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By Paul A. Beck

While the recrystallization properties of most of the practically important metals are known in considerable detail, those of lead are still relatively little known in spite of some valuable contributions in recent years. This condition probably is due to the difficulties involved in applying the usual methods of investigation. The microscopic method of discriminating between the elongated deformed grains of the familiar lenticular shape and the equiaxed recrys-tallized grains is not successful with fully refined lead: lenticular grains cannot be seen under the microscope with any amount of deformation whatever. The probable cause of this phenomenon was recognized long ago. With large deformation the time of recrystallization at room temperaturc is shorter than the period of preparation of the specimen for microscopic examination; with small deformation the deformed grains arc not noticeably elongated in the first place. However, with small cleformation the migration of the grain boundaries can be observed. The only systematic investigations yet published on the recrystallization of lead, those by R. S. Russell, 1-3 make use of the conditions just described. Russell considered recrystallization completed when no further migration of boundaries could be observed. A serious objection to this method arises from the fact that there is no evidence to support the view that grain-boundary migration results only from recrystallization. If such migration does result from other sources after recrystallization is completed—after the deformed grains have been replaced by new unde-formed grains—the "time of recrystallization" as determined by Russell may be too long. Furthermore, the method is subject to the above.-mentioned limitation because of the unavoidable period of preparation of the sample. According to Russell, even with the fastest technique 5 min. clapsed before the deformed samples were ready for examination, and consequently no reearystallization time shorter than 5 min. could be measured. The lack of success in detecting the recrystallization of lead by the usual hardness or tensile tests is again caused by the time necessary for

Jan 1, 1940

By L. C. Raymond

Valuations in the mineral industry differ from those of other enterprises because mines and oil wells have a definite life so cannot be considered a perpetuity. This requires that in any mineral-property evaluation the recovery of invested capital is necessary during the life of the property. Capital writeoffs for nonextractive industries are assumed to be continuously plowed back to sustain the operation and produce yields on the capital invested. The extractive or mineral industry, however, generally attempts to return to the investor both interest and principal during the life of a property. Normally this is done currently and the dividend includes both items. Where the mineral properly possesses large reserves and the life factor approximates a perpetuity, the return on investment is generally comparable to that of industrial stocks. The valuation of a mineral property, at best, is based on educated estimates and judgment factors. This is particularly true as it relates to estimating selling prices over a long term or assessing the quality of management. Also, it is possible to make various assumptions as to rapidity of working out the deposit, varying time for start-up of operations, varying earning rates, so as to obtain different results with the same basic facts. Thus it is not surprising that two engineers, irrespective of their abilities, may not agree exactly even when given the same facts, but their results should be close enough to be used in establishing a fair value for trading purposes. The valuation is no better than the source of basic data and the soundness of judgment factors. Fundamentally the basic principles of mineral valuation are similar for base metals, sulphur, oil, or any other mineral. Each mineral, however, requires an engineer to have a knowledge of such factors as its occurrence, distribution, mining and processing methods, and marketing problems in order to gather and analyze all the facts and data that have a bearing on the earning potential of the property. PRESENT VALUE OF A MINERAL PROPERTY In essence the present value of a mineral property is a sum of money in today's dollars that future earnings from the property are worth. It differs

