Search Documents

By A. J. Bartlett

ISLAND Creek conditions are generally referred to as ideal; yet, as at all other properties, there are all known hazards of coal mining. The hardest of these hazards to combat is the human element. The basic thought in the minds of the management of these properties is to produce coal with the utmost safety, and it has impressed upon its supervisory force that it does not want a ton of coal unless it can be produced safely. This company has instituted a mine inspection department, which reports direct to the general manager, and all matters pertaining to safety come under the direction of this department. Through the medium of the inspection department, the management is kept in touch with the actual conditions existing in general at all mines. Inspections are made regularly and continuously; that is, at all times while the mines are in operation some sections of some mines are being examined. These inspections cover all active and inactive workings. Miners are con-tacted in their working places and other employees at their respective work. A thorough check is made to see that the state mining laws are complied with and that company safety rules are being observed. Night shifts receive the same attention as day shifts. All violations and dangerous practices are brought to the attention of the plant supervisory force with suggestions and recommendations; major hazards of emer-gency nature are taken up immediately with the management. Peri-odical inspections are also made of all tipples, preparation plants, dumping and hoisting equipment, to see that all machinery is properly guarded, and walkways and platforms properly fenced; conditions of equipment and mechanical defects are also reported. Reports of inspection are written in letter form and in such a manner as to give the management a picture-of the existing conditions at the time of inspection. Copies of inspection reports are forwarded; to the superintendents with the general manager's comments.

Jan 1, 1937

By Carl Zapffe

A Rise in less than ten years from obscurity into great prominence economically, tersely summarizes the history and status of the Cuyuna manganiferous iron ores. The Cuyuna district produces and ships mostly high-phosphorus iron ore, but the annual production of manganiferous iron ore is increasing rapidly and productions from individual mines are becoming more regular and more dependable as to grades and tonnages. This ore bids fair to become, shortly, the principal product of the district and is responsible for its present economic prominence. The iron ores of the district have been described, by the author and others, in many publications and will not be discussed here. Lately the manganiferous iron ores have been given some attention, but the range and variations of chemical composition of the ores, the principal physical characteristics of the ores and their deposits, the relative importance of the different ores and their possibilities in future developments, and the life of the respective reserves have not been discussed. It is impossible to give all of this information with the positiveness necessary for it to constitute a reliable guide for investment or even for future mine development. Each property and each party presents a special case and deserves critical consideration. We are dealing with special ores and always with a set of new conditions. Sufficient information of a general nature can be given, however, to indicate the reason for and the trend of the presently augmented developments in the district. In a great thickness of a big variety of sedimentary rocks, probably of Upper Huronion age, prevailingly of green, schistose phases of slaty and volcanic material intricately intermixed, lies a thin bed containing lenses of iron-bear ing formation. These lenses occur singly or in groups, thus causing the variation in the thickness of the formation; or they are separated at their ends and give rise to discontinuity or they overlap and display continuity with lateral offsets. Intense folding has added to the complications.

Jan 1, 1925

By Donald C. Bradford

THE place of geophysics in the curriculum of a college or an engineering school has been much discussed. There is uncertainty as to whether the graduate may be called a "geological geophysicist" or a "geophysical geologist." Some have used the term "geophysical engineer." The question of the specialized undergraduate curriculum versus a general undergraduate training in the parent sciences with the addition of cultural electives has been and is still being argued. The literature during the past 10 years shows that there are two rather definite schools of thought on this subject. The prospective employer, engaged in active geophysical exploration, visualizes the graduate in terms of the routine work he will do in the field. The school administrator, grounded in many years of tradition in the cultural type of education, visualizes the graduate in terms of his position in a political and cultural society as well as in his work as a professional geophysicist. Both are right and both wrong. A third school of thought, that of the student himself, has been almost totally ignored. It would seem best, for the purpose of this paper, to treat these various points and allied material separately, and then to integrate the conclusions as a set of conditions that should be fulfilled as far as possible in the ideal curriculum. At the end the relationship of our findings to the curriculum that has been tentatively adopted at the University of Pittsburgh will be considered. DIVISIONS IN DEFINITION OF FIELD OF GEOPHYSICS Geophysics is that field of science in which geological and earth problems are solved with the use of physical and chemical techniques. Altogether too much attention has been paid to the artificial separation in this science of the commercial applications from the so-called "pure" or academic geophysics. The only real difference in the two types of work is one of scale of operations. In the commercial field the scale is large in terms of financial backing, immediate economic importance, and speed of operations. In the academic field the scale is large in terms of breadth of interests, in eventual economic importance, and length of time allowable for theoretical investigations. In exploration work the scale is small in terms of dimensions, since the methods are applicable only to the outer 20,000 ft. or so of the earth's. crust. In academic work, the student is not pressed for results of immediate economic importance, and therefore can afford to spend more time on problems that seem unimportant at the time. In the sense of background knowledge of the parent sciences necessary to the geophysicist, no essential difference can be found. Physics, chemistry, geology, and mathematics together, and in their proper proportionate amounts, form the matrix from which geophysical ideas and methods may spring.

