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By W. L. McMorris, A. H. Brisse

IN the last several years the coal industry has intensified its effort to solve the growing problem of cleaning and recovering fine mesh coals. On one hand these has been increasing civic pressure for cleaner streams, and on the other hand there has been increasing production of fine mesh coal, resulting directly from adoption of the modern mining methods so essential to the economy of the coal mining industry. Cleaning fine coal with the same precision possible with coarser coals is a difficult task, and for coals finer than 200 mesh it has been impractical. Furthermore, the inclusion of —200 mesh material in the final product markedly increases costs of de-watering and thermal drying, which are necessary steps if coal is to meet market requirements. Consequently these extreme fines have generally been wasted. As a result, problems have been created in many districts because there has not been enough area for adequate settling basins. Wasting of coal in the -200 mesh slimes may account for a loss in washer yield equivalent to 2.0 to 2.5 pct of the raw coal input. With rising mining costs the value of such a loss is constantly increasing and a need for a better solution to the fines problem becomes more pressing every day. From an operating viewpoint, also, continuous removal of extreme fines from the washing plant circuit permits good water clarification practice, improving significantly the overall cleaning efficiency. The obvious desirability of recovering a commercially acceptable coal from washery slimes prompted U. S. Steel Corp. to investigate the merits of the Convertol process developed in Germany." Although this process has been used commercially in Europe for some time, little if any consideration has been given to its possible adoption in the U. S. until very recently. Fundamentals of the Convertol Process: In the Convertol process, droplets of dispersed oil are brought into intimate contact with the solids suspended in the coal slurry to be treated. This contact causes oil to displace the water on the surface of the coal by preferential wetting, or phase inversion, after which the coal particles are allowed to agglomerate in a manner permitting their re- moval from the slurry by centrifugal filtration. The clay and other particles of mineral matter suspended in the slurry do not have the affinity for oil the coal particles have. Consequently the oil treatment is preferential to coal to the extent that more than 95 pct of the oil used reports with the clean coal recovered. Figs. 1 through 3 will clarify the steps involved in the process. Fig. 1 shows the suspended material in the slurry to be treated, which is a thickened product containing 40 to 45 pct solids. Oil is now injected into the slurry under vigorous agitation to produce good oil to coal contact conditions, which result in preferential oiling of the coal particles. These coal particles are then permitted to agglomerate by gentle stirring in a conditioner to form flocs, as shown in Fig. 2. At this point in the process the agglomerated oiled coal can be washed and partially dewatered on a vibrating screen, as shown in Fig. 3. Finally, the washed flocculate can be further dewatered in a high-speed screen basket centrifuge or in a solid bowl centrifuge. Commercial Application of the Convertol Process in Germany: The original Convertol process was developed by Bergwerksverband zur Verwertung von Schutzrechten der Kohlentechnik, G.m.b.H., a German research organization controlled by the Coal Operators Assn. of the Ruhr Valley. The process as reduced to commercial practice in Germany' is shown in Fig. 4. In this process a thickened slurry (40 to 45 pct solids) mixed with a predetermined percentage of oil is fed from a surge tank to the phase inversion mill. After the phase inversion step, the slurry is usually discharged directly to a highspeed screen centrifuge. From 3 to 10 pct oil is used, depending on type of oil, size consist of coal to be recovered, and operating temperature. The top size of fine coal cleaned in Germany by the Convertol process is limited by the size of the openings in the centrifuge screen basket. Any mineral matter coarser than the basket opening, which is generally 60 to 80 mesh, must remain with the oiled coal. If the coal fines have been effectively cleaned down to about 80 mesh, the cleaning performance of the process is practically unaffected by the presence of coarse coal particles. However, since recovery of coal much coarser than 80 mesh is mow economical by conventional methods, it normally becomes more costly to allow substantial percentages of this coarse coal in Convertol process feed. Where the general plant layout does not permit effective cleaning of coal sizes down to 80 mesh or lower. there is some justification for a coarser Con-

