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By T. B. Counselman

AFTER several years study, the Universal Atlas Cement Co. decided to rebuild its plant at Leeds, Alabama. The entire old plant, which was to operate during the new construction, was then to be scrapped with the exception of two kilns. The quarry was to be mechanized, new and larger kilns installed, with the most modern type of equipment all through the plant. Raw grinding operations at all of the Universal Atlas plants were dry. However, the dust hazard of this operation and the growing emphasis on occupational diseases made wet grinding attractive. Coal at Leeds is cheap, so that a slightly higher coal practice was unimportant. Power was cheap, so that waste-heat boilers were not desirable. Since new kilns were to be installed, these could be made long enough to make filters unnecessary. Wet raw grinding could be either the old practice of open-circuit compartment mills or closed-circuit grinding in accordance with metallurgical practice. The latter saved power and steel wear and saved initial investment. This had been demonstrated in cement plants. Also, the elimination of tramp oversize was a most important advantage. Ease of chemical control was another factor. Blending in the thickener, with elimination of slurry mixers had been found practicable. Therefore, if wet raw grinding were used at all, the advantages were clearly in favor of closed-circuit grinding. Detailed layouts of the most modern possible closed-circuit dry-grinding plant and of a closed-circuit wet-grinding plant were prepared, and careful estimates were made of initial investment and operating costs. Full consideration of all the factors involved resulted in a decision to install wet closed-circuit grinding. The capacity of the new kilns was established at 4000 bbl. per day. Two new kilns were installed, each with a capacity of 80 bbl. per hour. Since 625 lb. of raw material is required to make a barrel of finished cement, the capacity of the grinding plant for the new kilns had to average only 1250 tons per day. Sufficient additional grinding capacity had to be provided for the two remaining old kilns, or their possible replacement by a third new kiln. The grinding rate, therefore, was set at 90 tons per

Jan 1, 1939

By J. Brian Eby

Contact metamorphism of coals is any physical or chemical change in the character of a coal directly attributable to heat of surface or intrusive igneous rocks. Coal beds so affected are found in the United States, England, Alaska, Mexico, New Zealand, Greenland, and other countries. Particularly in the United States, there is a wide occurrence of contact altered coals; conspicuous examples are found in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Illinois, and North Carolina. During a recent examination of coal beds on Yampa River, in northwestern Colorado, the author had an opportunity to make some detailed observations on the contact metamorphism of coals. In this field, coals over an area of 20 sq. mi. have been affected by dikes, sheets, and sills;' samples of the coals were systematically collected and analyzed,2 with the view of obtaining more specific data on the character of these alterations. The investigation was threefold in purpose: to secure information on the lateral effects of a dike cutting a coal bed, on the range in vertical effects on coal beds overlying sheets or sills, and on the range in the vertical effects on coal beds underlying sheets and sills. Favorable field conditions, such as fresh outcrops and newly dug prospects, made possible many of the field observations and collections. The coals studied in this field belong chiefly to the Mesaverde and 11Laramie" formations. The Mesaverde coals, on the average, are blocky low-rank bituminous coals; the "Laramie" coals, which are considerably younger, are of subbituminous rank. The coals of both formations, in the northeastern part of the Yampa field, have been greatly affected by basalt intrusives, yielding all variations of carbonized coal from natural coke to the unaffected material. The igneous rock that directly affects the coals is a fine-grained olivine basalt that is intruded, in sheets up to 200 ft. thick, into the coal-bearing

Jan 1, 1925

By Ancel St. John

AT THE New York meeting of the Institute of Metals Division in February, 1927, Jeffries and Tarasov presented a paper on Tungsten and Thoria,1 in which the experimental facts were interpreted in accordance with the prevailing point of view that the thorium is present as the oxide, thoria. In discussing that paper the writer of this article stated that his own investigations, which had been unavailable to Messrs. Jeffries and Tarasov, showed that the so-called "thoriated" tungsten filament failed to disclose any sign of the oxide when subjected to X-ray diffraction analysis, but did give plenty of evidence of the presence of metallic thorium and, in certain cases, of a material believed to be an alloy of tungsten in thorium. Since these results were completely at variance with the results reported in the paper under discussion and with other papers which had preceded it from time to time in the past, it was felt that further discussion should be withheld until the new evidence could be presented adequately. Arrangements were therefore made to present that evidence at this meeting. MATERIAL EXAMINED The material examined was high-emission filament such as is used in radio tubes, supposed to contain about 0.75 per cent. thoria. The actual analysis was not stated. SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION The investigation was undertaken because of a feeling that the thorium present in filamentary material of this type exists as metallic thorium or as an alloy of thorium and tungsten and not as the oxide. Attention was therefore directed to determining: 1. The minimum amount of thoria detectible in a mechanical mixture of thoria powder and finely divided tungsten. 2. The amount of thoria detectible in the filament. 3. The condition of any thorium present in other form than as thoria. 4. The amount of thorium dissolved in the tungsten.

