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Jan 1, 1938

Jan 1, 1962

By PHILIP N. MOORE

THE development of the power of the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals has become a matter of political interest as well as engineering possibility. The controversy over it has been so active that the facts have been obscured, the possibilities exaggerated. Although the members of the American Institute of Mining & Metallurgical Engineers are not generally specialists in hydroelectric development, those who visited Muscle Shoals in October, following the Birmingham meeting of the Institute, were interested, and many of them surprised to learn the actual conditions. These have long been familiar to those who have studied the matter through the reports of the U. S. Engineers on the subject. The approved plan contemplates three dams-No. 1, a low dam close to the City of Florence, planned in the interests of navigation, since the construction of the other dams has rendered impossible the use of the river without it. No. 2-named the Wilson Dam is now under construction. Concerning it political argumentation has waged. No. 3 Dam-much smaller, is planned to be erected several miles above No. 2.

Jan 1, 1925

By S. S. Hsieh, J. R. Lehr

Bench scale beneficiation studies were made on Idaho dolomitic phosphate rock using the TVA carbonate flotation process. The process used diphosphonic acid as a phosphate mineral depressant and fatty acid as a carbonate mineral collector. Silica was subsequently rejected as float using an amine collector, with phosphate product recovered as the sink fraction. Two samples of prepared flotation feed from commercial operation were used. One contained 21% P205 and 3.2% MgO. The other contained 26% P205 and 1.8% MgO. The results indicate that concentrates containing 31% to 33% P205 and 1% or less MgO can be obtained, with about 80% P205 recovery.

Jan 1, 1986

By AIME AIME

ON THE occasion of the eightieth birthday of Captain Robert W. Hunt, the Iron and Steel Committee of the Institute, desiring to commemorate the great contributions made to the steel industry by Captain Hunt during his long career, conceived the idea of a Hunt Medal to be awarded annually by the Institute for meritorious contributions to the art of making steel. The project was received enthusiastically by all to whom it was proposed, especially by Captain Hunt's partners and employees who considered it their right, and asked for the privilege of -. - raising the necessary funds within their own circle. This was agreed to, and the Institute has received from them $7500 as an endowment fund to provide an annual award, and $1000 for the expenses of providing of medal.

Jan 1, 1920

THE hall of the Western Iron and Nail Associations having kindly been placed at the service of the Institute, the opening session was held at 3 o'clock, Tuesday afternoon, May 13th, with an attendance of about one hundred and twenty-five members. Mr. William Metcalf, of Pittsburgh, read an address of welcome on behalf of the Local Committee of Arrangements, to which President E. B. Coxe responded. The following papers were then read and discussed : Regenerative Stoves; a Sketch of their History and Notes on their Use, by John M. Hartman, of Philadelphia. Some Curious Phenomena Observed on Making a Test of a Piece of Bessemer Steel, by William Kent, of Pittsburgh. On the Use of Determining Slag Densities in Smelting, by Thomas Macfarlane, of Wyandotte, Michigan. After the reading of these papers each member was presented by the Local Committee with a schedule of excursions, a specially prepared map of Pittsburgh and surroundings, and a directory of industrial works, all tastefully bound, and also with a metal badge bearing the seal of the Institute, to be worn on the excursions. The second session was held on Tuesday evening. The following persons, duly proposed for members and associates of the Institute, were, on the recommendation of the Council, unan¬imously elected. (In this list are included those elected at the final session on Friday morning.) George Bartol, - Cleveland, Ohio. Luther S. Bent, - Steelton, Dauphin Co., Pa. Octave Chanute, - New York City. Albert H. Childs, - Allegheny, Pa. Theodore Cooper, - New York City. Andrew Cosgriff, - Brewster, Putnam Co., N. Y. William B. Crocker, - New York City. Henry M. Curry, - Pittsburgh, Pa. Charles Davis, - Allegheny, Pa. Henry F. De Bardeleben, - Birmingham, Ala. Herbert Du Puy, - Pittsburgh, Pa. Charles L. Fitzhugh, - Pittsburgh, Pa. W. S. Franklin, - Ashland, Md. F. G. Fricke, - Pittsburgh, Pa. Paul A. Fusz, - St. Louis, Mo. Ignatius Hahn, . Pittsburgh, Pa. Henry Hargreaves, - South Pittsburgh, Tenn.

