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By Walter Lang

The year 1931 has shown a marked change over 1930 in New Mexico, with respect to the volume of activities attendant upon the petroleum industry. Although the total production of oil and gas this year exceeds that of preceding years, the results have been attained from established units operating under restriction, but capable of supplying far more than the economic conditions justify. The presidential order of March 12, 1929, that "there will be complete conservation of Government oil in this administration," has merely anticipated a normal consequence of overdevelopment. As a result of the combined economic and legal restrictions imposed, very little new drilling has occurred during the year. Even in proven areas the drilling of offsets has been curtailed to the absolute limit of requirements. Scouting and sample-cutting, which in 1930 were still in a state of feverish activity, are at low ebb, and lease buying has reached a condition of stagnation. A number of the major oil companies have either materially reduced their field and office forces or completely eliminated local office representation. Two tests of particular interest, because correlation shows them to be structurally high although they failed to produce, are the National Securities well drilled six miles west of the town of Hobbs, on sec. 33, T.18 S., R.37 E., Lea County, to a total depth of 4272 ft., which developed a flow of 4,000,000 cu. ft. of gas at 3860 ft., and a show of oil; and the Western Drilling Co. No. 1 State, sec. 16, T.20S., R.32 E., Lea County. The latter test found dead oil at 2575 to 2580 ft., and sulfur water at 2745 ft., increasing to 2780 ft., representing the zone from which production was generally expected. The well was drilled to 4013 feet. The discovery of sulfur at about 950 ft. in the deepening of an old water well (Pearson, NE. 1/4 sec. 8, T.16 S., R.25 E.) drilled in the Little Cottonwood area northwest of Artesia led the Union Sulphur Co. to drill three prospect tests on a block of acreage in the vicinity during the summer and fall. The results of the investigation have not been disclosed. The Kummbaca Oil and Gas Co. drilled the T. J. Kerline No. 1, in sec. 34, T.21 N., R.30 E., Harding County, gaging 3,654,000 cu. ft. of 98 per cent CO² at 940 ft. The Barton structure, 20 miles east of Albu-

Jan 1, 1932

By A. B. Tanner

The effects of radon in drillholes on gamma-ray logs have been described by L. S. Hilpert and C. M. Bunker1 Since these effects may cause drastic error in the evaluation of uranium deposits, it is useful to know the conditions under which significant amounts of radon tend to accumulate in drillholes. In the studies described here, atmospheric conditions were found to dominate in the control of the behavior of radon in drillholes in the vicinity of a uranium orebody. The site of the investigation was in McKinley County, New Mexico, about 12 miles north of Grants. Drillholes of 4 1/4-in. diam, on 25-ft and 100-ft centers, penetrate ore in dry rock at a depth of about 100 ft. A geologic log of the drillhole of primary interest is shown in Fig. 1. Gamma-ray logs revealed three zones of ore-grade mineralization in the Todilto limestone. A 6-ft zone, the lowest of the three, assayed 0.20 pct U3O8 by chemical analysis. The limestone ores in this area contain disseminated uraninite and some yellow and orange secondary minerals. Only radon"", a member of the uranium'" series, was measured in this investigation. Radon is one of the chemically inert noble gases and is radioactive by alpha particle emission with a half life of about four days. In this discussion, amounts of radon are expressed in microcuries (1 microcurie equals 37,-000 disintegrations per sec) and concentrations of radon are expressed in microcuries per liter of drillhole air. Samples of air were obtained by lowering a sampling device (Fig. 2) into a drillhole and actuating the device at the desired depth. It was then raised to the surface and the sample was transferred to a storage tube. Within two days the sample was transferred to an ionization chamber, and the activ- ity of radon and its short-lived daughter products was measured at radioactive equilibrium with a vibrating-reed electrometer. The measurements were corrected back to the time of collection and involve errors estimated generally not to exceed + 5 pct to —15 pct. Radon Behavior in a Covered Hole: Fig. 3, a typical log of radon concentration vs depth in the covered drillhole, was made by using values of radon concentration at discrete depths. Continuous logs of alpha-particle radiation in the drillholes showed that such radon logs depict the continuous variation of radon concentration with depth quite accurately. Three features of radon logs were noted: 1) maximum

