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By AIME AIME

In the uniform of his country for the second time, Harry Phillip Stolz. Chairman of the A.I.M.E. Petroleum Division, holds a commission as Lieutenant-Commander in the Naval Reserve and is attached to the office of Inspector of Naval Petroleum Reserves in California. During World War I he left his studies at Stanford University to join the Army and was granted a commission as Second Lieutenant of Infantry. He remained in the Army Reserve until 1938 when he resigned to accept a commission as a member of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Advisory Board. Born in San Francisco Jan. 29,1899, where his father had lived since 1880, he was in that city during the turbulent year of 1906 where the city was ravaged by fire and earthquake.

Jan 1, 1942

By D. L. Rainey, E. R. Goter, W. R. Hudspeth

THE area in which spodumene-bearing pegmatites occur extends from Gaffney, S. C., in a northerly direction to Lincolnton, N. C., a distance of about 16 miles. The zone averages 2 miles in width. Interest in this area was first aroused by the discovery of small amounts of cassiterite in the peg-matites and in greissen which occurs on the walls of some of the pegmatites. Attempts were made from 1880 into the 1920's to mine and concentrate cas-siterite, but there were no successful operations. In 1935 L. M. Williams became interested in the area and began prospecting by trenching and sinking several small shafts. He gradually gained control of a considerable acreage south of the city of Kings Mountain, N. C. Mr. Williams states that he produced some ore from a shaft which he shipped to the Maywood Chemical Co. in the late 1930's. In 1937 G. H. Chambers of the Foote Mineral Co. visited the area and examined several properties, but the lithium market was too small to support the necessary concentrating plant. Early in World War II the Solvay Process Co., encouraged by various federal agencies, acquired the Williams properties and leases and started a drilling program to develop reserves for spodumene mining. A study of this area was also made under T. L. Kesler by the U. S. Department of the Interior Geological Survey. Starting in 1942 a concentrating plant, water supply dams, and shops and other buildings were constructed. The Superior Stone Co., a neighboring crushed stone operator, was awarded a contract to mine and crush the pegmatite ore. Late in 1943 the plant started operations, which were continued until February 1946. A drop in demand for lithium chemicals forced it to close and remain closed for several years. In 1948 the Foote Mineral Co. became interested in assuring itself a source of lithium ore on the North American continent, to be used in the production of lithium ore chemicals, and inspected properties in Canada, South Dakota, and North Carolina. The North Carolina deposits were the most promising. In the fall of 1950 the company leased the Solvay interests with option to buy and acquired additional properties. Renovation of the mill and preparation of the quarry for mining was begun in earnest in January 1951. A new crushing plant was built and construction started in July 1951. The flotation process used was developed in the North Carolina State Minerals Research Laboratory located at Asheville, N. C. Foote is now in the process of expanding its production. The crushing plant is being revamped and much of the old milling equipment purchased from Solvay will be replaced by new. Mining equipment of suitable capacity has been received and is in use. The frontispiece is a general view of the mill. The orebodies consist of pegmatite dikes composed of fine-grained albite and quartz, with varying amounts of mica and spodumene. The latter may amount to as much as 50 pct of the rock, but the overall average is about 15 to 20 pct. Tin, columbite-tantalite, beryl, and other valuable minerals are present in varying small amounts. These dikes, which intruded into the Roan Gneiss underlying most of the Piedmont area, strike approximately N 30 E and dip about 85" to the west. The gneiss has the same strike but dips about 70" west. The dikes lie in a belt extending from Lin-colnton, N. C., to Gaffney, S. C., and passing through

Jan 1, 1954

Jan 1, 1928

By K. B. Nowels

Data pertaining to pipe line flow for both oil and gas in horizontal or nearly horizontal pipe lines are both extensive and accurate. However, the pipe formulas used to determine pressure drop for flowing fluids (liquids and gases) under conditions of horizontal flow are not generally applicable to flowing oil and/or gas wells. Except for some data developed in small laboratory set-ups, little or no information was available concerning flow of oil and gas mixtures in vertical pipes, when, in 1928, the writer began the development of a method for computing pressure drops in the pipes of flowing oil wells, as outlined in this paper. In 1929, Urenl presented some findings based on laboratory experiments in which vertical flow of an extremely heavy crude oil was induced by means of air through a 2-in. pipe, 41 ft. long. The friction factors derived from the experiment, as well as values for pressure drop per 100 ft., are not believed satisfactory in their application to flow problems in the field. Versluys,2 also in 1929, presented a mathematical development of the theory of flowing oil wells, and in 1930, gave a companion paper3 setting forth some principles governing the choice of length and diameter of tubing in oil wells. Since the termination of the study presented in this paper, another valuable contribution pertaining to the problem of vertical flow was made by Moore and Wilde.4 Although there were writings dealing with the principles of the gas-lift, a search of the available literature indicated that specific information on vertical flow was lacking with the exception of the writings of Uren, Versluys, and Moore and Wilde, to which reference has been made.