Jan 1, 1880

By Ogden Tweto

The Leadville district, on the west flank of the Mosquito Range in central Colorado, has produced silver, zinc, lead, gold, and minor metals valued at $512,000,000. The ore deposits are in a sequence of dolomites and quartzites, Cambrian through Mississippian in age and about 500 feet thick, which is extensively intruded by porphyry sills, dikes, and plugs of Tertiary age. The sedimentary rocks and sills dip about 15°E and are broken by many faults, which are predominantly of nearnorth trend and downthrown to the west. The ore deposits are principally blanket or manto replacement deposits, but in the eastern part of the district many veins occur also. The replacement deposits are largely confined to three dolomite units in the stratigraphic sequence. Of these, the uppermost or Leadville Dolomite is the most productive. Most ore bodies are on the underside of porphyry sills and, particularly, beneath sills that occupy unconformities. Many replacement bodies have vein roots or branch from veins. The veins occupy faults and are productive mainly in the section of quartzites and dolomites and included sills. The primary ores consist principally of pyrite, marmatitic sphalerite, and galena but locally contain chalcopyrite, silver minerals, bismuth minerals, and gold. Principal gangue minerals are manganosiderite and jasperoid. The ore deposits have a crude zonal pattern centered around an intrusive center at Breece Hill, which evidently influenced ore deposition thermally. The ore deposits were oxidized to depths of several hundred feet in Miocene time. Bonanza ores mined in the early days were characterized by cerussite, cerargyrite, and embolite. Later, zinc carbonate ores were identified and mined on a large scale. The Leadville district is a complexly faulted and intruded area at the intersection of major fault systems trending N20°W and N15°E in the Mosquito Range. The intensely fractured area evidently localized igneous intrusion and subsequent mineralization. Ore solutions rose on many of the faults in the area, presumably from the same source as the porphyry magmas. Movement on these faults continued into the Pleistocene, displacing ore bodies, oxidation zones, Pliocene sediments, and glacial deposits.

Jan 1, 1968

By H. Linder, W. H. Dennen

The graphitic carbon content of soils may be used to detect and delimit subsurface graphitic zones. Spectrographic measurement of carbon in C horizon soils from several areas in the northeastern United States shows good correlation with known graphitic bodies. Bodies of graphite and sulfides are readily located by electromagnetic prospecting methods, but these methods cannot generally discriminate between them. Usual practice, therefore, requires follow-up work on electrically anomalous areas by trenching, drilling, or soil sampling in order to determine the mineralogical nature of the conductor. The efficiency and cost of such follow-up is consequently an important factor in prospecting. The presence of buried sulfide deposits is often reflected in concentrations of metals in the superincumbent soil. Simple chemical tests for such metal concentrations have been developed and applied with considerable success. Bodies of graphite or mixtures of graphite and sulfides are, however, very common and a means whereby buried graphite could be detected by soil testing should provide valuable additional information in the search for ore sulfide and graphite deposits. Graphite is a notably stable substance and should persist in soil above graphite-rich horizons. Microscopic examination of soil samples high in carbon, however, failed to reveal any recognizable graphite fragments indicating a grain size in the clay range. Presumably such small particles would have some mobility in a soil by a translocation mechanism similar to that proposed for the movement of clay particles in a soil profile. Experimental data supports this idea since the boundary between background and anomalous soils carbon values is quite sharp, but the anomalous zone is slightly broader than the graphitic source rock. A simple spectrochemical technique for the determination of carbon in geological materials has been described by Dennen,1 and may be directly applied to soils. A modification of this technique which employs an arcing chamber through which nitrogen is passed is recommended to decrease contributions from atmospheric carbon dioxide. Tests indicate that soils over graphitic zones may be strongly enriched in carbon. The spectrochemical determination of carbon depends upon the formation of the cyanogen molecule (CN) from carbon in a sample and atmospheric nitrogen, under the high temperatures associated with a dc arc. Samples for analysis are dried, lumps broken, and screened. A small portion of the -100 mesh fraction is packed into a copper electrode and excited as the cathode of a dc arc. The band spectra of cyanogen are recorded photographically and the density of the bandhead CN 3883A is measured. The limit of detection of the method is about 0.01 pct C and its coefficient of variation is about 15 pct. Soils, of course, contain carbon in other forms than graphite, and the amount of interference from such sources was examined. The C horizon of several soils from Massachusetts, Maine, and Pennsylvania were found to have a carbon content of 0.3 to 0.5 pct by weight. This content is chiefly due to the presence of carbonates and vegetable matter in the sample and may be readily eliminated, or at least

