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By John Chipman, Donald W. Murphy

RECENT developments in iron alloys containing nitrogen have indicated that this element may exert a considerable influence on the properties of the metal. This influence is not always in an undesirable direction and the indications are that nitrogen should be regarded as an alloying element, the amount of which should be subject to control, rather than as an inherently deleterious impurity. In controlling this element in liquid iron to the best advantage, it is necessary to have a reliable background of fundamental data pertaining to solubilities, rates of solution and chemical reactions of nitrogen in liquid iron. Obviously, the first step in such an investigation is the determination of the solubility of nitrogen in pure iron, and this has been the object of the experiments described in this paper. The solubility of nitrogen in solid iron has been measured by Zurich,1 Sieverts,2 Martin,3 and Iwasé4 and, the agreement among the first three inspires confidence in their results. No accurate determinations of its solubility in liquid iron have been recorded though several investigators have obtained approximate results. Strauss5 was able to introduce 0.03 to 0.04 per cent nitrogen into steel by the action of either ammonia or nitrogen on the liquid metal. This was accomplished by Eilender and

Jan 1, 1935

Consolidated Gold Fields Limited published annually an excellent reference, GOLD 1978, GOLD 1979, giving the Supply and Demand for Gold, Recent Developments and Prospects, Soviet Gold Production, etc. This outstanding reference is authored by Christopher Glynn, Investment Department, London, Great Britain. The 1978 Report marked the tenth anniversary of Gold Field's review of world gold market developments; and from it and the 1979 report, the following information was derived. The recovery of gold is widespread in the Soviet Union. Originally, gold was mined principally in the Urals, but in the last few years several major deposits have been discovered in the southwestern areas of the Soviet Union. One of the most dramatic discoveries has been the Muruntau deposit in Western Uzbekestan. This deposit, discovered in 1958, is reported to be the largest and among the lowest cost producers in the Soviet Union. It is located in Armenia, approximately 750 km (465 miles) northeast of the Iran-Afghanistan border, lying in the center of the Kyzylkurn (Red Sands) desert at the foot of Muruntau Mountain. Free gold occurs in both fine and coarse size in quartz veins up to 20 m (66 ft) thick associated with a small percentage of sulfides, mainly arsenopyrite. The ore zone constitutes a large gold-enriched stock work of about 4 sq krn (1.5 sq miles). The development of Muruntau was a major undertaking with open -pit development and construction of the mill and refinery complex started early in 1967, and the first gold bar poured in mid-1969. At the end of the first construction stage in 1970, the mill building was an imposing structure about 38 m (125 ft) high and 330 (1,080 ft) in length housing, probably, 11 parallel milling circuits. The first construction stage also included six 50 m (165 ft) diameter thickeners and 30 Pachuca tanks. The original mill complex was tripled in size after large additional gold reserves were discovered at a depth of 600 m (1,970 ft); and the deposit is now being exploited by both open- pit and underground workings. Ore is ground in semi-autogenous mills with the free gold being recovered into a high-grade concentrate on shaking tables. Table tailings are purnped to duplex spiral classifiers in closed circuit with the grinding mills. Classifier overflow is then thickened before being transferred to the Pachuca building where cyanidation takes place. An ion exchange resin is then added in a countercurrent

Jan 1, 1981

By Kenneth E. Skiff

INTRODUCTION United Nuclear Corporation and Homestake Mining Company are partners in a major uranium mining and milling venture near Grants, New Mexico. The partnership was formerly called Homestake-Sapin Partners and was recently renamed United Nuclear-Homestake Partners (UN-HP). The mill, originally built in 1958, had a capacity of 1,650 tons per day. With subsequent improvements and the addition of the adjacent Homestake - New Mexico Partners mill, the UN-HP mill is currently rated at about 3,500 tons per day. An alkaline type leach process is utilized by the mill. Milling consists of five basic steps: A. Ore handling and preparation B. Extraction C. Solid-liquid separation D. Precipitation and purification E. Product preparation MILLING Ore Handling and Preparation The primary source of ore for the UN-HP mill is from its four

