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Bernard MacDonald, Guanajuato, Mexico (communication to the Secretary*):—Mr. Iceyes's paper is very interesting to me because of my personal experience with the development of the ore-deposits of Lake Valley.

Jan 1, 1909

By Carl F. Floe, Hung Liang, Michael B. Bever

DATA on the solubility of hydrogen in iron-silicon alloys are of practical interest, as hydrogen causes gas unsoundness and embrittlement in iron and steel and is also a factor in the metallurgy of cast iron. Zapffe and Sims1 have recently demonstrated that in deoxidized iron and steel castings gassiness and bleeding are primarily functions of the hydrogen content of the liquid metal. These authors also suggested convincingly that ordinary melting and casting practice provides several sources of hydrogen for absorption by the metal. Norbury and Morgan,2 and Boyles3 have shown that dissolved hydrogen affects the graphitization of cast iron. Schneble and Chipman4 included in a study of the effects of superheating on the properties of cast iron an investigation of the part played by hydrogen. Schwartz, Guiler and Barnett6 investigated the significance of hydrogen in the metallurgy of malleable cast iron. A complete interpretation of investigations of this kind calls for equilibrium values of the solubility of hydrogen in the liquid and solid phases. From the theoretical standpoint, the solubility of gases, especially hydrogen, may reveal some aspects of the nature of liquid metallic solutions. This was implied in the early work of Sieverts6 on the effect of alloying additions on the solubility of hydrogen in copper. Recent work by Bever and Floe7 has shown that in liquid copper-tin alloys the solubility of hydrogen changes abruptly at the composition of the intermetallic compound Cu3Sn. It is of considerable interest to determine whether liquid alloys of iron also have compositions at which the solubility of hydrogen exhibits a discontinuous or otherwise unique behavior. Among the various alloys of iron the iron-silicon system is important because of the presence of silicon in various structural alloy steels, transformer sheets, cast irons and special acid-resisting castings. The various grades of ferrosilicon, finally, cover almost the entire remainder of the composition range. Published information on the solubility of hydrogen in iron-silicon alloys is meager. The first values for pure liquid - iron were reported in 1910-1911 by Sieverts and Krumbhaar8 and by Sieverts.9 They found that 100 grams of iron absorbs 28 C.C. of hydrogen at 1550°C. and one atmosphere pressure, and 31 C.C. at 1650°C. In 1938 Sieverts, Zapf and Moritz10 published a value of 26.3 c.c. at 1550°C. Data on the solubility of hydrogen in liquid iron-silicon alloys and in liquid silicon

Jan 1, 1946

By Bever M. B., Floe Carl F., Hung Liang

Data on the solubility of hydrogen in iron-silicon alloys are of practical interest, as hydrogen causes gas unsoundness and embrittlement in iron and steel and is also a factor in the metallurgy of cast iron. Zapffe and Simsl have recently demonstrated that in deoxidized iron and steel castings gassiness and bleeding are primarily functions of the hydrogen content of the liquid metal. These authors also suggested convincingly that ordinary melting and casting practice provides several sources of hydrogen for absorption by the metal. Norbury and Morgan2 and Boyles3 have shown that dissolved hydrogen affects the graphitization of cast iron. Schneble and Chipman4 included in a study of the effects of superheating on the properties of cast iron an investigation of the part played by hydrogen. Schwartz, Guiler and Barnett5 investigated the significance of hydrogen in the metallurgy of malleable cast iron. A complete interpretation of investigations of this kind calls for equilibrium values of the solubility of hydrogen in the liquid and solid phases. From the theoretical standpoint, the solubility of gases, especially hydrogen, may reveal some aspects of the nature of liquid metallic solutions. This was implied in the early work of Sieverts6 on the effect of alloying additions on the solubility of hydrogen in copper. Recent work by Bever and Floe7 has shown that in liquid copper-tin alloys the solubility of hydrogen changes abruptly at the composition of the intermetallic compound Cu3Sn. It is of considerable interest to determine whether liquid alloys of iron also have compositions at which the solubility of hydrogen exhibits a discontinuous or otherwise unique behavior. Among the various alloys of iron the iron-silicon system is important because of the presence of silicon in various structural alloy steels, transformer sheets, cast irons and special acid-resisting castings. The various grades of ferrosilicon, finally, cover almost the entire remainder of the composition range. Published information on the solubility of hydrogen in iron-silicon alloys is meager. The first values for pure liquid iron were reported in 1910-191 1 sieverts and Krumbhaar8 and by sieverts.9 They found that 100 grams of iron absorbs 28 c.c. of hydrogen at 1550°C and One atmosphere pressure, and 31 C.C. at 1650°C. In 1938 Sieverts, Zapf and Moritz10 published a value of 26.3 C.C. at 1550°C. Data on the solubility of hydrogen in liquid iron-silicon alloys and in liquid silicon are not available. Martin1' investigated