Jan 1, 1928

By F. N. Rhines

DESPITE the large amount of study which has been devoted to the subject our present knowledge of the copper-oxygen system remains incomplete and unsatisfactory in many respects. This applies particu-larly to those regions in which solid metallic copper exists. The primary object of the present paper is the contribution of new information relative to the solid solubility of oxygen (or cuprous oxide) in copper at atmospheric pressure, together with certain observations in the low-pressure regions of the system. It seems appropriate also to present a brief summary of the outstanding previous work on the constitution of mixtures of copper with its lowest oxide in order to show the relation between the new facts and the system as a whole. The earliest recorded investigations of the copper-oxygen system are those of M. S. Lucas (1) § and of M. Chevillot(2) in 1819 and 1820. Lucas believed that liquid copper is capable of dissolving its oxide, but neither he nor Chevillot was able to furnish convincing proof of this property. It was not until 1866 that T. Graham° definitely established the existence of such a solubility. Nine years later W. Hampe(4) measured its extent and roughly outlined the copper-rich portion of the system. The first really precise examination of the constitutional relationship between copper and cuprous oxide, however, was that of E. Heyn(5) who in 1900 published a temperature-concentration diagram covering the range from 0 to 10 per cent of cuprous oxide at atmospheric pressure. Within these limits of composition cuprous oxide was found to dissolve in liquid copper, forming at 3.4 to 3.5 per cent a eutectic which melted at 1065° C. R. E. Slade and F. D. Farrow(6) extended these studies to mixtures of higher

Jan 1, 1934

By A. H. Geisler

INTRODUCTION THE correlation of property changes during precipitation with structure has progressed, sometimes rapidly but other times more slowly, since the fundamental discovery of Merica, Waltenberg and Scott.1 The predominent factor that hampered the progress has been limitations imposed by the various detection methods. Refinements in X ray diffraction techniques and in metallographic methods, which have been extended by the electron microscope, have contributed new information within the last few years. These permit an extension of the theory as proposed by Mehl and fetter in 1940.2 Now that a suffcient number of alloys has been investigated to establish a general mechanism of the precipitation process, a correlation of the facts into a generally applicable theory of age-hardening is both warranted and desirable. 'I he purpose of the paper is to provide an orderly correlation of the phenomenological facts of precipitation hardening. Speculation on mechanism of hardening will be confined to that consistent with existing theories of hardening. Age-hardening accompanies the formation of a new structure, the precipitate, as provided by an alloy system in which solid solubility decreases with decreasing temperature. Upon this premise alone all such systems would be expected to include age-hardenable alloys. Alas, this is not always the case. Few attempts have been made to explain the variable degree of age-hardening among different alloys or to explain the influence of small alloying additions upon the hardening. Dispersion hardening as originally postulated3 is not adequate.* Coherency hardening-the term that will be used to distinguish the properties of a two-phase mixture in the unique and unstable transition state at which the phases are strained into precise atomic registry (continuity or coherency) in planes

Jan 1, 1948

By Ancel St. John

At the New York meeting of the Institute of Metals Division in February, 1927, Jeffries and Tarasov presented a paper on Tungsten and Thoria,' in which the experimental facts were interpreted in accordance with the prevailing point of view that the thorium is present as the oxide, thoria. In discussing that paper the writer of this article stated that his own investigations, which had been unavailable to Messrs. Jeffries and Tarasov, showed that the so-called "thoriated" tungsten filament failed to disclose any sign of the oxide when subjected to X-ray diffraction analysis, but did give plenty of evidence of the presence of metallic thorium and, in certain cases, of a material believed to be an alloy of tungsten in thorium. Since these results were completely at variance with the results reported in the paper under discussion and with other papcrs which had preceded it from time to time in the past, it was felt that further discussion should be withheld until the new evidence could be presented adequately. Arrangc-mcnts were therefore made to present that evidence at this meeting. Material Examined The material exalllined was high-ernission filament such as is used in radio tubes, supposed to contain about 0.75 per cent. thoria. The actual analysis was not stated. Scope of the Investigation The investigation was undertaken because of a feeling that the thorium present in filamentary material of this type exists as metallic thorium or as an alloy of thorium and tungsten and not as the oxide. Attention was therefore directed to determining: 1. The minimum amount of thoria detectible in a mechanical mixture of thoria powder and finely divided tungsten. 2. The amount of t.horia detectible in the filament. 3. The condition of any thorium present in other form than as thoria. 4. The amount of thorium dissolved in the tungsten.