Jan 1, 1964

By Eugene Leonardon

THE search for oil has required, and without a doubt supplies, a tremendous amount of information on the structure, composition, physical properties, and history of sedimentary rocks. The earliest and most complete source of knowledge is the sample or core of the rock itself, the uses of which are well known. The purpose of this paper is primarily to discuss a new method for obtaining these cores, and to illustrate its use in connection with electrical logs. Most cores have been obtained through a special adaptation of rotary drilling, and the results have been remarkably good, considering the mechanical problems involved. Unfortunately, because of the time and expense, this method cannot be used for the entire length of the drill hole. Even though ingenious contrivances have been evolved in order to reduce the time spent in round trips, such as wire-line coring equipment, mechanical coring still remains too expensive to be carried out con-tinuously. In practice, therefore, one is finally compelled to estimate the probable depths of the more interesting horizons and, allowing a wide margin of safety, to core through those sections only. It is true also that interesting results have been obtained by examining the cuttings brought to the surface by the mud circulated in the well during the process of drilling. Be that as it may, the inescapable fact remains that key horizons may be passed inadvertently, for one reason or another, while the drilling operations are being performed. The only continuous record of the formations encountered is that furnished by electrical surveys. Obviously, it would be desirable to make the electrical survey first and to take the samples from the wall of the hole according to the indications on the electrical log. In this way, it would be possible to core only the exact sections desired, eliminating the otherwise inevitable estimates as to the point at which to start coring, and thereby reducing to a minimum this expensive operation. At the same time this method would provide a maximum' of useful samples.

Jan 1, 1939

By C. S. Barrett

It has been observed that deformation in iron takes place by slip on (110) + {112) + (123) planesl, 2, but in silicon ferrite with low deformation temperatures or high silicon contents (exceeding 4 per cent) the authors have found that slip is confined wholly to (110) planes, at least with small amounts of deformation. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the effect of this alteration of slip mechanism on preferred orientations in cold-rolled and recrystallized strips. Incidental observations on the effect of the recrystallization temperature were also made. The numerous determinations of the texture of cold-rolled iron and steel have been in satisfactory agreement as to the principal features of the texture (with the exception of a few conclusions that apparently have been based on insufficient data). The texture is chiefly one in which 11101 directions of the grains lie along the direction of rolling, with a deviation of a few degrees, and in which the (100) planes lie in the plane of the rolled sheet, with a deviation from this position chiefly about the rolling direction as an axis. This deviation about the rolling direction as an axis has been measured by different observers and lies between about 45" and 50" or 60" for iron5, 6, 9 and is usually in the neighborhood of 50" for mild stee16, 7, 8. The range of this deviation is a function of the percentage of total reduction8, 10. Post8 reported that it decreases with increasing percentage reduction, but apparently he studied only the surface material, which Gensamer and Meh17 found to be somewhat differently oriented from the material in the inside of the sheet. McLachlan and Davey10 found that the deviation also decreases with increasing percentage of total reduction for the material in the interior of the sheet and is independent of the percentage of reduction per pass. The deviation about the cross direction as an axis (the direction in the

Jan 1, 1937

By J. B. Ackerman, J. D. Miller

Alunite [KA13(S04)2(OH)6] is a promising non-bauxitic aluminum resource, the domestic reserves of which are estimated to be 800 x 106 tons at 35 percent alunite. The major gangue mineral associated with alunite is quartz. The thermochemical process that has been developed for treatment of this ore does not provide for the initial removal of gangue prior to processing. In this regard, it may be desirable to concentrate the ore to gain significant technical and economic advantages. Experimental results indicate the effectiveness of an oleic acid flotation technique and exemplify the problems encountered in fine particles processing. These results show that the quality of separation studied as a function of temperature, collector addition, and depressant addition is dependent on the degree of liberation achieved during size reduction. At coarse grinds the quality of separation was limited by the presence of locked particles while for finer grinds where more extensive liberation is achieved, better separations were obtained. The degree of liberation for each size interval was determined by an SEM/energy dispersive x-ray technique and found to be independent of the extent of size reduction, suggesting that liberation occurs by indiscriminate fracture and not by detachment. Up to 89 percent liberation was realized for a minus 400 mesh grind. Under these circumstances, the quality of separation appears not only to be limited by the remaining locked particles, but, also, by contamination of the alunite concentrate with fine quartz gangue (< 2µm). The best separation for the minus 400 mesh grind was a rougher recovery of 88 percent with a grade of 65% alunite at 50°C.

