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By George D. Drechsler

The purpose of this review is to provide an analysis of the supply and demand for coal in Europe in 1955-56 and estimates of future growth in European requirements as a medium for appraisal of the effects and benefits to the economy of the United States. This review stems from observations and evaluations made in contacts with Government and industry representatives of the principal countries of Europe and is based on detailed data selected from the established flow of unclassified economic and statistical material originating in overseas areas for use and deposit in the Bureau of Mines, Foreign Solid Fuels Section. This material includes current reports and analyses prepared by the United States Foreign Service, official reports of individual countries, foreign industry and trade publications, and the committees of the several European organizations engaged in continuing review and study of problems relating to fuels and energy. The review is presented in four sections: 1. Discussion of the more important factors relating to the present and future fuels and energy position of Western Europe.

Jan 1, 1957

By J. R. Bartels

Operation of underground coal mine mobile equipment is usually done in a restricted workspace with reduced visibility. This work environment puts machine operators in awkward postures for tasks that require awareness of their surroundings and fast reactions to avoid hazardous situations. Using experienced equipment operators as a source, researchers conducted an investigation that developed a method to gather data on the needs and practices of machine operators while controlling the machine and the reasons for needing particular operational cues. The method used was an interview technique including a survey questionnaire and visual aids. The data gathered defined operator cues and work positions for the cutting and tramming phases of remote controlled continuous mining machines used in underground coal mines. Analysis techniques to determine which cues an operator sees from a variety of positions utilizing a computer simulation is shown to be potentially useful to the mining industry for design of work practices and workplace layout and could impact equipment design and selection for improved worker safety. Conclusions indicate that the survey was a good research tool to collect data and helped investigators understand important visual cues. Using this information, researchers were able to analyze the visual cues an operator can see from a given work position and posture.

Jan 1, 2009

By John A. Johnson

Tests ere conducted at the Mount Weather testing adit of the 57 Bureau of Mines on the effectiveness of spraying water along the outside of the drill steel as compared with standard wet-drilling practice. The spray equipment used in the tests was designed primarily for the control, in quarries, of dust from dry drilling with solid type drill steel. Equipment Spray equipment is made in sizes to fit different drill steel but is alike in design, the only difference being in the diameter of the ring and the number of spray holes. The device is mace of cast steel and has a coating of Stellite on the inside edge that comes in contact with the drill steel. It looks like a garden spray, except that the spray holes point in only one direction.

Jan 1, 1939

By I. D. Shah

The copper-nickel ore of the Duluth Gabbro Complex in northeastern Minnesota is a large potential domestic resource of cobalt and platinum-group metals. However, because of the low grade of the primary metal values (0.5 pct Cu, 0.15 pct Ni), the private sector has assigned a relatively low priority to the development of technology for processing this ore, anticipating that mining probably would not begin until the mid-1990's. Furthermore, preliminary processing flowsheets considered by the mining companies centered on the primary metal values. As part of an effort to help provide the basis for technology to recover critical and strategic minerals from domestic resources the Bureau of Mines is investigating methods to recover all of the mineral values, in the Duluth Gabbro material, with particular attention to the byproduct critical minerals. A key step in this process is the removal of a relatively large amount of iron present in the bulk sulfide flotation concentrate to permit subsequent extraction of mineral values. This report describes a direct smelting method that removes most of the iron and produces a copper-nickel-cobalt matte, an intermediate product from which the metal values subsequently are separated. Copper, nickel, and cobalt grade and recovery data are presented for the direct smelting method. Test results showed that under certain conditions some of the mineral values reported to the slag, requiring slag cleaning to recover them.

Jan 1, 1983

By Robert L. Crosby

The Bureau of Mines investigated the substitution of cement copper powder for commercial copper powder in an Fe-7 pct Cu-l pct C powder metallurgy alloy. Copper powders from six different commercial cementation operations were separately upgraded by screening and hydrogen reduction. They were then mixed with commercial iron and graphite powders to form the Fe-7 pct Cu-l pct C alloy. Various chemical and physical properties were determined on the upgraded cement copper and the alloy powders. Mechanical, physical, and chemical properties were determined on green and sintered specimens made from the alloy powders. Mean tensile and bending strength of sintered specimens were significantly lower than the means from specimens made from commercial metal powders. The lower strengths are apparently related to poor sinterability.