Jan 1, 1983

By N. A. Warner

Dense cylindrical specimens of artificial hematite were reduced in hydrogen over a range 0-f total pressures between 0.1 and 1.0 atm and temperatures between 650" and 950°C. Hydrogen reduction at a total pressure of 1.0 atm in the presence of a chemically inert diluent and reduction in hydrogen/water mixtures were also studied Znter.face movement during reduction was followed using metallographic techniques. Substantiu1 partial-pressure gradients are shown to exist in both the gas film and the reduced iron layer. The results are consistent with a mixed-control mechanism involving an interaction of gaseous-difusion effects with a first-order reversible chemical reaction at the iron/wüstite interface. Over the hydrogen-pressure range of 0.1 to 1.0 atm, the rate is not directly proportional to the hydrogen pressure in the bulk gas stream. Nitrogen dilution of the reducing gas masks the true effect of hydrogen partial pressure by influencing the effective molecular dif-fusivity and gives an apparent first-order relationship. The transport of hydrogen and water vapor across the iron layer is consistent with molecular gaseous diffusion rather than a Knudsen diffusion mechanism. ALTHOUGH the literature on the reduction of iron oxides is very extensive, it is only comparatively recently that a definite quantitative model for the reduction of hematite has been proposed. This development has been largely due to the work of McKewan. An extensive literature review of previous work has recently been compiled by Themelis and Gauvin. Exclusive control by gaseous diffusion in the reduction of hematite has been recently advocated by Kawasaki and coworkers.' Although the results of the latter workers are of considerable practical significance, the extreme porosity (approximately 30 pct) of their specimens precludes their application to a kinetic evaluation of the reduction of dense polycrystalline hematite. The salient features of the kinetic model used by McKewan for the gaseous reduction of dense hematite at temperatures in excess of 560°C (when FeO is stable) are: 1) The reduction is a topochemical reaction taking place through 'the series FeO/FesO4/FeO/ Fe; 2) The gas-solid type of reaction takes place only at the FeO/Fe interface and the internal reduction: FeO proceeds by solid state diffusion; 3) The iron layer formed is quite porous and offers negligible impedance to gaseous diffusion; 4) The rate-controlling step in the reduction is a chemical process occurring at the Fe/FeO interface. In view of the relatively fast reaction rates involved when hematite is reduced in a stream of hydrogen, it seemed possible that the simplifying assumptions of negligible diffusional resistance in both the bulk gas phase and the reduced iron layer could introduce serious errors in the interpretation of experimental reduction data. The present work was initiated to elucidate the effect of gaseous diffusion on the reduction rate and to determine its possible influence in the formulation of the reaction mechanism at the metal/oxide interface. EXPERIMENTAL Procedure and Apparatus. Dense cylindrical compacts of artificial hematite were prepared by sintering pressed compacts of reagent-grade ferric oxide, containing 99.6 pct FezO, in air at 1200°C for 80 hr. The resulting compacts had a final porosity of less than 2 pct and a height and diameter of approximately 1 cm. Variations in sintering atmosphere from air to pure oxygen, in sintering time from 20 to 80 hr, and temperature from 1150" to 1250°C had no effect on the subsequent reduction behavior. The reduction of the samples took place in a vertical tube furnace in which was placed a 1-in. transparent silica tube. The 24-in. heated length

Jan 1, 1964

By E. M. Kalar, I. Iwasaki, J. D. Zetterstrom

Several methods of removing fatty acid coatings from iron ore flotation concentrates were tested both on a Mesabi oxidized iron ore and on a magnetic taconite concentrate, and their effects on the duplex flotation process and on pelletizing were compared. Either acid or alkali alone could not remove the coatings, but a combination of such reagents as lime and quebracho, calcium chloride and pyrophosphate, or sulfuric acid and an organic acid (oxalic, malonic, or citric acid) was quite effective. The use of activated carbon was found to be particularly promising. The removal of fatty acid coatings from iron ores is of much practical interest when a pelletizing process is being considered for a concentrate floated with a fatty acid collector or when a duplex flotation process is being considered for upgrading an oxidized iron ore. A duplex flotation process is a fatty acid flotation of iron minerals followed by an amine flotation of the siliceous gangue from the rougher iron concentrate. Such a process is being used in the Florida phosphate fields.' Although in northern Michigan mills fatty acid flotation concentrates have been pelletized successfully, at other locations fatty acid coatings on iron flotation concentrates have proved so undesirable in the agglomeration operation that other methods of concentration had to be sought.' Since fatty acid coatings cannot be removed as readily with a simple acid or alkali treatment from iron oxide surfaces as from Florida phosphates, a combination of reagents, such as lime and quebracho,3 lime and alkali phosphate,4 or sulfuric acid and oxalic acid,' has been proposed. It was also thought that activated carbon might be effective in removing fatty acid coatings due to its high adsorptive capacity. Activated carbon, with its enormous surface per unit of volume, is well known for its exceptional efficiency in removing organic pollutants from industrial effluents. This article presents the practical aspects of the above methods when they are applied to the duplex flotation process and to the pelletizing of iron flotation concentrates. The article also includes a preliminary investigation of the common parameters involved in the depressant activity of the reagents. EXPERIMENTAL WORK Initially, the experimental work was directed towards the optimization of each method for the removal of hydrophobic coatings from iron oxide surfaces floated with fatty acids. Subsequently, the methods thus optimized were tested in the duplex flotation process with an oxidized iron ore and in the pelletizing process with a magnetic taconite concentrate. Preliminary Flotation Tests: Although the three types of chemical treatment reported in the literature were briefly investigated for the purpose of comparison, major emphasis was placed during the preliminary flotation tests on the use of activated carbon because it was thought to have certain advantages over the chemical methods. LIME AND QUEBRACHO - To obtain a flotation concentrate for optimizing the lime and quebracho method of fatty acid removal, the magnetic taconite concentrate was used. The concentrate had a size consist of 90% passing 325 mesh and analyzed 64.5% iron. After a few preliminary tests the fatty acid flotation procedure with the magnetic taconite concentrate was standardized as follows. A 1200-g sample of the magnetic concentrate was pulped in a Fagergren laboratoy flotation cell to 40% solids, conditioned with 0.5 lb of soda ash per ton for 2 min, and then further conditioned with 1.0 lb of Acintol FA-2 per ton for 2 min. After 5 min of flotation, recovery was nearly complete, averaging 98.6% of the weight and 98.7% of the iron. The cell product, which amounted to 1.4% by weight and analyzed 63.2% iron, consisted mainly of relatively coarse middling particles. Since the repro-ducibility of the flotation concentrates produced by this procedure was vey high, the same procedure was used to prepare fatty acid concentrates for each of the six tests of the lime and quebracho method. To test the removal of the fatty acid from the magnetite surfaces by the lime and quebracho method, a fatty acid froth product was returned to the flotation cell, repulped by 30 sec of agitation, and then con-

