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By S. F. Emmons

IT was said by many who discussed Professor Posepny's admirable paper on the " Genesis of Ore-Deposits," read at the Chicago meeting of the Institute, in 1893, that its most valuable feature was the clear distinction which it drew between the influence upon ore-deposits of the "vadose " circulation of waters descending directly from the surface, and that of the deep underground circulation of waters generally coming from the depths, and assumed by the author to be ascending through more or less open spaces under the influence of heat. A little later the effect of the oxidizing action of the vadose circulation upon ore-deposits was ably and exhaustively treated by Prof. R. A. F. Penrose, in a paper on " The Superficial Alteration of Ore-Deposits "f-the only one, so far as I know, which has been exclusively devoted to this important subject. My own first detailed study of ore-deposits was made at Leadville, in 1880, at a time when almost the only minerals visible in those deposits were in oxidized forms. That this form was the result of the alteration of earlier sulphides by surface-waters had to be proved at the time by induction or analogy, the general correctness of which was, however, abundantly confirmed by subsequent developments. Thus I was early impressed with the importance of distinguishing, in the study of an ore-deposit, the alteration-products, resulting from the action of oxidizing waters descending from the present surface, from the earlier-formed sulphides; and, assuming that the latter were primary or original, I called the former secondary. I also went so far as to say$ with regard to oxidized ores passing into sulphides in depth "So generally is this accepted as a rule in ore-deposits that it would require special demonstration to prove beyond a doubt that the native metals or their

Jan 1, 1902

By E. M. Cox, T. Rosenqvist

IN a recent investigation, carried out at the Institute for the Study of Metals, the affinity of sul-phur for iron, copper, and manganese was studied over the temperature range 700" to 1300°C.' It was found that copper exhibits a rather high affinity for sulphur, especially at higher temperatures; and attention was called to the possibility that copper when present together with sulphur in liquid steel would tend to lower the chemical activity of sulphur and thus interfere with the desulphurization process. It was clear, however, that the data for the equilibrium between pure copper and pure copper sulphide (Cu2S) could not give any quantitative information about the effect of copper when dissolved in liquid steel. The present work is concerned with the activity of sulphur in the diluted range of the binary iron-sulphur system, and with the influence of small amounts of copper on this sulphur activity. This investigation is in principle based on the same method previously described for the binary metal-sulphur studies;1,2 namely, reaction with hydrogen to form hydrogen sulphide. The equilibrium ratio PH2s/Ph2 in the equilibrium gas mixture is, for a given temperature, directly proportional to the sulphur activity. The activity of sulphur in liquid iron has previously been studied by Chipman and Ta Li,3 White and Skelly,4 and recently by Sherman, Elvander, and Chipman.5 Morris and Williams6 have studied the effect of added silicon, and Kitchener, Bockris and Liberman,7 and recently Morris and Buehl,8 the effect of added carbon on the sulphur activity. In present day steelmaking processes the steel bath contains between 0.01 and 0.1 pct sulphur, and the copper content may be as high as 0.5 pct. The equi-librium gas ratio (H2S/H2) would, for such a low-sulphur content, be too low to be measured with the experimental technique we use. It has been shown by previous investigators that the H2S/H2 ratio is closely proportional to the sulphur content up to about 1 pct sulphur. The sulphur activity at very low-sulphur content can therefore be calculated by linear interpolation between 0 and 1 pct sulphur. In order to show the general trend with increasing sulphur content, the present work has been carried out to about 3.5 pct sulphur. As the effect of copper was assumed to be more a function of the Cu/S ratio than of the absolute copper content, the runs with copper were made for certain constant values for this ratio.