Jan 1, 1961

By G. Thodos, W. F. Stevens

The point-source function introduced by Horner' us a solution to the general unsteady-state equation for the flow of fluids through porous media has been utilized to calculate pressure profiles for adjacent wells as a function of time. By trial and error, the time at which the pressure waves meet to cause interference can then be calculated. For this calculation, the time of interference is arbitrarily defined as that time when both pressure waves exhibit a pressure decrease of 25 psi ar the same point within the formation. To illustrate the method, an example involving two adjacent wells producing at different rates has been worked out and is presented in detail. INTRODUCTION The initiation of production of a new well is usually accompanied by pressure drawdown measurements in order to establish the extent and characteristics of the formation. The interpretation of such pressure drawdown data is based on mathematical developments involving a single well in an infinite reservoir. If more than one well is present in a reservoir, the possibility of interaction between wells exists. Therefore, care must be taken in interpreting the pressure drawdown data. It becomes important to be able to determine when this interaction, or interference, becomes significant. This paper presents a method for the prediction of the approximate time of interference between two such adjacent wells. The basic differential equation describing the pressure distribution existing during unsteady-state flow of a slightly compressible fluid has been solved by Hor-ner.' for a constant production rate from a circular homogeneous reservoir of infinite extent. The solution utilizes the point-source function to define the pressure at various points within the formation as a function of time. The resulting expression is: q = production rate, STB/D ,;= formation volume factor, dimension-less µ = fluid viscosity, cp k = formation permeability. md H = formation thickness, ft C - fluid compressibility, psi' F = formation porosity, dimensionless R = distance from centerline of well, ft T = production time, hours Ei(—u) = Ei-function of U Eq. 1 may be used to calculate the pressure profiles generated during production from a single well in an infinite reservoir.

By W. T. Bell, M. P. Lebourg

The perforating of multiple tubingless completions, in which two or more strings of 27/8-in. OD casing are installed in the same borehole, presents two basic problems. First, good completion practices require an eficient perforator that leaves no debris to interfere with subsequent completion operations. Second, and of more complicated nature, a system is needed for controlling the direction of fire so that adjacent strings are not damaged. Development of of a 2-in. OD, steel retrievable, shnped-charge gun has solved the first problem. The second was resolved through development of three different devices to provide directional perforating for the two types of completion methods being employed today. These include a mechanical orienting device and two self-orienting radiation devices. Conceivably, the latter methods could be adapted to the directional perforating (of .upper zones) of conventional dual and triple completions without removing production tubing and packers. INTRODUCTION The recent trend to multiple tubingless completions,' wherein two or more strings of 27/8-in. OD casing are installed in the same borehole, has presented two basic perforating problems. The first problem to be overcome was the design of a gun that would result in efficient perforations without causing debris to bridge in these small-diameter casings. The second problem was, of course, to devise a system for controlling the direction of fire such that adjacent strings would not be damaged. The problem of gun debris in slim-casing completions has been well defined in the numerous 27/8-in. single tubingless completions which have been effected during recent years with the expendable-type perforators. Failure of expendable-gun debris to settle out properly, even with good gun break-up, has resulted in bridging inside these small-diameter casings. This, in turn, has interfered with completion and re-conditioning operations. The past two years have clearly shown, in fact, that debris problems are not confined to this small range of casing with most designs of expendable-type guns. A high incidence of bridging has even been reported in 4%-in. OD casing. The perforating of multiple tubingless completions has entailed, therefore, the development of a completely debris-free gun of adequate performance, as well as the necessary devices to provide positive directional perforating in the two completion methods presently being employed. THE GUN —DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS The design of a shaped-charge gun for slim-casing perforating has presented a maze of interrelated prob-lems. Since the primary specification has been leveled at efficient charge performance with complete elimination of gun debris, it has been necessary to develop a retrievable steel-carrier gun of tubular construction to house the charges. The carrier must be retrievable through 2.29-in. API pump-seating nipples which are usually installed in 2 7/8-in. strings. To provide for recovery of the gun from the well, swelling of the carrier on firing must be carefully controlled. Control of swelling automatically means control of explosive weight in the shaped charge which, in turn, influences charge performance. Carrier swelling also depends upon the confinement pressure at the level being perforated, which imposes a hydrostatic pressure-depth limitation. Burr interference on the wall of the carrier, resulting from passage of the jet through the carrier wall, must be eliminated by suitable design. Clearly then, a satisfactory shaped-charge gun design for slim-casing operations represents a fine balance between carrier swelling, hydrostatic pressure, explosive weight and charge performance. Additionally, to lend itself to directional perforating, the gun design must provide a positive locking mechanism for individual charges within the gun carrier. This fixes charge orientation within the carrier and prevents

Jan 1, 1969

By E. P. Bayer

MESABI RANGE ore is mined largely by the open-pit method. This involves having available at all times sufficient working places which in combination will produce ore of guaranteed analysis. Fast- loading power shovels turn out under favorable conditions 1000 tons per hour from each unit. Each unit loads ore differing materially in analysis from that loaded by the others, One may load high grade, another low grade, and another may be in a mixed bank with the lead ore so placed that the product must be mixed at the shovel before it is loaded into cars. In such cases the bank is combed with the bucket, the door being left open to permit the material to fall through.