Jan 1, 1960

By W. R. Jones

composition, he cannot reasonably asl; the manufacturer to guarantee that this composition shall give certain physical results. W. R. Jones, Pittsburgh, Pa. : The question that naturally occlun to me is this: Has Dr. Dudley in his inveatigtrtions been aiming to prove a theory, or has he been guided by an earnest desire to discover what are the proper elements in the composition of a good-wearing steel rail ? Unfortunately, for correct chemical information, he has omitted in his analgw two very importnat elements,—sulpbur and copper. Now, before we will even begin to admit the correctnets of Dr. Dudley's conclusions and the formula he prescribes, we will at the start question the propriety of any chenlist or scientist prescribing a formula for making steel when he has iguared such important ele ments as sulphur aud copper. I, for one, will not accept any such formula. Are we sure, or is Dr. Daclley sure, that the chemical analyseq embodied in his paper are correct? This may seem a presumptuous queetion, yet, with my experience with chenlists, I naturally doubt the correctness of the analyse8, and, before I will accept them as correct, I will ask that comparative tests of phosphorous and man ganese be made by the Pennsylvania Railroad chemists and the chemists of the leading steel-works in the country. Let us first verify the correctness of the analyses before we consider the con clusions. I can enumerate a great number of instances in which chemists have differed very widely in their determinations of phos phorus and manganese. A prominent iron fitam made a contract with the Edgar Thomson Steel Company to deliver pig metal guar anteed to be between 0.07 and 0.08 phosphorus; an analysis by our chemist resulted in phosphorus 0.148 and 0.152,—a rather startling difference! Again, a sample bar of steel, in which our chemist reported phosphorus 0.11, was tested by a chemist of au other Bessemer works, ana his determinations were phosphorus between 0.07 and 0.08: A leading engineering establishmeut of Pittsbdrgh bought iron claimed by a chemical analysis to contain 0.08 phosphorus; our Mr. Ford found phosphorus 0.145. A chem ist connected with an open-hearth works reported manganese in a piece of steel, 1.14; in a second determination from the same piece of steel, by the same chemist, manganese was reported 0.43. The chemist was kept in ignorauce of the fact that both samples were from the saw piece of steel. Two dctermiuations for manganese

Jan 1, 1881

By J. H. Mallery, J. H. Keeler

THE crystal structure of Zral, the compound richest in zirconium (91.03 pct Zr by weight) in the system Zr-Al, has been found to be ordered face-centered-cubic. This compound is of particular interest, since it is encountered as the precipitated phase in potentially useful zirconium-rich alloys. It forms peritectoidally from body-centered-cubic zirconium and Zr,Al at about 975°C. The Zr-A1 constitution diagram has been reported by McPherson and Hansen.' For the primary determination a 100 g ingot was prepared by arc-melting in a water-cooled copper crucible under purified argon. The raw materials were crystal-bar zirconium (a purity of better than 99.7 pct) and spectroscopically pure aluminum. The ingot was double melted, examined metallographi-cally, and found to be quite uniform as shown in Fig. 1. The hardness of the as-cast button was VHN 390 to 445. A 20 mil diam specimen was prepared from annealed (900°C) filings of Zr,Al. The specimen was mounted in a 5 cm radius powder camera and an 8 hr exposure was taken using copper radiation with a nickel filter. The structure of the compound Zral was found to be ordered face-centered-cubic of the Cuau type, with an a,, value of 4.37220.003A. Its calculated density is 5.976e0.013 g per cu cm. The relative intensities for the lines were calculated using the formula 1+cos2 20 I oc----------------- • p • /F7 sin2 0 cos 0 1 + COS' 20 where----------------is the Lorentz polarization fac- sin2 0 cos 0 tor, p is the multiplicity factor, and F is the structure factor. The X-ray data are given in Table I. The compound has exhibited plasticity when present as particles in a matrix of a zirconium. During hot working at about 900°C, the compound has been found to deform plastically to the extent that some of the particles exhibit a length-to-width ratio greater than 4:1 as shown in Fig. 2. In answer to the discussion of ref. 1, McPherson and Hansen pointed out that the compound may be cold rolled and reduced as much as 33 pct. Zr,Al has also been found2 under certain conditions to precipitate in lamellar form at grain boundaries of the a phase of hexagonal-close-packed zirconium. Acknowledgment This work was carried out under Contract W-31-109-Eng 52 for the United States Atomic Energy Commission.

Jan 1, 1956

By Clarence Zener

IT has long been known that the density of a metal usually decreases with cold-work. Thus O'Neilll observed as early as 1861 that cold hammering of commercial hot-rolled copper is accompanied by a decrease of density of 0.2 per cent, and that subsequent annealing restores the original density. The origin of this density change, however, has remained obscure. In particular, experiment has not yet decided whether it is due to the presence of small cavities and an increase in inter-granular surface or to an actual expansion of the lattice itself. This uncertainty in the origin of the change in density is a reflection of our uncertainty as to the changes induced in a metal by cold-working. One school regards cold-working as a breaking up of the original grains into a large number of perfect crystallites somewhat randomly orientated with respect to one another.2 According to this viewpoint, the mere introduction of a large intercrystallite surface induces a net volume expansion. Another school regards cold-working primarily as a distortion of the grains. It is not obvious that this second viewpoint will lead to a net volume expansion. The purpose of the present paper is to show that this is indeed the case, and that this expansion is of the right order of magnitude to explain existing experimental data. The physical basis for the association of an expansion with distortion lies essentially in the variation of the elastic moduli with volume. This variation is considerable. Thus from Table I we see that a I per cent increase in volume for the case of copper will decrease the bulk modulus K by 10 per cent, the shearing modulus µ by 3.8 per cent. If we thus twist a rod through a given angle, we shall do less work upon it if it increases slightly in volume, thereby reducing the torsion modulus that involves as a factor the shearing modulus. A general principle3 in physics states that the rod will so adjust itself as to have a minimum potential energy consistent with the end restraints. It will therefore expand. In order to obtain a quantitative comparison with experiment, we follow Maier4 in comparing the lattice expansion with the latent energy of cold-work. This latent energy has been measured directly by Taylor and Quinney5 on copper rods subjected to torsion, and may amount to as much as 15 per cent of the total work done upon the specimens. We shall assume that this