Jan 1, 1932

By Adrian C. Dorenfeld, Theodore Balberyszski, Strathmore R. B. Cooke

This paper reports results of studies of sulfidiza-tion of base-metal oxides and silicates with gaseous sulfur, hydrogen sulfide gas and pyrite and of their subsequent flotation with xanthate collectors. It has been established that a 100% conversion of the oxides of lead, zinc, copper and manganese into their respective sulfides is possible and is a function of reaction time and temperature. Sulfidization of chrysocolla (with malachite and azurite inclusions) resulted in a product containing covellite, chalcocite and digenite in proportions depending on conditions of sulfidization. Reacting cassiterite with gaseous sulfur, H2S or pyrite at various reaction temperatures resulted in its partial conversion to a tin sulfide. Flotation of the products of sulfidization indicated that their behavior is similar to that of natural sulfide minerals, the recovery being a function of the con-version of the oxides to their respective sulfides. The gradual depletion of high-grade sulfide mineral deposits has turned the attention of the mineral industry to the recovery of metals from the oxides and silicates. Anionic (fatty acid) and cationic collectors have in some cases made flotation of nonsulfides possible, although, in general, flotation of oxide ores is not as yet an economic process. Consequently, many attempts have been made to sulfidize the surface of the relevant oxide mineral and thus make it amenable to to In recent years, Bautista and sollenberger4 have investigated the conversion of a number of oxides to sulfides by reacting them with molten sulfur. This paper presents the results of .investigations carried out at the School of Mineral and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Minnesota to study the flotation characteristics of some sulfidized minerals. It is divided into two parts: The first describes the sulfidization of a number of oxides and a silicate, and the second presents the flotation behavior of the products of sulfidization. SULFIDIZATION OF METAL OXIDES AND SILICATES Experimental Procedure: SULFIDIZATION WITH HYDROGEN SULFIDE GAS — Sulfidization with H2S gas was carried out in a horizontal tube furnace (Fig. 1). The temperature of the furnace was regulated by means of a Variac and determined with a chromel-alumel thermocouple. The constant temperature zone in the furnace was about 6 in. in length, and it was within this zone that the experiments were carried out. The gases employed were supplied from standard compressed gas cylinders, and passed through a glass-wool filtering tower before entering the Pyrex reaction tube. Gaseous products were bubbled through a water tower (used as a flow indicator) and excess H2S was burned off at the end of the outlet tube. Samples of reagents or minerals were placed in a 3-in. Alundum boat and inserted within the constant temperature zone of the furnace. Nitrogen gas (6 ppm O2 content) was passed through the tubes at room temperature to remove air in the tube, and continued to pass while the furnace was heating up. When the required temperature was reached, H2S was allowed to enter the tube and the supply of nitrogen was shut off. At the end of the reaction period, the reverse procedure was carried out, the samples being cooled to room temperature in a nitrogen atmosphere. The flow rate of H2S gas was maintained fairly constant in all experiments, although the rate was not determined. SULFIDIZATION WITH SULFUR POWDER - To study the sulfidization of minerals with sulfur (liquid or gaseous), samples of the mineral, together with a measured quantity of sulfur powder, were placed in a stainless steel (SS316) reaction vessel (Fig. 2). The reaction vessel was heated in a vertical resistance coil furnace, the temperature being regulated through a Variac. At the end of the experiment the vessel was cooled to room temperature before the sample was removed. Cooled products were leached with CS2 to remove any free sulfur. SULFIDIZATION OF TIN CONCENTRATES - Fifty gram samples of sulfidized tin ore were prepared by mixing -48 mesh Bolivian tin concentrate with -48 mesh Ottawa sand in various proportions and sulfi-dizing these samples with H2S in the horizontal tube