Jan 1, 1937

By E. F. Adkins, R. W. Douglas

The variation of the spectral emissivity of osmium and ruthenium with temperature can be expressed by the following relations: DURING a study of the sintering characteristics of osmium and ruthenium, discrepancies in the previously accepted melting points of the metals were noted. The melting temperatures had not been measured at the time of the work, but were estimated in the literature as 2700°C for osmium and 2450°C for ruthenium.' A recent investigation by Baird2 has shown the melting temperatures of osmium and ruthenium are 3000" and 2250° C, respectively. In the present work, osmium bars sintered at temperatures as high as 2900° C showed no evidence of melting, whereas ruthenium showed definite evidence of melting at temperatures as low as 2250°C. In view of the apparent discrepancies, the melting temperatures of both metals were determined. The spectral emissivities of both metals were determined as an aid to studies of the sintering characteristics of these metals. MATERIALS AND PROCEDURES The materials used in these studies were metal powders supplied by Englehard Industries, Inc., through the courtesy of The International Nickel Co. Analytical data from three laboratories, although not in complete agreement as to the purity of the material or the major impurity elements, indicated that the maximum impurity levels were 0.5 and 1.0 wt pct in osmium and ruthenium, respectively. The metal powders were pressed to 1/4 by 1/4 by 6-in. bars at 20Tsi using carbon tetrachloride as a lubricant. The pressed bars were presintered 1 hr at 1200°C after heating 1 hr at 400°C. The presintered densities of the several bars of the metals ranged from 65 to 80 pct of ideal density. Specimens were self-resistance heated in a vacuum sintering bell. Temperatures were measured with an L&N, disappearing filament optical pyrometer. True temperatures were read at the base of an 0.30-in.-diam, 0.150-in. deep hole drilled into the center of a presintered bar. Apparent temperatures were read from the surface of the bar adjacent to the hole. MELTING POINT DETERMINATION The melting temperature of the metals was determined as the temperature at which a slight additional increase in current through the specimen resulted in a reduced temperature at the base of the hole. The apparent reduction in temperature is a result of the liquid metal filling the hole, thus altering the black-body conditions. The melting points of osmium and ruthenium, based on three deter-

Jan 1, 1962

By H. K. VAN POOLLEEN, W. Hurst, H. C. Bixel

In an earlier publication* I showed the development of the instantaneous point source solution for a well producing at a constant rate at the center of a system of two radial, adjoining sands of different permeabilities. I also showed how a wellbore radius could be incorporated if this were the development required. For the purpose of that paper and the point I wished to make, this solution served. It yielded a simplifying solution of sands in series identified by Eqs. VI-26 and VI-27. (These equations are reproduced in part by Bixel and van Poollen as their Eq. 3, Page 302.) I am well aware that the simplified solutions are approximations. The facts that these Ei-functions satisfy the diffusivity equation and meet the boundary conditions both at the well and at the interface between sands, and that the earliest time considerations yield zero pressure drop, are evidence that the solutions are good approximations. This was the purpose for these formulas, which I interpret that where the permeabilities are of finite order of magnitudes in the respective media, the relations give satisfactory answers. However, from the authors' point of view there are reservations, which leads me to consider their entire generalization as illustrated in their Figs. 1 through 14. What I understand from their storage capacity, relationship Fs, which is the ratio of the product of porosity and compressibility of Sand II to Sand I, that is employed here by the authors as a correlative means of identifying one figure from another, there is nothing in the exact mathematics that supports such a term as a means of correlation. This is taken out of context, unsustained that this applies. Here the mathematics are known, where the true correlation is the diffusivity term of one sand to another. This entails permeability that refers back again to the term M in their paper for the transmis-sibility of fluid from one sand to the other that should have also been a part of this storage capacity. In Figs. 8 through 14, which purported to show the simplified equation following this correlation, there are apparent discontinuities for M equal to or less than 0.1000 that differ from the trends for greater values of M. In this connection there is no reference radius given for this cumulative pressure drop in the paper that would permit me to make these calculations. However, what is clear for M equal to 0.1000 or less we are treated to almost a closed barrier at the interface; a condition entered by the writers without qualification. This across-the-board treatment of these simplified formulas, whatever the motive of the authors, enters into a range of permeabilities that even I as the contributor would have reservations that such could apply. Under comparable conditions I would be looking at a closed reservoir or some facsimile for such. The extent to which the approximation or the exact equations pertain is not evident in the generality offered by Bixel and van Poollen in their paper. Only when they or other writers show the comparison of the pressure distributions within the formations can one be able to judge the rational limits to subscribe to the simplified formulas.