Jan 1, 1942

By Ernest R. Lilley

While American scientific literature contains much information upon geologic conditions controlling the production of oil in Rumania, copper in Chile, and other fuel and metallic resources in many foreign countries, it is singularly lacking in data about the nonmetallics outside of the United States. Thus, though the United States is the outstanding market for European high-quality refined kaolin, and for the chinaware, porcelain, and other products of the European ceramics industries, American literature contains only the briefest references to the deposits from which the raw kaolin utilized is obtained. To the writer, to whom has come in the past year the opportunity of visiting a number of these deposits personally, they have proved of extreme interest both commercially and geologically. It is the latter phase that is discussed in this paper. The older and now largely crystalline rock areas of France, Germany, and other parts of western Europe contain numerous pegmatite dikes of which the upper portions have been subjected to surface weathering and kaolinization in much the same way as those of the eastern portion of the United States. Like the latter, the European pegmatite kaolins have long been known for their freedom from iron and other impurities offensive to the china and porcelain manufacturer. Unfortunately, they are also, like the American deposits, individually of small size and noted for their high costs of production. Deposits of sedimentary clay similar in many respects to the high-quality sedimentary kaolins of Georgia and South Carolina are known and worked, notably in southern Germany and in the Newton Abbott district of Devon and Dorset in England. In general, their relationship to the parent rock from which they were derived is more evident than in the United States and the individual deposits are of smaller areal extent and less regular in outline. While these deposits are of considerable economic importance they did not, because of their similarity to deposits in America, attract and hold the interest of the writer to the extent that several other types of deposits did. It is to the latter, which are so different from the kaolin

Jan 1, 1932

By William Alden

A GREAT landslide occurred on June 23, 1925, in the valley of Gros Ventre River, about 35 miles south of Yellowstone National Park (Fig. 1). The relations of the north-easterly dipping rock formations of the slide scarp and of the dam formed by the slide are shown in the diagrammatic cross-section of the valley (Fig. 2). This generalized section is based on unpublished maps and notes by Eliot Blackwelder, in the files of the U. S. Geological Survey. FIG. 1.-MAP SHOWING SCARP AND DAM (LARGE DOTS) AND LAKE (CROSS-LINED) FORMED BY LANDSLIDE BLOCKING GROS VENTRE RIVER. (Scale 1, in. = 1 mile; contour interval 100 ft. From Grand Teton and Mt. Leidy topographic maps). Heavy rains and melting snow in the Gros Ventre Mountains had saturated clay layers in the Carboniferous strata, which dip toward the valley at angles of 18° to 21°, consequently an enormous mass of rock at the end of the north spur of Sheep Mountain became loosened and, on the afternoon of June 23, slid suddenly down into the valley. Within a few minutes this mass of debris-estimated as 50,000,000 cu. yd.-carrying