Jan 1, 1959

By J. R. Cahoon, H. W. Paxton

The possibility of using unidirectionally solidified, two-phase alloys as an approximation to fiber composite materials is investigated. The short-term me.chanical properties and failure modes of unidirectionully solidified A1 (rich)-Cu alloys containing ap -Proximately 0, 17.5, and 27.7 vol pct of 0 phase 'fibers" are determined at temperatures from 25" to 500" and compared with those obtained for conventionul SAP alloys. In a previous publication,' hereafter referred to as I, the possibility of understanding some of the room-temperature mechanical properties of unidirectionally solidified castings was explored. For Al(rich)-Cu and Al(rich)-Mg two-phase alloys over a substantial range of compositions, the yield and ultimate strengths and common ductility measures were very adequately predicted from the principles of fiber strengthening4 and the analysis of ductility outlined by Gurland and Plateau." The results obtained in I suggest the possibility of using unidirectionally solidified, two-phase alloys to simulate fiber composite materials where the inter-dendritic second phase or constituent acts as the reinforcing material. Recent attempts concerning the fabrication of fiber conlposites have concentrated on producing composites with a good bond between fiber and matrix and with very long fibers so that their maximum contribution to the strength of the composite may be realized. However, these objectives are difficult to attain in practice and present fabrication processes are either extremely laborious or costly.13 The slow, unidirectional solidification of eutectics has received considerable attention as a method for producing composite materials. 5,6 This method can fulfill both of the above objectives but it is currently laborious, expensive, and has the additional disadvantage that the volume fraction of reinforcing phase cannot be easily varied. On the other hand, unidirectionally solidified, two-phase alloys, also with a good bond between the phases, are relatively easy to make and the volume fraction of reinforcing "fibers" can be easily varied by changing the average composition of the alloy. The disadvantage of the cast alloys is that the mechanical effectiveness of the "elongated interdendritic reinforcements" (EIR)* may be reduced due to their rela- tively short lengths, the w factor in Eq. [2] of I. However, if the EIR have a high strength their contribution can be considerable. For composite materials containing discontinuous cylindrical fibers of various lengths the ultimate strength is given by1 where it is assumed that the composite fractures when the fibers fail. In Eq. [I], a, is the stress in the matrix just prior to failure of the composite, Vf is the total volume fraction of fiber reinforcing constituent, Vf(l+) is the volume fraction of fibers whose lengths exceed the critical length, I,, which is defined as the shortest length of fiber in which the stress can build up sufficiently to break the fiber. af is the fracture strength of the fiber material, w is a factor accounting for the discontinuity of those fibers whose lengths exceed I,, 1-/d is the average aspect ratio of those fibers whose lengths are shorter than I,, and t is the shear stress in the matrix at the fiber-matrix interface. The factor w is dependent on the length of the fibers and also on whether deformation of the matrix occurs plastically or elastically. However, for a given length of fiber, w is smaller when elastic deformation of the matrix is assumed.' It is of interest to consider the properties of simple unidirectionally solidified, two-phase alloys at elevated temperatures in view of the possibility of using suitable modifications for high temperature service. Knowledge of the creep behavior of these materials is still rudimentary (although under active investigation) and the present paper concerns itself with short time tensile properties of some alloys similar to those investigated in I (i.e., unidirectionally solidified Al(rich)-Cu alloys). Unidirectionally solidified alloys containing 5.6, 17, and 23 wt pct Cu were tested parallel to the direction of solidification at temperatures from 25" to 500°C. In the present investigation, the alloys were homogenized for 2 days at 535°C giving a matrix of homogeneous a phase (5.2 wt pct Cu) and an interdendritic constituent (EIR) which was completely Q phase (53 wt pct Cu). EXPERIMENTAL Alloys of nominal composition 5.6, 17, and 23 wt pct Cu (containing approximately 0, 17.5, and 27.7 vol pct 8 phase, respectively, after homogenization at 535°C) were prepared by melting 1200 g of A1 (99.99 pct) in a high purity graphite crucible and adding the appropriate amount of freshly cleaned copper chips (99.9 pct). The molten alloy (at 700°C) was poured into a preheated graphite mold (also at 700°C) and the ingot unidirectionally solidified by impinging water on the steel baseplate of the mold. The alloy was degassed immediately

Jan 1, 1970

By O. Hoover, M. Herman, V. V. Damiano

The Jetter and borie' teclznique of determining textures using a spherical specimen has been applied to tlze study of compression-rolled beryllium sheet. Snzall spheres the order of 1 mm in diam cut from the beryllium sheet were autotnatically rotated about tz41o axes using the G.E. single-crystal goniometer. Quantitative pole figures were obtained without tke need to apply absorption corrections. Compression-rolled beryllium exhibited peak intensities ,for (0002) planes of positions tilted 10 deg to the rolling plane and a near random distribution of (1010) planes about the nornal to the rolling plane. TECHNIQUES for determining textures of rolled sheet material are amply described in the literature. The techniques are found to be variations of two basic methods. One due to Decker, Asp, and arker, referred to as the transmission method, utilizes a thin-sheet specimen in which the X-ray beam enters the specimen from one side and the intensity of the beam which emerges from the opposite side is measured. The second method due to chulz,3 referred to as the reflection method, utilizes a thick specimen and the intensity of the beam emerging from the same side is measured. The two rotations of the specimen in the beam are designated a and 8. In order to completely determine the texture of sheet material, it is generally necessary to use a combination of the two methods. The calculations involved in correcting the raw X-ray data for absorption effects and the combining of the data obtained by the two methods are very laborious and time consuming. To avoid the intensity corrections which arise as a result of the changing diffraction volume and path length within the sample other methods have been proposed. The Norton method utilizes a cylindrically shaped specimen cut from the sheet material. Since the rods have rotational symmetry, the absorption correction is constant for rotations about the sheet texture. Jetter and Borie' employed a spherical specimen to analyze the fiber texture of extruded aluminum rods. The spheres were rotated rapidly about the fiber axis to include a large number of grains in the X-ray beam and changes in intensity with respect to tilts of the fiber axis were measured. The absorption correction was constant for all angles and was neglected. The Jetter and Borie' technique finds excellent ap- plication to very fine-grained low-absorbing metals in which the entire sphere volume can contribute to the diffraction volume. In the case of low-absorbing metals, however, serious limitations on specimen thickness occur as demonstrated by Braggs due to de-focussing effects. Peak shifts may occur which negate the assumption that integrated intensities are proportional to peak intensities. These limitations in sphere size to the order of 0.5 to 1 mm for beryllium require that the grain size be sufficiently small to include a large enough statistical sample. The present paper describes the application of spherical specimens less than 1 mm in diam to the quantitative determination of pole figures for compression-rolled beryllium sheet having a grain size the order of 10 p. EXPERIMENTAL 1) Specimen Preparation. Two techniques for spark-machining beryllium spheres were tried. One involved the use of a hollow cylinder as a cutting tool. The tool was fed into the rotating cylindrical specimen as shown in Fig. l(a). The hollow cylinder was carefully aligned such that the axis of the cylinder and the axis of the specimen lay in the same plane and were 90 deg to each other. As the hollow cylinder was fed into the rotating cylindrical specimen, a spherical shape was formed as shown in Fig. 1. Alignment was very critical. Slight misalignment resulted in the formation of a barrel-shaped specimen instead of a sphere. A second technique involved the use of a cutting wheel shaped as shown in Fig. 2 with a groove of the desired radius. A section of the sheet specimen was first turned into a cylinder on the left part of the cutting wheel. It was then shifted to the right and a spherical specimen was turned as shown in Fig. 2. The axis of the cylinder lay in the plane of the sheet. Flats corresponding to the rolling plane of the sheet were used to grip the specimen during the machining operation and these served to identify the rolling plane of the sphere. 2) Rotation of Spec=. The spherical specimen is shown mounted on the G.E. single-crystal goniometer in Fig. 3. The knob A of the goniometer shown in Fig. 3 rotates the specimen about the pedestal axis. These angles have been designated as @ angles. The knob B rotates the specimen about an axis perpendicular to the pedestal axis. These angles have been designated as p angles. A device was made to automatically drive the single-crystal goniometer by means of two flexible shafts connected to the A and B knobs as shown in Fig. 3. The motor system was designed to rotate the knob A, thus rotating the specimen through angles of $I while the B knob remained stationary. After one complete