Jan 1, 1942

By E. S. Wheeler

The conversion plant of the Clirnax Molybdenum Co. is at Langeloth, Washington . County, Pennsylvania, approximately 30 miles west of Pittsburgh. The molybdenite concentrates converted originate in the company's mine and mill at Climax, Co1orado.l They are delivered to the Langeloth plant by rail packed in 175-lb. bags. War production of concentrates at the mill started in 1918 but it was not until about 1920 that any peacetime uses of the metal began to develop. Early conversion of Climax concentrates was mainly into ferromolybden um, produced for the company by a custom smelter. Chronology of Plant Development In 1924 a small hand-rabbled roaster was built at Langeloth, the roasted concentrates being used principally in the production of calcium molybdate by a conventional wet method. The size of the original plant is indicated by the fact that during 1925 about 400,000 lb. of molybdenum was converted. In 1925-1926, a multiple-hearth roaster was erected (12-ft. 0.d. 8-hearth Nichols-Herreshoff); also the first experimental ferromolybdenum was produced at Langeloth. At this time sa.1cium molybdate was produced in the furnace by a process to be described. With continued interest in and increased use of molybdenum, it was necessary to arrange for enlargement of plant facilities. Although only one 12-hearth 16-ft. 0.d. roaster was erected at this time (1929), plans were prepared for a duplicate unit, which was completed in 193 5, giving a potential roasting capacity of some 16,000 lb. Mo per day under the then prevailing roasting practice. Shortly after this second unit had gone into production, increased demand overtaxed the plant, and as a result two 12-hearth 18-ft. 0.d. roasters were placed in operation in 1936 and 1937. This gave the plant a potential roasting capacity of 40,000 to 50,000 lb. Mo per day, and necessitated major changes in auxiliary handling equipment as well as improved facilities for producing ferromolybdenum. Following the introduction (1938) of a new product—molybdic oxide briquets— and because of the constantly growing demand for molybdenum, plant facilities were again enlarged in 1940 and 1941 by the erection of two 16-hearth 18-ft. 0.d. roasters. These two new units, along with a change in roasting practice, brought the potential roasting capacity to 150,ooo to 190,000 Ib. Mo per day, based on about 15 lb. per sq. ft. of hearth area. Other departments of the plant have necessarily grown, until today the plant is modern throughout and completely mechanized, with equipment geared to produce marketable products as follows:

Jan 1, 1944

By H. Cecil Spicer

THE results described in this article are based on field work conducted during the periods April-May, 1939, and May-July, 1940. The United States Potash Co. is mining potash on Government land under a permit from the Department of the Interior and the geophysical investigation was completed under a cooperative arrangement made between that company and the Conservation Branch of the Geological Survey. The writer, a member of the Section of Chemistry and Physics of the Geologic Branch, was assigned to this investigation. Four definite objectives were in mind for the geophysical work in the studies over the salt deposits. The first was to determine the measure of success that could be attained in this type of work with the resistivity methods that were to be employed. These methods had been introduced into the work of the Conservation Branch by Benjamin E. Jones for the investigation of dam sites, and have been used under his direction by the author for such work. If the method proved to be applicable, an effort was to be made to contour the top of the salt beds and also the other formation boundaries known to be present in this area. Salt-water aquifers were to be studied in an effort to determine their boundaries, and an attempt was to be made to delineate the potash-bearing beds. EARLIER STUDIES Others have made, and reported, resistivity studies over saliferous deposits in different areas. Friede1 and Messrs. Schlumberger2 reported geophysical work performed in the discovery of the salt domes of Alsace; Carrette and Kelly3 described the geology of the same area. Leonardon and Kelly4 published a resistivity curve obtained over the Hettenschlag dome, and a further discussion of this same area was given by the Messrs. Schlumberger5 in a communication. Messrs. Alty6 described studies on salt deposits in which the single-probe method was used. Sinerez7 mentions that electrical methods were tried over salt deposits in Spain. Geoffrey and Charrin8 show a resistivity curve obtained over marl, gypsiferous marl and salt which is similar to that obtained over the New Mexico salt deposits. Kelly9 reported resistivity work performed with the ground comparator of Zuschlag over the salt deposits near Syracuse, N. Y., where the Salina formation is at a depth of 700 to B00 ft. Some structural studies on the potash basin of Alsace are described by Poldini.10 Another single-probe resistivity study, made over salt deposits in New Mexico, is briefly described by Heiland,11 through the courtesy of Harry Aurand, of the Midwest Refining Co.