Jan 1, 1980

By J. C. Mertz

ACCURATE knowledge of the solid solubilities of the elements that dissolve in the important base metals is needed for guidance in the preparation and heat-treatment of the alloys derived from these compo-nents. While there is still difference of opinion concerning the merits of the X-ray and microscopic methods of determining such solubilities, it is certainly true that the recent extensive use of X-ray diffraction to review the existing constitutional data has revealed many glaring inaccu-racies and has brought about a much improved knowledge of phase-boundary locations, which will inevitably come to include all of the important alloy systems. When the work is done with all necessary precautions it appears that in the majority of cases where the solubilities extend beyond a few tenths of a per cent the X-ray back-reflection technique is capable of furnishing the best of information in this field. For the most prolonged and thorough studies it is obviously advisable to combine the results of several methods, in particular, to obtain an agreement between X-ray and microscopic data. This paper reviews the work previously done on the solubilities of phosphorus, arsenic, antimony and bismuth in copper and, in considera-tion of the uncertainties thus made apparent, presents, new X-ray data obtained with the first three members of this group.

Jan 1, 1936

By W. R. Hicks, J. E. Pollock, E. Camp

In the oil-refining industry, steel comprises by far the greatest proportion of the materials used in construction work, but with an enormous number of alloy steels and nonferrous alloys available, and a greater knowledge of their properties and corrosion resistance, a substitution first in the "hot spots" and then in locations of moderately severe corrosive conditions will be made as the greater expense can be justified. In new construction work, advantage is taken of the experience already gained and appropriate materials used, whether for high temperatures and pressures demanding additional strength or for corrosive conditions. The locations, however, where equipment in operation constantly requires replacement will soon become evident, as will the necessity for replacement in more resistant materials, if considerable down-time is to be avoided. In what direction and how far to go in the matter of alloys then becomes a question of the highest importance. Obviously, any replacement with more costly material must be justified economically by the promise of longer life, thereby saving both material and installation costs besides the reduction of loss of production. Where the equipment is overcapacity and a regular schedule of cleaning periods is in force, the last item frequently must be ruled out and justification made on the basis of the first two only. Installation of material that will outlast the remainder of the equipment and have no recovery value must also be avoided; this is particularly important in temporary construction or in old equipment that will soon become obsolete. Test Methods Either one of two methods or a combination of both, in the absence of reliable data in similar services, may be adopted to determine to what extent replacement with other, and perhaps more expensive, materials is justified. A unit may be constructed incorporating different metals or alloys so that comparative service may be obtained under the same service conditions; this has been applied in many instances, such as condenser and tank construction, but the opportunities for inspection may be few and

Jan 1, 1935

By J. E. Pollock, W. R. Hicks, E. Camp

In the oil-refining industry, steel comprises by far the greatest proportion of the materials used in construction work, but with an enormous number of alloy steels and nonferrous alloys available, and a greater knowledge of their properties and corrosion resistance, a substitution first in the "hot spots" and then in locations of moderately severe corrosive conditions will be made as the greater expense can be justified. In new construction work, advantage is taken of the experience already gained and appropriate materials used, whether for high temperatures and pressures demanding additional strength or for corrosive conditions. The locations, however, where equipment in operation constantly requires replacement will soon become evident, as will the necessity for replacement in more resistant materials, if considerable down-time is to be avoided. In what direction and how far to go in the matter of alloys then becomes a question of the highest importance. Obviously, any replacement with more costly material must be justified economically by the promise of longer life, thereby saving both material and installation costs besides the reduction of loss of production. Where the equipment is overcapacity and a regular schedule of cleaning periods is in force, the last item frequently must be ruled out and justification made on the basis of the first two only. Installation of material that will outlast the remainder of the equipment and have no recovery value must also be avoided; this is particularly important in temporary construction or in old equipment that will soon become obsolete. Test Methods Either one of two methods or a combination of both, in the absence of reliable data in similar services, may be adopted to determine to what extent replacement with other, and perhaps more expensive, materials is justified. A unit may be constructed incorporating different metals or alloys so that comparative service may be obtained under the same service conditions; this has been applied in many instances, such as condenser and tank construction, but the opportunities for inspection may be few and