Jan 1, 1969

By A. C. Fieldner, W. A. Selvig

For purposes of coal classification it is desirable to know the composition and calorific value of the pure coal substance; that is, of the coal free from its ash-forming minerals. Two methods suggest themselves: (1) To free the coal from most of the ash-forming material previous to the analysis; and (2) to analyze the coal as received and calculate the analysis, with certain more or less arbitrary corrections, to the pure-coal basis. Calculation methods are obviously more apt to give correct results with low-ash than high-ash coals. With coals of unusually high ash it would appear preferable to remove, previous to the analysis, as much of the inorganic matter as possible, by float-and-sink or acid-treating methods. Effect of Ignition on Inorganic Constituents of Coal The need of corrections in calculating analysis to the pure-coal basis is due to the fact that the ash, as determined by ignition, is not the same, in either weight or composition, as the inorganic mineral matter in the coal. On ignition a number of changes occur in the coal such as loss of water of hydration of the shaly material, conversion of pyrite (FeS2) to ferric oxide (Fe203) with evolution of the sulfur as sulfur dioxide or possible fixation of more or less of the sulfur in the ash as calcium sulfate (CaSO4), and decomposition of calcite (CaC03) to calcium oxide (CaO). The amount of sulfur from pyrite which remains in the ash as calcium sulfate depends on the amount of calcite and pyrite in the coal. Certain coals high in both calcite and pyrite show relatively large amounts of sulfate sulfur in the coal ash. The determination of total carbon and hydrogen in coal includes, besides the organic carbon and hydrogen, the carbon of inorganic carbonates such as calcite, and the hydrogen of the water of composition of some of the ash-forming minerals. For detailed discussion of corrections proposed for calculations of coal analyses to the " pure "

Jan 1, 1930

By A. T. Shurick

THE NRA Administrator's casual reference to the coal code as the next "pineapple" to be fixed was a conservative estimate of his job. This thorny and adamantine morsel now looms as a critical test of NRA. A failure in coal supplies would have the gravest potentialities in the Administration's program at this time. And the loss of prestige from a breakdown of the enforcement machinery in this initial large-scale test of strength would accentuate the incipient indications of insurrection in other directions. General Johnson has had a difficult task. It involves problems festering for a quarter of a century. A succes¬sion of Presidents have been glad to tide over their respective regimens with inconclusive expedients; they have been baffled by the complexities of the technical angles and hopelessly irreconcilable concepts of powerful conflicting interests with large issues at stake.

Jan 1, 1933

By Marvin P. Barnes, John G. Simos

The Park City District, Utah, is situated in the Wasatch Range at the intersection of the westward extension of the axis of the Uinta Range. Ore has been mined almost continuously from the first discovery in 1869 to the present day, with a total production of over 14 million tons. Sediments of Carboniferous to Triassic age have been folded into the northerly plunging Park City anticline and subsequently modified by thrust faulting, diorite and diorite porphyry intrusions, and strong east-west normal faulting during the Laramide orogeny. Younger andesitic volcanics partially cover the eastern edge of the district. The ore bodies occur as both lode and bedded replacement deposits over widely scattered localities. Near surface, high-grade silver "bonanza" ores were mined in early days from the Ontario and Daly Lodes, which occur along the east-west zone of faulting near the center of the district. Other lode or fissure deposits were found along the Mayflower and Hawkeye faults to the east and southeast. Large bedded replacement silver-lead-zinc ore bodies associated with east-west zones of fissuring, have been mined from favorable horizons in the Park City Formation in the Daly West and Judge mines. A series of long, narrow, high-grade, replacement ore bodies occur in the Silver King mine at a single horizon in the Park City Formation. Ore is currently being mined from strong bedded replacements in the Humbug Formation near the apex of the Park City anticline. Factors controlling ore deposition are: magmatic source, structural feeder systems, and favorable host rocks. Ore deposition along favorable beds is primarily a function of physical conditioning and secondarily of chemical composition.