Jan 1, 1928

By Charles Parmelee

When Professor Silliman made his first examination of the newly-discovered Pennsylvania rock oil in 1859, he noted that different rates of heating produced different results in fractionation—longer heating produced larger percentages of light fractions. In 1862, it was found that when petroleum vapors are condensed in the still crown and dropped back into the hot liquid, the result of the distilling operation is materially modified. These early dates mark the beginning of what is called cracking petroleum and is explained as separating the component parts of the hydrocarbon molecules into more and smaller groups of the same elements. The phenomena were utilized for the next 30 years to increase the yield of burning oil. The procedure was that regularly practiced today in dry or destructive distillation. Considerable scientific study was given to the subject from 1862 to 1905, and a number of patents were obtained, but the work done was not continuous or intensive until about 1905, when the increasing demand for gasoline attracted attention of petroleum refiners to the possibilities of cracking. The first equipment built and operated essentially for cracking petroleum on a large scale was placed in successful operation in 1912. The commercial practice is, therefore, less than 15 years old. Comprehensive intense study of the controlling factors during this period has resulted in rapid increase in our knowledge, and material improvement has been made in the practice of the art. It is the purpose of this paper to outline briefly the state of our knowledge and to suggest some of the questions which are attracting attention of researchers at the present time. The major purposes for which petroleum hydrocarbons, including natural gas, are or have been cracked are: 1. To obtain products used to increase the heat value and illuminant content of artificial gas. 2. During the World War, to increase the supply of toluol. 3. To increase the amount of products capable of conversion into industrial chemicals. 4. To produce pure carbon.

Jan 1, 1927

By H. Colijn

Belt scales are frequently used in the mining industry because of the ability to handle large tonnages without interrupting the material flow, fitting easily into all types of bulk handling systems and being relatively inexpensive. Although manufacturers claim weighing accuracies better than Y2%, many operators experience, in practice, much larger errors and they have become apprehensive about the use of belt scales. However, in spite of these disappointing instances, a belt scale is one of the most valuable tools for process and inventory control. Since it is a measuring device, care should be given to the design and installation of belt scales. The basic components of a belt scale are: (1) conveyor belt, (2) scale suspension, (3) sensing device, (4) integrating and recording. The first component of this system is of great importance to the overall accuracy and has been thoroughly discussed in earlier papers. This paper will review primarily the various scale hardware designs currently available, and will be confined to the last three components of the system.

Jan 1, 1973

By E. Stansfield

THIS test was described in a privately circulated First Progress Report on Slacking Characteristics of Coal, by A. C. Fieldner and W. A. Selvig, May 1, 1928. The test was described in detail in U. S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigation 3055, in November, 1930.1 The test, in brief, is conducted as follows: A sample of freshly mined coal consisting of 18 to 25 pieces approximating 1 ¼ cubes, and weighing 500 to 600 grams, is taken for the test. The sample is subjected to a "blank sieving" of carefully regulated degree, on an 8-in. circular sieve with 0.263-in. square openings; and the undersize and oversize weighed. The oversize is placed on a sheet-iron pan and dried for about 24 hr. in an A.S.T.M. air-drying oven maintained at 30° to 35° C. through which a current of warm air is drawn. The sample is then cooled to room temperature and immersed for one hour in water at the same temperature. The water is then drained off, the sample dried for 24 hr. as before, cooled, sieved as before, and the oversize and undersize weighed. The percentage weight of the undersize, is calculated and reported as the first cycle loss. This loss, corrected by subtracting the percentage loss in the blank sieving, is termed the slacking index. The sample may be subjected to further cycles of wetting, draining, air-drying, sieving and weighing. In a letter (August, 1932) W. A. Selvig approved making the blank sieving on a duplicate sample, rather than on the sample used for the test, where sufficient coal was available. This method is now employed in these laboratories. The accelerated weathering test has been employed in the labora-tories of the Research Council of Alberta, at Edmonton, since 1928, but not found entirely satisfactory as repeat determinations with samples taken from the same or adjacent mines frequently showed serious differ-ences. Differences must be expected as the coal may vary in the seam, and the selection of a typical set of lumps approximating 1 ¼ -in. cubes