Jan 1, 1935

By Edgar L. Collis

NO industry or group of industries is more deeply interested in the influence exerted by atmospheric dust than that concerned with the getting of coal and of metalliferous ores. The coal miner in the past has mainly been interested on account of the part played by coal dust in the occurrence of explosions; but investigation is revealing that coal miners experience, at least on certain coal fields, unduly high mortality ascribed to lung diseases, some part of which may reasonably be attributed to dust inhalation, and that a small group of men employed in sinking shafts and driving roads through sandstone rocks experience troubles identical with those that afflict many metalliferous miners. Coal Mining The Registrar General for England and Wales issues information every 10 years concerning the mortality experienced in various industries. The records dealing with coal mining are of particular interest, since they are given separately for each of the largest fields. When examined they exhibit the coal miner with a favorable death rate on the whole when compared with all other occupied males; but they reveal great differences on the different fields; thus the Lancashire miner in 1900-2 had a comparative mortality from all causes of 1006 as against a figure of 675 for the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire miners, and in 1910-12 of 941 as against 570 for Nottinghamshire. When mortalities due to four only of the great causes of death are subtracted from the total the differences are greatly reduced; these four causes are phthisis, pneumonia, bronchitis and accidents. Thus for 1910-12 more than one-half of the mortality in Lancashire, 478 out of 941, is so accounted for, but less than one-third of the mortality in Nottinghamshire, 184 out of 570; the latter fraction compares with that for all males, 293 out of 790. Exactly why the accident mortality varies thus with those for the lung diseases has not been determined; the fact, however, points to an interesting association between health and so-called "accidental" occurrences.

Jan 1, 1927

By Charles A. Ashburner

[The statistics contained in this paper were collected for the United States Geological Survey and communicated to the Institute, by permission, prior to their publication in the report on the Mineral Statistics of the United States for 1887.1 The total coal-production of Alabama in 1887 was about 1,950,000 short tons, the spot-value of which, at the mines, was $2,535,000. The coal-regions of the State lie in the extreme southern part of the Appalachian coal-field, the northern part of which lies along the western New York-Pennsylvania State line; between these limits, New York on the north and Alabama on the south, portions of the

Jan 1, 1889

By W. B. Gogarty

With the use of polymer solutions in secondary recovery operations, the need has developed to understand the mobility control mechanism. This study investigated mobility control by considering both permeability and rheological effects. Experiments used a high molecular weight, partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide polymer. Flow studies took place in reservoir and Berea cores having zero oil saturation. Effective size of the polymer flow unit was inferred from Nuclepore filter tests. Clay studies indicated the particle size capable of decreasing the core permeability. Flushed permeabilities measured the approximate core permeabilities with flowing polymer solutions. These permeabilities were considerably lower than original values. With mobility data and the flushed permeability, maximum effective viscosities were determined for polymer solution flow in a core. Effective viscosities showed that rheological properties play an important part in mobility control with polymer solutions. The study showed that permeabilities decrease and stabilize with polymer flow. At the lower permeabilities, high shear rates exist in the cores. Because of the pseudoplastic character of the polymer solution, the high shear rates caused low effective viscosities. This condition pointed to the inefficient use of the potentially high viscosity of the polymer solution at low shear rates. INTRODUCTION In the oil industry, a great deal of interest is being shown in the use of polymer solutions for secondary recovery and a number of polymer floods are being performed in the United States.1 Some of these floods have become commercial while others have been reported as failures. A number of floods are still in progress and remain to be evaluated. With the advent of polymer flooding, the need developed to understand the mobility control mechanism in porous media. Rheologically, the polymer solutions behave as pseudoplastic fluids. Investigators have studied the rheology for this type of non-Newtonian fluid in porous media?-6 Results have also been reported on the ability of polymer solutions to decrease mobility.7-10 Some investigators indicated that polymer solutions show a different rheological behavior in cores than on the viscometer.7,8 This study is representative of an initiatory investigation on mobility control with polymer solutions. Some effects are considered on a qualitative basis. Mobility control is considered from the standpoint of both permeability and rheology and, to the extent possible, permeability and rheological effects are considered separately. Results show that mobility control occurs from a reduced permeability caused by polymer retention and an effective viscosity determined by the average shear rate in the core. In this respect, rheological behavior is as important in mobility control as permeability. PROCEDURES A high molecular weight, partially hydrolyzed, polyacrylamide polymer was used in the investigation. Solutions of various concentrations were made with this polymer in different types of water. Some solutions used distilled water and others used tap water. The tap water contained approximately 500 ppm dissolved solids. As used in this paper, concentrations in ppm refer to parts by weight solute to one million parts by weight of solvent. In the tap water, calcium and magnesium accounted for from 60 to 80 ppm of the solids, the remainder being mostly sodium chloride. All solutions contained a bactericide, and anti-oxidants and antiprecipitants were added to the tap water. Capillary and concentric-cylinder* viscometers determined the rheological properties of solutions. The capillary viscometer is described elsewhere.6 Berea and reservoir sandstone were used as core materials for this investigation. Cores were 1 in. in diameter by approximately 2 to 3 in. long. Prior to mounting, the Berea cores were heat-treated for 3 hours at 850F. This treatment decreased the water-sensitivity of the clays in the cores. The reservoir cores were cleaned with solvent and