Jan 1, 1968

By VILLIAN BRADEN

THIS paper is presented in the hope that it will be instructive in view of the future large expansion of the mining industry in the west-coast countries of South America. There is a more or less general impression that the Spanish-American workman is inferior to the American, but after some years of experience and observation I doubt the correctness of this view. Taking into consideration all the elements which make for efficiency of labor, it has been found, particularly in Chile, that under proper organization native labor yields as much, man for man, and more, dollar for dollar, than in the Western United States. If a manager is willing to accept unreservedly the c costumbres del pais, without combating intelligently and patiently the ones tending to inefficiency, he should expect no better results than he deserves. He must conscientiously insist that a " square deal " be given and exacted; that liquor be excluded from camp as far as possible; that comfortable quarters and other uplifting elements of life be provided; and that the costumbres del pais shall not be over-ridden roughshod. He should also insist upon the gradual and reasonable adjustment of these conditions to the exigencies of the work; and (by no means the least difficult of his tasks) he should select the most competent men to patiently direct and teach the natives in the several departments, and by their own example encourage self-respect and decency. While the Braden mine is by no means as yet operated on a large scale, according to modern rating, it will nevertheless be interesting to note what has actually been accomplished there. An illustrative description of the mines and mill of the\

Oct 1, 1909

By E. D. Gardner

INTRODUCTION OIL shale deposits have been exploited in various countries throughout the world, but generally with government aid. The oil-shale industry of Scotland perhaps is the oldest and best-known; the largest was conducted in Manchuria by the Japanese during World War II as a source of liquid fuels for military uses. In general, foreign oil-shale deposits that have been exploited are much lower grade than those in the western United States. Considerable interest began to be shown in western oil shales in 1916; the peak of activities was in 1923. The Catlin operation, near Elko, Nevada, perhaps was the nearest approach in this country to an oil-shale enterprise on a commercial scale. Over 100 companies were formed, ostensibly for exploiting the oil shale; a large number of them, however, proved to be stock promotions only, which gave the embryo industry a black eye. The Bureau of Mines operated an experimental oil-shale retort plant near Rifle, Colorado, from September 1926 to June 1927 and again from April 1928 to July 1929, after which the plant was dismantled. By this time the East Texas oil fields had come in and the country lost interest in substitute liquid fuels. During World War II the Nation again became concerned about the magnitude of its petroleum reserves. Congress (April1944) directed the Bureau of Mines to build and operate demonstration plants to produce synthetic liquid fuels from coal, oil shales, and agricultural and other products; a five-year program was authorized. As a part of this program the Bureau of Mines has built, at Anvil Points near Rifle, Colorado, a retort plant and developed an experimental mine to supply the plant with oil shale. An important part of the mining work at Rifle is to devise methods and select practices for mining the oil shale on a commercial scale at the lowest practicable cost. The product to be mined has a relatively low value, a fact that must be kept continuously in mind. The combined aim of those in charge of the mining and those in charge of retorting is to demonstrate that the shale oil can be produced at a cost per barrel corresponding to the current quotation for crude petroleum -or at least very close to it. Plans call for an uninterrupted flow of broken oil shale from the face in the mine, through crushers, through the retorts and thence to the disposal dump. The disposal of the spent shale in the Rifle area should present no unusual problem. Mining research has consisted so far of paper studies of the general phases of the problem, determination of the widest span that the roof stone will stand safely unsupported, and drilling problems. Underground development has not proceeded far

