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For the year ending February, 1917 PRESIDENT L. D. RICKETTS, 1............... NEW YORK, N. Y. PAST PRESIDENTS BENJAIMN B. THAYER.1 ............... NEW YORK, N. Y. WILLIAM L. SAUNDERS,P ................ NEW YORK, N. Y. FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT SIDNEY J. JENNINGS,1 .....,...... ., .... NEW YORK, N. Y. TREASURER GEORGE C. STONE,l. ................ NEW YORK, N. Y. SECRETARY EMERITUS ROSSITER W. RAYMOND, .... .,. .......... NEW YORK, N. Y

Jan 9, 1916

By James D. McClung, H. J. Gluskoter, M. R. Geer

INTRODUCTION The purpose of coal preparation is to improve the quality of coal to make it suitable for a specific purpose by (1 ) cleaning to remove inorganic impurities; (2) sizing-crushing or screening, or both; or (3) special treatment, such as dedusting. The properties and quantities of impurities in coal are of major importance in the design and operation of steam generating equipment. Al- though boilers are often designed and equipped to use a wide range of coals, no boiler will perform equally well with all types of coals. All coals have certain properties that place limitations on their most advantageous use. These limitations are especially stringent for many of the older installations. Because of a general lowering of quality of raw coal in recent years, the need for coal cleaning has significantly increased. Among the factors contributing to the need for increased coal preparation are (1) increased demand for quality brought on by market and environmental requirements; (2) increased extraneous dilution caused by mine, health, and safety laws; and (3) depletion of the higher-quality coal seams.

Jan 1, 1979

By Robert D. Pike

In November 1939, on behalf of the Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., the author undertook the study of the problem of utilizing the dolomite of northwestern Ohio for the manufacture of calcined magnesia suitable for use in refractories. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the unfailing assistance and encouragement throughout this work from the executive and technical staff of Harbison-Walker Refractories Company. The dolomite of the Niagara formation that is exposed or near the surface of a wide area in northwestern Ohio1 constitutes a vast supply of almost pure dolomite. It offers a virtually unlimited supply of cheap raw material of uniform dependable analysis for the manufacture of magnesia. A typical analysis of dolomite from the vicinity of Luckey, Ohio, follows: Stone Completely Calcined CaO(Sro)a............. 30.35 57.806 Mgo................... 21.55 41.050 SiO2. ................... 0.30 0.572 R2O3................... 0.30 0.572 Ignition loss............. 47.50 a SrO about 0.06 pct. Brines containing magnesium chloride or sea water can be reacted with calcined dolomite to produce magnesia.2'3 In such reactions the MgCl2 of the brine supplies some of the magnesia and the amount of dolomite required is thereby reduced by an equivalent amount, but brines of commercial importance containing magnesium chloride are some distance away from the purest grades of the dolomite of northwestern Ohio. It was decided therefore to concentrate upon the development of a suitable process for separating the lime and magnesia of dolomite, depending upon the dolomite itself as the sole source of magnesia. This would make it possible to place a plant at the dolomite quarry, thus eliminating the cost of transporting the stone and also rendering the calcined magnesia available at a most convenient production point, considering the cost of delivery throughout the steel industry. The selection of a process depending solely upon the dolomite as a source of magnesia also necessarily entails production of the lime content of the dolomite as a by-product. It was recognized that if such a lime by-product could be produced in a suitable form, a plant location in northwestern Ohio would also be advantageous for marketing the lime. The problem, therefore, was the discovery and development of a low-cost process for separating the magnesia and lime of the dolomite of northwestern Ohio and producing each in a form relatively free from the other, and meeting the respective requirements of established markets. A satisfactory solution of this problem has been found, and it is the