By Augustus Locke

The paper has two parts: the field argument and the microscopic argument. The field argument indicates that either the deep chalcocite has replacea sulfide of extraordinarily easy replaceability or it is hypogene. The microscopic argumentindicates that this sulfide, if it existed, must have been hypogene bornite; that this bornite must so excel known bornite in replaceability as to constitute a new variety; that the existence of this new variety is wholly unsupported by evidence; and that the deep Butte chalcocite is therefore hypogene. IN 1900, when the public first heard of "secondary enrichment" the Butte chalcocite seemed clearly supergene. Mining, through successive regions of leached capping, bonanza sulfide, and sulfide less rich, had paused at lean bottom levels which, though chalcocite-bearing, suggested the waning of copper. The deepest chalcocite, at 1500 ft., was yet too shallow to disturb the supergene hypothesis. But, with deeper mining, lean levels yielded to fat ones. Here and there they showed, within the same vein, an inverted distribution, chalcopyrite above and chalcocite below. To the miners' astonishment, they carried chalcocite, unaffected by cross faults, on an independent course to the depth of 2500 ft. The pattern of ore distribution, hitherto revealed only in fragments, was now appearing in perspective, and, in the depth of the chalcocite, was beginning to make Butte differ from all districts where the chalcocite is indubitably supergene. The idea of hypogene origin at length came into favor; by 1913, when Sales1 advocated this origin, the argument had become a powerful one. This argument rested on field evidence; but, already, there was beginning to emerge microscopic evidence not included in this arugment. Especially pertinent was the proof that (1) The deep chalcocite lies in-mixed with bornite, often microscopic; (2) the deep chalcocite often replaces bornite; and (3) replacement of bornite by chalcocite is accom-

Jan 3, 1924

By J. Brian Eby

CONTACT metamorphism of coals is any physical or chemical change in the character of a coal directly attributable to heat of surface or intrusive igneous rocks. Coal beds so affected are found in the United States, England, Alaska, Mexico, New Zealand, Greenland, and other countries. Particularly in the United States, there is a wide occurrence of contact altered coals; conspicuous examples are found in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Illinois, and North Carolina. During a recent examination of coal beds on Yampa River, in north-western Colorado, the author had an opportunity to make some detailed observations on the contact metamorphism of coals. In this field, coals over an area of 20 sq. mi. have been affected by dikes, sheets, and sills;1 samples of the coals were systematically collected and analyzed,2 with the view of obtaining more specific data on the character of these alterations. The investigation was threefold in purpose: to secure information on the lateral effects of a dike cutting a coal bed, on the range in vertical effects on coal beds overlying sheets or sills, and on the range in the vertical effects on coal beds underlying sheets and sills. Favorable field conditions, such as fresh outcrops and newly dug prospects, made possible many of the field observations and collections. The coals studied in this field belong chiefly to the Mesaverde and Laramie formations. The Mesaverde coals, on the average, are blocky low-rank bituminous coals; the "Laramie coals," which are considerably younger, are of subbituminous rank. The coals of both formations, in the northeastern part of the Yampa field, have been greatly affected by basalt intrusives, yielding all variations of carbonized coal from natural coke to the unaffected material.