By C. A. Crawford

NICKEL and the nickel-copper alloy, the latter generally referred to as monel metal, are available in a variety of wrought and fabricated forms, of which the following are regular commercial products: [ ]

Jan 1, 1928

Jan 1, 1949

By D. L. Luffel

This paper presents two main developments: (1) a short, constantly accelerated centrifuge method of measuring drainage capillary pressure properties of cores, and (2) a new analytic method of treatment of centrifuge measurements to obtain saturation-capillary pressure relations. Toward the first objective, a clever experimental method is presented which is certainly more rapid than previous centrifuge methods. Toward the second objective, a new analytic method is derived to eliminate the approximate method of Hassler and runner. The derivation of this new analytic method, however, appears to be in error. The new analytic solution is developed as Eq. 5 in Appendix A. At the beginning of this derivation, the average wetting phase saturation of a core is expressed as, where is the centrifuge angular velocity. Eq. D1.2 makes explicit the dependence of S and S upon The second equation shown in Appendix A expresses the relation between the three variables Since for a given porous medium the saturation is uniquely related to capillary pressure, the functional dependence of S upon P is trivial, i.e., Pc.ri does not actually appear. Thus, the function 5 (r, ) may be expressed as a new function, S*, of PC, , alone The author transforms the variable of integration in Eq. Dl through use of Eq. D2 and writes

Jan 1, 1965

By Arthur F. Johnson

THE principal costs of making a pound of aluminum are for 9 kw-hr of electricity and for 1.9 Ib of the oxide (A1203) called alumina. A pound of alumina is made by digesting 2 or 3 lb of bauxite in hot caustic solutions, settling and filtering out the oxides of silicon, iron, and titanium and precipitating and calcining the A1203 as a pure, white powder. The cost of foreign bauxite delivered at an alumina plant in the U.S. may equal or exceed the cost of its chemical treatment to make alumina. Some of the principal factors affecting costs in the utilization of foreign bauxites are: transportation from mine to market, mineralogical and physical composition of the bauxite, thickness of the bauxite beds and their clay and forest overburden, amen- ability of the bauxite to beneficiation and to caustic extraction of the alumina, and lastly size of bauxite deposits and rate of mining employed.