Jan 1, 1934

By M. Khorouzan, L. Thomas

Designers of semiconductor devices have been strivi,ng to resolve problems associated with Au-A1 alloys in bonded in.tercomzeclions. One approach now being- used is that of waintaining a physical seyav-atioz between the two metals in bond areas. This is accolrzplished by alunzincnz-plating a bonding area on the tips oJ the kovar leads and using alcminurn wires to join the senzicondictor device to the leads. The portion of the kovar lead which is on the externul side of the sealed package is gold-plated to provide an oxide-free surface for soldering or welding. A discoloration condition originally thought to be sinilar to purple plague, occuving in the yluled uluninur bonding area after package sealing, has been investigated to determine its efiects ipm bond integrity. Electron-micro-probe analysis determined that no1 only gold, but lead, zinc, and silicon were also present in the discolored area. A series of samples conlaining' conkrolled umonts of these inzpitrities weve prepared and subjected to a sil.zuluted sealing process. The investigations swcued that, of the contawiinants, only zinc toas detrinenlul to Lhe bond integily. The discoloration condition itself was found not to be detrimental to the bond integrity. DESIGNERS of semiconductor devices have been striving to resolve problems associated with Au-A1 alloys in bonded interconnections. One approach now being used is that of maintaining a physical separation between the two metals in bond areas. This is accomplished by aluminum plating a bonding area on the tips of the kovar leads and using aluminum wires to join the semiconductor device to the kovar leads. The portion of the kovar lead which is on the external side of the sealed package is gold-plated to provide an oxide-free surface for soldering or welding. Contamination as evidenced by discoloration of the aluminum-plated area was observed in a number of integrated circuits undergoing examination for defect characteristics which cause electrical failures.' This paper contains the results of an investigation to determine the nature of this discoloration, its cause, and its effect upon the integrity of the interconnection bond. I) THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF ALUMINUM-BOND CONTAMINATION The initial hypothesis in the investigation was that the discoloration was caused by reaction of the aluminum film with some unknown contaminants during the sealing of the hermetically sealed integrated-circuit flat package. The package is a rectangular ceramic container sealed with glass which surrounds the kovar leads as well as joining the top to the bottom. The seal is made hermetic by heating and cooling the package to devitrify the glass. In the case of the packages under investigation, the hermetic sealing had been accomplished with dry air as internal atmosphere. The apparent effect of contaminations as observed by microscopic examination was the formation of surface oxides having variations in color encompassing the whole spectrum of visible light. The contamination appeared to be related to one of the more notorious examples of these colorations, the so called purple plague.' In addition to purple plague, Fig. 1 shows the tarnish in the luster of the aluminized surface in the bond area which had been observed in many of the integrated circuits. To identify the contaminant in the bond area electron-probe microanalysis techniques were used.3 Fig. 2 shows the result of this analysis. The contaminants identified were gold, aluminum, zinc, lead, silicon, and cobalt. Fig. 2(a) is a back-scatter display of the area under study. The back-scattered electrons provide a general indication of the distribution of elements in the specimen surface. Elements with higher atomic number scatter more electrons back from the surface and are seen as light areas in the picture. The sample current, Fig. 2(b), is the amount of current conducted by the specimen as a result of electron-beam striking it and is an indication of element distribution. The Sample current is the reverse of back-scatter and complements it. Other pictures in Fig. 2 are produced by characteristic X-rays generated by the elements, allowing the isolation of the element of interest. The isolated element appears white and all other elements are dark. In this manner a comparative study provides a correlation between different surface areas and the elements which are in these areas. The area covered by the gold film, Fig. 2(c), shows that the boundary between the gold film and the kovar is not sharp as expected and that some sort of diffusion has taken place. Fig. 2(c) shows that some gold particles have been carried to the bond area and are in the proximity of the bonded wire in spite of the presence of a physical barrier in the form of the un-

Jan 1, 1967

By T. E. Wayland

The general geology and mineralogy of bentonite, including pertinent technological details of clay minerals in the montmorillonite group, are summarized. Worldwide occurrences of bentonite deposits are reviewed, with emphasis on geologic methods and economic principles of evaluation. Active mining districts are described and areas with potential for current and future development are assessed. The production history of bentonite, principal producers, major consumers, and indicated trends are noted; also attention is directed to the hundreds of minor industrial uses of this versatile material, ranging from the manufacture of (A)cid neutralizers to (Z)eolite water softeners. Recent significant results of both basic and applied research are reported, with suggested lines of investigation for current and near-future consideration.