Jan 1, 1968

SME's Annual Membership Report - 1961 Membership Directory

Jan 7, 1961

Accessions AMERICAN ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY, TRANSACTIONS, vol. 33. Bethlehem, Pa. 1918. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGISTS, BULLETIN, vol. 2. 1918. (Gift of the Association.) AMERICAN YEAR BOOK: 1915. Edit by Francis G. Wickware, New York. 1919. (Gift of D. Appleton & Co.) ANNUAIRE DE LA HOUILLE BLANCHE FRANCAISE. ` By M. Auguste Pawlowski. 2d year. 1918-1919. Paris. (Gift.) BLACK DIAMOND, Vol. 60, Jan.-June, 1918; vol. 61, July-Dec., .1918. (Gift.) Chicago. CANADIAN MINING INSTITUTE, TRANSACTIONS, vol. 21. 1918. Montreal, Quebec. COMPTES-RENDUS DE L'ATHÉNÉE LOUISIANAIS, vol. 4, No. 3. (Gift of Wm. Beer.) EFFICIENCY OF NATURAL GAS AT Low PRESSURES. Abst. of testimony of Samuel S. Wyer before the Corporation Commission of Oklahoma, February 4, 1919. Printed by Empire Gas & Fuel Co., Kansas City, Mo. GEOLOGICAL. INSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF UPSALA, BULLETIN. Edit. By Hj. Sjögren. vol. 14, 1917; vol. 15, 1916; vol. 13, pt. 2, 1916. (Gift.) HYDROGENATION OF OILS. Catalyzers and catalysis and the generation of hydrogen and oxygen. By Carleton Ellis. 2d edition. New York. 1919. (Purchase.) INSTITUTE OF METALS, JOURNAL, vol. 26. No. 2. Edited by G. Shaw Scott. London. 1918.

Jan 6, 1919

By L. F. Pease, J. H. Brophy

A phase diagram for the Ta-Zr system is presented. The system is of the minimum-melting point type with the 0-zirconium phase decomposing monotectoidally at 785°C and 95.5 at. pct Zr. The minimum solidus temperature is 1875°C and the temperature of the top of the monotectoid loop is 1775°C. Techniques employed included X-ray diffraction and fluorescmce, electron microprobe analyses, diffusion couples, metallography, and melting-point measurements. Errors due to interstitial solutes and in melting observations are particularly common in this system, and their occurrence is discussed. SEVERAL versions of the Ta-Zr phase diagram have been reported in the literature.lm7 Williams et al.' report a diagram of the minimum-melting point type with a monotectoid reaction at 800°C and 12 wt pct Ta. The minimum in the solidus occurs at 1820°C and 25 wt pct Ta, while the top of the monotectoid gap is located at 1780°C and 80 wt pct Ta. The experimental techniques employed were metallography, electrical resistance variation with temperature, dilatometry, X-ray diffraction, and direct observation of melting by the technique of Pirani and ~lterthum.' Experience in the Nb-Zr phase diagram has shown that small changes in the interstitial content can cause large shifts in the positions of the phase boundaries. Small amounts of inter -stitials can cause similar changes in the Ta-Zr system and may be responsible for the wide variations in the phase diagrams previously reported.'-' The authors15 have found that alloys containing 0.75 wt pct 0 and 1.0 wt pct Ni with tantalum contents from 19 to 85 at. pct often contain a lamellar or cellular precipitate after annealing above 1400°C. This precipitate is very similar to that reported by pollack,12 Ralls," and Donlevy17 for the Ni-Zr system. In the present investigation, a wider variety of experimental techniques and improved alloy purity were applied to the resolution of errors in diagrams for this system as they now appear in the literature. New results have been obtained in the areas of alloy homogeneity and purity. Errors in the common techniques of direct melting observation in binary alloys have been demonstrated. In the commercially important high-tantalum region, the more accurate metallographic method of solidus determination has been employed. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Nominal analyses of the materials employed are given in Table I. The zirconium was low hafnium reactor grade iodide crystal bar, and the tantalum was in the form of high-purity sheet. Powders were impossible to use because of gas content. Alloys were melted on a water-cooled copper hearth, with a thoriated tungsten-tipped nonconsumable electrode in 2/3 atm of Zr "gettered" argon. Alloys were

Jan 1, 1963