Jan 1, 1941

By R. D. Barer, M. B. Bever

Age hardening alloys are quenched from the solution treatment to room temperature in order to retain a supersaturated solid solution. Some alloys age "naturally" in this condition but in most alloys aging is induced "artificially" by heating to intermediate temperatures. Cold working of the supersaturated solid solution accelerates the aging process and quenching strains have the same effect. The investigation reported here is a study of the progress of aging in specimens quenched directly from the solution treatment to various aging temperatures. This procedure reduces the temperature interval of quenching and the resulting quenching stresses. It also eliminates any changes which would take place in the undercooled sample at room temperature prior to aging at an elevated temperature. Isothermal aging is thus approached and its kinetics may be studied. An aluminum-copper and an aluminum-silicon alloy were chosen for this investigation. The aging mechanism of aluminum-copper alloys is complex while the aging of aluminum-silicon alloys is nearly ideal. As standards of comparison for the samples directly quenched to the aging temperature, specimens were also age hardened by the usual procedure in which solution treated samples are first quenched to room temperature and then reheated to the aging temperature. Review of Previous Work The mechanism of age hardening has been the subject of a controversy which has ranged from the theory of outright precipitation of an equilibrium phase to theories based on subtle changes occurring in the matrix prior to precipitation. A detailed critical review of the literature up to 1939 is available1 and contributions to the general theory of age hardening continue to be made.2,3 Age hardening, whatever its mechanism, involves the nucleation of a second phase within a supersaturated solid solution. Theoretical considerations4,5 indicate that the rate of nucleation reaches a maximum at an intermediate temperature below the temperature at which supersaturation sets in. Studies of precipitation at various subcritical temperatures have demonstrated that the largest property changes in a given time occur at such intermediate temperatures.6,7,8 The precipitation of a phase from supersaturated solid solution is accelerated by strains which may result from quenching or cold work. Phillips and Brick9 established that quenching strains are an essential condition for the age hardening of aluminum-copper alloys at room temperature, at least for aging periods of less than 30 days. They also found that on aging at 300°C the hardness increased faster and reached a higher maximum after quenching into water than after quenching directly to the aging temperatures. Fink and Smith10 observed preferential precipitation on slip bands and grain boundaries in aluminum-

Jan 1, 1950

By Clarence Zener

IT has long been known that the density of a metal usually decreases with cold-work. Thus O'Neilll observed as early as 1861 that cold hammering of commercial hot-rolled copper is accompanied by a decrease of density of 0.2 per cent, and that subsequent annealing restores the original density. The origin of this density change, however, has remained obscure. In particular, experiment has not yet decided whether it is due to the presence of small cavities and an increase in inter-granular surface or to an actual expansion of the lattice itself. This uncertainty in the origin of the change in density is a reflection of our uncertainty as to the changes induced in a metal by cold-working. One school regards cold-working as a breaking up of the original grains into a large number of perfect crystallites somewhat randomly orientated with respect to one another.2 According to this viewpoint, the mere introduction of a large intercrystallite surface induces a net volume expansion. Another school regards cold-working primarily as a distortion of the grains. It is not obvious that this second viewpoint will lead to a net volume expansion. The purpose of the present paper is to show that this is indeed the case, and that this expansion is of the right order of magnitude to explain existing experimental data. The physical basis for the association of an expansion with distortion lies essentially in the variation of the elastic moduli with volume. This variation is considerable. Thus from Table I we see that a I per cent increase in volume for the case of copper will decrease the bulk modulus K by 10 per cent, the shearing modulus µ by 3.8 per cent. If we thus twist a rod through a given angle, we shall do less work upon it if it increases slightly in volume, thereby reducing the torsion modulus that involves as a factor the shearing modulus. A general principle3 in physics states that the rod will so adjust itself as to have a minimum potential energy consistent with the end restraints. It will therefore expand. In order to obtain a quantitative comparison with experiment, we follow Maier4 in comparing the lattice expansion with the latent energy of cold-work. This latent energy has been measured directly by Taylor and Quinney5 on copper rods subjected to torsion, and may amount to as much as 15 per cent of the total work done upon the specimens. We shall assume that this

Jan 1, 1942

By E. M. Cox, T. Rosenqvist

IN a recent investigation, carried out at the Institute for the Study of Metals, the affinity of sul-phur for iron, copper, and manganese was studied over the temperature range 700" to 1300°C.' It was found that copper exhibits a rather high affinity for sulphur, especially at higher temperatures; and attention was called to the possibility that copper when present together with sulphur in liquid steel would tend to lower the chemical activity of sulphur and thus interfere with the desulphurization process. It was clear, however, that the data for the equilibrium between pure copper and pure copper sulphide (Cu2S) could not give any quantitative information about the effect of copper when dissolved in liquid steel. The present work is concerned with the activity of sulphur in the diluted range of the binary iron-sulphur system, and with the influence of small amounts of copper on this sulphur activity. This investigation is in principle based on the same method previously described for the binary metal-sulphur studies;1,2 namely, reaction with hydrogen to form hydrogen sulphide. The equilibrium ratio PH2s/Ph2 in the equilibrium gas mixture is, for a given temperature, directly proportional to the sulphur activity. The activity of sulphur in liquid iron has previously been studied by Chipman and Ta Li,3 White and Skelly,4 and recently by Sherman, Elvander, and Chipman.5 Morris and Williams6 have studied the effect of added silicon, and Kitchener, Bockris and Liberman,7 and recently Morris and Buehl,8 the effect of added carbon on the sulphur activity. In present day steelmaking processes the steel bath contains between 0.01 and 0.1 pct sulphur, and the copper content may be as high as 0.5 pct. The equi-librium gas ratio (H2S/H2) would, for such a low-sulphur content, be too low to be measured with the experimental technique we use. It has been shown by previous investigators that the H2S/H2 ratio is closely proportional to the sulphur content up to about 1 pct sulphur. The sulphur activity at very low-sulphur content can therefore be calculated by linear interpolation between 0 and 1 pct sulphur. In order to show the general trend with increasing sulphur content, the present work has been carried out to about 3.5 pct sulphur. As the effect of copper was assumed to be more a function of the Cu/S ratio than of the absolute copper content, the runs with copper were made for certain constant values for this ratio.