Jan 1, 1969

By D. M. Schuster, E. Scala

The elastic effects occurring in the matrix of a composite reinforced by discontinuous fibers were studied by means of photoelastic techniques. A hirefringent plastic was employed as the matrix material with high-strength a Al2O3 whiskers as the reinforcing fibers. It was found that for whiskers aligned parallel to the tensile load direction: (I) Matrix reinforcement occurred along the length of the whisker to within about 5 diameters of the whisker tip for a length to diameter ratio, L/D, of 40. (2) Significant stress concentrations were created in regions immediately surrounding the tips; the fine as-formed tapered ends exhibited the minimum stress concentration whereas the square-ended whisker produced relatively high values, K r 2.5 for L/D = 40. (3) The axial and radial stress distributions could he determined quantitatively; the stress distribution at the whisker-matrix interface was in general agreement with theoretical calculations. (4) The highest source of stress concentration occurred at points of fracture in whiskers which had ruptured after incorporation into the composite. Whiskers aligned perpendicular to the load direction neither reinforced nor caused appreciahle stress concentrations in the matrix. ThE properties of composites have generally been formulated empirically on the basis of macroscopic tests. There are still many questions concerning the mechanical and chemical interactions occurring at the interface between the reinforcing fiber and its matrix. Continuously reinforced plastics and dispersion-hardened metals represent the two extremes of composite reinforcement. Whether artificially produced or formed in situ, the whisker composite falls between these two extremes and is an example of discontinuous fiber reinforcement. The effect of fiber shape, size, surface condition, and end configuration on the stress distribution in the matrix is important since the presence of stress concentrations, especially in any high-strength, thin-wall structure, could become the cause of catastrophic failure. DOW,' in his theoretical discussion of discontinuous fiber reinforcement, has pointed out that appreciable stress concentrations occur at the tips or ends of the reinforcing fibers. It is the purpose of this study to examine directly, by means of the photoelastic technique, the stresses which occur in the vicinity of a discontinuity or whisker tip and to measure qualitatively and quantitatively the effects of whisker geometry when embedded in a birefringent matrix material. The use of sapphire (a A1,O3) whiskers was decided upon as the reinforcing agent because of their high elastic modulus (E- 60 X 106 psi) and in some cases strengths in excess of one and a half million psi. Sapphire whiskers are of further practical interest since they retain large fractions of their strength up to temperatures approaching the melting point (3720oF).2 The whiskers were grown, by the vapor-phase reaction commonly employed,3 as part of this study to insure a physically uniform supply. Tensile and bend tests were performed to verify that the whiskers were of the expected ultra-high strength. The high-strength whiskers can be identified and selected from the combustion boats by surface perfection, shape, and size; otherwise, strength values can vary by a factor of ten or more. Macroscopic defects are quite common on the surface of large bladed whiskers and the principal experiments were conducted with hexagonal whiskers of about 0.002 in. diameter and lengths ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 in. Upon completion of these two phases of the experiment, several birefringent resins were evaluated. A plastic, developed by Zandman,4 which is supplied by the Budd Co., was found most suitable and was used as the matrix material for the whisker composite throughout the study. It has a sensitivity of 60.5 lb per in. order, calibrated in tension and cures without introducing residual stresses. Young's modulus for this matrix material is 430,000 psi in the fully cured condition. Since good wetting and bonding between the sapphire and the matrix material is essential to the interpretation of the results, a wettability test was performed. The contact angle was measured to be 168 deg where perfect wetting is defined as 180 deg; therefore, the Budd Plastic wets the sapphire

Jan 1, 1964

T. A. Rickard, Denver, Colorado: The observations made by the author concerning the treatment of gold-bearing ores, deal with the subject only briefly and in a general way; but, coming from an authority, they invite comment. In stating the fact that a " finely-divided condition " is a necessary characteristic of ores containing free gold, the author must be refer ring to those mining districts only with which he himself is ac quainted. The statement would not be true of certain gold-mining regions in America and Australia. The ores of some Californian mines and the mill-stuff treated at certain of the mills of Clunes and Ballarat in Australia, and of Otago in New Zealand, contain the gold in a free but in a coarse state. Moreover, "reduction to fine sand and flour" is not required by certain ores, even though the gold be in a finely-divided condition. In such cases the gold becomes de tached from the quartz before the gangue has been pulverized into particles as small as those in which the gold occurs. The dry-crushing of free-milling gold-ores is onknown in the new mining regions of the world. It is not clear whether the author has in mind any European district in which such a process is in actual use. If he has, a description of the method and the results obtained would be very valuable. Dry-crushing is, other things being equal, twice as slow and twice as expensive as wet-crushing. In the case of free-milling gold-quartz it serves no purpose, since such ore does not carry sulphides which contain any large percentage of value, and which, by being slimed, may carry away part of that value. The dry-crushing of a free-milling gold-quartz would be considered an absurdity by an American metallurgist. If the ore contain "free gold only," why submit it to a further treatment, such as concentration, after its passage over the amalga mating-plate ? What does the author propose to concentrate ? Again, why anticipate the treatment of tailings by the McArthur Forrest, or some other process ? The satisfaction felt by a mill-man in saving gold by a subsequent treatment of the tailings from his mill appears to me to be like that of the man who shoots at a rabbit,