Jan 1, 1967

By John Henderson

Densities of melts 0f the lime-iron oxide-silica system in contact with solid iron have been measured by the maximum bubble pressure method in the temperature range 1250° to 1440°C and the composition range 0 to 40 mol pct lime, 15 to 100 mol pct iron oxide, and 0 to 55 mol pct silica. Densities range from 4.65 g cm 3 for wustite at 1440°C to 2.75 g cm-&apos; at 1350°C for a melt containing 30 mol pct lime, 20 mol pct iron oxide, and 50 mol pct silica. The results are interpreted in terms of a postulate that the melts can be regarded as a random array of oxygen ions in which regions of local order exist to satisfy the coordination requirements 0.f the cations. An understanding of the nature of metallurgical slags is basic to the development of a sound theoretical description of heavy metallurgical extractive and refining processes. Because these liquids are complex, direct measurements of their properties has not thrown much light on their structure. This has led to the approach of measuring the properties of simpler liquids, and building up their complexity until slag compositions are reached. In this way the density of liquid iron silicates was measured in a previous study1 and the present work represents a further stage in this synthesis. EXPERIMENTAL The technique used in the measurement of density was the maximum bubble pressure method. Details of the apparatus and procedure were similar to those previously reported,&apos; with the exception that a constant voltage transformer was used to supply the power input to the furnace and six silicon carbide resistance elements were used in place of the molybdenum winding. With these modifications melt temperature could be maintained within 1 centigrade degree during the course of a run. The silica used to prepare the melts was washed natural quartz ignited at 1000°C; wustite was prepared by air-melting A.R. grade ferric oxide in an iron crucible and lime was prepared by air ignition, at 1000°C, of weighed quantities of A.R. grade calcium carbonate, previously air-dried at 110°C. The finely ground constituents were intimately mixed in a glass ball mill prior to melting. Temperatures quoted are accurate to * 5°C and the standard deviation of the density values, calculated by the method of least squares, ranged from 0.5 to 1.8 pet. However, replicate determinations of density on different melts of the same nominal composition at the same nominal temperature did not vary by more than 1 pct, Table I, and this figure has been taken as an estimate of the accuracy of the density results. The density of carbon tetra-chloride was also measured as a check on the absolute performance of the experimental method. At 20°C a value of 1.593 * 0.002 g cm"3 was obtained; this compares with the literature value2 of 1.595 g cm"3. Results of experiments designed to measure the dependence of the density of lime-iron oxide-silica melts, in contact with solid iron, on composition and temperature are shown in Table I. Because iron sometimes precipitated in the sample during quenching, the Fe203 chemical analyses were only poorly reproducible and should be taken as a guide rather than as absolute values. Fig. 1 shows the data from various sources for the density of liquid iron silicates and Fig. 2 shows isodensity contours at 1410°C for lime-iron oxide-silica melts, calculated by graphical interpolation of smoothed curves drawn through the experimental results, together with the 1400°C results of Adachi and ogino3 and Pope1 and Esin.4 Fig. 3 shows the isothermal variation with composition of the volume of melt per gram ion of oxygen at 1410°C and Fig. 4 shows regions in which the temperature coefficient of this volume is negative, positive, or negligible (<0.005 cm3 deg-I). DISCUSSION a) Disparity Between Reported Density Results. Consider the system iron oxide-silica, the results for which are summarized in Fig. 1. Although there is some difference in the temperatures at which the various densities apply, this difference is not sufficiently large to account for the observed discrepancies. The reliability of the present results for the low-silica region has been confirmed by measurement of the density of liquid wustite by three different techniques. At 1410°C the density measured by a balanced-column method was 4.55 g cm"3, by a combination balanced-column and gas-densitometer method 4.59 g emd3, and by a pycnometer method 4.53 g cm"3. Schenck, Frohberg, and Hoffermann&apos; have also reported a value of 4.55 g cm"3 for the density of liquid wustite at 1400°C. It must be concluded, therefore, that neither Pope1