Jan 1, 1947

By Bever M. B., Floe Carl F., Hung Liang

Data on the solubility of hydrogen in iron-silicon alloys are of practical interest, as hydrogen causes gas unsoundness and embrittlement in iron and steel and is also a factor in the metallurgy of cast iron. Zapffe and Simsl have recently demonstrated that in deoxidized iron and steel castings gassiness and bleeding are primarily functions of the hydrogen content of the liquid metal. These authors also suggested convincingly that ordinary melting and casting practice provides several sources of hydrogen for absorption by the metal. Norbury and Morgan2 and Boyles3 have shown that dissolved hydrogen affects the graphitization of cast iron. Schneble and Chipman4 included in a study of the effects of superheating on the properties of cast iron an investigation of the part played by hydrogen. Schwartz, Guiler and Barnett5 investigated the significance of hydrogen in the metallurgy of malleable cast iron. A complete interpretation of investigations of this kind calls for equilibrium values of the solubility of hydrogen in the liquid and solid phases. From the theoretical standpoint, the solubility of gases, especially hydrogen, may reveal some aspects of the nature of liquid metallic solutions. This was implied in the early work of Sieverts6 on the effect of alloying additions on the solubility of hydrogen in copper. Recent work by Bever and Floe7 has shown that in liquid copper-tin alloys the solubility of hydrogen changes abruptly at the composition of the intermetallic compound Cu3Sn. It is of considerable interest to determine whether liquid alloys of iron also have compositions at which the solubility of hydrogen exhibits a discontinuous or otherwise unique behavior. Among the various alloys of iron the iron-silicon system is important because of the presence of silicon in various structural alloy steels, transformer sheets, cast irons and special acid-resisting castings. The various grades of ferrosilicon, finally, cover almost the entire remainder of the composition range. Published information on the solubility of hydrogen in iron-silicon alloys is meager. The first values for pure liquid iron were reported in 1910-191 1 sieverts and Krumbhaar8 and by sieverts.9 They found that 100 grams of iron absorbs 28 c.c. of hydrogen at 1550°C and One atmosphere pressure, and 31 C.C. at 1650°C. In 1938 Sieverts, Zapf and Moritz10 published a value of 26.3 C.C. at 1550°C. Data on the solubility of hydrogen in liquid iron-silicon alloys and in liquid silicon are not available. Martin1' investigated

Jan 1, 1947

By James P. Kimball

Jan 1, 1881

By Frederick N. Rhines, William A. Anderson

The investigations of Wymanl have demonstrated that copper deoxidized with several of the commonly used agents that confer immunily to ordinary hydrogen em-brittlement can still be embrittled if it is annealed alternately under oxidizing and reducing conditions. During the oxidizing cycle, oxygen diffuses into the copper and frequently deposits a subscale composed of the oxide of the residual deoxidizing agent. Upon subsequent reduction with hot hydrogen, the copper becomes ruptured along the grain boundaries to a depth sharply limited by the previous penetration of oxygen as delineated by the inner boundary of the subscale. Obviously the sensitivity to this kind of hydrogen embrittlement is engendered by the introduction of oxygen during the oxidizing anneal, but beyond this the mechanism of the process, and hence the controlling factors, remain obscure. There are several possibilities: (I) oxygen dissolved in the copper matrix of the subscale may, upon cooling prior to the hydrogen anneal, precipitate as cuprous oxide which is subsequently reduced by hydrogen as in the familiar case of hydrogen embrittlement; (2) oxygen in solid solution in copper may itself confer susceptibility to embrittlement by hydrogen; (3) the normally refractory oxides such as those of aluminum, silicon and titanium may themselves be reduced by hydrogen when in contact with copper; or (4) the precipitated oxides of the subscale may be complex compounds such, perhaps, as SiO2.Cu2O, which are partially reduced by hydrogen. These possibilities have been examined, and it has been concluded that the first three and possibly the fourth are operative collectively or individually under more or less predictable conditions. Effect OF Precipitated Cuprous Oxide and Dissolved Oxygen The literature provides no definite proof that oxygen in solid solution in copper can confer susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement; indeed, the research of Leiter2 seemed to indicate the opposite—that to produce the effect, cuprous oxide must be present in massive form and in a more or less continuous network along the grain boundaries. To test this point, pure copper has been annealed in hydrogen under conditions designed to ensure the presence in various samples of: (I) precipitated cuprous oxide, (2) dissolved oxygen only, and (3) no oxygen in any form. Very pure copper" said to contain no oxygen and no spectro-scopically detectable traces of any other element (that is, no individual detectable impurity in quantity greater than 0.0001 per cent) was used. Strips of this material cold.-rolled 75 per cent to 1/8 in. in thickness were subjected to the following treatments, the results of which are noted:

