into a tygon tube mounted on a relatively large copper chill. The chill is immersed in a freezing mixture of dry ice and acetone at -70°C. A thermocouple connected to a high-speed recorder was mounted near the top of the chill to measure the fluctuation in the temperature of chill surface in contact with the solution. In this system the progress of solidification can be visually observed through the tygon tube. After the specimens freeze to a desired height they are removed from the copper chill and stripped from the tygon tube. Longitudinal and transverse sections are cut from the specimen for micrographic examination. Specimens in the form of a thin slice are mounted on a transparent glass slide by freezing small drops of water around the periphery. They are then polished on a series of emery papers; the final finishing is done on a soft tissue paper. A Leitz Biological microscope was used for structural observations; photography was

Jan 1, 1968

By E. DeGolyer

I. INTRODUCTION VOLCANIC origin. was among the first of the theories advanced to account for the occurrence of the salt domes of the Gulf coastal plain, northern Louisiana., and eastern Texas, and it is still being re-stated in various forms by the most recent contributors to our knowledge of the geology of such deposits. Argument has been largely by analogy and attention has repeatedly been called to the Mexican oil fields, particularly those of the Tampico-Tuxpam region, because of the occurrence of oil in close proximity to volcanic plugs in those fields, an occurrence supposed to have some resemblance to the common occurrence of oil in the salt domes of the United States. The author, having spent several months of the past year in a general study of salt domes and in a detailed study of certain domes in the United States, and having been acquainted for some time with the exploration of similar domes in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region, Mexico, and with the general geology of the Tampico-Tuxpam region, Mexico, has reviewed the various theories of volcanic origin for salt domes which have been advanced to the present time. The purpose of this paper is to present such review and to discuss the supposed Mexican analogy.

Jan 5, 1918

By R. L. Orr, O. D. Sherby, J. E. Dorn

Creep data for pure metals at temperatures above those at which rapid recovery occurs (above about 0.45 the melting temperature) are correlatable by means of the equations and These correlations were applied successfully to data for aluminum, iron, nickel, copper, zinc, platinum, gold, and lead as well as for simple alloys. For a given metal, AH is a constant about equal to the activation energy for self-diffusion. THE early recognition that creep is stimulated by thermal activation prompted numerous investigators', ' to apply the same laws that are valid for the viscous behavior of liquids to analyses of creep data. To a good first approximation these laws are summarized by the equation were i is the creep rate; T, the absolute temperature; R, the gas constant in cal per degree per mol; T, the applied stress; AH, the activation energy in cal per mol; S', a constant dependent on the entropy of activation, the frequency of activation, and the contribution of each activation to the strain; and B', a constant dependent upon the size of the flow unit that is activated. Although Eq. 1 describes the flow of viscous fluids very accurately, its application to the creep of solids has been disappointing. Two reasons for the failure of Eq. 1 for creep are now known: First, the decelerating creep rates during primary creep demand that the internal structures of the metals are changing and that these changes might be reflected by changes in one or more of the three creep parameters S', AH, and B'. Consequently when the conventional methods of evaluating these parameters are employed by comparing the secondary creep rates at a series of temperatures and at a series of stresses, the true effects of temperature and stress are masked because of simultaneous changes in one or more of the creep parameters. Second, as will be illustrated more fully later, three distinctly different types of investigations have shown that the stress term for high temperature creep enters the analysis as and not as t/T. This rather unexpected result points sharply to a significant fundamental difference between the mechanisms for the viscous behavior of fluids and the high temperature creep of metals. More recent extensive investigations",'4 on the creep of high purity aluminum and several of its dilute a solid solutions have shown that where E is the total creep strain; temperature compensated time = for a constant temperature test; t, is the initial stress in a constant load test or the constant true stress in a constant stress test;" and t is the duration of test. • Eq. 2 is valid for either constant stress or constant load tests; but the total creep curve is difierent (i.e. the function, f, is differentl for each test. The fundamental origin of the validity of Eq. 2 is thought to arise from some equivalence of substructures in constant load creep tests at equal values of 0 or E. Both X-ray and metallographic examination revealed that practically identical lattice distortions and subgrain sizes are obtained for the same creep strain under the same load over wide ranges of test temperature.' Furthermore the room temperature tensile properties following equal creep strains at different temperatures under constant loads were also identical, illustrating that identical substructures were indeed obtained.' " A second type of correlation was obtained by differentiating Eq. 2 with respect to time, giving For the secondary creep rate, denoted by i,, But Eq. 2 reveals that 0, is a function of a, alone because the secondary creep rate in a given constant load test is always reached at a fixed value E,". Therefore where is the function that was introduced a number of years ago by Zener and Hollomon." Eq. 4 is not only valid for creep but will permit correlations between constant load creep and tensile data where e, is the rate of tensile straining and (TC is the engineering ultimate tensile strength.