Jan 1, 1964

By Harrison Souder

THE object of this paper is to bring to. the notice of engineers a safety detonating fuse by the use of which misfires in blasting may be eliminated and safety in blasting operations promoted. This new detonator is a French invention and is known as Cordeau detonant or detonating fuse and is sold under the name of Cordeau-Bickford. It consists of a lead tube 5 to 6 mm. in diameter, filled with trinitro-toluene. While applicable to all classes of mining it will appeal especially to those who have to do with deep-hole blasting in open-cut clines or quarries, or any operations where a large number of holes are to be shot at one time. Since the introduction of the deep-hole blasting in the Cornwall iron mines, much trouble has been experienced from misfires and many experiments were made to determine the best and safest method of blasting. Before the introduction of the detonating fuse it was found that to insure the best results, two or more high-power electric exploders, not less than No. 6, with specially insulated conductors, should be placed in each hole; the holes wired in parallel, and for a large number of holes the current to be supplied by a live wire to the bus or lead wires at about the middle of the bench. The voltage in general use is 110 to 220, but as our material is a magnetic iron ore and the holes are generally damp, we found it advisable to reduce this to about 30 volts to prevent short circuits. A No. 7 or No. 8 special insulated detonator was adopted. But with the best of care and attention to the minutest detail, we were not able to eliminate occasional misfires and the consequent ever present danger of accidents.

Jan 10, 1914

By D. R. George, J. R. Ross, J. D. Prater

In the United States nearly 200,000 tons of copper per year are being produced, by leaching waste rock and oxidized copper ore with dilute sulfuric acid-ferric sulfate solutions and precipitating the copper on scrap iron. The flow of solutions is in excess of 80 million gpd. A survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in late 1965 at 14 mines in Arizona, Utah and Nevada, showed that with a few exceptions, the solutions contain from two to a maximum of 15 ppm U3O8, and there is strong evidence that these represent equilibrium concentration and not merely an accumulated in-process inventory resulting from recycling the solutions for many years. Consequently, it is believed that uranium could be recovered at a constant rate as long as mining and leaching operations continue. Preliminary surveys and estimates by the USBM indicate a production potential of possibly 1000 tons of U3O8 per year at a cost of less than $8 per lb if the major process streams from most of the large copper mines in the western United States were to be treated. Laboratory research by the USBM showed that the uranium could be efficiently recovered as a specification-grade uranium concentrate by a combination of ion exchange resin and solvent extraction of liquid ion exchange techniques. A joint pilot plant investigation by Kennecott Copper Corp. and the USBM was conducted on solutions from the Bingham Canyon mine to evaluate a new system of countercurrent ion exchange developed during the laboratory studies. In subsequent small-scale continuous tests, recovery of uranium from the pregnant eluate by solvent extraction and chemical precipitation techniques was investigated.

Jan 1, 1968

By Stanley C. Herold

TWENTY-FIVE years ago no distinction was made between water wells and oil wells except in the nature of the fluid produced. Water wells usually showed no decline in their rate of production; when oil wells showed decline something in the manner of handling them was considered wrong. Both water and oil were believed to be subject to the same physical laws in their underground movement toward the wells. Today a sharp distinction is made between them. Whereas water exists alone in the porous formations at depth, oil is usually accompanied by gas. This mixture does not behave as a liquid alone. It is a frothy, seething mass of foam which approaches and enters the wells. Different physical laws come into play. Twenty-five years ago attention was directed entirely to the well itself; today the well is accepted as a mere hole in the ground, a hole to be equipped properly for efficient service, yet without any value whatever unless it is backed up by a sufficiently prolific reservoir. Then, we were concerned with wells alone, 3000 ft. in depth; now commercial wells and their reservoirs are 10.000 ft. deep. Petroleum engineering concepts have necessarily therefore undergone a change in this last quarter century. What are they today?

Jan 1, 1937

By Louis C. McCabe

The control of dusts and fumes of submicron size is involved in many process industries. This paper presents in tabular form the quantitative data from a number of metallurgical operations and discusses allowable discharge in terms of effluent-weight ratio. Typical installations for recovery of stack effluents are cited. THERE are many sources of smoke, fumes, gases, and dusts that may cause undesirable contamination in an industrial area. Fumes and gases are the result of chemical action or volatilization, while dusts are produced in processes of disintegration and dispersion. Commonly, smokes are suspended particles formed by combustion or destructive distillation. Methods for controlling smoke are generally known, and great improvements have been made in equipment for removing fine dusts and fumes from gases. In most of the industrial centers of the country, the chief duty of the air-pollution abatement agency is the elimination or reduction of emissions resulting from improper combustion. Correct methods of firing, proper fuel selection, and installation of properly designed equipment may accomplish this. It is becoming more widely recognized that much of the contamination of an industrial atmosphere is caused by dusts, fumes, and gases that are not related to the process of combustion. As such emissions are usually a functional part of plant operation, they rarely can be prevented even by better design and careful operation. When dusts, fumes, and gases are an integral part of the operation, mechanical equipment must be designed to remove these emissions. Most of the dusts and fumes that should be controlled are less than 1 micron in size. Control of such small particles is largely a new and untried field in many industrial areas. However, where conditions have been critical, effective control equipment for dusts, fumes, and gases has been in operation for many years. The problem is not one of smoke abatement and requires an entirely different set of standards for effective solution. Identical standards need not be applied to all industrial areas because of differences in meteorology, physiography, plant location, plant density, and nature of stack effluents. In this paper, discussion of control of atmospheric contamination by industrial plants refers specifically to the Los Angeles area, but the method of approach is applicable to any area where similar problems are encountered. Quantities of particulate matter reported in analysis of stack effluents indicate the need for standards of emission. Many types of dusts and fumes that contribute materially to the air-pollution problem are discharged into the atmosphere at a lower rate than 0.40 grain per cu ft at standard conditions. On the other hand, some stacks discharge at a higher