Jan 1, 1951

By R. F. Evans, J. M. Avert

Much has been written of the glamour of magnesium from sea water, the Aladdin-like creation of a huge magnesium plant in the Nevada desert using cheap hydroelectric power from Boulder Dam; the marvels of the Hansgirg process for the electrothermal reduction of magnesium oxide by carbon, and the ferrosilicon process for producing magnesium from dolomite. This is the story of the production of magnesium by the electrolytic process, using steam-electric power supplied by a public utility, in a plant at Painesville, Ohio, 30 miles east of Cleveland on the shore of Lake Erie. The story is not without interest, since it involves several unique developments that provide the answer to a question frequently asked: How is it possible to produce magnesium metal economically at such a location as Painesville, Ohio? Basically, the answer lies in making use of facilities already in existence for the production of soda ash, which makes it possible to manufacture magnesium chloride, the principal raw material, cheaply enough to offset the high cost of electric power. To this is coupled the successful conversion of by-product chlorine into a product required for the war program. The source of magnesium for this opera- tion is the enormous surface deposit of high-grade dolomite in the region south of Toledo, within reasonable freight haul of Painesville. This same geological stratum underlies the Painesville plant, but unfortunately at a depth of about 3000 ft.— apparently too great a depth to permit underground mining to compete with the delivered cost of rock from surface quarries in other areas. The cost of dolomite obviously is an important factor, since the rock contains only some 12 per cent magnesium (20 per cent MgO) so that one dollar on the cost of stone means more than $8 in terms of its magnesium content, and more than that in terms of recoverable magnesium metal. Production of Magnesia from Dolomite In the summer of 1941, the Diamond Alkali Co. was well along with construction of a plant intended for the commercial production of refractory and other grades of magnesia from dolomite. The process to be used was designed to make maximum economic advantage of existing plant and operations by tying the production of magnesia in with the manufacture of soda ash in such a way as to make use of the lime [CaO)., value of calcined dolomite. The process finally adopted after a lengthy research and development program has much in common with the old Clerc-Nihoul process, but includes certain innovations found to be necessary or advantageous. Essentially, the process is based upon the following series of reactions:

Jan 1, 1949

By P. J. Ehret

By and large, I agree with many of the precepts discussed in the Saperstein paper. I believe there is much more that can be done on the local level to involve both government and planning in the mine permit review process. Admittedly, much can be done to improve discussion between the state regulatory authority, local authorities, and mine operators. However, I strongly disagree, as suggested in the paper's conclusion, that such a system, as outlined in Saperstein's paper, could result in a reduction of review time or a lowering in the cost of permitting. The implementation of such a system by its very nature would only add a new level of bureaucracy to an already cumbersome process. This system, in my opinion, would only add to the cost of permitting and the time necessary to obtain a permit. Admittedly, it would achieve the result of adding local influence into the permitting process, but at what off-setting cost? It has been my professional first-hand experience and observation in the permitting and lands unsuitable processes to note that under the present system, local governments that do feel they have a stake in local mines and actively advocate their position (not simply comment), have had significant input into the conduct of mining and reclamation plans in their areas. Mining companies that mine in these areas are aware of local interests and attitudes, and do consider them in their plans. Simply put, local governments that want to get involved and want to play significant roles can and do. Those that do not advocate a position or have no input to offer do not. Although the present system is not as direct in effect in regard to local control as Saperstein's, it does work. It does so without the red tape that would result from developing miniature regulatory authorities in every county in which mining occurs. Although local input is important, there are many more sections of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) than Sections 508(a)(8) and 522(a)(3)(A) that also are important. It appears Saperstein's paper may overindulge these sections. An additional specific comment is made in regard to the statement that while local areas benefit from mining (wages, salaries, and purchases), they also endure environmental deterioration caused by mining affects. It is believed that the whole purpose for which SMCRA and its resulting regulations were enacted and developed was so mining would not be permitted if significant environmental deterioration could occur. Therefore, it could be argued that this point under current law is moot.