Jan 1, 1941

By Frederick N. Rhines, William A. Anderson

The investigations of Wymanl have demonstrated that copper deoxidized with several of the commonly used agents that confer immunily to ordinary hydrogen em-brittlement can still be embrittled if it is annealed alternately under oxidizing and reducing conditions. During the oxidizing cycle, oxygen diffuses into the copper and frequently deposits a subscale composed of the oxide of the residual deoxidizing agent. Upon subsequent reduction with hot hydrogen, the copper becomes ruptured along the grain boundaries to a depth sharply limited by the previous penetration of oxygen as delineated by the inner boundary of the subscale. Obviously the sensitivity to this kind of hydrogen embrittlement is engendered by the introduction of oxygen during the oxidizing anneal, but beyond this the mechanism of the process, and hence the controlling factors, remain obscure. There are several possibilities: (I) oxygen dissolved in the copper matrix of the subscale may, upon cooling prior to the hydrogen anneal, precipitate as cuprous oxide which is subsequently reduced by hydrogen as in the familiar case of hydrogen embrittlement; (2) oxygen in solid solution in copper may itself confer susceptibility to embrittlement by hydrogen; (3) the normally refractory oxides such as those of aluminum, silicon and titanium may themselves be reduced by hydrogen when in contact with copper; or (4) the precipitated oxides of the subscale may be complex compounds such, perhaps, as SiO2.Cu2O, which are partially reduced by hydrogen. These possibilities have been examined, and it has been concluded that the first three and possibly the fourth are operative collectively or individually under more or less predictable conditions. Effect OF Precipitated Cuprous Oxide and Dissolved Oxygen The literature provides no definite proof that oxygen in solid solution in copper can confer susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement; indeed, the research of Leiter2 seemed to indicate the opposite—that to produce the effect, cuprous oxide must be present in massive form and in a more or less continuous network along the grain boundaries. To test this point, pure copper has been annealed in hydrogen under conditions designed to ensure the presence in various samples of: (I) precipitated cuprous oxide, (2) dissolved oxygen only, and (3) no oxygen in any form. Very pure copper" said to contain no oxygen and no spectro-scopically detectable traces of any other element (that is, no individual detectable impurity in quantity greater than 0.0001 per cent) was used. Strips of this material cold.-rolled 75 per cent to 1/8 in. in thickness were subjected to the following treatments, the results of which are noted:

Jan 1, 1941

By E. D. Gardner

The Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act (58 Stat., 190; 30 U.S.C. Sup., Secs. 321- 325) was approved by Congress April 5, 1944; it directed the Bureau of Mines to build demonstration plants to produce synthetic liquid fuels from coal, oil shale, and agricultural products. The most important oil-shale de- posits in the United States are in the Green River formation of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The oil shale of western Colorado generally is more amenable to exploitation, more persistent, and apparently richer than elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain Region. It occurs at the top of a high plateau surrounded by bold, nearly vertical escarpments 500 to 600 ft in height. The top 400 to 500 ft of these escarpments comprises an oil-shale measure that averages 15 gal of shale oil per ton; the bottom 70 to 100 ft of the measure, called the Mahogany Ledge, averages over 30 gal per ton. The full measure in a 1000-square-mile area is estimated to contain 300 billion barrels of shale oil;' the Mahogany Ledge is estimated to contain 100 billion barrels of oil. These estimates are based on numerous surface samples and on core-drill holes drilled by the Government and by private enterprise. The oil-shale beds are undisturbed and lie nearly horizontal. The name

Jan 1, 1949

By H. Merton Ruth

THE northern anthracite fields, although facing the same economic problems as the southern fields, are confronted with the additional problem of fast dwindling reserves of anthracite which can be conventionally and economically won. The mining of coal which remains in thin beds and the recovery of pillars from areas heretofore considered unrecoverable, either by reason of cost or surface restriction, pose problems of in- creasing importance to the economic life of the northern field operations. Successful approaches have Been made to this problem and other work is being performed that holds promise. There exists in the northern anthracite field millions of tons of solid coal, the recovery of which has not been too successful due to the following inherent operating faults: inability to concentrate producing areas; the great quantities of rock to be cut and handled, lack of consideration of proper sequence and speed of second mining, and the continued use of the mine car as the basis of payment. A mining system that has successfully solved these major problems has been in operation in the Scranton area since 1944. Over 1% million tons have been produced from veins varying from 3 to 4% ft thick by this method, which is known as the multiple panel-triangular system-conveyor mining.

Jan 1, 1950

By Marcus Grossmann

THIS paper offers for consideration certain somewhat radical modifications in the iron-carbon diagram, these modifications being the result of the presence of notable amounts of alloying elements. When only small amounts of alloys are present, 'the standard iron-carbon diagram (Fig. 1) can be used with but insignificant changes; when larger amounts of Chromium, Per Cent FIG. 1.-IRON-CARBON DIAGRAM. FIG. 2.-IRON-CHROMIUM DIAGRAM. alloys are present, however, it assumes a distinctly altered appearance. No comment is offered for the present except to call attention to the delta area, A4BM, which represents a region of mixtures of austenite and delta iron, just as area A3SP represents mixtures of austenite and alpha iron.