Jan 1, 1925

The Institute assembled in the library of the Sheffield Scientific School at 8 o'clock, Tuesday evening, February 23d. Prof. G. J. Brush greeted the members present on behalf of the Government of the Sheffield School in a few words of cordial welcome, to which President Raymond responded. Dr. Raymond then delivered an address on the History of the Relative Values of Gold and Silver. The Council presented, through the President, a list of names of persons duly proposed for members and associates, with recommendation for election. The following gentlemen were unanimously elected: *Prof. George J. Brush,. .. New Haven, Conn. *Prof. Oscar D. Allen,. .. New Haven, Conn. *C. Constable,.....New York City. *Leven S Goodrich,.... Oxmoor, Jefferson Co., Ala. *Charles J. Nourse,.... Columbia, Lancaster Co., Pa. *J. W. Mickley,.....Hockendauqua, Pa. *Hugh Alex. Crawford,. ..St. Louis, No. *General Ario Pardee,. .. Hazleton, Luzerne Co., Pa. N. W. Lord,.....New Pork City. J. Holme Maghee,.... New York City. *George E. B. Jackson,. .. Portland, Me. *Charles W. Watkis,.... Salt Lake City, Utah. *Charles E. Hall,....Philadelphia. *Charles J. Duval,.... San Francisco, Cal. Joseph Gorlinski,.... Salt Lake City, Utah. * Alfred Wartenweiler,. .. Salt Lake City, Utah. Wilmot J. Bowen,.... Salt Lake City, Utah. *Joseph Stokes,..... Trenton, N. J. Jason P. Brown,.... Boston, Mass. *William Davis Hartshorne,. . Bethlehem, Hunterdon Co., N. J. *Henry Williams,.... Spanish Bar, Clear Creek Co., Cot. *Robert Forsyth ,....Chicago, Ill. *S. T. Wellman,.....Cleveland, Ohio. *H. C. Walton,.....Chicago, 111. *Andrew Roy,.....Columbus, Ohio. *James H. Rittenhonse,. .. Providence, Pa.

THE Institute assembled in the library of the Sheffield Scientific School at 8 o'clock, Tuesday evening, February 23d. Prof. G. J. Brush greeted the members present on behalf of the Government of the Sheffield School in a few words of cordial welcome, to which President Raymond responded. Dr. Raymond then delivered an address on the History of the Relative Values of Gold and Silver. The Council presented, through the President, a list of names of persons duly proposed for members and associates, with recom¬mendation for election. The following gentlemen were unanimously elected: *Prof. George J. Brush, - New Haven, Conn. *Prof. Oscar D. Allen, - New Haven, Conn. *C. Constable, - New York City. *Leven S Goodrich, - Oxmoor, Jefferson Co., Ala. *Charles J. Nourse, - Columbia, Lancaster Co., Pa. *J. W. Mickley, - Hockendauqua, Pa. *Hugh Alex. Crawford, - St. Louis, Mo. *General Ario Pardee, - Hazleton, Luzerne Co., Pa. †N. W. Lord, - New York City. †J. Holme Maghee, - New York City. *George E. B. Jackson, - Portland, Me. *Charles W. Watkis, - Salt Lake City, Utah. *Charles E. Hall, - Philadelphia. *Charles J. Duval, - San Francisco, Cal. †tJoseph Gorlinski, - Salt Lake City, Utah. *Alfred Wartenweiler, - Salt Lake City, Utah. †Wilmot J. Bowen, - Salt Lake City, Utah. *Joseph Stokes, - Trenton, N. J. †Jason P. Brown, - Boston, Mass. *William Davis Hartshorne, - Bethlehem, Hunterdon Co., N. J. *Henry Williams, - Spanish Bar, Clear Creek Co., Col.. *Robert Forsyth, - Chicago, Ill. *S. T. Wellman, - Cleveland, Ohio. *H. C. Walton, - Chicago, Ill. *Andrew Roy, - Columbus, Ohio. *James H. Rittenhouse, - Providence, Pa. * Members. † Associates