Jan 1, 1894

By J. Gordon Parr, G. R. Purdy

The phase boundaries of "TiNi" have been accurately determined by high-tewperature X-ray diffraction and metallo-graphic techniques. The phase (centered at 51 pct Ni) has a restricted range of homogeneity at 500°C, and a much greater range at 800°C. "TiNi" in all alloys containing less than 51 pct Ni decomposes rapidly and reversibly at 36°C to form a previously unreported phase. ThE region of the titanium nickel system corresponding to the phase "TiNi" has been the subject of several investigations.1,2,4-7 Laves and wallbaum1 reported "TiNi" as a body-centered cubic (a2) Phase, and Duwez and Taylor2 determined its para- meter to be 2.986. Duwez and Taylor also reported that "TiNi" decomposed into "Ti2Ni" and "TiNi3" on prolonged heating at 650" and 800°C, which led McQuillan3 to suggest a sluggish eutectoid reaction between "TiNis" and "Ti2Ni". Margolin, Ence, and Nielsen,' working with higher purity alloys, found no evidence of this decomposition. They showed the "TiNi" phase region extending from 49 to 54 pct*

Jan 1, 1962

By J. H. Jensen

Bromine is the intermediate member of the halogen family of elements between iodine, a solid: and chlorine, a gas. The name is derived from the Greek "bromos," meaning stench. Bromine is the only nonmetallic element that is liquid at room temperatures with a melting point of -7.2" C and a boiling point of 58.78" C. Reddish brown in color, it dissolves easily in water to yield a red solution. Bromine volatilizes at ordinary temperatures to a red vapor that is very irritating to the eyes, nose, and throat. Density of the liquid is 3.12 and gas weighs 7.59 gpl at standard conditions. As the element is highly active, it exists in nature only as bromide compounds. Bromine was discovered by Antoine Jerome Balard in seawater bitterns in 1826 and first prepared in quantity in 1860. Distribution Bromine is widely distributed in nature and compounds occur in solution in natural brines, in seawater, saline lakes, oil and gas well brines, and in evaporite chloride minerals. The concentration of bromine salts ranges from 60- 65 ppm in seawater to several thousand ppm in oil well brines and saline lakes. The distribution of bromine in marine evaporite minerals and in the solutions from which they crystallized was determined many years ago by H. E. Boeke (1 908). Theoretical aspects regarding the geochemistry of bromine have been published in numerous papers (Raup and Mite, 1969). Bromine occurs in solid solution in carnallite and sylvite associated in potash de- posits; in halite in salt beds; salt in oil shales; and in trona deposits. Its presence is useful as a guide in geochemical exploration. The analysis of small amounts of bromides in the presence of large amounts of chlorides is discussed by W. Schwerdtner (1963). Manganese, iron, and iodine may interfere with the determination. Other analytical methods are discussed at length in the literature (Stenger and Atchison, 1964). Sources and Reserves The sources and reserves of bromine, given in [Table 1], appear ample to meet present and foreseeable requirements in all producing countries. With the occurrence of bromine salts in sea-water and other brines, the potential for bromine production is worldwide. It has been estimated that 99% of all commercially recoverable bromine is in the ocean. However, actual subterranean brines having a higher bromine content than seawater will continue to be the preferred sources of bromine for the foreseeable future. Markets and Prices About 17% (1968) of bromine produced is used in its elemental form, with the balance consumed as bromides and bromates. The largest use for bromine is ethylene dibromide which, together with tetraethyl lead, are used as an antiknock additive in gasoline. Tetra-ethyl lead is the antiknock agent. Ethylene dibromide combines with the lead after combustion in the engine to form a volatile com- pound that escapes from the engine with the exhaust gases.