Jan 12, 1926

By Zay Jeffries

Each generation accepts the developments of the preceding generations without full appreciation of the difficulties that had to be overcome or of the effect of any given development on society. Today, the production of pig iron is the yardstick with which general industrial health and progress are measured. So natural and logical does this seem to us, that it is difficult to picture conditions prior to the fourteenth century when pig iron was unknown. Not only was pig iron unknown but iron or steel could not be melted and poured into castings; all iron and steel articles were forged from sponge iron. All castings, as well as many worked articles, were made of non-ferrous metals or alloys. In many parts of the world, over long periods of time, not only was the annual exchange value of non-ferrous metals greater than that of iron and steel, but their combined tonnage was greater. At present, the value of the pig iron produced in a year is of the same order of magnitude as that of all non-ferrous metals combined; the tonnage of pig iron is, however, about twenty times that of all non-ferrous metals combined. Owing to lack of records, we will probably never know the relative importance of the various metals at all periods in historic times. A certain conclusion is that the iron and steel industry, since the discovery of pig iron and the cheap methods of converting it into steel, has grown at a much more rapid rate than the non-ferrous metal industries. Notwithstanding their fundamental fitness for man's needs, iron and steel owe their importance in no small degree to the low cost of production. The low cost was a result of increased knowledge of the production appliances and of the metallurgical processes. This increased knowledge is the key to our modern industrial civilization. It will remain for future generations to determine whether there is now going on a gradual change toward greater importance of the non-ferrous metals, as compared to iron and steel. The world's pig iron production in 1920 was slightly more than twice what it was in 1890, whereas the non-ferrous metals production in 1920 was about two and one-half times that in 1890. Every non-ferrous metal industry has shown marked growth during the last thirty years. During this period, the production of cop-

Jan 1, 1924

By Owen Thornton

Recently equations have been presented by Rose and Bruce' and by Rose², showing how the relative permeability of a reservoir rock may be determined from the capillary character of the rock. In particular, equations were developed to show the relationship between capillary pressure and the effective permeability to the wetting phase in a poly-phase flow system. The equations are as follows (nomenclature the same as in the Rose and Bruce paper) Rose and Bruce assume that the average length of path (L,), which the wetting fluid follows in flowing through a porous media is independent of the saturation to the wetting phase, so that 1 is a constant dependent only on the k rock, and the permeability to the wetting phase is a function of the saturation and of the capillnry pressure: In measuring the flow of ekctric current through partially saturated core samples, it has been observed that the electrical resistance usually is not a simple linear function of saturation. This fact indicates that the average length of path in the flow of electric current is not independent of saturation, but rather that the tortuosity of the path depends upon the average saturation to the conducting fluid as well as upon the characteristics of the rock. itself. Inasmuch as the flow of fluid and the flow of electric current in many respects are analogous, it may be indicated further that the length of path for fluid also may not be independent of saturation. The following relationship can be derived to express the resistance to flow of electric current through a core sample partially saturated with conductive wetting phase, the non-wetting phase being non-conductive: where L is the average length of path followed by the current in flowing through a length L of partially saturated core, where L is the length of current path when the core is fully saturated, and where Rs and R, are the specific resistivities of the partially saturated and saturated core sample, respectively. It will be noted that R., the specific resistivity of the core sample when S, = 1.0, is equal to the "formation resistivity factor"' multiplied by the specific resistivity of the saturating fluid. If it be assumed that the average lengths of path for fluid flow and for the flow of electric current are the same, then equation (5) may be combined with equations (l), (2) and (3) to give the following relationship: The above equation suggests including a correction for tortuosity when calculating the relative permeability of a reservoir rock to a wetting phase. The correction factor may be obtained from the resistivity-saturation relationship. For instance, the following calcu- lations are obtained for the unconsoli-dated sands described by Leverett Kw Kw Sw R°/Rs Pt/Pc¹ (Calc.) (Obs.) 0.30 0.08 0.88 0.02 0.0 0.40 0.16 0.94 0.06 0.04 0.50 0.27 0.97 0.14 0.11 0.60 0.40 0.98 0.26 0.21 0.70 0.53 0.98 0.39 0.35 0.80 0.68 0.99 0.57 0.54 0.90 0.84 0.99 0.77 0.76 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 It will be noted that the agreement between the calculated points and the observed data is rather good. Further investigation of the above method for obtaining relative permeabilities may be merited. For many sands within specified ranges of saturations the following relationship has been found to hold approximately': — =SW"......(7) Rs The exponent n in the above equation has been found to equal two for many sands so that equation (6) reduces to the following: The writer acknowledges the permission of The Texas Co. to submit this note for publication. 1. Walter Rose and W. A. Bruce—Jnl. of Pet. Tech., Vol. 1, No. 5, p. 127 (1949). 2. Walter Rose—Jnl. of Petr. Tech., Vol. 1, No. 5, p. 111 (1949). 3. G. E. Archie— -Trans. AIME, 146, 54 (1942). 4. M. C. Leverett— Trans. AIME, 142, 152 (1941). 5. M. C. Leverett—Trans. AIME, 132, 149 (1939).