Jan 1, 1972

By E. Topanelian

In recent years considerable progress has been made in the development and application of mathematical techniques for the solution of certain problems involving economic "strategies". Such a problem might involve, for example, the scheduling of shipments of a commodity from a number of sources to a number of destinations. The object would be to schedule the shipments in a manner so as to satisfy the destination requirements and at the same time minimize the transportation costs. The solution to such a problem is not necessarily intuitively obvious. The "obvious" solution is frequently far from optimum. If the shipments are to be made from, for example, only two sources to four destinations, the optimum schedule is readily found. However, if shipments are to be made from, say, 10 sources to several hundred destinations, even a competent and experienced scheduler may spend considerable time in finding a reasonable answer. Even then he is not sure that he has the optimum solution. Furthermore, he has no way of knowing how far from optimum the answer is. Consequently, he does not know whether he should accept this solution or seek a better one. Prior to the advent of large high-speed digital computers, little more could be done with such problems because of their great size and multiplicity of possible solutions. A problem involving 20 sources and 50 destinations would require choosing, from a very large number of possible combinations, the optimum combination of 1,000 variables. The best one could do was to utilize intuition, extrapolation from past experience, and other non-exact approaches. With a high-speed computer, however, such problems can be solved providing a reasonable computational procedure (or algorithm) can be utilized. The purpose of this paper is to describe such a procedure (linear programming) and to apply this procedure to a production scheduling problem. THE RESERVOIR PROBLEM A simple reservoir model is used throughout this analysis to illustrate the use of linear programming. Even the simplest reservoir behavior problem is nonlinear in both space and time, but if the geometry is fixed for a particular study and the time variable is quantized, the resultant system may be described by linear constraints on the variable production rates. Crude oil is available from five separate sources and is delivered to a pipeline. Sources 1, 2, 3 and 4 are ideal reservoirs and therefore are subjected to reservoir flow restrictions. Source 5 is labeled "Outside Source" and crude oil from this source is assumed to be available in unlimited quantities without considering reservoir conditions. The general problem is to determine the schedule of crude oil production from five sources which, over an eight-year period and subject to certain restrictions, will result in maximum profit. "Profit" is defined to encompass all economic factors and expenses involved in producing and selling crude oil to a pipeline facility. Such economic factors are lumped to the extent that the term represents the dollars profit from one barrel of crude oil from any of the five sources entering the pipeline system. Table 1 presents the assumed profit per barrel for oil from any of the five sources over each of the four time periods. In this chart the eight years is broken into four equal intervals of two years. The selection of four time periods of two years each and the values representing the potential profit are completely arbitrary selections for the purpose of illustrating this idealized reservoir problem. In any practical application of this work a careful economic study would have to be made in order to estimate potential unit profits for time periods as far in the future as eight years. In this particular study it is assumed that all of the potential unit profits (C) are known and fixed before the production schedule is attempted. For each reservoir arbitrary values are assigned for