Jan 1, 1951

By William E. Ford, Edward Salisbury Dana

The NATIVE ELEMENTS are divided into the two distinct sections of the Metals and the Non-metals, and these are connected by the transition class of the Semi-metals. The distinction between them as regards physical characters and chemical relations has already been given (Art. 453). The only non-metals present among minerals are carbon, sulphur, and selenium; the last, in one of its allotropic forms, is closely related to the semi-metal tellurium. The native semi-metals form a distinct group by themselves, since all crystallize in the rhombohedra1 class of the hexagonal system with a fundamental angle differing only a few degrees from 90°, as shown in the following list :

Jan 1, 1922

By R. L. Curfman

From January 1, 1965 through July 5, 1970, the very difficult potash ore body of Texasgulf Inc. near Moab, Utah was mined by conventional methods. The mine was gassy, the temperature was high and structural conditions precluded a satisfactory or economical extraction ratio due to the undulating configuration of the ore horizon. In 1966, 67, and 68, alternative mining methods were considered, among which was solution mining of the ore body. Cost studies indicated that the use of crystallizers to evaporate the large amounts of water attendant to solution mining offered no chance of economic success. In 1969 additional testwork and cost studies were carried out utilizing solar evaporation. These studies showed economic potential and justified additional investigation. As a result of these studies, Texasgulf now gathers potash solids from these solar evaporation ponds, (Fig. l), after pumping them from the underground mine as brine. The investigations were concentrated in four basic areas : (1) area evaporation rates and crystal growth habits; (2) underground solution tests including heat transfer rates; (3) accelerated evaporation tests to provide material for metallurgical testing, and (4) tests of evaporation pond lining materials and application techniques, along with area surveys to ascertain if sufficient earth was available in the near vicinity to con-

Jan 1, 1974

By M. E. Lombardi

THE Coalinga oil field is located on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, California. The structure is in general a monocline, the edges of the oil horizon resting on the foot hills and dipping gently toward the east. One prominent anticline occurs plunging southeast. The earlier drilling was done in the foot hills comparatively near the outcrop and the wells were shallow. The sands were followed eastward and, in the case of the anticline, along the plunge, the wells becoming deeper and deeper until the depth of 4,000 ft. was reached and passed. There is nothing to show that the oil will not be found in quantity at still greater depth. In fact, some of the best producers have tapped the sand at close to 4,000 ft. The recovery of oil still farther to the east, and therefore at greater depth, seems to be mainly a question of drilling. In this territory the formations drilled through are chiefly sands and shales; they will not "stand up" in an open drilling hole; the casing has to be carried close to the bit, and it is always difficult to keep the casing free for any considerable distance. Ability to carry casing of comparatively large diameter without conductor pipes for distances of 2,000 or 3,000 ft. or over is desirable in such territory chiefly for two reasons. It makes it possible to enter the oil sand with a pipe of ample diameter; it eliminates one or more expensive strings of casing which act only as conductors for the water string, and furthermore, in territory where waters are encountered which corrode steel rapidly, it makes possible the construction of a rust- and alkali-resisting water string. It is always desirable to shut off top waters, which may lie within 100 ft. or less of the oil sand, with 10-in. pipe. Where the depth is so great that a practical weight of 10-in. pipe will not withstand the probable collapsing pressures, 8 ¼ in. at least is desirable. About the limit of rotary drilling to date in California seems to be the setting of the 10-in. string at 3,200 ft., although the rapid advance in rotary work during the past year seems to indicate that this depth may soon be increased. It is my purpose now, however, to treat only of cable-tool drilling.

Jan 2, 1915

By Stanley L. Arnot

The Mother Lode district in California is probably better known as the land of Bret Harte and Mark Twain than as a gold-producing district, although in this respect it holds an important place. The history of quartz mining on the Mother Lode dates back to the '50s, when, after the first fever of the gold rush, men began to look for something more permanent, if not more lucrative, than the placers. Since that time, the discoveries, shutdowns, and reopenings of the many mines, together with the varying fortunes of their numerous operators, constitute an interesting chapter in California history, but one too long to include in a description of mining methods. The district is well situated, so far as physical conditions are concerned. The Mother Lode extends along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, about half way between the crest and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, the country traversed consisting of low rolling hills—typical foot-hills. The elevation varies from 1000 to 1800 ft. and the climate is most desirable. There is an abundance of water, timber is easily obtained from the higher foot-hills a few miles east, and cheap hydro-electric power is generated practically on the Lode. These natural conditions are conducive to low costs in mining and have been the deciding factor in allowing profitable exploitation of the comparatively low-grade orebodies. Transportation facilities are not bad. Five branch railroads, from the main trunk lines in the valley, tap the district at intervals of from 10 to 30 miles, and the roads connecting these are fairly good for trucking purposes. Labor is made up of several nationalities, the principal ones being American, Spanish, Jugo-Slav, Italian, and Mexican. There were few Mexicans on the Lode prior to 1919, but the shortage of labor, experienced generally by the mining camps of the country in the years following the war, made necessary the hiring of some. The percentage of Mexican labor rapidly increased in 1920 and for a year or so thereafter, but it has now diminished until at most of the mines only a few Mexicans are working. Of the different nationalities, Americans are the most efficient and Mexicans the least.