Jan 1, 1975

By A. E. Dwight, A. F. Berndt

ThE published U-Ru equilibrium diagram indicates the existence of six intermetallic compounds in this system.' The structure of only two of the compounds, u2Ru2,3 and URU3,4 have been identified. This communication reports on the crystal structure and density of Uau3, which is formed by a peritectoid transformation at 1025° ± 5°C: U3Ru4 + U3Ru5 = U2Ru3. An alloy with the stoichiometric formula U2Ru3 was prepared by arc melting electrolytic uranium and ruthenium of 99.9 pct purity on a water-cooled copper hearth under an argon atmosphere. After homo-genization at 1000°C for 3 days, a metallographic examination revealed that the peritectoid transformation was complete and less than 5 pct of a second phase was present. A powdered sample, obtained by crushing the brittle compound, was annealed for 1 hr at 1000°C and air-cooled. Debye-Scherrer patterns were obtained with filtered CrKa, FeKa, CoKa, or CuKa radiation. The X-ray patterns of U2Ru3 weFe indexed as an fcc structure with a. = 12.895 0.00lA. The unit-cell constant and its standard deviation were calculated by a computer program described by Mueller, Heaton, and Miller.5 The density, measured by an immersion method, was 14.45 g cm-3. A calculated density of 14.48 g cm-3 was obtained on the assumption that twenty-four formula units (120 atoms) comprise a unit cell. The space group is either oh7 Fd3m, or the less symmetric, T4h, Fd3, since reflections indexed as hk0 with h + k + 4n are absent. All values of h2 + k2 + 12 permitted by both space groups are listed in Table I together with dc, do, and I. values. The calculated d spacings were obtained by the computer program of Mueller, Meyer, and simonsen.6 The observed d spacings above 0.77A were obtained from X-ray" patterns prepared with CuKa radiation, above 0.90A with CoKa radiaaion, above 0.98A with FeKa radiation, and above 1.16A with CrKa radiation. An attempt was made to identify the crystal structure of U2Ru3 by comparison with published data on other A2B3 compounds. A recent compilation7 of intermetallic compounds lists thirty-two structure types with the A2B3 stoichiometry. Only two of the structure types are fcc and they are Sb2O3(r), senarmontite, with 16 Sb2O3 per unit cell, and In2Te3 for which several structures have been proposed.8 However, the two cases cited do not have twenty-four formula units in the unit cell. We therefore, cannot identify UPRU3 with any of the other known A2B3 compounds. Ternary alloys were made in which 5 at. pct Os, Rh, or A1 were substituted for 5 pct of the Ru in U2Ru3. The osmium substitution increased the unit cell constant to 12.899 * .001A, which is to be expected since the atomic volume of osmium is slightly larger than

Jan 1, 1969

By W. F. Hergert, L. H. Banning

Experimental production of Al-Si alloys, containing from 33 to 55 pct Al, by direct reduction of aluminum silicates in a three-phase arc furnace is described. Advantages of a smelting technique utilizing hogged wood waste as part of the reductant and for temperature control are discussed. WORK on the problem of producing aluminum by smelting has been in progress since the middle of the eighteenth century. Early work met with little success and in 1782 Lavoisier, an eminent French chemist, expressed the belief that alumina could not be reduced by carbon. It was almost a century later when the Cowles brothers developed a process for the production of aluminum alloys by reducing alumina coincident with the reduction of other metal oxides. In practice, the other metal oxide was usually copper. In 1907 it was first shown that alumina alone could be reduced by carbon at a temperature of 2200°C. The metal produced was volatilized and lost or recombined with the oxides of carbon formed in the reaction.' For a number of years after the Cowles brothers abandoned production of Cu-A1 alloys because their product was not commercially competitive with the aluminum produced by the Hall process, there was little interest in thermal reduction processes. After World War I interest in such processes was renewed and a number of patents were issued on processes for the production of A1-Si alloys.' , "he function of the silicon in these processes was the same as the function of the copper in the Cowles brothers process, namely, to prevent the reduced aluminum from recombining with the oxides of carbon and to promote absorption of the aluminum vapors set free at the high temperature required for the reduction reaction. The advantage of using silicon in place of copper for this function is that silicon has a higher boiling point (2600"C) than copper (2310"C) and its oxides, combined with aluminum oxides, occur in nature in almost unlimited quantities. No A1-Si alloys have been produced commercially in the United States, as far as is known. However, considerable experimental smelting of aluminum silicate materials has been done by the TVA at Wilson Dam, Ala.' The most extensive development and commercialization of the electrothermal production of A1-Si alloys took place in Germany before and during World War II.V he furnaces used in the