Jan 1, 1947

By George V. Smith, Daniel E. Sonon

Various mechanical properties of the Ni-Co-C alloy system were investigated to delineate the strengthening effect of carbon. Carbon concentration, cobalt concentration, vain size, temperature, and strain rate were varied so that thermal activation analysis and the Hall-Petch analysis could be used to evaluate the strengthening effect of carbon. Increasing carbon increased the strength of nickel and a Ni-60 pct Co alloy , with the effect becoming more pronounced at lower temperatures. Yield stress depended linearly on carbon concentration in nickel, but it depended on the square root of carbon concentration in the Ni-60 pct Co alloy. The Hall-Petch slope of nickel increased with carbon concentration; however, that of the Ni-60 pct Co alloy did not. The yielding behavior of these alloys was sensitive to composition, grain size, and temperature. Cobalt eliminated serrations in the flow curve of carbon-containing nickel at 300' and weakened them severely at higher temperatures. Pairs, or clusters, of carbon atoms appear to be responsible for the observed strengthening behavior. FLINN' conducted several experiments with carbon in nickel in an effort to provide information on the strengthening effect of interstitial impurities in solid solution in fcc metals and alloys. Strengthening which increased with decreasing temperature led him to conclude that carbon causes Cottrell locking in nickel. Fleischer2 analyzed Flinn's data and calculated that the strengthening effect of carbon in nickel was smaller by a factor of fifty than the strengthening effect of carbon in a! iron. Fleischer2 termed the magnitude of strengthening of carbon in nickel "gradual" and that of carbon in a! iron "rapid". He attributed "gradual" hardening to hydrostatic strains and localized changes in modulus of elasticity around solute atoms, whereas he attributed "rapid" hardening to tetragonal strains around solute atoms. Sukhovarov et a1.3-7 reported strain aging and serrated plastic flow in nickel, both of which they attributed to the presence of carbon. Serrated plastic flow has been rationalized by a process involving a series of dislocation pinning and multiplication steps.8, This process is more probable when screw dislocations are strongly pinned. Screw dislocations cannot be pinned by pure hydrostatic forces from the symmetrical strains of an interstitial impurity in an fcc lattice, except for small, second-order effects. However, they might be pinned by localized changes in modulus of elasticity around solute atoms,' by the pinning of the edge components of the partial dislocations of an extended screw dislo~ation,'~ or by clustered groups of solute atoms whose net elastic stress field is unsymmetric. The purpose of the present work was to investigate various mechanical properties of the Ni-Co-C a1loy system which are sensitive to pinning effects in order to delineate the specific pinning mechanism of carbon. Carbon concentration, grain size, temperature, and strain rate were varied so that thermal-activation analysis and the Hall-Petch analysis could be used to evaluate the pinning mechanism. Cobalt was added to lower stacking fault energy so that the number and extension of split, screw dislocations would be increased in order to test the possibility of pinning by carbon at extended screw dislocations. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Nickel and cobalt (both 99.98 pct-. pure) were melted with graphite in stabilized zirconia crucibles and cast at lo-' Torr to form Ni-C and Ni-60 pctCo-C alloys. Two ingots were heated to 1250°C and were forged to 1-in.-sq bars. These bars were machined to 4-in.-round bars, and then swaged cold to 0.144-in. -diam rods. Reductions in area of approximately 75pct were used with intermediate anneals at 900°C for 1 hr. The carbon content of batches of 0.144-in.-diam rods from each ingot was reduced to two levels by annealing 5-in. lengths in palladium-purified, dry hydrogen at 1100°C for 25 and 100 hr. The remaining material from each ingot was annealed at 10"5 Torr for 1 hr at 1100"~. These treatments gave a total of three carbon levels for both the nickel and the Ni-60 pct Co alloy. The 0.144-in.-diam rods were swaged to 70-mil wire, cut into test specimens, and then re crystallized at lom5 Torr in capsules for 1 hr at temperatures ranging from 760" to 1050" ~. The capsules were broken and the specimens were immediately quenched into water. Average grain size was measured using Hilliard's method of circular intercepts." Annealing twin boundary intercepts were counted in addition to grain boundary intercepts to establish an average grain size. Average grain sizes ranged from 5 to 140 p depending on the cobalt concentration and re-crystallization temperature. Tension tests were made in duplicate at various temperatures at a crosshead speed of 8.34 x 10"4 in. per sec with an Instron Universal Testing Machine. Specimens of 1-in. gage length with soldered ball ends were used at atmospheric and cryogenic temperatures. Pinch grips were used on specimens at elevated tem-

Jan 1, 1969

By F. B. Plummer

PROGRESS during 1940 in oil-production technology has been confined largely to a steady advancement in practices inaugurated in previous years, rather than the introduction of any new startling process or technique. The usual changes, improvements and additions in production equipment have been introduced. An increased attention to, and interest in, research has been noteworthy, resulting in improved efficiency in operation of oil wells. control, utilization of reservoir energies and reduction of production costs.

Jan 1, 1941

By T. K. Perkins, R. N. Hoffman, O. C. Johnston

A simplified theory of viscous fingering in miscible systems has been developed. It predicts the correct functional relationship between pertinent variables and permits the calculation of the order of magnitude of fingering behavior for simple systems, such as linear or radial. The theory is based on the following four observations: (1) cross-flow takes place only near the ends of fingers; (2) the relative finger width is about 0.5; (3) fingers can be suppressed by transverse dispersion, the suppression being quantitatively described by a critical ratio of dispersion times; and (4) the widths of extending fingers are close to the minimum size finger that can grow at any stage of displacement. Fingering is studied in two-dimensional linear and diverging radial systems, both theoretically and experimentally. For linear systems, the length of the fingered region is proportional to mean displacement; the finger width is proportional to square root of mean displacement; and there is a small initial region void of fingers because of suppression by longitudinal dispersion. For the radial system, two limiting conditions are recognized. If the mean displacement is small compared with the wellbore radius, the length of the fingered region is proportional to the mean displacement. The width is proportional to the square root of mean displacement. If the mean displacement is large compared with wellbore radius, length of the fingered region is proportional to mean displacement, but the number of fingers approaches a constant value. Also, in the radial case there is a small initial region void of fingers because of longitudinal dispersion. INTRODUCTION The behavior of viscous fingers in miscible systems has been of interest to the oil industry for many years. Previous studies have clearly shown the existence and nature of fingers in small models.1,2,3,4 Engineering techniques for extrapolating to reservoir situations have been proposed. 5,6 Still, because of the lack of a real understanding of the mechanics of fingering, there remains uncertainty and disagreement as to the best way to scale or calculate fingering behavior in the reservoir. In this paper we discuss a study of the mechanics of fingering in miscible systems (i.e., why do fingers behave as they do?). A simplified theory is developed which we believe will (1) predict the correct functional relationship between pertinent variables, (2) permit us to calculate the order of magnitude of fingering behavior for simple systems such as linear and radial, and (3) give further insight into the problem of scaling or otherwise extending the results to more complicated reservoir conditions. The paper includes the following sections: (1) brief summary of the mixing behavior of miscible fluids in linear and radial systems; (2) four fundamental observations of fluid flow (under fingering conditions); (3) based on these four observations, a simplified theory of fingering in linear and radial systems is developed; and (4) the theoretical equations are compared with experimental fingering data measured in laboratory models. A REVIEW OF DIFFUSION AND DISPERSION As will be shown later, the behavior of viscous fingers in miscible systems is controlled in large degree by the mixing between the two fluids. A quantitative description of fingers will first require a quantitative description of mixing. Fortunately, much work has been done to clarify this subject; a fairly comprehensive review has been presented in a previous paper. 7 For present purposes let us (1) briefly summarize the quantitative description of diffusion and dispersion (both longitudinal and transverse) within a differential element; (2) present a simplification of the "width of mixed zone"; and (3) describe the effect of geometry on width of mixed zone. If one fluid is displaced from a porous medium by another miscible fluid (in the absence of fingers)