Jan 1, 1949

By Owen Thornton

Recently equations have been presented by Rose and Bruce' and by Rose², showing how the relative permeability of a reservoir rock may be determined from the capillary character of the rock. In particular, equations were developed to show the relationship between capillary pressure and the effective permeability to the wetting phase in a poly-phase flow system. The equations are as follows (nomenclature the same as in the Rose and Bruce paper) Rose and Bruce assume that the average length of path (L,), which the wetting fluid follows in flowing through a porous media is independent of the saturation to the wetting phase, so that 1 is a constant dependent only on the k rock, and the permeability to the wetting phase is a function of the saturation and of the capillnry pressure: In measuring the flow of ekctric current through partially saturated core samples, it has been observed that the electrical resistance usually is not a simple linear function of saturation. This fact indicates that the average length of path in the flow of electric current is not independent of saturation, but rather that the tortuosity of the path depends upon the average saturation to the conducting fluid as well as upon the characteristics of the rock. itself. Inasmuch as the flow of fluid and the flow of electric current in many respects are analogous, it may be indicated further that the length of path for fluid also may not be independent of saturation. The following relationship can be derived to express the resistance to flow of electric current through a core sample partially saturated with conductive wetting phase, the non-wetting phase being non-conductive: where L is the average length of path followed by the current in flowing through a length L of partially saturated core, where L is the length of current path when the core is fully saturated, and where Rs and R, are the specific resistivities of the partially saturated and saturated core sample, respectively. It will be noted that R., the specific resistivity of the core sample when S, = 1.0, is equal to the "formation resistivity factor"' multiplied by the specific resistivity of the saturating fluid. If it be assumed that the average lengths of path for fluid flow and for the flow of electric current are the same, then equation (5) may be combined with equations (l), (2) and (3) to give the following relationship: The above equation suggests including a correction for tortuosity when calculating the relative permeability of a reservoir rock to a wetting phase. The correction factor may be obtained from the resistivity-saturation relationship. For instance, the following calcu- lations are obtained for the unconsoli-dated sands described by Leverett Kw Kw Sw R°/Rs Pt/Pc¹ (Calc.) (Obs.) 0.30 0.08 0.88 0.02 0.0 0.40 0.16 0.94 0.06 0.04 0.50 0.27 0.97 0.14 0.11 0.60 0.40 0.98 0.26 0.21 0.70 0.53 0.98 0.39 0.35 0.80 0.68 0.99 0.57 0.54 0.90 0.84 0.99 0.77 0.76 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 It will be noted that the agreement between the calculated points and the observed data is rather good. Further investigation of the above method for obtaining relative permeabilities may be merited. For many sands within specified ranges of saturations the following relationship has been found to hold approximately': — =SW"......(7) Rs The exponent n in the above equation has been found to equal two for many sands so that equation (6) reduces to the following: The writer acknowledges the permission of The Texas Co. to submit this note for publication. 1. Walter Rose and W. A. Bruce—Jnl. of Pet. Tech., Vol. 1, No. 5, p. 127 (1949). 2. Walter Rose—Jnl. of Petr. Tech., Vol. 1, No. 5, p. 111 (1949). 3. G. E. Archie— -Trans. AIME, 146, 54 (1942). 4. M. C. Leverett— Trans. AIME, 142, 152 (1941). 5. M. C. Leverett—Trans. AIME, 132, 149 (1939).

Jan 1, 1949

By Michael H. Kuryla, Galen H. Clevenger

Some years after Nobel made his epoch-making contribution to the knowledge of high explosives, Sprengell described a new class of detonating explosives consisting of mixtures, made immediately before use, of an oxidizing agent and a combustible substance.2 The novel feature of the Sprengel explosives is that the constituents alone are non-explosive during manufacture, storage and transport. Despite this advantage, and although some of these have been used in important work, they are now little used, possibly on account of the greater inconvenience to the user, compared with explosives supplied by the manufacturer in final form. Liquid-oxygen explosives are a type of Sprengel explosive in that the oxidizing agent (liquid oxygen) and the combustible substance or substances (solid carbonaceous matter alone or in combination with liquid hydrocarbons or even metallic powders and, at times inert absorbents) are brought together immediately before use. The components separately are non-explosive. The possibility of using liquid oxygen as one of the components of an explosive was perhaps first suggested by Sprengel, who stated that the beau ideal of a detonating explosive was a mixture of eight parts of liquid oxygen with one part of liquid hydrogen. Although the liquefaction of air3 had been accomplished in the laboratory as early