Jan 1, 1875

By C. N. Garman

Homestake-New Mexico Partners operate a 750-tpd carbonate leach uranium concentrate mill near Grants, N.M. The highly mineralized water available as process water leaves much to be desired. The 628 ppm as CaCO 3 makes the use of raw water very troublesome in pipes and on filter cloths. However, the residual sodium carbonate in the final filter cake going to tails makes an ideal softening agent. To take advantage of this fact, all makeup water used in the mill is first used as tailing slurry dilution water and comes to the mill from the tailings pond. The 5-acre tailings pond serves as a thickener and 100 to 150 gpm of nearly clear solution is decanted to a pump to be returned to the mill. Since this tailings water has small quantities of uranium in the solution an ion exchange scavenger unit was installed to remove as much uranium as possible. The ion exchange raffinate is then used as final filter wash ahead of the tailings slurrying step. In spite of the large settling area this return water is not clean enough for ion exchange feed. The solids present are very fine and composed of approximately 15 pct (by weight) burnable carbonaceous material common to the sandstone uranium ores in the area, 40 pct SiOz plus 45 pct CaC03. Laboratory work showed that this material responds very well to flotation. Before deciding to use flotation, various clarifying systems such as pressure leaf filters, sand filters, and continuous vacuum pre-coat filters, were considered. Each of these could have solved the problem but with much more operating labor, more reagents and greater installation costs than the flotation step. About 100 to 150 gpm of fouled water is fed to two 66-in. Fagergren cells, in series. Reagents used at the beginning were Arquad 2HT75 and Arquad C50, at the rate of about 1% lb per 8-hr shift, or about 0.0053 lb each per ton of ore. This did not completely remove the solids but does an acceptable job. Approximately 75 pct of the slimes are a size that can be caught on a 41-Whatman Paper are removed. Removal of these slimes also allows much better settling of the coarse nonfloatable material. Advantage is also taken of this fact in a small settling tank ahead of precipitation. Removal of this amount of the slimes makes the ion t:xchange feasible. PREGNANT SOLUTION CIRCUIT The carbonate? leach-caustic precipitation method of uranium concertration does not provide for any process purification step ahead of precipitation. Therefore, any fine solids getting into the pregnant solution through the filter cloth show up in the final concentrate. This, of course, lowers the grade, and, at times, the slimy nature of these very fine solids rendered final filtration of the concentrate difficult if not impossible At Homestake-New Mexico Partners a 75-ft thickener was available for gravity clarification of 100 to 120 gpm of this pregnant solution. However this did not sufficiently remove the slimes. Laboratory investigation of the whole range of flocculants that were suggested by literature, salesmen, and friends failed to turn up anything of consequence. A continuous vacuum pre-coat filter would do the job and was investigated. The capital cost and the operating labor and materials made this a last chance choice. Following work done in the metallurgical laboratory on the tailings return water, it was found that some changes in the reagent strengths and combinations made a very definite decrease in the solids in the pregnant solution. Concentrate grade improved about 5 pct anti the final product after drying had an appreciably greater bulk density. Compared to a cost of about 2.2e per ton for pre-coat filter opelation for cleaning just one circuit, flotation costs less than 1.0 per ton of ore for cleaning two circuits. While a pre-coat filter would do a more thorough job, the flotation does all that is required for either circuit. Gravity causes the froth produced to run back into the leach circuit. This does not appear to result in a build-up of objectionable slime. No extra manpower is required; the operators in the separate areas can observe the operation of the cells and mix the small quantities of reagents as needed. Normally the 66-in. Fagergren cell requires 15 hp per cell, but this very dilute slurry needs only 10 hp for both cells. Originally, a combination of the two Arquads mentioned previously served as frothers and promoters. As further testing

Jan 1, 1962

By L. C. Uren

Field studies and laboratory research have established the fact that the expulsive force which drives petroleum into wells, from the reservoir sands in which it is stored by nature, is primarly an expression of the energy latent within compressed natural gas dissolved or occluded in, or otherwise associated with the oil. Each barrel of oil produced is forced into the recovery well by the expansive energy of a certain volume of compressed gas, originally stored with the oil in the pores of the reservoir rock; and each cubic foot of gas so produced with the oil and expanded to atmospheric pressure reduces by so much the total natural energy available for oil expulsion. This relationship between the volumes of gas and oil produced has seemed so important that petroleum production technolo-gists have come to regard the "gas-oil ratio," or the "gas factor" as it has been more conveniently termed, as a measure of oil-production efficiency. Different methods of oil recovery and production devices are now Com pared on this basis and estimates of ultimate recovery obtainable through their use are considered by many to be inversely proportional to the values of their respective gas factors. The writer has been among those who have given support to a widcspread movement toward a proper recognition of the significance of the gas factor as a guide in the control of producing oil wells, and does not wish to oppose its more extended application. It seems necessary, how-cvcr, in view of the almost elemental faith with which the principle of the gas factor has been received in many quarters, to point out that it is a most complex factor, and one which cannot be regarded as an absolute index of production efficiency without due regard to other contributing factors by which it is influenced to an important degree. Variables Influencing Gas Factor The mere recording of a low gas factor, obtained through the use of some method or device, does not necessarily imply efficient oil production; and conversely, a high gas factor does not always signify inefficient recov-