Jan 1, 1948

By William H. Shockley

There was an extensive mining and industrial exploitation of Russia, about 20 years ago, by Belgian, French and British capitalists; but the results were discouraging. It is said that the Belgian and French public together lost approximately $400,000,000, chiefly in the coal and iron industry of southern Russia. This loss is largely accounted for by the fact that most of the companies were formed, as usual in " boom" times, to sell stock; and that thorough investigations were not made. I11 1906, renewed interest was taken in Russian mines, especially in those of gold and copper, and a considerable literature is growing on this subject; but as yet I have seen no account of one of the large Russian mining estates. The following notes on such property, where the conditions are so different from those in the mining regions of the United States, should be of interest: This inadequate and probably somewhat inaccurate account is made up, partly from my own notes made on the ground, in the summers of 1904 and 1905, and partly from a volume on the geology and resources of the estate issued several years ago, containing surface- and mine-maps, and from a pamphlet published in 1904, giving a general account of the condition and prospects of the property. This pamphlet includes a report made in 1899 by Arthur L. Pearse, a member of this Institute. Both these books are in Russian, and were prepared by the Bogoslovsk Mining Co., which owns and operates the property. Articles in many other languages have appeared dealing with various matters connected with the estate; but I know of no other general account of it. In numerous books and articles on the Urals and Siberia, however, localities are described in which somewhat similar conditions prevail. Recent papers by

Jan 1, 1909

By Robert D. Pike

In November 1939, on behalf of the Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., the author undertook the study of the problem of utilizing the dolomite of northwestern Ohio for the manufacture of calcined magnesia suitable for use in refractories. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the unfailing assistance and encouragement throughout this work from the executive and technical staff of Harbison-Walker Refractories Company. The dolomite of the Niagara formation that is exposed or near the surface of a wide area in northwestern Ohio1 constitutes a vast supply of almost pure dolomite. It offers a virtually unlimited supply of cheap raw material of uniform dependable analysis for the manufacture of magnesia. A typical analysis of dolomite from the vicinity of Luckey, Ohio, follows: Stone Completely Calcined CaO(Sro)a............. 30.35 57.806 Mgo................... 21.55 41.050 SiO2. ................... 0.30 0.572 R2O3................... 0.30 0.572 Ignition loss............. 47.50 a SrO about 0.06 pct. Brines containing magnesium chloride or sea water can be reacted with calcined dolomite to produce magnesia.2'3 In such reactions the MgCl2 of the brine supplies some of the magnesia and the amount of dolomite required is thereby reduced by an equivalent amount, but brines of commercial importance containing magnesium chloride are some distance away from the purest grades of the dolomite of northwestern Ohio. It was decided therefore to concentrate upon the development of a suitable process for separating the lime and magnesia of dolomite, depending upon the dolomite itself as the sole source of magnesia. This would make it possible to place a plant at the dolomite quarry, thus eliminating the cost of transporting the stone and also rendering the calcined magnesia available at a most convenient production point, considering the cost of delivery throughout the steel industry. The selection of a process depending solely upon the dolomite as a source of magnesia also necessarily entails production of the lime content of the dolomite as a by-product. It was recognized that if such a lime by-product could be produced in a suitable form, a plant location in northwestern Ohio would also be advantageous for marketing the lime. The problem, therefore, was the discovery and development of a low-cost process for separating the magnesia and lime of the dolomite of northwestern Ohio and producing each in a form relatively free from the other, and meeting the respective requirements of established markets. A satisfactory solution of this problem has been found, and it is the

Jan 1, 1948

By James Herbert Bartlett

The MANUFACTURE of Iron in the PROVINCE of Quebec. The St. Maurice Forges.—The deposits of iron-ore in the St. Maurice district, in the rear of Three Rivers, were probably known to the Indians and .Jesuits, but it is not till 1667 that any discovery is reported. The affairs of the colony were then in the control of the " West India Company," who amongst other monopolies had a right to all mines and minerals." Specimens of the iron-ore were examined in Quebec. in 1668 by the Sieur la Potardière, who reported unfavorably on them. In 1671, Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac, was appointed governor of La Nouvelle France ; and in the original manuscripts relating to his administration some allusion is occasionally found to the St. Maurice iron mines.? In a letter to the Imperial Government, dated 2d November, 1672, he says: "The iron mine of which I have already spoken is of great consequence. I have visited it myself, in order that I may be enabled to give a more accurate account of its nature. I am gratified to learn that another mine has been discovered in Champlain, which is much richer than the Cap de la Madelaine mine, and the ore is in greater