Jan 1, 1966

By D. R. Mash

A strong yield point with attendant enhanced mechanical properties was found in commercially pure beryllium under certain conditions of heat treatment. Beryllium specimens also responded to both quench and strain aging treatments. Based on these results, a possible means of obtaining increased normal temperature mechanical properties is suggested. COMMERCIALLY pure beryllium has been found to exhibit the yield point phenomenon and several other aging manifestations under certain conditions of heat treatment. This behavior is not surprising in view of the present accumulation of experience regarding such effects in numerous metals; but in addition to extending this experience to include beryllium, the present study is of interest because aging effects are generally associated with the presence of small amounts of solute elements. The well known lack of tensile ductility in beryllium at normal temperatures is also considered to be due to impurities in some way. In the present investigation, the view was taken that beryllium of commercial purity (greater than 98 pct) should be considered as a dilute alloy and that precipitation phenomena may well exist which could lead to enhanced mechanical properties. In connection with this possibility, published data on the variation of mechanical properties with temperature are of interest. For example, Fig. 1 illustrates the variation of ductility (percentage of elongation) and ultimate strength as a function of temperature for beryllium of various histories.* Although these curves are somewhat schematic in nature, they clearly indicate the possibility that precipitation of an unstable phase and/or aging effects occur during tests in the region 400" to 700°C. The existence of such behavior should be recognized as affecting the properties of the commercial material and perhaps can be employed advantageously. Experimental Method All testing was done at room temperature using a Baldwin universal testing machine. A microformer extensometer was used in conjunction with a micro-former-type stress-strain recorder. All tests were conducted at constant loading rate, the slowest rates being used. This corresponded to 120 lb per min in the 1200 lb full scale range and 300 lb per min in the 6000 lb full scale range. After the rate of loading was set in the elastic range of the material during the early part of the test, no further adjustments were made, allowing the test to proceed at that setting. In the plastic region of the curve above the yield region, strain rates of from 0.002 to 0.006 in. per min were regularly obtained. All experimentation was carried out on specimens machined from the same lot of beryllium, lot No. Y5036BP. Table I shows the chemical analysis as furnished by the supplier, Brush Beryllium Co., as well as the standard specifications to which commercial beryllium is produced. Both 1/4 in. thick hot pressed plate and ½ in. round hot pressed and warm extruded rods were obtained. The history of the material is reported to be as follows: 1—Beryllium metal plates, produced from a standard hot pressed QMV beryllium metal block 4x15x40 in., were cut off and finished machined to 1/4x6x12 in. flat plates. The original hot pressed block was made by hot pressing —200 mesh vacuum cast attri-tioned powder at about 1050°C under vacuum. 2—Beryllium rod was hot pressed and warm extruded. Extrusion billets were machined from the regular hot pressed blocks followed by extrusion at 425°C. The extrusion was done without jacketing, and graphite was used as a lubricant. The rods were then straightened at 720 °C, after which they were annealed at 800°C for 15 min. Both flat tensile specimens and round tensile specimens were tested. The former were machined from the plate stock into standard specimens according to specifications shown in ASTM E8-52T. The nominal cross-section was 0.25x0.500 in. and the gage length was 2 in. The round specimens were