Jan 1, 1956

By J. H. M. Thomeer

A method is presented that provides a mathematical description of capillary pressure curves and, probably, of differences in pore geometry of samples. The technique is based on the observation that the location and shape of a capillary pressure curve reflect characteristics of the pore structure of the sample. INTRODUCTION It has been noted1-5 that the observed differences in shape and location of capillary pressure curves reflect some basic properties regarding the pore geometry of the samples. For example, according to basic concepts of capillarity, the following statements can be made regarding the location and shape of a capillary pressure curve.* The location of the curve with respect to the (Vb)pc and PC axes is a measure of the interconnected pore volume and of the cross-sectional area of the pore first entered by mercury, respectively. The shape of the curve depends on the interconnection of the pores and the sorting of the pore sizes. It has been the object of this study to use this information as a starting point in an attempt to find a unique mathematical description of the PC — (Vv)p, relations of different samples. It may be expected that parameters in such a relation can then be used to describe differences in pore geometry of these samples. For a practical description of the PC — (Vb)p, relation, however, it appears desirable to describe each curve (i.e., each sample) by a limited number of parameters so that the curves taken from all samples form a family, each member of which is uniquely determined by one single combination of values of all parameters.

By John Chipman, Helen Towers

DEVELOPMENT of a simple radioactive tracer technique for measurement of the diffusion coefficient of calcium ion in liquid slag has already been reported. The investigation was of a preliminary nature designed to explore the possibilities of using radioactive isotopes and to establish a method, and no great accuracy was claimed for the results. It was shown, however, that Ca15 could be used successfully, and the values obtained for the diffusion coefficient appeared to be of the right order of magnitude. However, it was considered that a better technique could be devised for carrying out the diffusion. The experiments were, therefore, continued to find a more accurate method, to check the calcium results, and to extend the investigation to include measurements of the diffusion coefficient of silicon in the same slag. There were two flaws in the original technique. Convection was the cause of too many failures, and the interface between the two slags in the diffusion cell was curved rather than plane, probably due to a surface tension effect caused by the addition of the tracer Ca45 in the form of chloride. Two methods of overcoming these defects were tried. Since it was planned to study diffusion of the short-lived isotope Si"' also, the development of methods was restricted to those which gave promise of being reasonably rapid. Method 1—The principle was identical to that previously used with respect to the diffusion conditions, but there were three differences in technique. Temperature control was more rigid, the tracer was added to the slag as Ca45O rather than the chloride and, finally, an effort was made to translate to high temperatures the elegant method developed by Cohen and BruinV or bringing together the two liquid layers and beginning the diffusion. A master slag was melted in graphite, ground to a fine powder, and analyzed (38.5 pct Ca0-20.9 pct Al2O3-40.5 pct SiO2). The tracer was received as Ca45C12 in an aqueous solution of CaC12 + HC1. From this, calcium oxalate was precipitated, ignited to calcium oxide, and added as such to the slag to give an activity of approximately 5 µc per g. The mixture was then melted into the form of a cylinder 3/16 in. diam and about 1 in. long. A solution identical to the tracer solution without Ca45 was given exactly the same treatment. The resulting Ca40O was mixed with that slag which was to form the tracer-free half of the diffusion cell, and this was likewise melted into a cylinder of the same size. Slag cylinders, two with and two without Ca15, were set in graphite blocks as shown in Fig. 1, and the crucible was lowered into position in the fur-

Jan 1, 1958

By R. W. Raymond

THE death of Privy Councilor Bruno Kerl, on March 25, 1905, terminated a distinguished and useful career. Bruno Kerl was born March 24, 1824, at St. Andreasberg in the Harz, and entered in 1840 the mining school of Clausthal, where he studied for three years, working at the same time in the mines and stamp-mills. After an additional year of practice in the silver-reduction and iron-works of the Upper Harz, he passed his examination as a metallurgical graduate, and studied for a year at Göttingen under WV filer in chemistry, Hausmann in mineralogy, and eminent teachers in other branches. In 1846 he was employed at the Oker works, but very soon left this post, to become a tutor in chemistry, metallurgy, etc., at Clausthal, where he continued to labor until 1867. During this period the Clausthal school became a completely equipped Mining Academy, and Kerl was made in 1862 a full professor. Meanwhile, in addition to the work of instruction, he discharged, simultaneously or successively, the duties of many responsible official positions in the Royal Hanoverian administration of mines and smelting-works, and also published many valuable books and treatises. Among these were professional guide-books to the Upper and Lower Harz, and their characteristic metallurgical processes; a manual of qualitative and quantitative blow-pipe analysis; another of metallurgical assaying ; and, most important of all, a Handbook of Metallurgy in four volumes, the second edition of which was issued in Leipzig, 1861-1865. This book was speedily recognized as the leading authority in its field. In this country, the English translation and revision, by Crookes and Röhrig, published about 1869, had a large circulation. In addition to these literary labors, Prof. Kerl became in