Jan 1, 1955

By Robert H. Leach, C. H. Chatfield

This paper gives a brief summary of the process of manufacture of sterling silver, and some of its more important physical properties, as observed in conlmercial production of rolled sheet and wire. Although papers have been published by Turner and Smith,1 Rose,2 Sperry3 and Jordaq4 there are few technical data available, and unfortunately the time allowed for the preparation of this paper has not been sufficient to make it as comprehensive as the title might indicate. Analysis of Steeling Silver Fine or pure silver is too soft for coinage and the manufacture of articles in which strength and resistance to wear are desired. From the earliest times of which we have record, copper has been the metal generally used to harden silver. Analyses of coins and silver articles from ancient tombs show varying amounts of copper, and old Roman silver objects in the British Museum have approximately the same ana,lysis as our sterling. The first authentic record of the establishment of a standard alloy is during the reign of Henry I1 in England. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the people in the Eastern Provinces of Germany had a reputation for the standard and purity of their silver coinage, and it is said that Henry II employed some of these Easterlings, as they were called, to improve and standardize the English coinage, which had become debased. The peculiar standard adopted is probably accounted for by the system of weights used. A troy pound contains

By William E. Ford, Edward Salisbury Dana

1. Variations in the Forms and Dimensions of Crystals 2. Imperfections of the Surfaces of Crystals 3. Variations in the Angles of Crystals Internal Imperfection and Inclusions 264. The laws of crystallization, when unmodified by extrinsic causes, should produce forms of exact geometrical symmetry, the angles being not only equal, but also the homologous faces of crystals and the dimensions in the directions of like axes. This symmetry is, however, so uncommon that it can hardly be considered other than an ideal perfection. The various possible kinds of symmetry, and the relation of this ideal geometrical symmetry to the actual crystallographic symmetry, have been discussed in Arts. 14 and 18 et seq. Crystals are very generally distorted, and often the fundamental forms are so completely disguised that an intimate familiarity with the possible irregularities is required in order to unravel their complexities. Even the angles may occasionally vary rather widely.

Jan 1, 1922

By Kurt Stock

The grades of spelter demanded by the consuming industries were not definitely established until the American Society for Testing Materials undertook to fix specifications, based on the varying percentages of the common impurities (lead, iron, and cadmium) as follows: Total, Not Leap, Iron, Cadmium, Over. Per Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Cent. A. High grade.................. 0.07 0.03 0.05 0.10 B. Intermediate................ 0.20 0.03 0.50 0.50 C. Brass special................ 0.75 0.04 0.75 1.20 D. Prime western............... 1.50 0.08 The question which grade was the best for certain purposes and why was left unanswered. The conservatism of the zinc-smelting industry and the unwillingness of the spelter-consuming industries to engage in research work prevented the full benefits being obtained that such standardization promised. The custom smelters, producing spelter in pigs or plates, found it impossible to adhere closely to the established limits on account of the variety of ores treated; and the smelters with long-established and known brands, or those manufacturing their metal into marketable products, like sheet zinc, did not have to abide by the newly established grades based on chemical percentages. Smelters engaged in the smelting of custom ores had occasional complaints about the quality of their metal, as some of the consumers, especially brassmakers and some galvanizers, used the rigid standards of the A. S. T. M. as a basis for obtaining redress from zinc smelters whenever some of their work was faulty. Indirectly, much good resulted from such complaints; for while the brassmakers and galvanizers, on the whole, did not know what was wrong, the metallurgists in charge of zinc smelters were induced to abandon their conservatism and study the influence of impurities in spelter from the point of view of the consumer. For some of us, spelter gradually ceased to be considered merely spelter; it

Jan 1, 1925

By B. S. Taylor, J. D. Fraser, W. L. Chen

Steam coal quality is less stringent than metallurgical coal quality. Steam coal is prepared either by cleaning a full-size range of raw coal or cleaning coarse coal only, leaving the fine coal raw. The latter scheme is more cost competitive. It is particularly applicable to US eastern soft coal where low ash coal is concentrated in fine sizes. For raw coal size separation the Rotating Probability Screen, developed by the British Coal Board, may be used for easy change of raw coal separating size, and to avoid screen deck plugging when handling wet and clayey raw coals.