By B. M. Harra, F. G. McCutcheon, O&apos

Until about 1930, the universal practice of horizontal-retort zinc smelters in the United States, as far as the writers are aware, was to operate the retort furnaces on a 24-hr cycle; that is, the retorts were charged in the early morning of one day, and in the early morning of the following day the residues were cleaned out, the retorts recharged, and a new cycle started. During the business depression of the early thirties, zinc production fell off to the extent that zinc smelters had idle retort capacity. Rather than continue to run some of the retort furnaces on a 24-hr cycle and shut down the remainder, a few companies decided to try out a longer cycle. Although the output of zinc per retort per day is lower, the longer cycle permits a larger charge per retort and improved zinc recovery. Advantages of the longer cycle were soon evident, and the practice spread rapidly. Various lengths of cycle were used, typical examples being 28-hr, 32-hr, 36-hr, and 48-hr. The 48-hr cycle fits in best with the standard routine of smelter practice that was built up on the basis of the 24-hr cycle; that is, the retort furnace "maneuver" always comes at the same time of day, and can be performed in the cool hours of the early morning. Under some conditions, particularly in some of the older plants, where the retorts are smaller than in newer plants, a 48-hr cycle is longer than necessary, and some intermediate length of cycle may theoretically be most economical. Use of an intermediate cycle, however, means that the maneuver comes at different times on consecutive days, and that sometimes it comes during the hottest part of the day. The work on the retort furnaces is extremely hot and arduous at best, and it is much worse, of course, if it is done during the heat of a summer day. When labor was plentiful and tractable, many plants were able to operate on cycles of intermediate length, but the workmen did not like the working hours. Under present labor conditions, it is hardly practicable to operate with a cycle of intermediate length, so the choice has narrowed down to the alternatives of 24-hr or 48-hr cycles. In any discussion of economics, too comprehensive generalization is not warranted, because local conditions affecting economics vary greatly. The best economic practice at one plant at any given time may be uneconomical at another plant, or even at the same plant at another time. To determine the length of cycle that is the better practice at a given plant at a given time requires a weighing of the advantages and disadvantages of each cycle, taking into consideration all the local conditions. some of the factors that must be considered in making the comparison are discussed briefly in the following paragraphs.

Jan 1, 1949

By S. W. Miller

DURING the examination of welds made in steel by the oxy-acetylene and electric-arc processes, the writer has met with some unusual structures, which he has not encountered elsewhere. They seem to be quite closely associated with the welding methods used, and characteristic of them, and would seem to be worth noting, especially as the references to them in the literature are few, and their explanation not clear or complete. An introductory word or two about fusion welding may not he out of place. The oxy-acetylene process is based on the great and very local heat generated by the burning of acetylene in the presence of commercially pure oxygen, the two gases being thoroughly mixed before combustion. The theoretical temperature is somewhat under 4000° C., but on account of various losses, the actual maximum temperature is probably about 3000° C. 1 The electric-arc process, using a metal electrode, which is also the filling rod, generates a still higher and more local temperature. The actual temperature of the positive crater of the carbon arc is given as 3500° C.2 No figures have been found for the temperature of the arc using a metal electrode, but it would probably not be very different from that of the carbon arc, and probably higher than that of the oxy-acetylene flame. The greater localization of the electric arc is due to the fact that it is not surrounded by a large envelope flame as well as to its higher temperature; while the oxy-acetylene white cone, or welding flame, in which the carbon of the acetylene is burned to CO, is surrounded and preceded by -a long envelope flame, itself of quite high temperature, in which the CO is burned to C02, and the hydrogen of the acetylene to

Jan 2, 1918

By D. M. Deason, R. M. Chhatre, G. Y. Onoda

INTRODUCTION The treatment of colloidal suspensions is a subject of increasing interest in mining and benefication (1). Colloidal suspensions are not readily operated upon by mechanical and physical methods useful with coarse suspensions, such as filtration, thickening, and flotation. This is because colloids are strongly affected by interfacial and interparticle forces that may be large compared with, and resistant to, external forces. The degree and type of interactions between colloids can be modified by small additions of reagents such as coagulants, flocculants, dispersants, and immiscible liquids. These alterations in turn change the properties of the suspension and provide possible opportunities for transforming suspensions to a more favorable condition for a given processing operation. Phosphate slimes are an example of a colloidal system of interest today. In the mining and beneficiation of phosphate rock in Florida, slimes are a waste product. The phosphate ore (called matrix in the industry) is slurrified hydraulically and pumped to a beneficiation plant, where the -150 mesh material is removed by cycloning from the coarser phosphate rock and silica. The resulting -150 mesh slurry, called phosphate slime, is pumped to large impoundments. The solid content of the slime entering the impoundment is around four weight percent, and over 80% of the solids is less than one micron in size. The immediate problems with phosphate slime relate to their disposal (2, 3). The disposal problem is associated with the very large volumes and the poor dewatering characteristics of the slimes. To have sufficient impoundment volume, large earthen dams are built around the mined areas. The volume above ground level approaches and