Jan 1, 1925

By H. W. Hardings

Nearly every mining and metallurgical engineer will recall his early experience and method of producing step- or stage-reduction in preparing ore-samples for assay, in which he employecl idea, step- or stage-reduction simply because it was a self-evident fact that it would be easier to break coarse ore with a hammer than it would be to roll it back and forth under the muller, and alter having reduced it to a size easy for a rubbing or bucking division he then placed it under the muller on the bucking-board and further reduced it in proportion to the physical energy he wished to expend, which was generally the minimum to produce results. After this step in our experience me seem to have ceased to consider stage-reduction as mechanicallg essential, probably because it did not apply to individual exertion. Moreover, me did not retain the mass under the muller until it was all reduced to pass the 80-mesh assay-oftice screen, but practiced further step-reduction by screening out the fine in order that it should not interfere with subsequent work, replacing the coarse for further reduction on the bucking-board. It was many years after the bucking-board stage of metallurgical practice that we mere brought to a full realization that there was a more economical method in applying the crushing forces usually employed in metallurgical work by taking advantage of this individual experience and applying it to mechanical ends. We have made some advance to this end in bringing out the conical ball-and-pebble mill—a device which fairly well automatically adjusts power to the results obtained, mechanically repeating the bucking-board experience. In the action of the conical mill, theory is evolved from practice, rather than practice from theory, as is commonly the case.

Jan 1, 1914

W. R. CRANE, State College, Pa.-The use of mine models for instructional purposes, both in the classroom and for more general work, as in the engineer's office, is of so much importance that I was pleased to FIG. 1.-MODEL OF A TIMBERED STOPE. see Professor Stock's paper which supplements a fairly voluminous literature on the subject. I have been interested in model making for instructional purposes for nearly 20 years and have tried my hand at practically every phase of the work, and have also employed practically every kind of material that

Jan 1, 1918

By G. W. Tracy, R. D. Carter

A method based on an approach by Hurst' is developed for calculating water influx behavior. Using this method, superposition calculations may be eliminated. The principal diflerence between this method and that of Hurst is that, over finite intervals of time, constant oil-productton rates are assumed by Hurst whereas constant water influx rates are assumed in the presently described method. By adopting the assumption of constant water influx rate for finite time periods, a method is developed for calculating water influx behavior which lends itself to convenient combination with the material balance equation in the Schilthuis form. Above the bubble point, an equation is given for the explicit step-wise calculation of pressure history for a prescribed oil-production history. Use of this method of calculating water influx behavior should result in a considerable saving of time as compared to superposition calculations when the calculations must be made without using a digital computer. The connection is shown between the method described herein and the method developed by van Ever-dingen and Hursr2 (which requires superposition cal-culations). Also, results obtained using the two methods are compared.