Jan 1, 1886

By B. D. Cullity, A. Freda

It is well known that deformation by cold drawing or swaging produces a kind of preferred orientation called fiber texture in metal wires. Such textures have been extensively studied by means of X-ray diffraction, chiefly by techniques in which the diffracted X-rays are recorded photographically. This paper describes some results obtained with a new method, involving the use of a diffractometer. X-RAY METHOD Since the pole figure of a material having a fiber texture is symmetrical about the fiber axis, there is no need to present the entire pole figure. Instead, texture data can be summarized by means of a curve showing the variation of pole density along any meridian of the pole figure, if the north-south axis of the latter is made parallel to the fiber axis. The position of a pole on the meridian is specified by the angle 9 between the pole and the fiber axis (wire axis). The X-ray method1 used here to measure pole density as a function of 9 actually consists of two methods, referred to as A and B. In method a, X-rays are reflected from the wire surface. Pole densities can be measured by this method from O = 90 deg down to a limiting value which is dependent on the Bragg angle 8 and is typically of the order of 30 to 40 deg. Method B involves diffraction from the wire cross section and covers a range of 0 values from 0 up to an angle sufficient to overlap the measurements made by method A. By a combination of the two methods, a complete pole-density curve can be obtained. However, method A alone, which requires no specimen preparation other than etching, can often reveal enough of the pole-density curve to provide complete information about texture components. Both methods require that the measured diffracted intensities be corrected for changes in absorption and diffracting volume with changes in 9. A11 intensities I reported in this paper are corrected diffracted intensities; they are propor-

Jan 1, 1960

By A. Beeby Thompson

FOR more than 2500 years, natural gas issues in the Surakhany district of the Apsheron peninsula were the object of pilgrimages by fire worshippers and Hindoos from Burma and India. Even as late as 1890, Hindoo priests conducted ceremonies in a temple at Surakhany, which probably replaced a more ancient one; but later, the visits of the pilgrims were prohibited in order to check the spread of Asiatic diseases in that region. For centuries, limited supplies of oil have been abstracted from shallow excavations in the Caspian oil belt and dispatched into the interior of Asia and elsewhere for medicinal and industrial purposes. Statistics show a yield of 37,400 bbl. in 1863, but only since 1869 has there been serious development; in that year the yield was 203,000 bbl. At that time, hand digging was supplanted by drilling, and the enormous wells that resulted from tapping sources hitherto beyond the reach of operators completely demoralized the industry for a time, owing to inadequate outlets for the products. The early activities in this area were greatly hindered by annoying taxation, monopolies, imperial land grants, etc., but when these were revoked or adjusted, in 1877, the industry sprang into prominence and, between 1898 and 1901, the Baku fields produced practically one-half of the world's supply of oil. Within a few miles of Baku lie the two richest oil fields in the world; viz., the Balakhany-Saboontchy-Romany and the Bibi-Eibat, the latter constituting almost a suburb of the city. For many years the gasoline obtained in the refineries of the Baku area was burned in pits, being considered an undesirable product, and until 1870 the residue also was destroyed, its value as a fuel not being recognized. Kerosene was the main product sought by the refiners. It was shipped across the Caspian Sea and up the Volga to the industrial centers of Russia. Only on the completion of the Baku-Batoum railway did the Baku oil fields secure