Jan 1, 1923

By T. Egleston

THE materials containing copper which are refined in the United States, are, for the most part, the native, coppers of Lake Superior. Until quite recently but little pig copper was made for sale, and that came principally from the pure sulphurous ores of New England and the South, and was generally sold to refineries not far from the ore furnaces. A small amount found its way into the market which was produced either as the by-product of the treatment of gold and silver ores, or as the result of the treatment of impure copper ores; but both these grades, on account of the impurities they contained, were looked on with suspicion, and were not sought for. All the grapes of pig copper are sold by the unit of copper contents, a great reduction being made in the price when impurities are present. There are at the present time only three works which treat native copper, the two of the Detroit and Lake Superior Copper Company, and the works of C. G. Hussey & Co., in Pittsburgh. There are a few works which smelt sulphurous ores and refine their pig; besides these there are a few small works where pig copper is refined only. Some of these purchase black copper, refine scrap, or simply refine such grades of ingot copper as are found in the market, but mostly that from Lake; Superior, for the purpose of getting it into such shapes that can be handled commercially to advantage, such as in making large plates or high grades of wire for electrical purposes. A number of such works are situated in the Naugatuek Valley and elsewhere in New England. The recent discovery, of valuable ores in Arizona makes it probable that within a few years the refining of copper in the United States will make great developments. Up to the time of the discovery of the mines on Lake Superior, only a very small quantity of native copper had ever been found, not sufficient to justify the erection of works for its special treatment. It had, besides, never been found in very Large masses, so that the discovery of great-blocks of it presented serious difficulties, not only in mining it,† but in bringing it into a merchantable condition. It seemed a very simple process to melt these large masses, * Road at the Lake Superior Meeting, August, 1880. †Transactions American Institute Mining Engineers, vol. vi, page 2S2.

Jan 1, 1881

By Michael H. Kuryla, Galen H. Clevenger

Some years after Nobel made his epoch-making contribution to the knowledge of high explosives, Sprengell described a new class of detonating explosives consisting of mixtures, made immediately before use, of an oxidizing agent and a combustible substance.2 The novel feature of the Sprengel explosives is that the constituents alone are non-explosive during manufacture, storage and transport. Despite this advantage, and although some of these have been used in important work, they are now little used, possibly on account of the greater inconvenience to the user, compared with explosives supplied by the manufacturer in final form. Liquid-oxygen explosives are a type of Sprengel explosive in that the oxidizing agent (liquid oxygen) and the combustible substance or substances (solid carbonaceous matter alone or in combination with liquid hydrocarbons or even metallic powders and, at times inert absorbents) are brought together immediately before use. The components separately are non-explosive. The possibility of using liquid oxygen as one of the components of an explosive was perhaps first suggested by Sprengel, who stated that the beau ideal of a detonating explosive was a mixture of eight parts of liquid oxygen with one part of liquid hydrogen. Although the liquefaction of air3 had been accomplished in the laboratory as early