Jan 1, 1980

By James F. Kemp

The Bulletin of the Institute for March, 1911, is chiefly devoted to papers upon the iron ores of northeastern Cuba. At that time information about the new developments in the peculiar brown hematites of the region was becoming widely circulated and interest was especially keen. For some years exploration had been conducted with pits and trenches and so great an area had been shown to contain ore in the Mayari, Moa, and Cubitas or San Felipe districts, that the reserves conveniently situated for the consumption of American furnaces were estimated as quite two billions of tons. In the subjoined footnote will be found a list of the principal papers of special interest which have already been published.' The further remark may, however, be made that the

Jan 1, 1915

By American Institute of Mining Engineers

David J. Mack (University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wise.)—Have the authors considered that the effects reported in their paper are readily explainable on the basis of equilibrium grain boundary segregation rather than ordering? It seems to the writer that all of their experiments and observations correlate well with known behavior associated with equilibrium grain boundary segregation. Although at first glance one would tend to dismiss such a possibility because of the similarity of the gold and copper atoms, their sizes differ by 12.8 pct which is in the range where segregation at grain boundaries would be expected. Then, too, the electrochemical differences between the copper, the Cu3Au, and the gold strongly suggest that a segregation mechanism is involved in the corrosion of the Cu-Au alloys. R. Bakish and W. D. Robertson (authors' reply)—The authors would like to thank Dr. Mack for his consideration of the problem of grain boundary segregation as an explanation of the observed phenomena. We had considered the problem in the following terms: Assuming a pure binary Cu-Au alloy and an ideal solid solution, the surface excess, T2= N25 — N2, of the second component (gold) may be expressed in the following way20 1 —exp (—da/kT) where 8 is the difference in surface tension of copper and gold, and a is the surface area per atom. In the present case, 6 is positive which implies that the component in excess at the boundary is gold. Since the only chemically active component in ferric chloride is copper, it does not appear that the segregation of gold is likely to increase the boundary activity. A small concentration of a third component could profoundly affect the situation. Analysis indicated only spectrographic traces of impurities, all of which are soluble in both copper and gold. Quenching experiments, reported in the paper, also tended to eliminate significant effects attributable to a third component.

Jan 1, 1958

By W. W. Mason

The US began exporting coal in the late 1800s, at first in very small quantities to Canada and, beginning in 1897 and 1898, to the east coast of South America. Shipments to European countries began on a very limited basis in 1902 and these shipments increased gradually until World War I when shipments overseas increased from 7.3 Mt/a to 20 Mt/a. After the war exports dropped as fast as they had increased and, with the exception of exports to Canada, remained at very low levels until just after World War II when the US again emerged as a major coal exporter. World War II left the coal industries of Europe in ruin. As the US was the only country able to supply large quantities of coal at reasonable prices needed for reconstruction of the European economy, the US coal exports overseas expanded rapidly to 38.6 Mt in 1947. Additionally, we shipped 23.8 Mt of coal to Canada in that year for a total export of 62.3 Mt. Unfortunately, that level was not reached again until 1957 when exports reached an all-time high of 69.3 Mt - a high that has not been reached since. Over the years the level of US coal exports has fluctuated fairly widely. Approximately 80-90% of all US coal exports are high quality metallurgical grade coal so our exports level depends directly on world-wide economic conditions and world steel production levels.

Jan 1, 1982

By James A. Roberson

THE mechanical behavior of molybdenum has become a matter of considerable interest in recent years because it has a reasonably high strength at high temperatures. Various aspects of its fatigue behavior have been investigated previously,1-3 and the results can be summarized as follows. Recrys-tallized molybdenum exhibits a fatigue limit which decreases continuously with increasing temperature. The ratio of fatigue-limit stress to ultimate tensile stress is high (0.6 to 0.8) and reasonably constant. The present work was undertaken to determine the effect of variations in environment on the fatigue of molybdenum stressed in fully reversed axial tension compression. In order to provide a basis to which these data could be compared, a complementary series of fatigue tests were made in vacuum. All of the specimens used were made from one mill lot of unalloyed molybdenum which had been vacuum-arc melted, worked down to 1-in.-diam bar, re-crystallized, then warm-worked to 5/8 in. diam. The interstitial content by weight was as follows: C—0.022 pet, 02-0.0026 pet, Hz-0.0001 pet, and N20.0002 pct. The average grain diameter in the transverse direction was about 0.035 mm, and the average grain length was about 0.15 mm. Typical tensile-test data are shown in Table I. None of the specimens tested exhibited an upper yield point.