Jan 1, 1970

By N. S. Dalal, X. Shi, V. Vallyathan

"Correlated spectroscopic and cytotoxicity measurements were made on newly crushed silica to find whether the fracture-induced, silicon related (Si-0· or Si· type) free radicals play a direct role in the mechanism of hemolysis by silica particles. The free radical content of the silica particles was controlled through the radical decay, thermal annealing, and boiling processes, and was followed with electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Portions of the same sample were evaluated for their hemolytic potential, employing sheep erthyrocyte and optical absorption techniques. The results indicate little, if any, correlation between the amount of the silicon-based radicals and the hemolytic potential of the fresh dusts, but these or related radical sites might be contributors to silica cytoxicity and fibrogenicity via peroxidative pathways .INTRODUCTIONIn an earlier convnunication (1.) from our laboratory it was reported that mechanical crushing of coal and quartz under normal air atmosphere generates free rad;cals on the particle surfaces, and that these radicals decay with time, hence pointing to a higher toxicity of fresh dusts in relationship to pneumoconiosis and silicosis. More recently Fubin; et al.(2) have also reported the detection by electron spin resonance (ESR) of the formation of SiO· and Si·-type of radicals from quartz particles crushed under atmospheric conditions. In agreement with earlier ESR studies on single crystals of quartz crushed under high vacuum (10-10 torr) (3) and subsequent exposure to air (3), and to other gases (4), these radicals were identified (2) as being formed by the hemolytic cleavage of the Si-0-Si bonds and the reactions of the Si· and SiO· ,radical with atmosphere. Fubin; et al. (2) also suggested that these radicals might be involved in the mechanism of the fibrotic action by silica, either by transforming the particle surface into a selective oxidating agent or as an initiator of a sequence of reactions leading to fibrosis. Earlier Gabor and Anea (5) had reported that lipid peroxidation caused by free radicals on the silica surface might be involved in the red blood cell membrane damage. Thus far, however, no parallel cytotoxicity, fibrogenicity, and free radical studies on a given Quartz dust sample have been reported, except for some earlier work from our laboratory (1,6,7). We now present more recent results obtained from parallel cytotoxicity, fibrogenicity, and free radical measurements on a freshly made quartz dust. The dust’s free radical content was measured using ESR spectroscopy while its cytotoxicity poteni1al was estimated via hemolysis. Hemolysis was employed as the tox1c1ty test because it 1s a widely used method for estimating the potential of a dust for disrupting the cell membrane (8). The f1brotic potential was followed.by measuring the dust-induced lipid perox1dat1on. us1ng linole1c ac1d as a model lipid. As discussed below, the results obtained suggest new clues.to the mechanism of the Quartz-related cytotoxicity and fibrogenicity."

Jan 1, 1988

By L. B. Pankratz

High-temperature heat-content values of gallium and scandium sesquioxides were measured over the temperature range from 298° to 1,800° K. The results fill gaps in the thermodynamic information for these compounds; no previous similar data existed. The heat-content values were combined with heats and entropies of formation to obtain free energies of formation of gallium and scandium sesquioxides to 2,000° K. The thermodynamic stabilities of the sesquioxides of aluminum, gallium, scandim, and yttrium were compared.

Jan 1, 1963

By D. Harrington

"In order to stimulate general interest in mine safety among their employees the mining companies of Butte, Mont., instituted in 1918 a Miners' Field Day, and this field day has since been held annually about the end of July, the last one being on July 25, 1921. The mining companies of the Butte district finance this meet in proportion to the number of men employed at the time of the meet, the contributing companies with number of working force, end proportional contributions for the opening field day in 1918 being given below:COMPANY NUMBER EMPLOYED AMOUNT CONTRIBUTEDAnaconda Copper Mining Co.,12,500,$ 1,078.53Butte & Superior Mining Co.,1,800,155.32North Butte Mining Co.,,1,294,111.67East Butte Copper Co.,,850,73.36W. A. Clark Interests,,600,51.78Davis-Daly Mining Co.,,340,29.35,,,,17,384,$ 1,500.00*Note: In many mining districts it is now the custom to hold an annual Miners' Field Day. The field day, as a rule, is financed principally by the mine operators, and was instituted primarily to promote interest among miners in the ""Safety First"" movement. Usually demonstrations or contests in first aid and mine rescue are the leading feature of the day's events, which include games, races, dancing, and all the other amusements usual to a gala holiday. Thus the field (ley serves the double purpose of stimulating interest in mine safety and promoting cordial relations and community fellowship. This paper is an interesting account of the way in which the Miners' Field Day in the Butte district is organized, with data on costs, plan of organization, method of conducting, and the practical benefits derived from it. - Ed"