Jan 1, 1923

By John D. Price

R. W. Campbell (Jones and Laughlin Steel Carp., Pittsburgh)—As usual John Price has presented an excellent paper. I know of no one who has devoted more time and conscientious thought to this subject than he has, and his efforts have produced scientific data and conclusions of real value. Results of similar studies made by the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp. on the blending of Pennsylvania coals may be of interest. During 1935 the late F. W. Wagner and the present writer developed an empirical physical fuel value formula for evaluating the combined physical tests of metallurgical coke, see Table IV. In the development of the formula, the tumbler test, shatter test, screen test, and porosity of coke have been taken into consideration. Each of these tests brings out some physical property not expressed by the others, and in estimation of the importance of these tests as a medium for evaluating coke for the blast furnace, their worth has been graded as follows: It was thought that some additional penalty should be applied to cokes that do not show a uniform screen size, assuming that coke larger than 4 in. was not desirable and that this size was an indication of irregular size. Therefore the screen test factor is further corrected by applying a penalty of 1 pct for each 1 pct material greater than 4-in. size as shown by the screen test. The physical fitness of coke for blast furnace use depends upon four fundamental characteristics: l—gen-era1 strength, as indicated by the shatter test; 2— abradability, or the resistance of cell walls to reduction in size by attrition, as indicated by the tumbler test; 3—porosity; and 4—size and uniformity. Each of these characteristics is not of equal importance, but surely, in an attempt to determine an accurate physical value, the individual value of each should be taken into consideration. The formula is used as a yardstick, so to speak, in determining variations in the normal production of metallurgical coke and in making comparisons between normal coke and experimental blends with other coals. Table IV gives results of coking tests on raw and washed high volatile coals and these same coals with blends of coke breeze, anthracite coal, char and low volatile coals, all from Pennsylvania. The table also gives the source of the coals and coke breeze, as well as their proximate analyses. It will be noted that the washing of the raw high volatile coal increased the physical fuel value from 26.17 to 39.16, showing the effect of removing shale and slate which produces a detrimental fracturing and weakening of the coke. It is a well known fact that many Pennsylvania high volatile coals contain an excess of resinous material or binder which has a tendency to weaken the coke, owing to its high evolution of gases during carbonization. Tests were therefore made with coke breeze, an inert material, in an attempt to alleviate this condition. Blends of washed coal with 5 pct and 7.5 pct coke breeze collected from the coke plant quenching sump (82.9 pct through 1/8-in. screen) resulted in cokes with a physical fuel value of 20.75 and 16.73 respectively, lower than results obtained from 100 pct raw high volatile coal. It will be noted that the percentage of + 4-in. coke increased but that the tumbler test was very low. Undoubtedly better results could have been obtained if the coke breeze could have been crushed extremely fine. During World War II the government asked the coking industry to consider the use of anthracite coal as a substitute for high quality low volatile coal, which was extremely scarce at the time. The next series of tests was made with blends of raw and washed high volatile coals and 5, 10, and 15 pct Pennsylvania No. 5 buckwheat anthracite (100 pct through l/8-in. screen). It was necessary to use some raw high volatile coal in these blends because of insufficient washer capacity at the time. It will be noted that the physical fuel values

Jan 1, 1954

Edward Dyer Peters, the only child of Henry Hunter Peters and Susan Barker Thaxter, was born in Dorchester, Mass., June 1, 1849. From his father he was a descendant of the Peters family of Ipswich and Andover, Mass., whose earliest ancestor settled in Essex County in 1659; while upon his mother's side he descended from several old Hingham families, as well as from the Quineys and from Governor Bradford. Between the ages of fourteen and sixteen he was a student at the Episcopal School for boys in Cheshire, Conn. Near the school was an old tin mine, and he used to spend his Saturday afternoons exploring it. When Edward was sixteen, his father sold his property in South-borough, and for the next three years lived in Europe. Sept. 26, 1865, Edward entered the Royal School of Mines at Freiberg, Saxony. In the summer of 1867 he joined his family on Lake Geneva, and spent a part of the season in that vicinity, going to Chamounix and taking other trips. Extract from a letter to his father: Elbingerode, Harz, Aug. 30, 1868: I left Freiberg with my friend Lilienthal, on Wednesday the 19th of August, reached Leipzig in the evening and spent the night in that city: the next morning we took the cars and in the afternoon reached Eisleben, in Prussia, which was to be our first stopping-place; there are immense copper-mines and smelting-works at this place, and the method of working the mines is very peculiar ... The next morning we got up at five and spent the whole day in the smelting-works where I obtained a number of drawings of the furnaces they use here and a good many valuable data. Saturday morning we got up at four o'clock, and descended a mine about three miles from the town; the Director of this mine was one of the most intelligent and agreeable men that I ever met; he accompanied us in the mine and explained everything that was new to us. The system of mining at Eisleben is peculiar to this town, and is not used at any other place in the world; the copper ore comes in narrow, flat veins eighteen inches high, at the utmost, consequently the men work lying flat on their left side and using the pick with both hands: the ore is carried out of the side passages into the main ones, in very low waggons about twelve inches high, and four by two feet; the boys who pull these waggons have a board buckled to their left thigh and their left arm; they pass their bare foot through a strap in the waggon and wriggle along on their side dragging the waggon after them, with their foot, almost as fast as a man can walk above ground. In the afternoon we walked over to Hittstadt, about twelve miles, and remained there Sunday and Monday. Monday night, at ten o'clock we went out to one of the smelting-works, to see the refining of the copper; this is only done at night, so we worked there from ten in the evening till eleven the next morning, and came home all blackened up and with blistered hands, for our skin was not quite so tough as that of the workmen: at noon the same day we took the stage to Ascherls-leben, and then the train to Stassfurt, where there are immense salt-mines, as well as factories for the manufacture of bromium, which latter process is, however, kept a profound secret, so we had very little hope of seeing anything but the salt mines; we were talking with our landlord about our disappointment, that evening, when he told us that the director of the Bromium works was sitting in the next room with no company but his glass of beer, so we went over to him, introduced ourselves as Americans, and actually succeeded in persuading him that it could do his business no earthly hurt if he showed us his works; at last he consented, after making us give our word of honor