Jan 1, 1956

By T. H. Alden

Using alternating tension-compression straining, the hardening of magnesium oxide single crystals was studied up to large stresses and strains. At 0.25 pct plastic strain amplitude, the hardening curve is approximately linear with slope 25,000 psi from the shear yield stress, 7 to 8000 psi, to 35,000psi. Above this stress, the slope decreases. The strain hardening behavior of MgO is considered qualitatively similar to that of metal single crystals. The relatively high stress attainable by strain hardening is associated apparently with the high yield stress on the cross-slip system, (001) <110>. Cleavage fracture during testing is uncommon. It is argued that the centers of high internal stress at glide band intersections, at which cracks tend to nucleate, are dispersed by cyclic strain. Special features of the glide band structure produced by cyclic strain and revealed by dislocation etch pits, support this view. Strain hardened MgO has mechanical properties greatly superior to the as-received material: yield stress, greater than 100,000 psi; elongation to fracture about 1 pct. A material is said to strain harden if the yield stress increases with an increment of plastic strain. This definition is usually applied for straining done in one direction, but is also applicable when the strain direction is periodically reversed, Fig. 1. For certain metal single crystals, data are available which permit a comparison of the hardening behavior for cyclic straining and for tension straining.&apos;-4 With certain qualifications, these data show that the same processes of hardening are operative in each type of test.5 Despite this fact, the importance of the technique is not immediately evident, although tension-compression studies of the common metals appear to suggest some deficiencies in theories of strain hardening developed exclusively on the basis of tensile tests. However, a recent observation suggests that the cyclic straining method may be very useful for studying semibrittle crystals in which large plastic strains are not accessible in unidirectional testing. The observation is that zinc crystals, when strained in tension-compression at -52°C, do not fail by cleavage at low stress (-500 psi)6 as they do in tension, but harden to a limiting stress of more than 5000 psi over a total plastic strain of about 600 pct.2 An important characteristic of the behavior of zinc crystals is the high stress, relative to the yield stress, attainable by strain hardening. By comparison, the hardening of aluminum single crystals tested by an identical technique saturates at 1100 psi. This difference is best explained by the cross-slip hypothesis of dynamic recovery.7,8 In zinc, cross slip is difficult because of the high yield stress for glide on planes other than the basal plane in the < 1120 > zone. The present work was undertaken in order to test whether these methods and ideas are applicable to other materials. Magnesium oxide single crystals, in common with most crystals of the rock-salt structure, deform plastically but fail by cleavage after a small strain when tested in tension. It was hoped that larger strains would be attained using tension-compression. There is, in addition, evidence 8a which shows that slip on the probable cross system, (001) < 110>, is difficult in magnesium oxide; it may therefore be possible to attain high stresses by strain hardening. 1) EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Experimental methods used in this study were based in part on techniques reported in papers of Stokes, Johnston, and Li.&apos; MgO blocks, purchased from Norton Co., were used without further annealing. Specimens were cleaved to dimensions approximately 0.125 in. sq and 1 in. in length. The gage section, formed by chemical polishing, was sprinkled with 280 mesh silicon carbide particles in order to introduce fresh dislocations. The crystals were then cemented into cylindrical aluminum adapters and clamped in an Instron testing machine. One of two alternating straining programs was used. In the first, total cross-head travel was established and increased in steps after various numbers of cycles. In the second, a capacitance gage was used to directly measure the elongation of the specimen and the crosshead was controlled so as to keep the plastic strain amplitude constant. The straining was always symmetrical with respect to the initial, zero strain condition. While both procedures produce strain hardening, only the latter permits a measure of the total plastic strain so that hardening curves may be drawn. Constant plastic strain amplitude tests were done

Jan 1, 1963

By B. D. Cullity, J. T. Norton, M. Telkes

M. Balicki—As one who some years ago spent much time searching for an alloy with high thermoelectric power that would be suitable for heat energy-electric energy converter based on the principle of a thermoelectric pile, I would like to make a few comments touching upon that aspect of this excellent paper. The specifications which one of the authors has formulated so aptly do not appear to me as complete, and I would like to add to them the following two demands: (1) Melting point not less than 500°C and (2) elongation on 2 in. at least 5 pct. Condition 1 would insure good thermodynamic efficiency of the pile by permitting a reasonably high temperature of the hot junction and at the same time making it suitable for such application as salvage of vast amounts of energy which is lost in the form of sensible heat of waste gas leaving industrial and other furnaces. Condition 2 is also a very important one; particularly, because of the fact that all elements and alloys which exhibit attractive thermoelectric properties seem to be as a rule very brittle. The design, erection, and maintenance of a pile incorporating a brittle material in one of the most crucial parts of the converter would be a very difficult and costly affair indeed. To illustrate this point I may mention great difficulties I encountered when trying to make thermocouples of silicon. Casting of 1/4-in. rods in iron or graphite mould yielded only broken pieces which had to be welded into a bar. Such a bar had to be handled very carefully during the determinations. Raising the molten silicon by vacuum into a silica tube and solidifying it there solved the problem of stability as well as that of electrical insulation of a bar. On tests this bar (98.5 pct Si) showed dE/dT = — 275.5 microvolts per degree C vs. copper. Thermocouples made of this grade of silicon and pure nickel developed 0.39 v when temperature of the hot junction was approximately 1000°C. The possibility Dr. Gonser has mentioned of trying to impart to metals good thermoelectric properties by alloying them with silicon, has been considered. The preliminary survey which I have made was, however, disappointing. Perhaps, it will be advisable to record the results obtained (table VI), as this might save repetition of search in fields already covered.

Jan 1, 1951

By G. W. Land, A. F. Duzy

There have been some problems associated with hot coal, defined as oxidizing coal heating toward ignition temperature, in shipments from the US to overseas markets. This paper will provide, first, a brief review, together with a selective bibliography. Second, a thorough discussion of coal oxidation is covered. Third, potential effects of storage are presented and, lastly, methods are suggested for the safe storage and bulk transfer of coal. The scope includes coal storage for power plants.

Jan 1, 1986

By Fitterer, G. R.