Oct 1, 1921

By G. L. Oldright, Virgil Miller

"INTRODUCTION The first ten papers of the series on smelting in the lead blast furnace described the operation at the custom smelter of the International Smelting Co., Tooele, Utah, and at the plant of the Bunker Hill Smelting Co., Kellogg, Idaho, which handled a very rich lead concentrate. These previous papers may be considered a picture of the traditional lead smelter treating custom ores and of the smelter that will treat the type of product likely to be made in the future - lead concentrates of an increasingly rich grade.The great plant at Trail is of special interest to those smelting lead products containing much zinc and faced with the necessity of transforming all of their byproducts into commodities which may be sold profitably. The plant is equipped to produce electrolytic zinc, lead, copper, silver, bismuth, and cadmium. Part of the sulphur evolved from treating the ores is converted into sulphuric acid. Complete fertilizers for agricultural purposes are also produced.The smelter of lead ores has long considered that zinc is one of the most difficult ingredients that he has to handle. Even with the gretat improvement in flotation practice today, the residues from electrolytic zinc plants leaching zinc concentrates must still be smelted for their lead content. Of the total gangue material not separated from the lead concentrate sent to the smelter, zinc is still one of the most notable in percentage. The most successful way of coordinating the over-all operations of a concentrator, an electrolytic zinc plant, and a smelter provided with a plant for re-treating the blast-furnace slag for its lead and zinc content must be of interest to many treating complex ores.ACKNOWLEDGMENTThe data in this paper were collected in cooperation with the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co. of Canada, Limited, and its entire technical staff. Detailed acknowledgments of assistance received are given in the papers from which this one is briefed."

Sep 1, 1934

By Thomas H. Dubaniewicz

Fiber optic systems are being deployed in locations where explosive gas atmospheres are normally present or are present under fault conditions. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (NIOSH, PRL) conducted a study of laser safety in potentially flammable environments. Researchers conducted experiments to estimate the mean and standard deviation of laser powers needed to ignite 6% methane-air atmospheres using single mode optical fiber tips covered by two types of iron oxide (Fe304 and (FeMn)203) mixed with a ceramic adhesive. The iron oxides, heated by a 1064 nm continuous wave laser, ignited the methane-air mixtures ,at similar powers. The minimum igniting power and maximum non-igniting power (10 tests) were 407 and 350 mW, respectively, using a 62.5 pm fiber. Laser beams guided by 125 and 80 pm diameter cladding single mode fibers produced similar methane-air igniting powers. Ignition was not observed using coal particles at powers that produced ignition with the iron oxides. Threshold ignition delays using the single mode fiber were approxinlately proportional to the inverse square of the igniting power. Ignition delays were significantly longer than the reported activation time for a comnlercial fiber optic power limiter. Comparisons are made with the results of other researchers. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

By H. A. Tucker

This Bureau of Mines investigation was conducted to determine the appropriate quantities of rare-earth methals (REM) in the form of silicides to add to an alloy steel for the purpose of increasing toughness and ductility. The work was conducted in a vacuum induction furnace with the rare-earth additions required to deoxidize and desulfurize a simulated basic oxygen furnace (BOF) vacuum-degassed steel initially containing 0.013 to 0.016 percent sulfur. The product proved to be as good or better than the best basic electric furnace steel of the same composition made by the steel industry. Twenty-three experimental heats of 5 Ni-Cr-Mo-V steel were made, cast into 50-1b ingots, and hot-worked in a press and a rolling mill to ½ inch plates which were then heat-treated to 130/150 ksi4 yield strength. Impact and tension tests showed that the addition of 0.025 to 0.100 percent, or ½ to 2 lb per ton, respectively, of rare-earth metals when compounded with silicon were appropriate for increasing toughness and ductility. These quantities resulted in retained cerium contents between 0.014 to 0.025 percent, and increased the Charpy V-notch energy absorption and the percent reduction of area significantly as compared with base heats at the same sulfur content levels. All the test heats, including those with additions of REH of as much as 4 lb/ton, had greater Charpy V-notch energy absorption values than the base composition could have developed at the starting sulfur range of 0.013-0.016 wt pct.

Jan 1, 1968

By D. A. Reynolds, L. P. Rockenbach

"The method of analyzing light oil for benzene is fully described by Fieldner and others 4/ and Kester and Kolmes 5/. In this procedure, benzene is determined by shaking 20 cc. of the 79º to 81º C. boiling point cut from the fractionation of the refined light oil with 3 volumes of 98—percent sulfuric acid in an A. S. T. M. separator funnel of the type used for determining water in bitumi¬nous materials. After the mixture has been shaken 5 minutes it is allowed to settle at least half an hour and the acid is drawn off; the residual oil is reported as paraffins and the decrease in volume as benzene. The method has been found satisfactory for light oils from coals carbonized at 5000, 600°, and 7000 C. but does not give accurate, reproducible results for oils from the 800° C. tests.The content of benzene of the 790 to 81° C. cut is high, 90 to 95 percent, for 800° C. light oils, whereas for lower—temperature light oils it is considerably less. Benzene is the most difficult of the aromatics to sulfonate, hence the acid concentration must be maintained above 95 percent to insure complete sulfonation. Sulfuric acid (98 percent) reacts with benzene, but its reaction with paraffins at ordinary temperatures is negligible; however, more concentrated acid will attack paraffins and give erroneous yields of benzene. The reaction between benzene and sulfuric acid forms water that will dilute the acid. The effect of this dilution may be overcome by increasing the acid-to-oil ratio or increasing the strength of the acid. The latter, however, must not be used, because the stronger acid reacts with paraffins."