Jan 1, 1985

By R. D. Reiswig

An increasing amount of high-temperature metall~?~gical research is carried out in resistively heated tube furnaces in which a bare specimen is suspended by a fine wire at the midpoint of the tube. It is shown that the assumption of near-blackbody conditions on the surface of the sample may give rise to errors in optical pyrometry of 50°C or more. A number of papers published in the metallurgical literature in recent years have described the use of high-temperature tube furnaces for heat treatments, melting-point determinations, and other work. Typically, the tube is of a refractory metal with open ends, is heated by the passage of an electric current, and has concentric cylindrical radiation shields outside it. In at least one of these,' the specimen is contained within a crucible having a small hole in its lid through which optical-pyrometer measurements are made under essentially blackbody conditions. In another design,* the specimen is inside a muffle which is concentric with the heater tube and which contains a number of washerlike longitudinal radi- ation shields to reduce axial temperature gradients and to give conditions near the specimen closer to those of a black cavity. Yet another design3 employs a wire specimen coaxial with the heater tube. Blackbody conditions are simulated by passing current from a separate supply through the wire until it "disappears" against the background (the inside of the heater tube) as seen through a radial spy hole in the tube. Good agreement with known melting points is achieved when an optical pyrometer is used under such disappearance conditions as the melting point is approached. That this latter method works so well is due, evidently, to considerations such as those mentioned by Dike4 and others.5-8 A more common method than the above, however, has been the suspension of an uncovered specimen by a fine wire in a resistively heated tube with open ends. A radial spy hole about midway between the ends of the tube permits optical-pyrometer observations on the specimen, the inside of the tube, or both. So observed, the specimen typically appears to differ but little in brightness temperature from the inside of the tube. According to De vos9 the radiation from such a spy hole in an empty tube of reasonable 1ength:diameter ratio (e.g., 10 or greater) should be essentially blackbody radiation. For these reasons, apparently, descriptions of work carried out in such furnaces usually include a statement to the effect that conditions surrounding

Jan 1, 1964

By O. Vartianen, R. T. Hukki

A preliminary investigation of the collecting effects of various fatty acids in tall oil has led to a conclusion that the collecting power of fatty acids used in flotation increases with increasing un- saturation of the hydrocarbon chain. Linoleic acid was found to be an excellent collector for oxide minerals. TALL oil is a mixture of fatty and resin acids extracted as byproducts in the sulphate pulp industry. In the field of flotation a well-known example of this type of product is Reagent No. 708 of the American Cyanamid Co. Its successful use as a flotation collector with many nonsulphide minerals has been described by Falconer and Crawford.' The composition of crude tall oil varies within wide limits.' " By a number of methods the crude oil may be refined to produce a variety of refined products. This investigation presents a preliminary comparative study of collecting properties of the fatty acids in tall oil. In Finnish tall oils these constituents are primarily palmitic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids.:' The first is a saturated fatty acid having 15 carbon atoms in its hydrocarbon chain, plus one in the carboxyl group. The others have 17-carbon-atom chains and are unsaturated. It is of particular interest to note that palmitic, oleic, lino-leic, and linolenic acids represent increasing degrees of unsaturation with 0, 1, 2, and 3 double bonds, respectively. To test the collecting properties of the four fatty acids separately, the vacuum flotation technique described by Schuhmann and Prakash4 was used. By this method the boundary between flotation and non-flotation conditions was approximately delineated, with the use of ilmenite and several other minerals. Collector concentration and pH were the principal variables. On the basis of information obtained, actual flotation tests were run on an ilmenite-bear-ing ore in a laboratory flotation cell. Through the courtesy of P. Kajanne from the Department of Chemistry, Finland Institute of Technology, the following reagents were obtained for this investigation: 1—Palmitic acid, of Judex, had a purity of 95 pct as determined by parallel iodo-metric and spectrophotometric measurements. 2— Oleic acid, product of May and Baker Ltd., indicated purity of 98 pct. By iodometric and spectrophoto-metric determinations the oleic acid content was found to be 83.8 pct. In addition, it contained 6 pct linoleic, 1 pct linolenic, and 9.2 pct saturated fatty acids.' 3—Linoleic acid was prepared from soybean oil by low-temperature crystallization. Its linoleic acid content was 95 pct by the methods indicated above. 4—Linolenic acid was prepared from linseed oil by low temperature crystalIization. Its linolenic

Jan 1, 1954

By Carl F. Floe, John Chipman

THE system molten copper-oxygen-sulphur is of interest from both the practical and theoretical standpoints; practically, because oxygen and sulphur play an important role in the commercial production of copper, and theoretically because it offers a chance to study the reaction between an oxide gas, SO2, and a molten metal. Reactions of this type, such as that between CO or CO2 and molten iron, are important in many metallurgical operations. Again, the determination of any gas-metal equilibrium is of theoretical interest and value insofar as it contributes to the general development of the laws for solution of gases in metals. This problem is being given an increasing amount of attention in modern metallurgy. This paper is the first of a series and presents the results of a determination of the solubility of sulphur dioxide in molten copper at temperatures from 1100° to 1500°C., and pressures from about 20 mm. of mercury to somewhat above atmospheric. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS WORK The solubility of gases in most liquids has been found to obey Henry's law, which states that for a fixed temperature the amount of gas dissolved is directly proportional to the pressure. However this law does not hold for liquid metals. Instead, it appears that for many gases, particularly the simple diatomic ones such as 02, N2 and H2, the amount dissolved in liquid metals is directly proportional to the square root of the pressure. This is known as Sieverts' law. It may be recognized as a special case of Henry's law, which applies when the solute gas is dissociated into atoms or when it reacts with the solvent metal to form solute molecules containing single atoms of the gaseous elements, as, for example: [(MG) l 2M +G2 = 2MG K = Ma X Pa, [I]] which, if the solubility is not too high and the concentration of metal therefore nearly constant, can be simplified to: [MG = Kl Pa,[2]] Following the same reasoning, it would be expected that the solubility of SO2 in copper would be proportional to the cube root of the pressure, the reaction being as follows: [6Cu + SO2 = Cu2S + 2Cu20[3] K _ Cu2S X (Cu20)2 (Cu)6(Pso2)[4]] or, neglecting the change in metal concentration and considering that the concentrations of sulphur and oxygen are both proportional to the volume V of gas absorbed: [8 =KI = Pte, or VSO2= K2 '~/PeO, [S]]