Jan 1, 1919

By C. S. Finney, John Mitchell

The introduction of ovens for the production of metallurgical coke is believed to be due to L. L. Norton who operated an iron foundry in the vicinity of Connellsville, Pa. Persuaded by his foreman, an English immigrant named Nickols from Durham, L. L. Norton put up a 12-ft square oven which produced coke in 1833. The coal used was taken from a local mine at Mounts Creek. The oven seems to have been used in conjunction with the customary method of coking in mounds. It was in the Connellsville district also, in 1841, that two carpenters, Provence McCormick and James Campbell, formed a partnership with John Taylor, a stone mason, for the manufacture and sale of oven coke. The task of the mason was to construct the ovens, while the carpenters were to build the arks by which the coke could be taken by water to the market at Cincinnati. The following account of the enterprise was given by McCormick: "James Campbell and myself heard in some way that I do not now recollect that the manufacturing of coke might be made a good business. Mr. John Taylor, a stone mason, who owned the farm on which the Fayette coke works now stand, and who was mining coal in a small way, was spoken to regarding our enterprise, and proposed a partnership-he to build the ovens and make the coke and Mr. Campbell and myself to build a boat and take the coke to Cincinnati, where we heard there was a good demand. This was in 1841. Mr. Taylor built two ovens. I think they were about 10 feet in diameter. My recollection is that the charge was 80 bushels. The ovens were built in the same style as those now used, but had no iron ring at the top to prevent the brick from falling in when filling the oven with coal, nor had we any iron frames at the mouth where the coke was drawn. The top and mouth had to be repaired when they fell in. In the spring of 1842 enough coke had been made to fill two boats 90 feet long-about 800 bushels each-and we took them to Cincinnati down the Youghiogheny, Monongahela, and Ohio, but when we got there we could not sell. Mr. Campbell, who went with the boats, lay at the landing some two or three weeks, retailing out one boatload and part of the other in small lots at about 8 cents a bushel. Miles Greenwood, a foundryman of that city, offered to take the balance if he would take a small patent flour mill at $125.00 hi pay, which Mr. Campbell did. He had it shipped here. We tried it, but it was no good, and we sold it to a man in the mountains for $30.00, and thus ended our coke business." So successful did the coke subsequently prove to be in use that the three partners were asked to deliver more. Evidently they had had enough of the coke business, however, for they refused to have anything more to do with it. Few ovens were built between 1841 and 1855, and it is reported that in the latter year, "there were only 26 coke ovens along the river above Pittsburgh". Successful coke makers of these years included Mordecai Cochran, Richard Brookius, and Colonel A. M. Hill. It was the use of coke in 1859 in the Clinton furnace erected by Graff, Bennett and Co. in a plant on West Carson Street, Pittsburgh, that brought the real beginning of the coke-iron era in America. Here the successful use of Connellsville coke as a blast-furnace fuel was demonstrated beyond all possible doubt, and from the year 1859 the coking industry expanded tremendously. The era of beehive coke ovens During the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth, the major percentage of metallurgical coke produced in the United States came from beehive ovens. It was not until 1893 that the first battery of by-product ovens came

Jan 1, 1961

By D. H. Newland

New York has a small but not insignificant place in the oil and natural gas industries of the United States. It has had a continuous record as an oil producer since 1872, with an aggregate yield of about 104,000,000 bbl. The reported output for 1935 was 4,237,000 bbl., a gain of more than 10 per cent for the year and a total that has been exceeded only in the early period of flush production half a century ago. The industry has been steadily building up since 1920 with the successful practice of the water drive, which has given a new lease of life to pools that had been practically drained of oil recoverable by pumping. An additional output of 2000 bbl. or more per acre is being procured by this method. Altogether the fields in New York State cover about 55,000 acres. Their limits are well defined and it is unlikely that they will be extended in the future, although there is some prospect of finding additional supplies by deeper drilling. The oil from New York is all classed as Pennsylvania grade, for which the recent price has been about $2.50 a barrel. It is refined at Olean, Wellsville and Bolivar, in the oil district, and partly in Pennsylvania refineries. Exploration for natural gas, outside of the established districts, was considerable during the year. Altogether 59 wells were drilled, distributed over 13 counties, of which 33 were listed as producers and 26 were dry. At the close of the year, 13 wells were in process of drilling. The 33 producing wells had a combined estimated flow of 278 million cubic feet per day. The best results were obtained from exploration in Allegany County, where out of eight wells drilled to the Oriskany sandstone five were successful and showed a combined open-flow capacity of 107 million cubic feet. The Oriskany sandstone was encountered at a depth of 4500 to 4900 ft. In Steuben County, next east of Allegany County, two out of seven wells to the Oriskany proved productive, and one of these, in the town of Greenwood, on the Watkins structure, was probably the largest that has so far been opened in the state, with a reported yield of 35 million a day. In the central part of New York interest was awakened by the activity shown in exploring for gas in the Trenton limestone, in Camden, Florence and Rome townships, Oneida

Jan 1, 1936