Jan 8, 1920

By Joseph F. Shirley

A froth flotation plant to recover byproduct molybdenite must be designed specifically for the selected separation process and the type of ore being treated. However, some general rules concerning byproduct molybdenite plant design can be suggested that would be valid for most processes. The term byproduct molybdenite in this paper is limited to the recovery of molybdenite from copper porphyry ores, which essentially amounts to selectively separating molybdenite from copper and iron sulfide concentrates. In addition, most of the discussions would apply only to the almost universally used approach of floating the molybdenite and depressing the copper and iron sulfide minerals. Thickener It is considered essential that the feed to a byproduct molybdenite plant be thickened prior to being treated for molybdenite recovery for the following reasons: 1) Thickening allows the rougher and any preconditioning stages to be operated consistently at the optimum percent solids. 2) Generally, the size of equipment used for pretreatment and the rougher flotation is considerably smaller and less expensive than if the copper flotation concentrates were treated directly. 3) The removal of as much water as practical by thickening removes flotation reagents added in the copper flotation circuit, especially frother which can be quite troublesome in a byproduct molybdenite plant. Although thickening of the molybdenite plant feed has long been recognized as necessary to optimum metallurigcal results, very often this area has been designed poorly. The thickener should be sized so that it can produce a consistent thickened product containing 60 to 65% solids without the use of flocculants. Some plants are only able to thicken to 45 to 50% solids consistently while other plants let the percent solids vary from 45 to 60% over a 24-hr period. While the former is more desirable than the latter, in many cases better metallurgical results could be obtained if the percent solids could be held consistently close to 60%. Probably the simplest and most satisfactory system of handling the thickener underflow is to spigot it into a sump, using a sphincter type valve for the orifice, controlled by a density meter. Another satisfactory approach is to use an ODS type pump to meter the underflow. There are other methods of handling thickener underflow which work satisfactorily as long as the amount of copper concentrates entering the thickener is relatively uniform. However, they often fail to operate satisfactorily when there are large fluctuations in the thickener feed rate due to fluctuations in ore tonnage and/or copper grade. If the percent solids in the plant feed could be held close to 65%. There is the possibility the molybdenite plant tailing would not have to be thickened prior to the copper filter plant. This means that the molybdenite rougher float would have to be conducted at 45 to 50% solids with all the cleaner tailings returned to the rougher for dilution. Admittedly, in some situations this approach would be impossible, but if capital or plant area is limited, it should be considered.

Jan 1, 1981

By W. T. Allan

RAW bituminous coal has been in general use as a blast-furnace fuel in Scotland for the last century, and although its use has now been largely abandoned and it has been replaced by coke in the majority of the few furnaces which are at, present in blast in this country, coal-smelted pig iron is not yet a thing of the past; it is still being produced and mar-keted in competition with the more cheaply smelted product of the coke-fired furnace. Various factors have influenced this change in practice; the once plentiful deposits of coal of a suitable nature for the blast furnace are now not so easily obtainable; native blackband and clayband ironstones which are easily smelted in the coal-fired blast furnace, although still far from being exhausted, are not available except at a. cost that is somewhat higher than that of imported ores, making them unattractive to the ironmaster that is compelled by circumstances to smelt his iron at the lowest possible cost. Within the last 15 years overproduction of synthetic nitrogen has led to progressive reductions in the price of sulphate of ammonia, the recovery of which together with the other by-products before that time materially assisted in reducing the working costs of the coal-fired furnace. Now the sale of the by-products recovered yields a diminished profit. When the cost of the product is the only consideration the small, slow-smelting, coal-fired blast furnace cannot compare with its large, modern, coke-fired competitor. Other `considerations do not by any means all support the same side of the argument. In the smelting of pig iron to be used in the manufacture of steel where the quality of the final product depends so largely upon the control of the conversion process and so much less upon the physical quality of the pig iron used, the physical properties of the pig iron do not exert any appreciable influence upon the quality of the steel produced, therefore the methods employed in the smelting of the pig iron matter but little so long as the requisite chemical composi-tion is reached. On the other hand, in ironfounding where the simple melting of the pig iron, which is the only treatment it receives before being cast into its final form, does little or nothing to modify its original charac-