By E. B. Hunt, T. M. Geffen, C. R. Stewart, V. J. Berry

Laboratory data .show that the gas-oil ratio performance of non-uniform porosity limestones produced by solution gas drive is sensitive to producing rate and to fluid properties. Nan-uniform porosity limestones are those for which laboratcry solution and external gas drive tests yield considerably different relative permeability ratio characterislics. The oil recovery performance by solution gas drive depends directly on the number of gas bubbles formed. Laboratory rates of pressure decline, which are 100 to 10,000 times greater than normal field rates. cause the formation of an unusually large number of gas bubbles. This results in abnormally high oil recovery efficiencies. Since it is impractical to reproduce the number of bubbles formed under field conditions, laboratory solution gas drive data on non-uniform porosity limestones are therefore not directly applicable to field operations. However, certain laboratory data can be used to make a conservative estimate of field performance. The concepts presented in this paper indicate the possibility that increased field oil recoveries may he obtained from non-uniform porosity limestones by rap- idly reducing reservoir pressure for a short interval of time. It has yet to be established that significant improvements in oil recovery from such reservoirs can he realized by varying the pressure decline rate within limits possible in the field. However, the possibility that recovery may be increased in this manner warrants further study. INTRODUCTION Limestone reservoir rocks can be divided into two general classes according to the nature of their pore space. One class has a comparatively uniform pore system composed mainly of voids between grains of the rock (intergranular type porosity). The other class, in addition to having intergranular porosity, has a secondary pore system composed of combinations of solution cavities, fractures, etc., and is considered to have non-uniform porosity. It has been shown in a previous publication' that the laboratory measured gas-oil flow behavior of uniform type porosity limestones is essentially the same for a test simulating a field solution gas drive as for one simulating an external gas drive. For non-uniform porosity type limestones a significant difference in gas-oil flow behavior was found. More efficient behavior was

Jan 1, 1955

By M. Bevis, A. G. Crocker

A. G. Crocker and M. Bevis (Battersea College of Technology)— Richman and Richman and conard17 have recently published the very interesting results of their studies on the plastic deformation of Fe-Ni-C martensites and of an Fe-5 wt pct Be alloy. Other work on the range of Fe-Be alloys containing between 16 and 27 at. pct Be has also been reported by Richman." One of the fascinating features of this work is that the materials investigated deform primarily by means of twinning and that several twinning modes are operative in addition to the well-established (112 ) mode of bcc materials The composition planes of these unusual twins were determined using a single-surface analysis and reported as (0131, "{045)" or "{089)", and It is now thought1' that the "{0,1,13)" habit reported for the Fe-Ni-C alloys'' is more likely to be near "{127)". Although the full twinning elements of these unusual twinning modes could not be determined directly from the experimental results, the authors attempt to deduce the elements by considering twin intersectionslQ and by using the projection technique of Jaswon and Dove. The basic assumption of their approach is that the (013) habits are truly rational planes but that the other habits are irrational and merely approximated to by the indices quoted above. They thus deduce that the twinning mode describing the (013) habit is either Type I or compound and that the modes describing the other habits are Type 11. This deduction must however be false as all twinning modes in cubic structures obeying the classical orientation relationships of deformation twinning must be compound. Type-I and Type-I1 modes can occur in all of the other crystal systems (indeed in the triclinic system compound modes are not allowed), but in the cubic system only compound modes can arise. This fact, which does not appear to be well-known, fol- lows immediately from the relations between the four twinning elements defining a twinning mode. Thus for a Type-I mode which is uniquely defined by the rational twinning elements K1 = hi and given by: where the summation convention of the tensor calculus has been adopted. For cubic materials the metrics and reduce to the unit tensors and j so that we have It is clear from these equations that both ki and ui must take on integral values; i.e., Kz, and ql must be rational, if hi and vi are integers, i.e., if K1 and are rational. Thus for cubic materials a Type-I mode must degenerate into a compound mode and the same result also arises for Type-II modes. The apparently irrational habits observed by the authors can thus not be explained in terms of Type-I1 twinning if the classical laws of deformation twinning are to be obeyed. An alternative explanation of the irrational habits is that they may arise from twinning modes with four irrational twinning elements. These modes, which do not obey the classical orientation relationships associated with deformation twinning, have been shown to arise as the result of double twinning processes in magnesium,22 but may also describe a simple shear on an irrational plane in an irrational direction. Indeed double twinning processes in bcc