Jul 1, 1905

By Blake M. Caldwell, Harrold D. Owen

The continued use of permanent-type, we11 completion Iras pointed LIP the need for more powerful through-tubing perforating equipment. A new expendable shaped charge perforator has been developed in which the charges are run through the tubing in a vertical position and then opened out to a horizontal position when at the desired shooting zone. The performance of this new tool is comparable to that of conventional casing type perforators. This paper describes the new tool and its applications. Performance data in targets rind under various actual well conditions are presented. INTRODUCTION The general acceptance and increasing use of pernianent-type well completion by the oil industry has indicated the need for through-tubing perforating equipment with performance comparable to that of conventional casing type perforators.'.' To achieve the performance desired, a new, expendable, shaped charge perforator has been developed with adequate power for effectively perforating both 51/2-in. and 7-in. casing below tubing. This has been accomplished without resulting severe damage to the casing and can he obtained under extremes of pressure and temperature. The design of this new tool is a radical departure from previous concepts of tubing guns since it was felt that the two major limitations imposed by previous designs severely handicapped performance. The first of these limitations was the restriction imposed upon the length of the charges by the necessary small inside diameter of the carrier. This resulted from the necessity for compromises in designing a hermetically sealed gun small enough to allow free passage through 2-in. tubing, yet with sufficient wall thickness to withstand some minimum pressure. In an effort to overcome this limitation, the charges were in some cases placed at an angle with the axis of the well with resulting loss in effective depth of penetration. The second limitation concerned the extreme distance of the charges from the casing when the gun was fired. An example of the latter situation is demonstrated by the fact that a conventional 13/4-in. tubing gun centralized in 51/2-in., 17-lb casing has a clearance of more than 1-9/16-in. on all sides. This means that a considerable portion of the force from each charge must be expended in penetrating this 1-9/16-in. of well fluid before it even reaches the casing. With the gun centered in 7-in., 23-lb casing, the amount of fluid penetration required of each jet is in excess of 21/4-in. In a situation where the 13/4-in. gun is touching one side of the 51/2-in., 17-lb casing, the jets from the charges on the opposite side have more than 3%-in. of fluid to penetrate. A similar situation in 7-in., 23-lb casing necessitates the penetration of more than 4-9/16-in. of fluid. The penetrating effect of the charges is severely impaired in passing through so much fluid. Under such conditions, there is usually insufficient force left to penetrate the casing. Previous studies have shown the decided disadvantage of having to shoot through such an excessive quantity of well fluid.'.' The problem. then, was how to position large powerful charges close to the casing prior to firing and still manage free passage through 2-in, tubing. The solution appeared to be in some method of folding sealed charge units in an open type, expendable. 13/4-in. carrier for travel through the tubing, and unfolding them upon their arrival at the shooting zone in the casing. It was desired to control the mechanism electrically from the surface through the regular shooting cable, making the release of the charges independent of the physical characteristics of the well, yet with a provision to prevent the gun from firing until the