Jan 1, 1941

By W. L. Fink, M. S. Hunter, R. H. Brown

Early workers attempted to study the structure of alloys by measurement of equilibrium electrode potentials in aqueous solutions containing ions of the metals from which the alloy was made.' The method was subject to such limitations (e.g., the difficulty in attaining electrochemical equilibrium at low temperatures) that it has not been widely used by metallurgists. Recently, Seltz and co-workers have introduced a greatly improved method for studying alloys by measurement of equilibrium electrode potentials in molten salts.2"4 The mathematical treatment is the same, of course, as for equilibrium potentials of amalgams in aqueous solutions.5 This method will probably find extensive use, since it makes possible not only the determination of phase fields of equilibrium diagrams but also the determination of certain thermodynamic quantities which can be used advantageously in metallurgical calculations. However, the method presents difficulties. With many metallic and alloy electrodes, reversibility is not readily obtainable. Also, the difficulty of obtaining suitable material from which to make the cells is increased as the temperature is increased. Moreover, the necessity of carrying out measurements in a vacuum requires additional apparatus and introduces considerable difficulty, especially at the higher temperatures. Apparently, no consideration has been given heretofore to the metallurgical use of irreversible electrode potentials that exist when a specimen is immersed in a suitable aqueous solution at room temperature. The apparatus and the method required for such measurements are very simple, and if the results of such measurements could be demonstrated to be reproducible they might be very valuable in studying the structure of alloys. The method would not have the scope of that developed by Seltz and his co-workers because no thermodynamic quantities could be calculated from the data. However, the utility and the simplicity of the method might warrant extensive use for the determination of phase fields and similar applications. Theory of Irreversible Potentials A brief review of the theory of irreversible potentials will be given before showing how to interpret the potential readings in terms of alloy structure. It is known that heterogeneity of a metal surface in an electrolyte will produce points of different potentials, with the result that current flows between these points and electrochemical reactions occur. The points at which oxidation reactions are localized are known as anodes, and those at which reduction reactions are localized are known as cathodes.6, 7, 8 For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the terms anode and cathode as applied to a primary cell, the potential difference between anode and cathode of such a cell can be measured when

Jan 1, 1941

By M. S. Hunter, W. L. Fink, R. H. Brown

Early workers attempted to study the structure of alloys by measurement of equilibrium electrode potentials in aqueous solutions containing ions of the metals from which the alloy was made.' The method was subject to such limitations (e.g., the difficulty in attaining electrochemical equilibrium at low temperatures) that it has not been widely used by metallurgists. Recently, Seltz and co-workers have introduced a greatly improved method for studying alloys by measurement of equilibrium electrode potentials in molten salts.2"4 The mathematical treatment is the same, of course, as for equilibrium potentials of amalgams in aqueous solutions.5 This method will probably find extensive use, since it makes possible not only the determination of phase fields of equilibrium diagrams but also the determination of certain thermodynamic quantities which can be used advantageously in metallurgical calculations. However, the method presents difficulties. With many metallic and alloy electrodes, reversibility is not readily obtainable. Also, the difficulty of obtaining suitable material from which to make the cells is increased as the temperature is increased. Moreover, the necessity of carrying out measurements in a vacuum requires additional apparatus and introduces considerable difficulty, especially at the higher temperatures. Apparently, no consideration has been given heretofore to the metallurgical use of irreversible electrode potentials that exist when a specimen is immersed in a suitable aqueous solution at room temperature. The apparatus and the method required for such measurements are very simple, and if the results of such measurements could be demonstrated to be reproducible they might be very valuable in studying the structure of alloys. The method would not have the scope of that developed by Seltz and his co-workers because no thermodynamic quantities could be calculated from the data. However, the utility and the simplicity of the method might warrant extensive use for the determination of phase fields and similar applications. Theory of Irreversible Potentials A brief review of the theory of irreversible potentials will be given before showing how to interpret the potential readings in terms of alloy structure. It is known that heterogeneity of a metal surface in an electrolyte will produce points of different potentials, with the result that current flows between these points and electrochemical reactions occur. The points at which oxidation reactions are localized are known as anodes, and those at which reduction reactions are localized are known as cathodes.6, 7, 8 For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the terms anode and cathode as applied to a primary cell, the potential difference between anode and cathode of such a cell can be measured when