Jan 1, 1951

By Louis C. McCabe

The control of dusts and fumes of submicron size is involved in many process industries. This paper presents in tabular form the quantitative data from a number of metallurgical operations and discusses allowable discharge in terms of effluent-weight ratio. Typical installations for recovery of stack effluents are cited. THERE are many sources of smoke, fumes, gases, and dusts that may cause undesirable contamination in an industrial area. Fumes and gases are the result of chemical action or volatilization, while dusts are produced in processes of disintegration and dispersion. Commonly, smokes are suspended particles formed by combustion or destructive distillation. Methods for controlling smoke are generally known, and great improvements have been made in equipment for removing fine dusts and fumes from gases. In most of the industrial centers of the country, the chief duty of the air-pollution abatement agency is the elimination or reduction of emissions resulting from improper combustion. Correct methods of firing, proper fuel selection, and installation of properly designed equipment may accomplish this. It is becoming more widely recognized that much of the contamination of an industrial atmosphere is caused by dusts, fumes, and gases that are not related to the process of combustion. As such emissions are usually a functional part of plant operation, they rarely can be prevented even by better design and careful operation. When dusts, fumes, and gases are an integral part of the operation, mechanical equipment must be designed to remove these emissions. Most of the dusts and fumes that should be controlled are less than 1 micron in size. Control of such small particles is largely a new and untried field in many industrial areas. However, where conditions have been critical, effective control equipment for dusts, fumes, and gases has been in operation for many years. The problem is not one of smoke abatement and requires an entirely different set of standards for effective solution. Identical standards need not be applied to all industrial areas because of differences in meteorology, physiography, plant location, plant density, and nature of stack effluents. In this paper, discussion of control of atmospheric contamination by industrial plants refers specifically to the Los Angeles area, but the method of approach is applicable to any area where similar problems are encountered. Quantities of particulate matter reported in analysis of stack effluents indicate the need for standards of emission. Many types of dusts and fumes that contribute materially to the air-pollution problem are discharged into the atmosphere at a lower rate than 0.40 grain per cu ft at standard conditions. On the other hand, some stacks discharge at a higher

Jan 1, 1951

By REED H. HYDE

IN these days of low metal prices and difficult marketing conditions, any treatment that will improve the grade of a product is of interest, particularly when the operation involves little or no addition to the total cost and may even result in a marketable by-product. Such a&apos; combination of circumstances exists, in some cases, in the zinc industry, where it has been found that certain impurities can be removed from .the ore during the Dwight-Lloyd sintering operation, previous to reduction to metal. Consequently it is not surprising that zinc smelters having these sintering machines are paying particular attention to this phase of the operation. Loss of zinc as fume is very low under the conditions obtaining in sintering zinc ores, but impurities such as cadmium and lead are more readily fumed off and it is on this fact that the purification is based. As a result of preferential volatilization of these impurities a sintered product&apos; is made from which purer zinc metal or oxide can be produced, while the fume may be collected and treated to recover the impurity metals. To be effective the operation must be carefully conducted, but no special equipment other than that of a well designed Dwight. Lloyd plant is needed.

Jan 1, 1931

By Rudolph G. Wuerker

MUCH descriptive matter has appeared on the subject of suspension roof supports, or roof bolting, as it is more commonly called. The widespread introduction of roof bolting into coal mines and metal mines is truly phenomenal. Mine operators were quick to recognize the advantages of supporting wide openings without hindrance to machine maneuverability and ventilation. Although suspension roof support has long been installed at St. Joseph Lead Co. mines in southeast Missouri,&apos;" its application to coal mining presented new problems, such as proper anchorage and bearing for the bolts, bolt diameter, and spacing of bolts. After continuous testing and experimenting at the mines, standard roof-bolting materials were determined.&apos;!&apos; The study reported in this paper is not concerned with such details as bolt diameter, which may be considered already solved in practice. In the tests discussed here, small models patterned on actual bolts were found to function in the same way and as satisfactorily as their prototypes. The aim of these tests was rather to investigate the influence of roof-bolting systems on the stress distribution around mine openings and to study the fracture patterns obtained in actual testing. Little was found about this in the literature, as testing of suspension roof methods and quantitative measurements are only now coming to the fore. Several suggestions and actual measurements have been made to evaluate critically the functioning of roof bolting systems, single roof bolts, and parts thereof. Outstanding among them is Bucky&apos;s outline of structural model tests.&apos;" Since none of the suggested testing equipment was available, however, for the experiments discussed below, a different approach was chosen. The response of a mine roof under stress has often been compared to that of a beam. The slow coming down and bending through of beam or plate-like banks of shale, sandstone, or top coal is a familiar occurrence, extensively cited in the literature." It was felt that testing of roof-bolt systems installed in a concrete beam which was loaded in bending would be a fair approximation of the behavior of a mine roof underground. Another school of thought considers the roof behavior over an underground opening in connection with the stress distribution all around a circular or rectangular opening. This is more accurate, and leads to the concept of a dome-shaped zone of material destroyed under tensile stress. This is likewise a common sight in unsupported roadways where the continuous fall of roof results in what has been called the natural outline of roof fracture. This theory could not be tested and is treated separately in Appendix B. It is important to note that according to both assumptions the immediate roof fails in tension; the use of a beam in these tests, therefore, should give information valid for either of the two theories. With the testing equipment at hand it was possible to load concrete beams 6xlx0.5 ft under two-point loading, giving an equal bending moment over the center part in which the model bolts were installed. A comparison was made of the ultimate loads needed to break plain beams and beams in which roof bolts were installed. Arrangements were made with: 1—plain beams; 2—bolts with plate washers, some with holes drilled at 90" angles and others with holes drilled at 45" angles; 3—bolts with channel irons underneath; 4—bolts in holes filled afterward with cement; and 5—bolts anchored in a stronger stratum. The foregoing arrangement is made in order of increasing strength, as assumed from the theory of reinforced concrete. Likewise, laminated beams with wooden model bolts and with combinations of the foregoing set-ups were tested. All in all, 21 experiments were made out of the much greater number of combinations possible. There were, too, some trial tests. Enough observations from this limited number were made to interpret the behavior of mine roof, supported by various types of suspension bolts, at fracture. In present-day concepts, which have been proved by mathematical derivations and stress analyses, any opening driven underground will change the distribution and magnitude of the stresses existing around it. It does not matter whether the stresses become visible, as in rocks whose strength is less than the forces acting upon them, or whether they are invisible, as in the gangways lacking evidence of rock pressure. In this latter case the rocks can withstand changes in stress-distribution. To consider the mine roof as a beam, there are, with transversal loading, tensile stresses in the lower fiber and compressive stresses in the upper layers above the neutral axis of the beam. Beams of brittle material such as rock and concrete fail exactly as shown in Fig. 1. Nearly all model beams showed the same fracture pattern as that of a tension crack. The influence of support, by roof bolting or conventional