Jan 1, 1937

By R. A. Falconer, H. L. Lovell

With increasing requirements for fine coal cleaning and the many advantages of the cyclone operating on a coal-water slurry, a series of studies designed to achieve an enhanced understanding of the cyclone parameters has been pursued. The purpose of this investigation has been to vary a series of dimensional parameters with an experimental 15-in. diam hydro-cyclone, and to determine the relative effects of parameter variations upon ash and sulfur removal. This study of the hydrocyclone is a continuation of a series of investigations, conducted in the Dept. of Mineral preparation at The Pennsylvania State University, which are directed toward the removal of ash and sulfur constituents from fine bituminous coal by size-density separations in cyclones, and toward a fuller understanding of the complex mechanisms involved in such separations. The purpose of this investigation has been to vary a series of dimensional parameters with an experimental 15-in. diam hydrocyclone, and to determine the relative effects of parameter variations upon ash and sulfur removal. Of special interest was the response to cone angle variation, since it is the high included cone angle that generally distinguishes the hydrocyclone as a gravity separator rather than a classifier. DESCRIPTION OF THE HYDROCYCLONE Fig. 1 is a dimensional drawing of the hydrocyclone used in the investigation. The unit was designed and fabricated by Heyl and Patterson, Inc., for experimental use. The dimensional parameters considered were: 1) Three cone sections having included angles of 45, 60, and 95,degrees, 2) Three 3 1/8 in. diam vortex finders having lengths of 15, 17, and 19 1/2 in., 3) Three 4 1/16 in. diam vortex finders having lengths of 15, 17, and 19 1/2 in. 4) Two apex sections having diameters of 2 and 2 1/4 in. The feed inlet orifice had a fixed diameter of 3 in. The hydrocyclone test installation was made at The Pennsylvania State University pilot plant at Barnes-boro, Pa., which operated at 50 tph. During the period that the hydrocyclone was tested, research was in progress at the Barnesboro site to reprocess refuse material from a near-by coal preparation plant in

Jan 1, 1968

By H. L. Bridgman

The correct sampling of ores is a subject of far greater importance than is usually conceded to it. Of the little which has been published on this subject, the recent paper by Mr. Glenn, with the accompanying discussion by Dr. Raymond (Trans., xx., 155), is the latest and best, and well worthy the careful perusal of all interested in accurate sampling, whether by hand or by machine. It is doubtless true that thorough hand-sampling gives as good average results as can be obtained; but all hand-sampling is subject to the possible incompetency, carelessness, or dishonesty of the workmen employed. It is, moreover, tedious and expensive, requires large space, and usually entails considerable delay, both in unloading and in sampling. For these and other reasons, machine-sampling is now regarded with more favor than ever before. So-called machine-sampling may be accomplished in two radically different ways: 1. Part of the stream of material is taken for the whole time. 2. The whole stream of material is taken for part of the time. Under the first case the stream, as it issrles from the deliveryspout of the crusher, is cut continuously in any given proportion, such as one-tenth, one-fourth, or one-half, by some fixed apparatus, which, as it contains no moving parts, is strictly speaking not a machine at all, but may be termed an appliance. The principle under which these appliances operate is now pretty generally conceded to be wrong, becanse of the practical impossibility of' cutting such a