Mar 1, 1942

By H. C. Ko

The Bureau of Mines maintains an active program in thermochemistry to provide thermodynamic data for the advancement of mineral science and technology. As part of this effort, the standard enthalpy of formation at 298.15 K, ?Hf°, for 2CdO-CdSO4 was determined by HCI acid solution calorimetry to be -345.69 ±0.61 kcal/mol.

Jan 1, 1983

By Perry G. Cotter

The objective of this investigation was to synthesize and investigate the properties of a high-temperature refractory material based on a combination of boron, silica, and magnesium. A magnesium-thermic reaction was used for the synthesis. X-ray examination of the product indicates that the crystalline portion of the composition is a combination of magnesium borides, magnesium silicate, and magnesium orthoborate. Chemical analysis of a representative sample shows, in weight-percent, boron 17.6, silicon 23.9, magnesium 17.8, and chromium 0.5. The balance is largely oxygen. The composition is resistant to high temperatures under oxidizing conditions and is stable in water, hydrochloric acid, and hydrogen. It has a low density (less than 3 grams per cubic centimeter) and a hardness value in the range of quartz. It has a melting point above 1,700° C. and can be hot-pressed to shape in the temperature range between 1,200° and 1,350° C. The properties described in this paper indicate that the material may have some uses as a high-temperature refractory, and because of its boron content it may have some value as a thermal-neutron-absorption material.

Jan 1, 1961

By F. R. McDonald

The compound ?-valerolactone has been identified in an acid fraction isolated from waste water collected from an in situ oil-shale retort. Infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometry were used by the Bureau of Mines to confirm the identification of a subfraction collected from a gas chromatograph.

Jan 1, 1974

By Wilbur I. Duvall, Thomas C. Atchison, Joseph M. Pugliese

Short cylindrical charges were detonated in drill holes in rock to determine the effect that decoupling ( defined as the ratio of the radius of the hole to the radius of the charge ) has on the strain - generating abilities of explosions in rock . The amplitude and period of the strain pulses produced in the rock were studied as a function of distance , size of charge , and decoupling . The main results of these studies were that , for a given distance and size of charge , the amplitude of the strain pulse decreases as decoupling increases and the period of the strain pulse decreases at first and then increases as decoupling increases . A simplified theory of decoupling is presented that satisfactorily explains the experimental results . The information presented makes it possible to predict the effect of decoupling on explosiongenerated strain pulses in rock and thus helps the explosives user evaluate the effect of decoupling on his blasting .

Jan 1, 1964

By S. J. Page, W. R. Reed, J. A. Organiscak

NIOSH continues to conduct respirable dust control research for surface mine blasthole drilling operations. Research areas have included testing variables (shroud leakage area, drill deck cross-sectional area, shroud height, collector-to-bailing airflow ratio, etc.) that have the most impact on respirable dust control, development of a dust collector inlet hood, development of a dust collector dump point shroud, and testing of a small diameter water separating sub. This paper summarizes the results of the aforementioned research that has been completed. Additionally, past dust control research for drilling operations of both underground and surface mines completed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, created in 1910 and incorporated into NIOSH in 1997, is reviewed.

By J. E. Tress

The Bureau of Mines has developed a process to utilize waste heat from electric arc steelmaking furnace gases to preheat the ferrous material charged to the furnace. Four heat exchangers were designed, tested, and operated successfully on 1-ton electric arc furnaces. Briquets and pellets were charged continuously, both countercurrent to the hot furnace offgasses and at ambient temperatures. A comparison of the electrical energy consumed in each situation showed that preheating can lower energy requirements as much as 15.6 percent.

Jan 1, 1975

By H. V. Makar

An aluminizing dross which is accumulating as a waste material in substantial quantities was tested for possible use as a steel deoxidizer. This material, consisting mainly of aluminum, silicon, and iron, was used to deoxidize laboratory-scale melts ranging from 7 to 100 pounds. Oxygen analysis showed that the aluminizing dross was effective in reducing oxygen levels in steel. A direct comparison with aluminum wire showed the dross material to be at least as effective. Under similar test conditions with 7-pound melts, 3 grams of aluminum reduced the oxygen concentration from 210 to 175 ppm, while 4 grams of aluminizing dross (equivalent to approximately 2 grams aluminum) reduced the oxygen concentration from 250 to 170 ppm. An additional 4 grams of aluminizing dross produced a final oxygen concentration of 140 ppm.

Jan 1, 1972

By William L. Crentz

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Nov 1, 1949