Jan 1, 1963

By M. Bevis, A. G. Crocker

A. G. Crocker and M. Bevis (Battersea College of Technology)— Richman and Richman and conard17 have recently published the very interesting results of their studies on the plastic deformation of Fe-Ni-C martensites and of an Fe-5 wt pct Be alloy. Other work on the range of Fe-Be alloys containing between 16 and 27 at. pct Be has also been reported by Richman." One of the fascinating features of this work is that the materials investigated deform primarily by means of twinning and that several twinning modes are operative in addition to the well-established (112 ) mode of bcc materials The composition planes of these unusual twins were determined using a single-surface analysis and reported as (0131, "{045)" or "{089)", and "{2,3,10)" or "(127)". (It is now thought1' that the "{0,1,13)" habit reported for the Fe-Ni-C alloys'' is more likely to be near "{127)". Although the full twinning elements of these unusual twinning modes could not be determined directly from the experimental results, the authors attempt to deduce the elements by considering twin intersectionslQ and by using the projection technique of Jaswon and Dove.' The basic assumption of their approach is that the (013) habits are truly rational planes but that the other habits are irrational and merely approximated to by the indices quoted above. They thus deduce that the twinning mode describing the (013) habit is either Type I or compound and that the modes describing the other habits are Type 11. This deduction must however be false as all twinning modes in cubic structures obeying the classical orientation relationships of deformation twinning must be compound. Type-I and Type-I1 modes can occur in all of the other crystal systems (indeed in the triclinic system compound modes are not allowed), but in the cubic system only compound modes can arise. This fact, which does not appear to be well-known, fol- lows immediately from the relations between the four twinning elements defining a twinning mode. Thus for a Type-I mode which is uniquely defined by the rational twinning elements K1 = hi and tj2 = vi (i = 1, 2, 3), the Kz qd 771 elements are given by: where the summation convention of the tensor calculus has been adopted. For cubic materials the metrics cij Iand cij reduce to the unit tensors 6ij and 6ij so that we have It is clear from these equations that both ki and ui must take on integral values; i.e., Kz, and ql must be rational, if hi and vi are integers, i.e., if K1 and 77~ are rational. Thus for cubic materials a Type-I mode must degenerate into a compound mode and the same result also arises for Type-II modes. The apparently irrational habits observed by the authors can thus not be explained in terms of Type-I1 twinning if the classical laws of deformation twinning are to be obeyed. An alternative explanation of the irrational habits is that they may arise from twinning modes with four irrational twinning elements. These modes, which do not obey the classical orientation relationships associated with deformation twinning, have been shown to arise as the result of double twinning processes in magnesium,22 but may also describe a simple shear on an irrational plane in an irrational direction. Indeed double twinning processes in bcc

Jan 1, 1963

New York Meets first Wednesday after first Tuesday of each month. J. E. JOHNSON, Jr., Chairman EDGAR RICKARD, Vice-Chairman D. M. LIDDELL, Secretary, 7 Wall St., New York, N. Y. C. A. BOHN, Treasurer JOHN V. N. DORR. LEWIS W. FRANCIS Boston Meets first Monday of each winter month. R. L. AGASSIZ, Chairman JAMES G. CARLETON, Vice-Chairman E. E. BUGBEE Secretary-Treasurer, Mass. Inst. of Technology, Cambridge,Mass. W. E. C. EUSTIS G. A. PACKARD Columbia Holds four sessions during year. Annual meeting in September or October. W. H. LINNEY. Chairman OSCAR LACHMUND, Vice-Chairman LYNDON K. ARMSTRONG, Secretary-Treasurer, P. 0. Drawer 2154, Spokane, Wash. STANLY A. EASTON S. SHEDD Puget Sound Meets second Saturday of each month SIMON H. ASH, Chairman I. F. LAUCKS, Vice-Chairman CHARLES SIMENSTAD, Secretary-Treasurer, 425 Lyon Bldg., Seattle, Wash. GLENVILLE A. COLLINS JOHN N. POTT