Jan 1, 1928

By T. D. Yensen

Discussion of the paper of T. D. YENSEN, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1916, and printed in Bulletin No. 110, February, 1916, pp. 483 to 512. JOHN A. MATHEWS, Syracuse, N. Y.-Concerning the critical composition of the steel containing 2.50 per cent. of silicon, I may say that 12 or 13 years ago we made some of these alloys. They. were not as pure as the alloys made by Mr. Yensen, nor were they melted in vacuo, but one of them contained exactly 2.50 per cent. silicon, and about 0.25 per cent. carbon. It gave us no trouble whatever in hammering to a billet or rolling into bars, nor even when rolling into ¼ -in. wire rods. The steel in question was practically free from everything except carbon or silicon and contained no manganese sulphur or phosphorus worth mention. The alloy containing 2.50 per cent. of silicon worked perfectly well, as well as one containing 0.5 per cent. silicon, and it seems to me that further work should be done by Mr. Yensen on the physical properties of alloys at this seemingly critical change point. W. E. -RUDER, Schenectady, N. Y.-We -have made silicon steels of practically every composition and have never obtained any material under 5 or 6 per cent. of silicon which was brittle. This may be due, of course, to the presence of carbon, in some of the 'commercial materials, and I presume that Mr. Yensen would argue that the: presence of this carbon might prevent inter-granular brittleness. However, all of our silicon steels, up to 5 per cent. of silicon, by treatment in hydrogen at temperatures near the melting point, can be made to show inter-granular brittleness. Furthermore, the material made brittle in this way could be restored by treating at the same temperature in hydrogen containing a hydrocarbon vapor. I discussed this matter some years ago in a paper on inter-granular cement. It therefore appears likely to me that Mr.

Jan 5, 1916

By Sanai Nakabe

Japanese wartime economy demanded domestic cobalt production. This paper describes a process operated for two years at the Besshi mine and smelter on extremely low grade (0.1 pct Co) pyrite concentrates obtained from copper ore. 'The steps in the process were roasting, leaching, precipitation, reduction fusion to crude cobalt, and finally refining by electrolysis to 99+ pct. COBALT ore deposits in Japan are all small and of poor grade. In the past, a small amount of cobalt has been produced from the best portions of a few of these deposits, and very little production is expected in the future. In addition to these lean cobalt ores, cobalt is present in the cupriferous pyrite which is fairly abundant although of low grade, as is shown in Table I. Considerable cobalt is expected from these deposits because of their extent. Cobalt cannot be exclusively recovered economically from ore of this type; however, if means could be devised to recover it as a byproduct of copper production, a fairly large production at reasonable cost could be expected from Japanese sources. It was along this line that the research work was done. Selection of Suitable Process The process for extracting cobalt differs from ore to ore according to their composition. The difficulty in cobalt metallurgy arises from the fact that chemically cobalt resembles many such common metals as Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, and Zn, associated with it in the ores. In the present case the most serious difficulties were: 1—Extremely low grade ore, 0.1 pct Co. 2—The large proportion of iron accompanying cobalt and its close similarity in chemical behavior. 3—The fairly large proportion of zinc and manganese and their chemical similarity to cobalt. The recovery of cobalt oxide as a byproduct of the hydrometallurgy of copper had been attempted in Japan but was stopped after a short period because it proved uneconomical. The literature disclosed no method for the recovery of cobalt from cobaltiferous copper pyrite and it was therefore necessary to devise a new process. The following basic principles were considered in selecting the process: 1—A major alteration in copper production methods should not be necessary. 2—The first step should be the extraction of cobalt leaving the large quantity of iron unaffected. For this purpose wet metallurgy would be preferred.

Jan 1, 1952

H. H. Hill.—I believe that as petroleum engineers you are all more or less interested in geophysical prospecting. A large number of the papers that have been written on that subject are too detailed or too much involved to be of much value to a person who is not familiar with the subject, so I suggested to Mr. Fohs that he might bring us something that we could all understand. As I take it, we are interested in learning something about the different methods, the places where they have been used, their limitations and in general whether they have given satisfaction in locating oil deposits. F. J. Fohs, New York, N. Y.—I will briefly summarize some of the results as I Bee them from my practical contacts with them and my discussion of the subject with some of the more important rnen both in this country and Europe. Geophysical Methods 1. Seismographs: A. 1. Sonic refracting seismographs of Karcher, McCullom and Reiber. For rapid reconnaissance and also for detail—perhaps, the best type of instrument. 2. Mechanical refracting seismographs of the Weichert-Mintrop type. B. I. Sonic seismographs using reflected sound from contacts of sufficiently unlike beds where latter are thick enough, being used for detail of both salt domes and ordinary structures where a good reflecting key bed occurs. 2. Torsion Balances: Made in three sizes with greater portability and loss of but 20 per cent. in medium size and loss of 40 per cent. efficiency in smallest size. A. Used to best advantage in detailing salt domes, in noting anomalies of deep-seated structures of the Edgerly, La., type (but not always certain here and dependent on interpretation which involves both experience and the human equation to a large degree). R. Used to advantage in mapping faults where a lime or other denser bed occurs upthrown, and the topographic irregularities are not too involved. C. Of use where buried granite plugs and buried-hill structures occur as in the Western Texas fields. D. Believed of little use for other types of structure. 3. Magnetometers or Variometers: Now built horizontal and vertical with declinometer combined in one instrument. A. Practical in mapping granite or basic igneous rock plugs and intrusions, or of detritus therefrom. Adams has recently demonstrated definite results in mapping the well known Panhandle arch.