Jan 6, 1954

By S. L. Hoyt

Some of the more important properties of finished materials are strength, ductility, toughness, resistance to alternating and repeated stresses, etc. Of these, the property that appears to have received the least consideration, at least in this country, is toughness, which is due, possibly, to our regarding toughness as a qualitative property or, at any rate, as one that parallels ductility. This arises out of our greater experience with the simple carbon steels in the rolled or forged (non-heat-treated) condition which, qualitatively, are tough if ductile and are not tough if brittle. In this way we have erroneously become accustomed to judging the toughness of a material from its behavior in the tensile or similar test. The point of view presented in the present paper is that toughness, like hardness or tensile strength, should be regarded as an independent property and of sufficient importance to require, in so far as that may be possible, quantitative determinations. If such be true, it becomes at once necessary to devise experimental means for measuring or valuating toughness, and the notched-bar impact test (the Charpy test) is advanced as the most logical test that has so far been developed for this purpose. It is further advanced, with particular emphasis, that we have two kinds of toughness to deal with and, accordingly, they will be dealt with independently. Classification of Materials According to Toughness Toughness has been defined somewhat as follows: Tough materials are those that offer considerable resistance to permanent deformation but which, once such resistance has been overcome, may be deformed plastically, but only by the expenditure of considerable energy. In other words, tough materials may be deformed plastically but they absorb a considerable amount of work in the process. This kind of toughness may be called "static" toughness when the rate of loading is reasonably slow or "dynamic" toughness when the rate of loading is comparatively rapid, as in impact testing, but in all cases the stress distribution is essentially uniform. However, static toughness does not

Jan 1, 1920

By H. M. Chance, T. M. Chance

The term &apos;Llow-sulfur coal," as used in this discussion, is limited to coals containing less, or very little more, than 1 per cent. sulfur. For certain purposes it might be advantageous to include coals that contain as much as 1.25 per cent. sulfur, because such coals have been considered as available for making metallurgic coke of fair grade; but the same reasoning might apply to coals containing as much as.1 1/2 per cent. sulfur, if facilities exist for utilizing such coal by admixture with coal containing less sulfur. , In Pennsylvania, it is not possible to define the exact geographic limits of the areas in which coals relatively low in sulfur exist, because variations in the percentage of sulfur occur irregularly and often abruptly. It is not uncommon to find areas, more or less circumscribed in extent, in which the coal is relatively high in sulfur although all the surrounding territory contains low-sulfur coal; and, similarly, small areas of low-sul. fur coal exist in districts where the coal is normally high in sulfur. These generalizations apply, with few exceptions, to the whole area underlaid with bituminous coal in the State of Pennsylvania, and also to each of the individual beds of coal in this state. Pennsylvania is poorly supplied with coals of the low-sulfur class. We find, however, as an offset to this condition, very large areas in which coal ranging from 1 to 2 1/2 per cent. sulfur exists in beds of good workable thickness. This coal, by washing, can be reduced in sulfur low enough to make coke of a high grade. While a considerable tonnage of workable low-sulfur coal remains in the Pennsylvania bituminous districts, it has been necessary to turn to the areas of higher sulfur coal for the supply of metallurgical coke. This utilization of the higher sulfur areas has been made possible either by washing or by selective mining. Washing.—Fine crushing of the entire feed is not generally necessary to the successful washing of Pennsylvania coals. This is due to the fact that the pyrite is rarely finely and uniformly disseminated throughout the coal but is usually confined to high-sulfur benches in the bed or to concentrations on the cleavage planes of the coal. Hence, by graded crushing and sizing it is frequently possible to at once reclaim those portions of the coal bed containing coal that is relatively free from pyrite.