Jan 10, 1917

By Vard H. Johnson

IN 1943 the U. S. Bureau of Mines undertook drilling in an effort to develop new reserves of coking coal in an area near Paonia, Colo., as a part of an attempt to alleviate the shortage of known coking coal of good quality in the western United States. Geologic mapping of the area was undertaken by the U. S. Geological Survey with the purpose of first furnishing guidance in location of drillholes and later aiding in interpreting the results of the drilling. The drilling program was under the general supervision of A. L. Toenges of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. J. J. Dowd and R. G. Travis were in charge of the work in the field. Geologic mapping was started by D. A. Andrews of the Geological Survey in the summer of 1943 and was continued from the spring of 1944 to 1949 by the writer. The first few holes drilled failed to locate coking coal, but in the summer of 1944 coking coal was discovered by drilling 6 miles east of Somerset, Colo., the site of present mining. In the succeeding years, 1945 to 1948, 100 to 150 million tons of coal suitable for coking were blocked out by drilling. The ensuing discussion of the geologic controls on the distribution of coking coal in the area is based on the geologic mapping as well as the drilling done in the Paonia area, more complete descriptions of which have appeared or are in process of publication."' In order that the possible geologic controls affecting the present distribution of coking coal may be considered, it is necessary to discuss briefly the indicators of coking quality coals. Coking Coal Coal that cokes has the property of softening to form a pastelike mass at high temperatures under reducing conditions in the coke oven. This softening is accompanied by the release of the volatile constituents as bubbles of gas. After release of the contained gases and upon cooling, a hard gray coherent but spongelike mass remains that is referred to as coke. This substance varies greatly in physical properties and, to be suitable for industrial use, must be sufficiently dense and strong to withstand the crushing pressure of heavy furnace loads. Western coals have a generally high volatile content and therefore form a satisfactory coke only when they attain a rather high fluidity during the process of heating arid distillation in the coke oven. When this high degree of fluidity is developed, the volatile constituents escape and leave a finely porous coke. On the other hand, when the degree of fluidity is low the product is an excessively porous and therefore physically weak mass that is called char." Small quantities of oxygen present in coal are believed to decrease the fluidity of the material during the coking process and to favor the development of char rather than coke. In consequence, coal chemists have for some time considered the possibility of developing an index to coking qualities by inspection of chemical analyses of coals.' A formula has now been developed that does permit a rough preliminary estimate of the cokability of coal on the basis of the analysis on an ash and moisture-free basis. Coals may be eliminated as possible coking fuels if the oxygen content is greater than 11 pct. Similarly the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen must be greater than 0.5 and the ratio of fixed carbon to volatile constituents must be greater than 1.3. If the coal, on the basis of these limiting factors, appears to have possible coking qualities, the following formula permits determination of the coking index: a+b+c+d Coking index = -------- 5 a equals 22/oxygen content on ash and moisture-free basis, b equals two times the hydrogen content divided by oxygen content on moisture and ash-free basis, c equals fixed carbon/l.3 x volatile matter, and d equals the heating value on moist, ash-free basis/13,600. Coking indices higher than 1.0 suggest that the coal will coke, and indices above' 1.1 indicate good coking tendencies. Although generally usable, this formula 'is not completely satisfactory because the percentage of oxygen shown in ultimate analyses is derived only by difference; i.e., by subtracting the sum of the percentages of the constituents determined analytically from 100 pct. Although the coking index indicates the coking tendencies of coal, it is necessary to make physical tests of coke before its industrial value can be determined. The U. S. Bureau of Mines has developed a standard procedure for determining the approximate strength of coke that would be formed from a given coal. In this test one part of ground coal, mixed with 15 parts of carborundum, is baked to form a standard briquette. The weight, in kilograms, necessary to crush the briquette is termed the agglutinating index. This test determines the relative fluidity attained in the coking process by measuring the cementing strength of the coal in the briquette. A