Jan 1, 1928

By J. Gurland

The strength variation ofWC-Co alloys with composition and particle spacing falls into two ranges. 1) Above a critical value of the mean free path, the strength follows a dispersion hardening relation; it is proportional to the volume fraction of WC and in-versely proportional to the particle size. 2) Below a critical value of the mean free path, the strength variation is based upon the Griffith criterion of fracture and is controlled by the case of crack propagation. The maximum strength is attained when the structure and load just satisfy the critical conditions for spontaneous crack propagation. THE relation between the strength and the structure of cemented carbides is of interest not only for its own sake but also for its contribution to the understanding of composite materials in general. The cemented carbides are essentially aggregates of a brittle carbide constituent and a ductile binder phase and, at certain structures of intermediate composition, the composite alloys attain strengths far higher than those of the separate constituents in bulk. It is this variation of strength with structure which will be discussed. The experimental procedures of sample preparation, mechanical testing, and quantitative metallo-graphic analysis have been described in Ref. 1. The reported strengths are the maximum fiber-stresses in bending calculated on the basis of completely elastic behavior. The plastic contribution to the over-all deformation is small and was neglected in the calculations (the elongation at fracture of the most ductile alloy, 50 pct WC-50 pct Co, is less than 0.5 pct).2 The pertinent structural parameters are: f, the volume fraction of tungsten carbide; p, the mean free path through the binder phase; the contiguity C, defined as the average fraction of surface area shared by a particle of wc with all neighboring particles of the same phase; and d, the average equivalent spherical diameter of the WC particles. The strength variation of WC-Co alloys with composition and particle spacing is shown in Fig. 1 and Table I, which are based partly on previously published data' and partly on new experimental work which extends the range to higher values of the mean free path. Each data point represents the average of five samples. For a given composition, the transverse rupture strength reaches a maximum

Jan 1, 1963

By W. A. Backofen, D. Lee

The deformation of textured sheet of titanium and several of its all-a (hcp) alloys was investigated with two kinds of experiments: tension testing along different directions in the plane of the sheet, and combined-stress loading along the principal axes of anisotropy (the rolling and transverse directions). Texture and plastic anisotropy were evaluated with pole figures and by measurement, as a function of orientation, of the tensile transverse-strain ratio, or R parameter. The results as a whole can be rationalized qualitatively with the present understanding of deformation mechanisms in titanium. Quantitative agreement between the orientation dependence of tensile yield strength and the Predictions of continuum ANISOTROPY in the properties of engineering materials is more the rule than the exception because anisotropy in structure is so common, and the one generally follows the other. Two broad categories of structural anisotropy are represented by mechanical fibering and crystallographic texture. The former is important in many aspects of fracture.' The latter has more significance for yielding and plastic deformation, theory, using the R measurements, was relatively poor. However, in tension-tension quadrants of the yield-locus diagrams, the difference between theory and experiment was hardly more than 10 pct. The maximum texture-hardening effect was found in a 4Al-1/4O2 alloy to be nearly 50 pct. In the compression-compression quadrant, {1012} deformation twinning prevented the locus from expanding much beyond the Position predicted for isotropic material. With increasing temperature the trend in R was downwards, approaching unity (isotropy) near the a-transus temperature; an accompanying development was large amounts of neck-free extension. which are of special concern in this paper. The tendency has been to view crystallographic texture more as a liability or curio than as an asset. The prominent exception is found in silicon-ferrite sheet for power-transformer cores, which is processed to develop a new optimum texture for high electrical efficiency. Yet it should be possible to find other examples, involving other kinds of properties. More specifically, there is good analytical reason to expect improved combined-stress yielding resistance in suitably textured material,2,3 and it has now been shown by experiment that texture hardening or softening is a potentially useful phenomenon in certain engineering devices and processes.'-I To date, work has included measurements of the transverse (width to thickness) strain ratios in the