Jan 1, 1892

By Henry E. Colton

NeaR the town of Christiansburg, Va., occurs a singular feature in topographical as well as geological structure, which may be said to have an important bearing on a large area to the southwest. The great water-shed ridge, which divides the waters flowing into the St. Lawrence from those flowing into the Atlantic ocean, coming southwestward, forms all of what was the boundary of Maine as agreed upon by the treaty of 1783, and a part of the present boundary, all of the northern New Hampshire boundary, and entering Vermont, continues south of Lake George. Passing irregularly through New York, it enters Pennsylvania, and there bifurcating, sends one prong to the west as a divide between the waters of the lakes and the Ohio, while the other becomes the steady, regular ridge which gave it the name of Alleghany, and thus passes on southwestward through Virginia. At no point has it ever been the geological divide. Its course, commencing in the Archean rocks, has passed through nearly every series of formation, and comes into Virginia in the Carboniferous strata. The geological divide—the line between the fossiliferous and the non-fossiliferous rocks—lies, in Canada, to the west of it, but from New York south into Virginia is far to the east. Reference to Dr. Hitchcock'k map will show this. But at the locality noted these positions are changed; the water-divide becomes the eastern chain, and the geological divide is the western, returning, it may be said, to the positions occupied in the region where they originated. These relations are shown on the large map accompanying the present paper. For several miles, the track of the Norfolk and Western Railroad

Jan 1, 1888

By F. C. Stanford

The work of an engineer is to direct natural forces so that the: bring about the results that he wishes to secure. Heretofore he ha concerned himself chiefly with physical forces and inanimate objects until he has secured a truly marvelous degree of control over them The great problem of the present age is to secure a like degree of know1 edge and control of the human factor. Progress has already been made along this line, but it is only a beginning. Wilhelm Ostwald says tha scientific knowledge enables a man to be a true prophet; but it must be remembered that a good many people do not seem to be able to main tain a high average in prophecy. In short, 'the average of knowledge is not equal to the average needs of the present time, but continually fails to keep pace with it. It has been aptly said that the really essentia need of the period is for more brains; if we only had sufficient knowledg and sagacity we could not only solve all difficulties, but prevent then from arising. This generalization holds good for an industrial organization. Th most vital need of the management is for more brains. The logica course for an engineer in charge of an industrial organization is, therefore to direct whatever forces may be at his command toward the development training, and guiding of all the brains in his organization. This is easie said than done, for it involves the carrying on toward two objective: the maximum of productive work, and the development of the individual who perform it. This is essentially like the rebuilding and enlarging of plant, keeping it in full operation the while. On the other hand, if th aim is merely for maximum production from an organization, withou offering opportunity for development, the final outcome will necessari be like that of a plant that is driven at full capacity without stoppin for repairs or improvements; it eventually becomes so run down th either a complete rebuilding is necessary or else it has to be abandone

Jan 1, 1918

By Cyril Smith

A COMPLETE discussion of the literature on the subject of the influence of copper on iron and steel will be published elsewhere.1 The present paper is concerned especially with the precipitation-hardening of copper steels, and brief mention will be made here only of the work of Kin-near,2,3 Nehl4 and Buchholtz and Koster,5 who alone have studied this phase of the subject. Kinnear found that normalized low-carbon steel castings containing about 1.0 per cent copper on drawing at temperatures in the neighbor-hood of 530° C. (1000° F.) increased in tensile strength and yield point, with little decrease in ductility. The maximum effect was obtained with about 0.9 to 1.0 per cent copper, and when the copper exceeded 3 per. cent no improvement occurred on reheating. Kinnear did not study the effect of time of reheating-an all important factor where precipitation is concerned. Nehl,6 who apparently was unaware of Kinnear's work, recognized the change as due to precipitation and studied the interdependence of time and temperature of reheating, the temperature of the initial solution heat treatment, and the speed of cooling necessary to retain the bulk of the copper in supersaturated solu-tion and to give an increase in hardness and tensile strength on reheating. Nehl found that if the final rolling or forging temperatures exceeded 700° C. (1300° F.) it was not necessary even to normalize the steel, but full precipitation occurred on merely reheating the forged or rolled shapes at 500° C. (930° F.).