The impact of the work of Herty "et al" on modern liquid steel technology can only be evaluated by first setting the stage as it existed in 1926. It is important to briefly review not only the steel making process and viewpoints regarding methods of refining, but also to describe the tools which were available for research at the time. One must recall that only 15 years before the beginning of this program, the open hearth production exceeded that of the Bessemer in the United States. Many open hearths were still operating on producer gas (a very inefficient fuel), although some plants were converting to the use of natural gas and very few to oil. Continuous rolling of wide strip started this year. The Faraday Society in England held a World Conference on Physical Chemistry in Steel Making in 1925 and the contributions to this work created considerable interest throughout the world and it appeared that physical chemistry might convert the art of steel making into a science. These papers, however, attempted to solve the problems through the use of the older physical chemical concepts such as Nernst&apos;s numbers, etc. and considerable data were missing. In 1923, Lewis and Randall had published their book Thermodynanzicsl and this was later to establish and standardize the steps which are now accepted for the calculation of physico-chemical equations. At the time this research work was started, there were no small high frequency induction furnaces. Northrup had just invented his high frequency furnace and a few large units had been instilled in plants. The vacuum fusion method lor the determination of oxygen in steel was

Jan 1, 1957

The word "engineering" should not be considered as all-inclusive. Perhaps it should be redefined at this time. Various fields of learning that are indispensable to the locating, beneficiating, processing and using of minerals cannot be classified properly as engineering. For example, in locating deposits, the sciences of paleontology, stratigraphy, mineralogy, petrology, petrography, geo- chemistry, economic geography, and mineral economics might be involved. Beneficiating, processing, and using go beyond the normal scope of engineering to include fuel technology, physical and organic chemistry, physical and atomic metallurgy, and ceramics. Fifty-eight institutions of higher learning in the United States offer curricula in one or more subject-matter fields of the mineral arts and sciences. Thirty-four curricula are offered in mining; 42 in metallurgy; 17 in petroleum and natural gas; 13 in ceramics; 1 in fuel technology; 23 in geological engineering; 8 in geology; 4 in geophysics; 2 in mineral preparation; and l in mineral economics.1 Under given conditions, some of these curricula probably could be eliminated without the slightest retardation in the rate of advancement of knowledge concerning the science of mineral discovery, extraction and utilization, but it is no credit to mineral industries colleges that five departments of mining per-

Jan 1, 1950

By Linn Bradley

Introduction MARKED differences of opinion have been expressed by engineers interested in cleaning iron blast-furnace gases for use in hot-blast stoves and under boilers, in reference to the advantages of a hot-dry method over a cold-wet method. One point at issue involves the sensible heat energy in the moisture contained in the gas. Some advocates of the cold-wet methods claim that the condensation and resultant removal of the greater portion of this contained moisture by wet scrubbing, spraying or similar methods, results in a saving of some of this sensible heat energy, by reason of the fact that water vapor has a high capacity for sensible heat energy and may carry from the exit of a hot-blast stove, for example, more heat units than are sacrificed or lost when the gas is cleaned by this cold-wet method. Other advantages claimed for the latter method are: That gas burns more readily when it is free from moisture in any form; that because gas is made denser by cooling and removing the moisture it has a higher calorific value than hot gas carrying moisture; and that higher flame temperatures are obtained when the gas is cleaned by the cold-wet method. A search through the available literature fails to disclose any extensive calculations or records of conditions obtained in practice, bearing upon these phases of gas cleaning. This paper deals with these problems from the standpoint of the economy of using a gas of higher flame temperatures, of improved stove design, and of economy in the gas-cleaning department. Calculations have been made which show that by cleaning the gases by a cold-wet method the sensible heat energy of the blast-furnace gases is greatly reduced; and, in general, this loss of heat energy is far greater than that lost from the stoves or boilers due to the sensible heat capacity of the water vapor if carried away by the exit gases. By making use of the

Jan 2, 1917

By Walter S. Larsh

The Ruth orebody, so far developed, is roughly oval in plan, major and minor axes about 1600 ft. (457 m.) and 1200 ft. (365 m.) respectively, average thickness about 120 ft. (36 m.), and with a general dip of about 15" to the northwest. According to the generally accepted theory, the ore is a secondary enrichment of the porphyry due to leaching in situ by meteoric waters. Copper occurs as chalcocite, chalcocite coating pyrite, and a little chalcopyrite. The leached zone, or capping, covering the ore varies in thickness from 110 to 540 ft. (33 to 164 m.), average about 410 ft. (124 m.). The ore is blue gray in color, and the capping, light yellow to brown. Ore was first discovered in quantity in the workings from the Ruth shaft, now caved. Further development work was done by churn drills, and the outline of the orebody, as stated above, determined in this manner. Drilling is still being carried on. The porphyry area is entirely surrounded by sedimentaries, limestones, and shales; and, in so far as the underground workings have shown, the porphyry itself, the sedimentaries&apos; near the contact, and the country underlying the ore (igneous or sedimentary) is very soft, heavy, and in places swelling ground. All openings have to be carefully and stoutly timbered, and, after once driven, they have to be constantly eased off and repaired. The mine Is at present served by two shafts, the Star Pointer, the main working shaft, a vertical, and the Ingersoll, an incline used for waste and material. The two shafts are about 2600 ft. (792 m.) apart, connected on the 500 level; a connection is now being driven on the 600 level. (Dec., 1917. This connection is now completed.) The 300 level, which is finished, and the 400 level which is nearly completed, are accessible only from the Ingersoll and connections with the 500 level. The 300 level was developed for and mined by the shrinkage stope system, similar to that used successfully in the Ray Consolidated property.