Jan 1, 1967

By R. G. Hall

The method of crushing rock by throwing with violence against a resisting surface does not differ in principle from the method of dropping it from a height upon a specially arranged surface. The former is applied in various mills now in use, especially those for reduction of the softer rocks and minerals. The latter is the principle of the Hadsel mill. Probably not new, but Hadsel's method of approach is at least novel, and applicable to hard as well as softer rocks. An elevating wheel raises the rock and drops it from a height upon a hard metal plate or series of plates. The first commercial mill consisted of two units, one on each overhung end of a horizontal shaft, driven by a gear train from a 100-hp. motor. A description of this machine, then in operation at a mine at Georgetown, Calif., was printed in the Engineering and Mining Journal (April, 1932) and need not be repeated here. That machine took mine run ores of a size up to 12 in. and successfully produced a pulp of approximately minus 60 mesh, suitable for flotation. The mills were each 24 ft. in diameter and 3 ft. in width of face. The elevating buckets were formed of steel plates, extending inward from the periphery, inclined to the tangent at 75". This plate was 3 ft., the width of the wheel, and 2 ft. deep. One side of the wheel towards the carrying shaft was closed, the other was open except for the rim plate enclosing the ends of the buckets and extending inward about 5 ft. on the radius. About a 90" arc was immersed in a concrete tank, which acted as a classifier. The breaking plates, seven in number, were carried cantilever through the open side of the wheel. The lowest plate was placed just above the water level. The illustrations (Figs. 1 and 2) make plain the general arrangements. The plant set-up was somewhat crude but worked well enough to demonstrate the weak points of the mill. In this operation it was early apparent that, considering all the factors from delivery of the mine run ore to the final pulp for flotation or cyanida-tion, the Hadsel mill offered possibilities of great simplicity of plant and savings in power. Continuous operation developed mechanical weaknesses, some of which were readily discernible in details of design, some became more apparent as operations progressed.

Jan 1, 1935

By J. R. Guard

Development of electrical power in coal mining has been an outstanding example of adaptbility. It has accommodated itself to new inventions, changing mining methods, increasing demands, increasing safety requirements and many other new conditions. With the appearance of the continuous miner in the mining machinery picture, those engineers interested in the application of electricity to mining have been thinking about what new comination of electrical apparatus will best suit this newcomer. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the relative costs of supplying d-c versus a-c power to mining equipment with particular reference to continuous miner setups. Assume that a-c power will be delivered to the mine at some high voltage suitable for transmision to the various substation locations. Typical voltage for this purpose is 4000 volts. The problem then is to change the power to some kind of power suitable for driving the motors of mining equipment. For safety and other reasons the voltage to be delivered to the motor terminals must be under 600 volts.

Jan 6, 1950

By V 7. 0 / 300 dpi

WHEN the copper smelters were built, in Montana, all of the refractory products which were used in their construction were shipped in from Eastern factories. It was apparent that if a material suitable for the manufacture of these products could be found within the State, a saving of freight could be effected and a new industry built up. Prospecting for such materials was started and experiments were made with samples from numerous deposits. Considerable effort and funds were expended in an attempt to manufacture silica brick from Dillon quartz, a light colored sandstone that is found near Dillon, Mont., on the Oregon Shortline railroad. As a brick material the Dillon quartz was a failure, but it has proved very satisfactory as a silica cement. It is now being used in laying silica brick and for reverberatory furnace bottoms. A bed of quartzite that is particularly suited to the manufacture of high-grade silica brick -was finally discovered at Browns Spur, 6 miles west of Anaconda. The material from this deposit is now being used in the manufacture of the Anaconda silica brick, which have gained a wide reputation for heat-resisting and lasting qualities. The analysis of all average sample of this quartz is: SiO2,, 96.7; Fe203, 0.3; Al203, 2.5; CaO, 0.3 per cent. The very low percentage of fluxing ingredients makes this a most refractory material. All of the Anaconda silica brick are hand molded. Various types of brick machines have been tried, but the hand-mold process proved the best suited to the manufacture of silica brick from this material. The silica is first put through a jaw crusher and is then clumped into wet pans, where 4 per cent. of lime paste is added, to produce a bond. Without the lime the. material would not be plastic enough to mold. After a few minutes' grinding in the wet pans the material is conveyed to the molder, who forces it into the molds by hand. The brick are then dumped on pallets and placed in the drier, where they are left until dry enough to be set in the kilns. Some of the brick are re-pressed before being dried. They are burned about five days, in round down-draft kilns. It is not necessary to have as much heat in the kilns as the brick will be subjected

Jan 9, 1913