Jan 1, 1954

By H. M. Fisher, R. E. Snow, S. C. Sun

SEVERAL constructive and fundamental studies have been made in the analysis of data obtained from experiments carried on with batch ball and rod mills. The operating characteristics of ball milling in small continuous circuits have also been appraised. It is from these analyses that some of the theories of comminution have been developed. Relatively few studies of continuous rod milling have added significantly to the fundamental concepts, because seldom have they yielded sufficiently consistent results. Perhaps they have been too limited in their scope. Careful control of the variables in batch grinding is simple compared with that encountered in a continuous operation. This factor alone has discouraged many investigators. Occasionally results of systematic changes made in industrial rod mill circuits have been published, but usually the data are sketchy and are restricted because of the unwieldiness of the equipment used. The work, in general, has not been comprehensive; nevertheless it has provided empirical relationships that have bridged the gap between postulate and practice so that by proper manipulation of formulae, a mill designer can anticipate mill size and power requirements.14 Although operating variables of a small continuous mill are not so easy to control as with the batch mill, with present day devices, and with careful experimental work, consistent results can be obtained. Nearly four years ago, in the Process Laboratory, Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co. began a systematic study of the effects of several variables upon the performance of the pilot rod mill. A mill was built in the laboratory to provide the versatility required for the proposed study. It was constructed in sections so that it could be operated, with a few modifications, as a rod mill 30 in. x 8 ft or 30 in. x 4 ft. The discharge end of the shell was flanged so that either an end peripheral discharge or an overflow discharge could be installed. Thus the performance of at least four types of mills could be studied merely by changing the type of discharge or the length of the mill shell. The grinding experiments were designed so that a study could be made of the way in which the mill speed, feed rate, and pulp density influenced the performance of both overflow and end peripheral discharge rod mills. Four sets of experimental data were collected from the four mill arrangements. The mill in each set of experiments was fed at four rates of feed depending on the length of the mill, at four pulp densities, and at five percentages of critical speed. Electrical and mechanical controls were in- stalled to regulate all these independent variables, and auxiliary devices were used to verify the precision of the controls at each point. The dependent variables used to quantify the experiments were the reduction ratio and the hew surface area produced as calculated from sieve analyses. These were incorporated with the energy factor by the calculation of both the new surface produced per unit of energy and the Bond work index.&apos; Rod wear, as a dependent variable, was not studied because of the short period of operation for each run. Exclusive of repeat runs, each set of experiments yielded 80 products, and the total study at least 320 products, all of which were quantified. With the operating information collected, these data presented a bewildering accumulation. Statistical analysis has been invaluable in unraveling the confusion and in presenting a means of establishing the nature and the magnitude of the significant variables. Data presented in this paper are those from the 30 in. x 4 ft end peripheral discharge rod mill, Fig. 1, when limestone was ground at feed rates of 1000, 2000, 4000, and 5000 lb per hr, at pulp densities of 50, 60, 70, and 80 pct solids, and at mill speeds of 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 pct of the critical speed. These 80 tests have all been run at least twice, and occasionally a third time, to prove that the data obtained were reproducible. The techniques of operation and the methods of quantification of results are described in the following pages and the results analyzed statistically to show the significant variables. The variables are plotted to show the relationships that exist. A massive dolomitic limestone from Waukesha Lime and Stone Co. was used for feed during these experiments because of its availability and its tex-tural uniformity. This limestone analyzed 28.7 pct CaO, 21.0 pct MgO, 6.0 pct SiO2, 0.4 pct A1²O³, and 0.3 pct Fe²O³ and had a loss on ignition of 44.1 pct. It had a rod mill grindability at 14 mesh of 9.6 grams per revolution from which a work index of 13.9 was calculated. The ball mill grindability at