Jan 1, 1985

By R. B. Snow

THIS paper describes a technique of polishing and etching specimens of open-hearth furnace slags or hearth aggregates for identification of the crystalline constituents-lime (CaO), tricalcium silicate (3CaO•SiO2), dicalcium silicate (2CaO-SiO2), monticellite (CaO•MgO-SiO2), or forsterite (2MgO•SiO2), with especial emphasis on the mineral merwinite (3CaO-MgO.2SiO2). With proper standardization, this identification does not require the use of the petrographic microscope. The composition of basic open-hearth slags and furnace bottoms falls, almost without exception, within systems containing CaO, MgO, "FeO," MnO and SiO2, in which the number of basic molecules so greatly exceeds the orthosilicate ratio (two molecules of base to one of silica) that free basic oxides, and combinations between them such as aluminates or ferrites, are present in cooled specimens. Orthosilicates of (CaO + MgO) are the most common in such specimens, since in nearly all cases, except premelt slags, the molecular ratio of (CaO + MgO) to SiO2 is more than 2 to r. When sufficient lime is available it combines with the silica to form dicalcium silicate (2CaO•SiO2), which contains little, if any, MgO, FeO or MnO in solid solution whereas the latter oxides combine to form the oxide solid solution known as periclase. If the lime present is insufficient to form dicalcium silicate (2CaO•SiO2) it combines with MgO to form either merwinite (3CaO•MgO.2SiO2) or monticellite (CaO-MgO•SiO2); these minerals take little if any FeO or MnO into solid solution and the remaining MgO, FeO and MnO combine as periclase. This generalization seems to be valid for basic slags and furnace bottoms, since minerals such as CaO-MnO•SiO2 and CaO-FeO-SiO2 are found only in slags in which the lime-silica ratio is less than 2 and are not observed in specimens from furnace bottoms. The identification of crystalline constituents in such materials, especially of fine crystals in the groundmass, is difficult under the petrographic microscope. They are often masked by their neighbors because of their small size in relation to the thickness of the thin section and because of the presence of opaque or colored constituents. The indices of retraction and the optical sign of the mineral are sometimes difficult to determine because of the small size or because of twinning or of inclusions within the crystal. Moreover, the positive identification of merwinite (3CaO•MgO.2SiO2) from its optical properties is usually difficult in the presence of dicalcium silicate (2CaO•SiO2). CaO, MgO, 3CaO•SiO2 and 2CaO•SiO2 in open-hearth slags have been identified for a number of years in the U.S. Steel Corporation Laboratory by the usual

Jan 1, 1947

By Charles W. Eichrodt

So much has already been wimitten on this vast subject of ground movement and subsidence, and so many data collected and commented upon, that in this paper the author proposes to confine himself to the submission of some plans showing what has actually occurred in the mining of several of the orebodies which have come under his direction during the last 20 years or so at Rio Tinto, Spain. Some notes are added for the purpose of describing the plans. The author does not attempt to give his opinion as to the reasons why the subsidences have occurred in the manner in which they are found, but confines himself to giving as true a picture as possible of the movements that have taken place. Effects of Excavation on Ground Movement Broadly, the effects of excavations on the overhead or adjacent ground can be classified under three headings, as follows: 1. Ground movements due to excavations made from surface only, such as those made in opencasts where no excavations underlie them. The stability and strength of the ground to resist movement must determine the slopes. 2. Ground movements due to underground excavations only; i. e., where the surface is not removed. 3. Ground movements due to a combination of both; i. e., from excavations taking place from the surface for the purpose of stripping an orebody and recovery of the ore to a certain horizon combined with excavations being carried out below, at the same time, for the winning of the ore below the horizon at which mining by stripping or opencasting under the specific conditions is no longer economical. Nos. 1 and 2 represent independent and distinct problems and No. 3 is a combination, which presents results much more difficult of explanation. The accompanying plans and sections give examples of what has occurred under the three conditions. Unfortunately, the class of ground is not exactly the same in them all, but the difference is not greater than is generally encountered over districts of equal area. Excavations from Surface To illustrate No. 1 three cross-sections are shown, of excavations made for the stripping and excavation from three different orebodies

Jan 1, 1930