Jan 1, 1920

By C. R. Fondersmith, John Chipman

In the manufacture of rimming steel—which constitutes the bulk of the world&apos;s production of mild steel—the factors that determine the quality of the product are very closely associated with the pouring and solidification of the steel in the ingot mold. The behavior of the metal in the mold is, on the one hand, the resultant of the complex processes through which the liquid metal has passed, and, on the other, it is an indication of the probable behavior of the ingot during subsequent rolling and finishing operations. A detailed study of the mechanism of solidification of rimming ingots ought to yield information that will be useful in controlling the structure of the ingot and the quality of the ultimate product. The first step in such a study is to determine the rate at which the solid shell of the ingot forms from the liquid metal in the mold. A knowledge of the rate of solidification will make it possible to correlate observations of rimming action and gas evolution with studies of the structure, porosity, and segregation within the ingot. Thus, if the metal in the mold is observed to fall, let us say one minute after pouring, the portion of the structure associated with this fall will be located in the part of the ingot that is solidifying at that particular moment. The knowledge that the ingot solidifies to a depth of 3/4 in. in the first minute enables us to locate in the ingot the structural features corresponding to the observed fall. Conversely, the blowhole condition associated with a rising or growing ingot will be found in the part of the ingot that is solidifying at the time the phenomenon occurs. The time required for the complete solidification of an ingot has long been a matter of speculation. It is of considerable practical importance in connection with charging and heating in the soaking pits. Too rapid handling of the ingot through heating and rolling processes has been thought to be associated with excessive pipe and other internal defects, so that a further object of this investigation was to attempt to estimate the time required for complete solidification, or the minimum practical time within which the subsequent operations can be performed with the minimum hazard.

Jan 1, 1937

By W. R. Shimer, F. O. Kichline

The investigation herein described was carried out for the purpose of studying, both by chemical and metallographical means, the extent of over-oxidation of steel that can be accomplished by excessive overblowing in a Bessemer converter. 111 addition there are appended some results of basic open-hearth and crucible steels. Remarks on Chemical Methods. The test block used was hemispherical in shape, 4.5 in. in diameter and 2 in. thick. Drillings for analysis were obtained by drilling through the entire solid part of the block, carefully avoiding all cracks and blow-holes and mixing these drillings thoroughly. Drillinga were carefully examined for scale and the finest were gone over with a microscope to be sure all scale from whatever source had been removed. Oxygen was determined by the well-known method of Ledebur, modified according to Cushman,1 with, however, the removal of the preheating tube, which was found unnecessary. This method has been found to give concordant results. Blanks run from 0.0003 to 0.0006 g. Duplicate determinations varied not more than 0.001 to 0.003 per cent. It seems to be generally supposed that the hydrogen method gives only that oxygen which is combined with iron. Whether this be true or not, the content of oxygen existing as iron oxide no doubt predominates sufficiently, so that the result obtained is sufficient to indicate whether the steel is over-oxidized or not. We are well aware that the oxides of manganese and chromium, when existing alone, are not reduced by hydrogen at a red heat. To learn of their action in steel the following work was carried out: A sample of ferro-manganese and of ferro-chrome were each exposed

Jan 1, 1914

By A. O. Dady

PRODUCERS of both bituminous and anthracite coal have for many years been worrying about the gradually decreasing consumption of their product in the United States. Twenty years ago production had climbed to a peak of 569,000,000 tons of bituminous and around 90,000,000 tons of anthracite. In 1939 it was about 393,000,000 tons of bituminous and 51,000,000 tons of anthracite. This does not mean that the country is using less polver than it did twenty years ago, or that we are living in colder buildings. As a matter of fact, about three times as much electric power is now being consumed as in 1920. In general two factors are responsible for the drop in coal consumption: (1) greater efficiency in the use of coal, and (2) increased competition from hydro power, internal-combustion engines, and substitution of oil and gas for coal in conventional furnaces. As to the first factor, it took 3 Ib. of coal to generate a kilowatt-hour of electricity in central stations in 1920 and it takes 1.4 Ib. now; it took about 175 Ib. of coal in railroad locomotives to haul 1000 long tons a mile in 1920 where it talces about 120 lb. now: and marked economies have also been made in the use of coal in steel plants: in by-product coke ovens, and in other large uses. As to the second factor, three times as much electricity is produced from water power now as was produced in 1920; three times as much oil is being consumed in various ways; and likewise, the consumption of natural gas has tripled- whereas coal consumption in the same period has dropped by 40 per cent

Jan 1, 1941