Jan 1, 1955

By D. H. Polonis, M. B. Kasen

AN unusual thermal etching phenomenon has been observed on the surface of a Cu-Si alloy. The observations were made during studies of vacancy condensation pit formation which were reported in previous papers.1,2 Figs. 1 and 2 are photomicrographs of the surface of a Cu-4.8 pct Si alloy after heating in vacuo (3 x X mm Hg) to 525°C and subsequently holding at that temperature for 16 hr in an impure (air-contaminated) argon atmosphere. Under these conditions preferential removal of silicon from the matrix by oxidation results in a surface which is entirely a phase overlying an a plus y structure. The light areas of Fig. 1 are regions in which very little thermal etching has occurred, while the majority of the surface has experienced severe etching. Similar regions in Fig. 2 are seen as plateaus above contours produced by net transfer of material from the specimen surface. Twin boundaries are also visible in Fig. 2. The difference in matrix mi-crostructure between Figs. l and 2 reflects the par- ticular orientation of low-index planes with respect to the surface of observation. Thermal etching contours of this type have been studied in detail by Hondros and Moore Both of the photomicrographs show that one or more dark spots are located approximately at the center of every protected area; where two spots are in close proximity, the protected areas have merged. The microstructures indicate that the anomalous resistance to thermal etching is related to the presence of these spots. Williams and Hayfield have shown that local regions of unusually high oxidation resistance can be caused by a surface monolayer of atoms with a work function higher than that of the base material. The result is an inhibition of the rate of electron removal from the base material and a decrease in the oxidation rate. The source of the protected layer may be either surface diffusion from contaminants on the specimen surface or pipe diffusion of solute atoms followed by migration across the surface. In the latter case the driving force is a difference in chemical potential resulting in a Gibbs adsorption phenomenon. In the present case, chemical polishing of the specimen surface precluded contaminants of a strictly surface nature. Consequently, diffusion of impurity atoms from within the lattice appears to be the most tenable explanation of the observed phenomena. The authors propose that the structures of Figs. 1 and 2 reflect the diffusion of impurity atoms along extended dislocations within the individual a phase grains prior to surface oxidation. The central spots within the protected regions are seen as sites of dislocation emergence which have become locally decorated with oxide in the manner discussed in Ref. 1. Williams and Hayfield observed protected regions adjacent to the grain boundaries of iron-contaminated copper which they attributed to the segregation of iron to the grain boundaries coupled with high dif-fusivity along the complex dislocation array at such boundaries. No evidence of such grain boundary protection was observed in the Cu-Si alloy; this

Jan 1, 1964

By Raja V. Ramani, Jan M. Mutmansky, Ralph W. Barbaro

This paper discusses the effect of the computer revolution on Penn State's facilities and personnel and provides a short history of computer applications in mining in the Department of Mineral Engineering. The computer era began in 1955 at Penn State when the engineering faculty built a sizeable vacuum-tube computer. Since that time, a succession of machines has introduced many changes and presented a variety of opportunities and problems to the university's computer personnel and to the community of users. This paper discusses both the changes in computers and the accompanying problems that occur in a university computing environment. A historical summary of computer simulation programs developed within the Department of Mineral Engineering is presented along with information on computer applications in ventilation, statistics, mathematical programming, coal preparation, and other areas. Finally, computer plans for the future are discussed in terms of the develop- ments in the Charles B. Manula Computer Library and in terms of ongoing and future computer-related research projects.

Jan 1, 1983

Tile National Research Council announces further appointments to National Research Fellowships in physics and chemistry. The object of the National Research Council in maintaining a system of research fellowships is to promote fundamental research in physics and chemistry primarily in educational institutions in the United States. Fellowships are awarded to persons who have demonstrated a high order of ability in research for the purpose of enabling them to conduct investigations at educational institutions which make adequate provisions for research: in physics and chemistry. The new appointments are as follows: In Chemistry.-Warren C. Vosburgh, of New York City, B. S. Union College, 1914, A. M. Union College, 1916, Ph. D. Columbia University, 1919. Research assistant to the Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University for the past six months. George Scatchard, of New York City, A. B. Amherst College, 1913, Ph. D. Colt tibia University, 1917. Formerly research assistant to the Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University and instructor in organic chemistry: First Lieutenant. Sanitary Corns. U. S. A.

Jan 7, 1919

By W. E. C. Eustis

1st. THE fine iron ore is mixed with a sufficient proportion of fine coking coal, and is coked in any of the ordinary methods for making coke. The effect of this is to convert the iron oxide into sponge in such a shape that the usual trouble of oxidation is avoided. 2d. The resulting mixture of coke and sponge is melted down in an ordinary cupola, the coke furnishing more than sufficient fuel for that purpose. I may briefly point out here that in the first place the iron is sponged, and this sponge, as is well known, contain-, no phosphorus or silicon when the reduction takes place at a low temperature; and in the second place this sponge is melted down in a cupola in which there is no zone of reduction for phosphorus or silicon, and that con¬sequently the resulting iron should be free from both of these impu¬rities. 3d. The liquid sponge, now carburized, is run into an open-hearth furnace, where the requisite degree of hardness or softness is obtained by adding some of the fine ore, and the usual dose of ferronmanganose. I have merely given above the rough outlines of the process, but it is my intention, as early as possible, to bring the process more fully before the Institute.

Jan 1, 1881

By F. G. Robb, D. N. Madge

This paper details some of the specifications and problems associated with implementing on-line control of a potash concentrator. The computer system described has the capability of three levels of control, including DDC with a single central processor. The system is also capable of on-line program compilation and modification through an extension of vendor utilities. The system is now in operation.

Jan 1, 1969