Jan 1, 1933

By Dorsey A. Lyon, Robert M. Keeney

The utilization of hydro-electriic power in electro-metallurgical industries, aside from purely mechanical operations, may be of two kinds. The electric energy may be used to supply the heat necessary for the performance of the chemical reactions of a metallurgical process, or the electrolytic action of a direct current may be employed for extraction of metals, either in a reduction process or a refining process. In discussing this subject, it is well to distinguish between established industries, which are producing metals and alloys at a, profit by use of the electric current, and the many processes which are either still in the experimental stage or have not even passed the paper stage of development of a patent. That is, we consider electro-metallurgical industries as commercial operations which are now consuming large blocks of electric energy, while processes which are not in commercial operation are only prospective consumers. Also, owing to the difliculty and risk of any attempt to foresee the effect of the European war upon electro-metallurgical industries, we have felt obliged to disregard the war entirely, and state our opinions regardless of its existence. Application of Electric Energy to Metallurgy Disregarding electrolytic refining processes, the applications of electric energy to metallurgy, when considered from a commercial viewpoint, may be classified as follows: Industries Experimental Processes Manufacture of aluminum Electric-furnace smelting of: Electric-furnace manufacture of: Ferro-alloys Copper ore Pig iron Zinc ore Steel In this paper only the above industries and experimental processes will be considered as possible consumers of hydro-electric power in large quan-

Jan 1, 1916

By R. J. Piros, Brusenback, D. A. Dahlstrom

DEWATERING fine coal has been a serious problem to many operators who desired to wet-wash finer sizes and maintain high recovery. Centrifugal driers have become popular for this purpose for sizes between 3/8 in. and 14 mesh. Below 14 mesh the perforated screen centrifuges lose a large per- cent in the effluent solid bowl types that do retain -14 mesh coal, produce excessive degradation, tend to retain the highest ash fraction in any size fraction, and are subject to abrasion, which results in higher maintenance. In 1949 Truax-Traer Coal Co. planned a cyclone installation at their Ceredo preparation plant to recover coal down to 150 mesh with approximately a 14-mesh top size. Since available centrifugal equipment was not considered satisfactory, an investigation of rotary vacuum filters was begun in cooperation with the Peterson Filters and Engineering Co. to determine the suitability of the Peterson Top Feed Reservoir (TFR) filter. This investigation, which is described below, has resulted in a highly satisfactory installation of two 6x10-in. Peterson TFR filters that have been in operation over a year. After some preliminary laboratory batch vacuum filter tests, a pilot plant double-drum Peterson TFR filter was installed at Ceredo to prove the feasibility of vacuum filtration and determine optimum conditions. The full scale units were then installed on the basis of the pilot plant results. This was followed by an extensive research program on vacuum filtration in the laboratory at Northwestern University to investigate basic design and operating variables and their influence on final moisture con- tent of the filter cake. A method of scale-up from laboratory batch tests to the full-size unit was also proposed and proved. Because of the importance of dewatering fine coal today, it was felt that the results of the three steps should be made available for the use of others facing this problem. The work at Northwestern is given in a theoretical section following the discussion of the pilot plant and full- scale operation. Fig. 1 is a flow diagram of the cyclone and filter installation. The feed is drawn from below the