Jan 1, 1953

By Vard H. Johnson

IN 1943 the U. S. Bureau of Mines undertook drilling in an effort to develop new reserves of coking coal in an area near Paonia, Colo., as a part of an attempt to alleviate the shortage of known coking coal of good quality in the western United States. Geologic mapping of the area was undertaken by the U. S. Geological Survey with the purpose of first furnishing guidance in location of drillholes and later aiding in interpreting the results of the drilling. The drilling program was under the general supervision of A. L. Toenges of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. J. J. Dowd and R. G. Travis were in charge of the work in the field. Geologic mapping was started by D. A. Andrews of the Geological Survey in the summer of 1943 and was continued from the spring of 1944 to 1949 by the writer. The first few holes drilled failed to locate coking coal, but in the summer of 1944 coking coal was discovered by drilling 6 miles east of Somerset, Colo., the site of present mining. In the succeeding years, 1945 to 1948, 100 to 150 million tons of coal suitable for coking were blocked out by drilling. The ensuing discussion of the geologic controls on the distribution of coking coal in the area is based on the geologic mapping as well as the drilling done in the Paonia area, more complete descriptions of which have appeared or are in process of publication."' In order that the possible geologic controls affecting the present distribution of coking coal may be considered, it is necessary to discuss briefly the indicators of coking quality coals. Coking Coal Coal that cokes has the property of softening to form a pastelike mass at high temperatures under reducing conditions in the coke oven. This softening is accompanied by the release of the volatile constituents as bubbles of gas. After release of the contained gases and upon cooling, a hard gray coherent but spongelike mass remains that is referred to as coke. This substance varies greatly in physical properties and, to be suitable for industrial use, must be sufficiently dense and strong to withstand the crushing pressure of heavy furnace loads. Western coals have a generally high volatile content and therefore form a satisfactory coke only when they attain a rather high fluidity during the process of heating arid distillation in the coke oven. When this high degree of fluidity is developed, the volatile constituents escape and leave a finely porous coke. On the other hand, when the degree of fluidity is low the product is an excessively porous and therefore physically weak mass that is called char." Small quantities of oxygen present in coal are believed to decrease the fluidity of the material during the coking process and to favor the development of char rather than coke. In consequence, coal chemists have for some time considered the possibility of developing an index to coking qualities by inspection of chemical analyses of coals.' A formula has now been developed that does permit a rough preliminary estimate of the cokability of coal on the basis of the analysis on an ash and moisture-free basis. Coals may be eliminated as possible coking fuels if the oxygen content is greater than 11 pct. Similarly the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen must be greater than 0.5 and the ratio of fixed carbon to volatile constituents must be greater than 1.3. If the coal, on the basis of these limiting factors, appears to have possible coking qualities, the following formula permits determination of the coking index: a+b+c+d Coking index = -------- 5 a equals 22/oxygen content on ash and moisture-free basis, b equals two times the hydrogen content divided by oxygen content on moisture and ash-free basis, c equals fixed carbon/l.3 x volatile matter, and d equals the heating value on moist, ash-free basis/13,600. Coking indices higher than 1.0 suggest that the coal will coke, and indices above' 1.1 indicate good coking tendencies. Although generally usable, this formula 'is not completely satisfactory because the percentage of oxygen shown in ultimate analyses is derived only by difference; i.e., by subtracting the sum of the percentages of the constituents determined analytically from 100 pct. Although the coking index indicates the coking tendencies of coal, it is necessary to make physical tests of coke before its industrial value can be determined. The U. S. Bureau of Mines has developed a standard procedure for determining the approximate strength of coke that would be formed from a given coal. In this test one part of ground coal, mixed with 15 parts of carborundum, is baked to form a standard briquette. The weight, in kilograms, necessary to crush the briquette is termed the agglutinating index. This test determines the relative fluidity attained in the coking process by measuring the cementing strength of the coal in the briquette. A

Jan 1, 1953

By C. A. Lemke

THE ores now milled at the Midvale concentrator of the United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. come mostly from ;the company's mine in the Bingham district, about 18 miles west of Midvale. Custom ores from this same district and from other western mining districts are also milled at times. The Bingham ores consist of galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite in a gangue of quartz, quartzite, limestone, and porphyry. The percentage of chalcopyrite is small, usually about 0.5 per cent., while the galena, pyrite, and sphalerite combined constitute about 60 per cent. of the total ore. These three minerals vary considerably' in amount and, at times, all three are somewhat oxidized. The ores also contain gold and silver, the former being mostly in the pyrite while the latter is generally with the galena. The crystallization of the economic minerals varies from fairly coarse to extremely fine. The ores are carried to Midvale by the Bingham & Garfield and the Los Angeles & Salt Lake railroads or by the Denver h Rio Grande Western railroad, in 50-ton, steel, full dump cars. The milling problem is to recover the silver-bearing galena, the gold-bearing pyrite, and the chalcopyrite in a product suitable for the lead smelter and containing the least possible amount of gangue and sphalerite and then recover the sphalerite in a product suitable for a zinc smelter. The minerals are recovered partly by water concentration and partly by water concentration combined with electrostatic treatment.