Jan 1, 1941

By Max Roseler

THE CHAIRMAN (WILLIAM KELLY, Vulcan, Mich.).-Some 8 or 9 years ago I was at Daiquiri, only a. few miles east of Firmeza, where there are deposits of iron ore of the same general character. There is a great conical hill, perhaps 800 or 1,000 ft. in height and the ore deposit appears to be somewhat in a canoe shape on one side of the hill. The mining has been done by quarrying the ore in benches. These are called levels and to go to the 10th level it was necessary to take mules and ride to the top of the hill, which was to me an upside down arrangement of numbering levels and a novel method of entering and viewing a mine. A little copper ore can be seen in places, and not being a geologist I thought the deposit might possibly be a gossan, but none of the geologists who have written on the subject approve of this hypothesis and the great question seems to be what part, if any, the limestones have played in the origin of ore; whether these deposits are replacements of limestone and whether they are contact ,deposits between the limestone and the other rocks. Examinations have been made by many eminent geologists and the problem has been discussed vigorously on both sides. The deposits are exceedingly interesting from a commercial standpoint and although they have been studied for a number off years the origin of the ore is still a difficult and somewhat controversial question. J. T. SINGEWALD, JR., Baltimore, Md.-I have had the privilege of visiting these deposits and have been very much interested in this paper, of Dr. Roesler's; having been on the ground, I can easily appreciate the difficulties under which he labored in attempting to work out the geology of that region, and he certainly deserves considerable credit for the way in which he has deciphered the geological relations of the Firmeza district. There are several points in his paper 1 ,would like to discuss; first, in regard to the geological interpretations. His differs from previous interpretations in the relative age of the diorite and the granite, but you will note that Prof. Lindgren suggests the probability. that those two rocks are very closely of the same age, and Prof. Kemp actually suggests, although he does not-accept the idea, that the granite is probably later than the diorite, so that there seems to be no particular reason

Jan 4, 1917

By W. F. Dietrich

Mineral fillers are relatively inert chemically under the conditions of use but have physical properties* that modify those of the materials • The properties. uses, and other data on 15 classes of important *The pro listed in the second edition of Industrial Minerals and Rocks.l A third edition of this reference is in preparation. in which they are incorporated. The mineral fillers considered in this article are asbestos, barite, clays, diatomite, crushed limestone, limestone whiting and lime, mica, silica, talc and soapstone, and pyrophyllite. Slate and stone, other than limestone and its derivatives, are excluded because, even though used in large quantities, they are exceptionally low-cost materials generally produced close to the area where they are used. Carbon black is excluded because it is manufactured from natural gas and more than 90 pct of the output is used in rubber; hence the factors for estimating requirements are easily evaluated. OVERALL GROWTH FACTORS Table I gives the population, retail sales, and value added by manufactures in the U. S. and in the eleven western states in 1954. These data are rough guides to the proportionate part of total U. S. markets for products containing mineral fillers that may be expected in a given area. For example, the population of the eight Mountain states in 1954 was 3.6 pct, and retail sales in these states were 3.8 pct of the U. S. total, but the value added by manufactures was only 1.3 pct of the U. S. total. On the other hand, the three Pacific Coast states, with 10.3 pct of the total population, had 12.0 pct of the retail sales and produced 9.6 pct of the value added by manufactures. On an industry-by-industry basis the correlation between the three guideposts will not be as close as shown in the 1954 data for the Pacific Coast states, but in the long-term view the continuing rapid population growth in the western states is certain to result in expanded industrial production at an even more accelerated pace, which will shorten the gap between local consumption and production in most major groups of manufactured consumer goods. Of course, there will always remain favorable areas for production of specific products. Such special situations must be individually analyzed. Fig. 1 compares the population trends in the U. S., the western states, and California with Real Gross National Product from 1910 to 1957, with forecasts to 1970. It is estimated' that the U. S. Real Gross National Product, as measured by the value of goods and

Jan 1, 1960

By C. W. Hamilton

In the production of crude petroleum for the year 1930 Venezuela again maintained its world rank of second only to the United States. During the latter months of the year Russia forged ahead of Venezuela in daily rate of production, and from the present outlook will probably rank second among the oil-producing countries of the world in 1931. It is now believed Venezuelan production has passed its peak. The producing fields of the Bolivar coastal district, along the east side of Lake Maracaibo, continue to be the principal source of supply. Such fields as Lagunillas, Mene Grande and La Pas were not produced to capacity throughout 1930. During the year, three new fields entered into commercial development: The Rio Tarra field in the District of Colon, State of Zulia; the El Mene de Salto field in the District of Acosta, State of Falcon and the Quiriquire field, District of Piar, State of Monagas. For 1930 the total crude production of Venezuela was approximately 137,424,000 bbl. as compared to 137,739,000 bbl. during 1929, or a decrease of 315,000 bbl. During the past year exports of crude from Venezuela amounted to 137,8.50,000 bbl. as against 130,044,000 bbl. exported during 1929. Crude oil in field storage decreased from 14,138,-000 bbl. at the beginning of 1930 to 9,600,000 bbl. as of Jan. 1, 1931— present crude stocks fill about one half the field tankage available. Drilling operations in the producing fields declined sharply but throughout the year there was maintained a satisfactory potential reserve in the shape of proven territory and closed-in producers. Of the 2555 wells which have been completed in Venezuela, 1571 wells were in production on Jan. 1, 1931. The status of these present producing wells may be classified as follows: flowing 652, pumping 170, gas-air lift 193 and closed-in 556. The ratio of closed-in wells to producing wells declined in 1930, while the number of wells produced by artificial means increased materially. In the Bolivar coastal fields there is now observed a marked decline in gas volume and well-head pressure. Lago Petroleum Corpn. and Venezuela Gulf Oil Co. each have under construction electric plants designed to generate power for pumping wells by electricity. The first units of these plants will be placed in conlmission in the early spring of 1931. Venezuela Oil Concessions, Ltd. has installed a number of stenrn-

Jan 1, 1931