Jan 1, 1952

By W. L. Finlay

Size effects in quenching steel are particularly prominent and well recognized because of the existence of a critical cooling rate separating nuclea-tion and growth transformations, as exemplified by the formation of pearl-ite, from the shear type of transformation characterizing the martensite reaction. The absence of a similar, sharply demarcating cooling rate is characteristic of precipitation hardening systems and size effects in these are correspondingly less prominent. This paper is concerned with a size effect in high-purity, precipitation-hardenable alloys which appears not to have been recognized previously. This effect is believed to result from the thermal fluctuations which inevitably occur in quenching a specimen of finite size into a cooling liquid rather than from the existence of a critical cooling rate. QUENCHING "ANOMALIES" The precipitation hardening literature contains many references to so-called anomalous quenching and aging results. By "anomalous", investigators usually meant that their alloys did not consistently harden on aging after quenching according to some anticipated pnttern: not infrequently virtually no age hardening occurred with compositions known to be precipitation-hardenable. Perhaps the most prominent series of anomalies was reported over a 15-year period by Gayler and coworkers on aluminum-copper.l,2,3,4 Working with silver-rich copper alloy, Cohen5 secured some very interesting Rockwell F hardness changes of from 1-5 Rockwell points between the first peak and valley. Fink and Smith borrowed one of Cohen's specimens and, following his heat treatment and quenching practice to the letter, secured6 very different results in which only one peak was obtained and in which the hardness level at the aging lime of Cohen's first peak was 20 Rockwell F points higher. Fink and Van Horn7 encountered serious deviations in age-hardening high purity aluminum-zinc alloys. They stated that "the discrepancies were larger than might be expected from possible experimental errors in the Brinell readings." Geisler, Barrett and Mehl8 likewise encountered anomalous hardening results in aluminum-silver alloys, securing quite different age-hardening curves from two identical specimens. They stated that "the treatments of these samples had been the same, so that the different behaviors could be attributed only to accidental variations in the quenching practice."

Jan 1, 1950

By Wayne E. Glenn, R. W. French, Lincoln F. Elkins

The Lance Creek Sundance reservoir provides a case history of ro years performance of a reservoir in which unit operation has permitted effective utilization of gravity drainage augmented by primary pressure control with injection of gas into top structural wells. Detailed performance of the reservoir is presented by means of maps of Well status, reservoir pressure, individual well recovery, etc., and by pool-performance charts. Analysis of reservoir performance indicates only minor water encroachment, so that gravity, injected gas, and expansion of gas are the main oil-expulsive agents. A simplified theory of regional drainage of oil from upstructure location to downstructure location due to gravity is presented and checked by means of comparison of "reservoir" permeability and "well" permeability from the pool performance. Good order of magnitude agreement was obtained. Individual well performance and overall reservoir performance indicate possibility that maintenance of pressure makes ineffective those parts of the reservoir in which permeability is too low to permit effective drainage of oil by action of gravity. Oil from these parts can be recovered only when pressure is reduced locally by selective withdrawal or when overall reservoir pressure is finally reduced.

Jan 1, 1949

By W. Griffith

The purpose of this paper is to make public record of new information in regard to the sustaining power of artificial mine-roof supports (not timber props), the result of investigations recently made in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania. First.—By the "Scranton Mine Cave Commission," appointed to investigate the mining conditions under the City of Scranton. Second.—By the "Pennsylvania Mine Cave Commission," appointed by the Governor to investigate the general subject of mine caves in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania. Third.-—By the personal researches and tests made by the author in an effort to secure a better artificial mine-roof or surface support. During the progress of the work of the Scranton Mine Cave Commission, the Engineers for the Commission, Messrs. Conner and Griffith, being aware of the general lack of exact information in the engineering profession as to the strength of the ordinary artificial mine-roof or surface support, and particularly the stronger kinds, such as mine cogs, rock piers, etc., had tests made at the Fritz Engineering Laboratory at Lehigh University, to determine the sustaining power under various compressions of the several kinds of artificial mine supports in use in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania. A report of these tests wasincluded in the report of this Commission, which was published as Bulletin No. 25 of the United States Bureau of Mines, Washington. A similar series of tests, more extensive and more elaborately planned, were subsequently made for the Pennsylvania Minc Cave Commission at the U. S. Government Testing Laboratory at Pittsburgh, Pa. The report of this Commission was made to the Governor, but has not yet been published. The author, during his connection with the Scranton Mine Cave Commission, observed that of all the various devices employed for sustaining the roof of coal mines, the one universally used and the best

Jan 1, 1918