Jan 1, 1955

By Henry S. Washington

During the last twenty years or so the chemical investigation of rocks has made great advances, and it is now generally recognized that a knowledge of the chemical composition is as essential as that of the texture or mineral composition—if not more so—for the proper classification of rocks and study of their origin and relationships. Rock-analyses have vastly increased in number and, what is of greater importance, in quality. New and improved methods permit of greater accuracy than was possible in the early days, and the list of chemical constituents frequently determined has risen from the seven or eight of the greater part of the nineteenth century, to twenty or more. Indeed, rock-analyses with determinations of so many constituents are now commonly made by the chemists of the United States and Australia, while in Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy the rarer constituents are determined more frequently than formerly. As a consequence of this modern, accurate work, it has been discovered that some elements which were formerly supposed to be rare are of wide-spread occurrence and are often present in considerable amount. The fact is further being developed that the elements tend to show certain relations of occurrence or abundance in connection with each other. This is a fact which is applicable to the rarer elements, and which also finds a broad geological and petrological expression in the recognition of petrographic provinces. We are beginning to obtain some definite, though as yet rudimentary, knowledge of the distribution of the elements among igneous rocks. Some of the results along these lines obtained by study of the vast accumulation of analytical data now available are well known to petrologists, while others do not seem to be so gener-

Jan 1, 1909

By M. O. Holowaty, C. M. Squarcy

Bituminous coal furnaces give way to coke, and by 1880, the American iron and steel industry was growing at a tremendous rate. In the twentieth century, the number of operating blast furnaces was cut in half while pig iron capacity more than doubled. Bituminous coal furnaces Attempts to relieve the shortage of charcoal by the use of bituminous coal in American furnaces began quite early. Use of bituminous coal in the blast furnace was restricted to areas lacking anthracite deposits but rich in deposits of bituminous coaL The largest concentration of bituminous coal furnaces was in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Western New York state. Other areas included Kentucky and southern portions of the states of Indiana and Illinois. The first trials were made in Pennsylvania around 1780. Gradually several more furnaces began charging coal with their burdens as a partial substitution for charcoal. These so called cheaters were numerous, especially in Western Pennsylvania, which around 1810 began to expand its ironmaking capacity to catch up with the Lehigh Valley and the Schuylkill According to the existing references, complete bituminous coal burdens began to be used in this area only around 1840 when the ironmakers hastily adopted the hot blast apparatus introduced from England. The majority of these furnaces were built, however, after 1844 when an extensive experimental program, carried out at the Shenango Steam and Water Hot Blast Charcoal, Coke and Raw-Coal Furnace produced favorable results, with coal containing up to 35 pct volatile matter. The furnace was located near the Shenango River on the Lackawannok Run, five miles northwest of Mercer, Pennsylvania. It was built, owned, and operated by David Hogeland of Mercer. The first furnace was built in 1836 or 1837 as a charcoal furnace. Soon, however,

Jan 1, 1961

By Charles MacDowell

Up to 1909 the American public had little knowledge of, or interest in, potash. Some remembered that it had to do with soft soap and sore throat, but further they knew not. In 1909-10, the German-American potash war, and the publicity attending hostilities, brought home to America the knowledge that potash was an important article of commerce; that Germany monopolized its production and distribution, and exercised all the prerogatives attending complete control. The present war, with its transportation embargo, has again directed attention to Germany&apos;s strength as a potash producer and her present unfortunate situation as a distributor. As a consequence, the search for potash takes on new life and it again becomes a subject of general interest. My first knowledge of potash came from a study of the German potash exhibit at the World&apos;s Fair in 1893. This investigation led to the recommendation that Armour & Co. engage in the manufacture of commercial fertilizers and the fertilizer branch was organized early in 1894. From then to now "potash" has been a live subject. Two and eight-tenths per cent. of the earth&apos;s crust consists of potassium oxide. It is an important constituent of feldspar, granite, and other igneous rocks. Potash is valuable commercially in a water-soluble form. In igneous rocks it is locked in so tight that it is of little value and no utilization in a commercial way has been made of these insoluble forms. Potash in water-soluble form is found in large deposits in Germany; in smaller deposits in Austria and Spain; and in brines in some of our Western arid basins. The deposits in Germany, Austria, and Spain are concentrations from sea waters containing potash derived from the decomposition of potash-bearing rocks.

Jan 2, 1915

By R. W. Raymond

[NOTE.-This paper was presented at the Pittsburgh meeting in a partially completed form, and I fully expected to obtain, before the period of its publication, both the data and the leisure required for its completion. The hygiene of collieries was to have been separately considered, and the sanitary conditions of various metallurgical industries connected with mining were to receive an extended discussion, while at the same time the points treated in the paper as presented at Pittsburgh were to have more ample illustration from American and European sources. Delay in obtaining expected information, and the continuous pressure of professional work, have prevented hitherto the execution of this plan ; and I can now publish only a portion of what I had designed to contribute to the subject. In the meantime this portion, but slightly changed, has been included as a chapter on the Hygiene of Metal Mines in a work entitled Hygiene and Public Health, edited by Dr. A. H. Buck, of New York. An excellent chapter on the Hygiene of Coal Mines, contributed to the same work by Mr. Henry C. Sheafer, of Pottsville, affords me an opportunity to supply one of the deficiencies above alluded to. Mr. Sheafer&apos;s chapter contains much material in the way of explanations not required by professional readers; and he moreover devotes a considerable space to the explosive gases, falls of roof, and other causes of accidents to life or limb-a branch of the subject not belonging strictly to hygiene. I therefore make extracts only from his treatise.-R. W. R] IT is convenient to divide mines, with reference to this subject, into two classes, collieries and metal-mines. Subterranean quarries, rock-salt mines, etc., present no conditions requiring them to be separated from the latter class.