Jan 1, 1918

By W. A. McCurdy, Joseph W. Leonard, William F. Lawrence

INTRODUCTION Utilization from the Point of View of the Preparation Engineer The primary interest of the coal preparation engineer is in process design, operation, and maintenance to produce an acceptable product that can be sold at the greatest possible profit. Because of emphasis upon these interests, attention to other potential values of coal is sometimes neglected. The intent of this chapter is to alert the preparation engineer to the utilization possibilities of the product as well as the tributary coal flow moving through a modern coal preparation plant. The basis for any unrealized potential derives directly from the coal seam itself. Most coal seams consist of coal bands and benches sandwiched together in layers that differ visually from each other in physical structure and luster. Randomly selected physical and chemical ranges determined from layers of coal in a single seam can easily differ by as much as 30 Hardgrove grindability indices, 0.30 of a specific gravity point, 20 percentage points of ash, 6 percentage points of dry volatile matter, and 10 percentage points of total su1fur.l Similar wide variations exist for calorific value, seam moisture content, and, undoubtedly, for any other conceivable coal test parameter that might be used for comparative purposes. These observations all point to the long-established fact that coal is not homogeneous, as conventional analytical methods might tend to indicate, but is instead a highly heterogeneous substance.

Jan 1, 1979

By V. B. Kurfman

The temperature, strain rate, and orientation deDendence of defbrnzation of single-crystal MgAg has been examined. The crystals exhibit a tendency to single glide and little or no hardening at 25°C for many orientations. A much higher hardening rate is observed when multiple glide occurs, such as can be initiated by surface defects. The tendency for easy glide becomes less dependent on surface preparation and orientation as T — 100°C and bars so tested often fail after one-dimensional necking-. At T > 200°C (transition temperature for single-crystal notch sensitivity and poly crystalline ductility) single glide diminishes and two-dirnensionul necking begins. The crystals do not strictly obey a critical resolved shear stress law, but show the influence of {loo) cracks in determining the slip mode. The results are correlated with the difficulty of sciperdzslocation intersection and semibrittle behavior of this compound in single-crystal and poly crystalline form. Comparisons are made with the slip selection mode observed in tungsten, with the reported observations of easy glide in bee metals. and with the mechanical behavior of poly crystalline MgAg. PREVIOUS work on tensile deformation of polycrys-talline MgAgl and bending deformation of single-crystal MgAg2 has shown that the compound is semi-brittle (i.e., notch and grain boundary brittle). If this semibrittleness is supposed to result from the difficulty of multiple glide (associated with the problems of superdislocation intersection) one might expect single crystals deformed in tension to show pronounced single glide and strong orientation dependence of hardening rate. These experiments were done to examine this supposition and to study the tensile deformation of a highly ordered system which may be considered bcc if the difference between the two kinds of atoms is ignored (actual structure: CsC1). EXPERIMENTAL Single-crystal ingots were grown by directional freezing as previously described.&apos; These ingots were sliced into a by a by 2 in, rectangular bars by electric discharge machining, then round tensile bars were conventionally machined to 1/8-in.-diam by 1-in.-long reduced section. The bars were typically tested without an anneal because of the problem of magnesium vapor loss and they were typically tested as mechanically polished. The analyses are within the same limits as those reported earlier; i.e., the average composition for each specimen is within 0.5 at. pct of stoichiometry, while the total range from end to end in a given specimen varies from 0.7 to 1.4 at, pct. There has been no indication in the results of any variation in slip or fracture mode attributable to the composition fluctuations. The slip systems were determined by two-surface analysis of the bars after testing to failure at room temperature. Single glide was so dominant that there was little difficulty in identification of the dominant slip system even though the tensile elongation to failure often approached 7 to 8 pct in room-tempera- ture tests. Elevated-temperature testing was done in a silicone oil bath and low-temperature testing was done in liquid Np or a dry-ice bath. All stress measurements are reported as engineering stress unless otherwise specified, and crosshead travel is used as the strain measurement. RESULTS The tendency toward single glide is best seen in the pictures, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, which depict deformation at fracture as a function of test temperature. While it is possible to find regions of secondary slip by careful microscopy, such regions are very small. The development of a ribbon-shaped configuration from an initially round section bar pulled at 100°C is typical, occurred by single glide, and illustrates the degree to which such glide continues. At temperatures =100°C the bars typically show elongation of 20 to 50 pct by predominently single glide. Despite the large elongation, fracture even at 150°C occurs in a brittle mode, Fig. 2, in the sense that it is an abrupt failure which shows no discernible necking in the second dimension of the bar&apos;s cross section (i.e., there is no appreciable action of any slip modes which would decrease the broad dimension of the cross section). Near 200°C the fracture mode changes slightly. Although most of the sample extension is by single glide, after the bar develops the characteristic ribbon shape it begins to neck in the second (i.e., broad) cross-sectional dimension. The bar becomes very thin in the "necked down" region, Fig. 3, and the reduction in area approaches 100 pct. Often there oc-

Jan 1, 1967