Jan 9, 1925

By C. E. Reistle, G. L. Nye

The East Texas field is in Smith, Rusk, Gregg, Upshur and Cherokee counties, Texas. The discovery well was completed Sept. 8, 1930, near the eastern limit of the field. Within less than one year the new field became the dominant factor in the world production of crude oil. On Aug. 16, 1931, eleven months after completion of the discovery well, there were 1644 wells in the field, and the average daily production was 584,475 bbl. Since that time the number of wells has increased to 8195 on Oct. 1, 1933, and the field has produced 385,979,691 bbl. of oil. The geology of the East Texas field has been discussed by Lahee,1 Levorsen,2 Minor and Hanna3 and others, and it will not be discussed in detail here. The field is a structure of the monocline type on the westward dipping homocline between the Sabine uplift and the East Texas geosyncline. Production is obtained from the Woodbine group, which has been truncated and then sealed by the Austin chalk, which rests unconformably upon it. The oil-saturated part of the sand lies bettween a sub-sea depth of 3050 ft. on the east side of the field, where the Woodbine sand stops and the Austin chalk rests directly upon older formations, and a sub-sea depth of 3320 ft., which was the average depth of the water table in the sand at the time the field was discovered. The field is about 40 miles long and has an average width of approximately 4 1/2 miles. The area within the proven limits of the field is close to 116,580 acres and the normal Woodbine water underlies nearly 62,000 acres on the western side of the field at the present time. The field is unusual in several respects: (1) the tremendous size of the reservoir system and the quantity of oil in place; (2) the large area of the oil and water contact, which makes water movement possible into the oil-bearing part of the structure; (3) the absence of free gas within the main producing sand of the field. Changes in the reservoir pressure during the production history of the field have been greatly affected by

Jan 1, 1934

By Carleton Ellis

The problem of the influence of hot surfaces upon gaseous combustion is one which, from a purely scientific standpoint, has engaged, for many years past, the attention of Prof. William A. Bone, of Leeds University and the Imperial College, London ; and as his recent work has been the direct outcome of earlier scientific investigation, it will be appropriate, by may of introduction, to review briefly the present position of science with respect to this important subject, as stated by Professor Bone. One may perhaps best arrive at an understanding of the term " flameless " or " surface " combustion by considering certain facts which differentiate it from the more familiar processes of

Jan 1, 1913

By Samuel Wyer

THE art of natural-gas compressing is now over 25 years old, and has grown at practically the same rate as the increase in domestic natural-gas consumers. There are now over 200 natural-gas compressing stations in North America, aggregating more than 320,000 hp. of compressor capacity and representing a property value of more than $22,000,000, and compressing more than 85 per cent. of all the gas used. The age and magnitude of the art make it evident that the use of gas compressors is a recognized integral part and universal custom of the natural-gas business. The public also is not without its rights and vital interests in this problem. Approximately 1,700,000 domestic natural-gas consumers in North America are dependent upon gas compressors for their natural-gas service. That is, if the use of compressors were to be prohibited, the majority of these consumers would be unable to secure adequate natural-gas service. Each consumer represents between four and five persons, and it therefore follows that the comfort and well-being-as far as natural-gas service is concerned-of at least 8,000,000 persons would be affected if the use of natural-gas compressors should be prohibited. These 1,700,000 consumers have invested, in services, house piping, fixtures, and appliances, an average of about $90 each, or an aggregate of $153,000,000, which is much more than the companies' investment in gas compressors. Furthermore, in all cases where the rate paid by the consumers is fair to the gas company-considering the value of the service rendered by the gas company-the consumers are entitled to continued service and protection of the investment they have made on the faith that the gas service would be continued in the future.

Jan 2, 1916

By C. Edward Capes

Fine particles in liquid suspension can be agglomerated by a number of mechanisms. Well-known methods include the addition of electrolyte to reduce the zeta potential and allow mutual adhesion arid the use of polymeric flocculants to bridge between the particles. A more recent technique, "spherical Agglomeration", is the subject of this paper. The process involves the addition of a second liquid which is immiscible with the suspending liquid and preferentially wets the particles to cause particle adhesion by capillary liquid bridges. Progress in the application of spherical agglomeration to a number of distinct technological fields is reviewed in this paper. The areas of interest include the formation of dense, highly spherical agglomerates, the separation of solids from suspension and the fractionation of complex, multi-component solids mixtures, such as ores. Some of the more interesting recent applications in the energy and environmental fields, such as the beneficiation of' coal and tar sands, are highlighted.

Jan 1, 1977