Jan 1, 1880

R. F. McELVENNY.- Mr. Oldright has just given me a letter to read to you, which I think it may be of interest. It is headed, "Silver Meeting Dinner". The letter is as follows: "To Members of the A. I. M. & M E.: The annual business meeting and election of officers will take place at the University Club, Wednesday, May 28th, 1930 at 7 p.m., at the Silver Meeting Dinner. The Nominating. Committee for next year&apos;s officers have proposed the following names: Chairman, Robert Wallace; Vice-Chairman, G. W. Crane; secretary, C. T. Van Winkle, Other nominations can be made at the meeting. Utah being the leading silver producer of the United States, constructive suggestions regarding the silver situation will be made at this meeting which are new and of general interest to the members. The speak¬ers will be followed by a Round Table discussion of the silver situation and proposed remedies. Speakers will be - W. M. Ferry, President of the Silver Producers&apos; Association, &apos;Recent developments in the Silver Question&apos;.. Senator Frank J. Cannon, &apos;The Cannon Plan&apos;. George W. Snyder, &apos;The Manufacture of Sterling Silver.&apos; Discussion by J. J. Beason, G. W. Crane, J. 0. Elton, J. W. Wade and others. Members of the Conference on Copper Reverberatory Smelting are invited to be present. Chairman J. A. Norden will preside. C. T. Van Winkle, Secretary. Dinner will be $1.50 per plate." The next subject is "Boilers: Proper construction of, so as to secure best utilization of heat from gases, and facility in removing dust and clinker with minimum losses in operation." Who is particularly interested in that subject? The type of boilers is practically a standard practice now. I do not know of anybody that is using the tandem system now. No one is building a plant with a tandem system in it.

Jan 1, 1930

By W. H. Emmons

INTRODUCTION MINERAL deposits that have formed by the various geologic processes, when exposed to air and water at or near the surface of the earth, break down and form new compounds that are stable under surface conditions. Mechanical disintegration of the ores proceeds along with chemical alteration which generally is attended by oxidation, carbonation and hydration. Essentially all minerals are affected-silicates, carbonates, native metals, sulphides, etc. Where iron sulphides are present, oxidation yields sulphuric acid, and in the presence of oxygen and iron, ferric sulphate, a powerful solvent, is formed. Above the water level, in the vadose or shallow zone, both air and water are present. Below the water level air is excluded and that which is carried down with water is removed from the solution by reactions with reducing materials. Above the water level, solution is the pre-dominating process; below the water level, precipitation generally is equally important. In some deposits, particularly above the hater level, valueless materials are removed from the ore, leaving certain metals in a more highly concentrated state. This type of alteration, which has been termed negative enrichment, is common in ores of iron, aluminum, manganese and certain other metals. Some gold deposits, particularly those in which the environment is unfavorable for solution of gold, have been enriched near the surface by removal of material other than gold. Certain metals are readily dissolved in an oxidizing acid environment. These include copper, silver and, under certain conditions, gold. In the presence of iron sulphides, deposits of these metals are likely to be leached above the water level. The metals are carried downward to depths where air is excluded, and where they may be redeposited, generally below the water level. Such enrichment by addition of metals has been termed positive enrichment.

Jan 1, 1933

By Henry S. Washington

I. INTRODUCTION. DURING the last twenty years or so the chemical investigation of rocks has made great advances, and it is now generally recognized that a knowledge of the chemical composition is as essential as that of the texture or mineral composition-if not more so-for the proper classification of rocks and study of their origin and relationships. Rock-analyses have vastly increased in number and, what is of greater importance, in quality. New and improved methods permit of greater accuracy than was possible in the early days, and the list of chemical constituents frequently determined has risen from the seven or eight of the greater part of the nineteenth century, to twenty or more. Indeed, rock-analyses with determinations of so many constituents ire now commonly made by the chemists of the United States and Australia, while in Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy the rarer constituents are determined more frequently-than formerly. As a consequence of this modern, accurate work, it has been discovered that some elements which were formerly supposed to be rare are of wide-spread occurrence and are often present in considerable amount. The fact is further being developed that the elements tend to show certain relations of occurrence or abundance in connection with each other. This is a fact which is applicable to the rarer elements, and which also finds a broad geological and petrological expression in the recognition of petrographic provinces. We are beginning to obtain some definite, though as yet rudimentary, knowledge of the distribution of the elements among igneous rocks. Some of the results along these lines obtained by study of the vast accumulation of analytical data now available are well known to petrologists, while others do not seem to be so gener-

Jan 1, 1913

Cobriza can only be described as the Machu Picchu of the mining business. This relatively new mine of the Cerro de Pasco Corp. in Peru, subsidiary of The Cerro Corp., was put on stream in December 1967. The best way to get there is to go in the company&apos;s HelioCourier with pilot Paco Perez. The plane is mostly engine and the pilot is without nerves. The trip starts at an elevation of 12,000 ft at La Oroya and ends at the Cobriza air strip near the top of the Continental Divide at 14,200 ft. Perez says this is the highest air strip in the world. The flight is made at an altibude below many of the peaks and it is easy to pick out the Inca Trail which follows the ridge line of the top of the Andes. Inca ruins are also visible from the aircraft. The drainage pattern, with a surprising number of lakes and rivers, can be seen and so, too, can a great deal of structural geology and numerous agricultural settlements dotting the altiplano. Cobriza is in the monta[n]a on the east side of the Andes, which is characterized by tropical climate and vegetation, an abrupt change from the frosty mountain atmosphere. The mountainsides are precipitous and the bottoms of the steep valleys are channels for roaring rivers. Such is the setting of Cobriza, above the swift cataracts of the Mantaro, benched out precariously at about 8700 ft elevation. The mountains rise in majestic splendor and the sun comes up late and sets at 3: 30 on winter afternoons. One of the lowest of the Cerro de Pasco camps, it is the most remote.

Jan 11, 1969