Jan 1, 1965

By C. M. Loeb, T. E. Norman

THE use of ball, rod and tube mills for grinding ore, cement and other materials has grown so rapidly during the past forty years that the world's annual consumption of ferrous grinding media for these mills is now estimated to be between one half million and one million tons per year. Ferrous grinding balls constitute the major portion of this tonnage. Obviously they represent sufficient value to justify thorough studies' of the factor sgoverning their performance. The selection of grinding balls is governed principally by: I. Quality (wear resistance, impact resistance, soundness, and the like). 2. Sources of supply and delivered cost. 3. Grinding characteristics or efficiency in the ball mill. This paper deals principally with the quality of ferrous grinding balls. In the study of these factors certain data relative to the fundamental nature of ball wear in ball mills have been obtained. These data are also presented and discussed briefly. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SUITABLE WEAR TEST A study of the fundamental factors governing the quality of grinding balls has been hampered seriously by the fact that a competent test has, in the past, involved the purchase of several hundred tons of balls of a specific type which were then run in one or more ball mills for a period ranging from several months to several years' duration. Often, during the period of test, it became necessary to change operating conditions or the character of the ore fed, to the test mill with the result that the rate of ball consumption changed and the test figures became of little value. Under such circumstances, progress in the development of better grinding balls, has been necessarily slow. Economic factors and variations in the quality of balls produced by different sources of supply generally make it necessary for each mill operator to determine for himself the most suitable type of balls for his mills. In our own ball mill grinding operations at Climax, Colo., we were faced with this problem. After we had run a few large scale wear tests at considerable expense we decided to investigate the possibilities of a small scale wear test which would be capable of testing numerous types of balls within a relatively short time. The most important requirement of any test is, of course, that it give results which can be used to predict accurately the wear in full scale operations. It was known that Ellis and his associates1,2 had developed a method of testing grinding balls by small scale tests run at the Ontario Research Foundation. Ellis' method of testing was used as a starting point in our investigations. In the course of our tests a number of modifications of the original method were found to be desirable so that, by an evolutionary procedure, a method of small scale

Jan 1, 1947

By C. R. Johnson, R. A. Greenkorn, E. G. Woods

A new method of reservoir evaluation called pulse-testins has been developed for describing formation properties between wells. Pulse-testing utilizes a sensitive differential-pressure gauge at a responding well to measure and record the response generated by a series of flow rate changes (pulses) at an adjacent or pulsing well. Since the pulse-test instruments have a sensitivity of about 0.001 psi, pulses of several hours or less in duration will generate a measurable response in most reservoirs. For this reason, many well pairs can be tested in a short period of time with little interference in field operations. Comparison of pulse-test results to conventional testing methods shows that the pulses obey unsteady-state, compressible-flow theory and thus provide a measure of both transmissibility (kh/µ) and storage (Fch). In additian, the method can be used qualitatively to describe communication across faults and between zones, and direction and tnagnitude of fracture trends. INTRODUCTION To obtain maximum usefulness of new reservoir analysis methods as well as to aid the field engineer in understanding local reservoir anomalies, improved methods are needed to describe heterogeneities in specific reservoirs. Optimum well spacing, equipment specifications, well completion design and especially the economics of pressure maintenance and secondary recovery programs depend on the extent and location of the heterogeneities that affect flow behavior in the field. One method for obtaining a measure of areal reservoir heterogeneity is an interference test. In the simplest interference test. constant-rate production or injection is initiated at one well and the effect of this flow is measured as pressure vs time at another well. Thus, during interference tests the flow characteristics of the formation are determined in situ. Despite their obvious usefulness in reservoir delineation. interference tests have not enjoyed frequent usage. Reasons for this have been the weeks or months required in many fields to obtain a pressure response measurable with conventional gauges, and the interruption of routine field operation during the field-wide shut-in normally required during these long times. Also, only average properties of the relatively large volume of the reservoir disturbed during these long times can normally be obtained — variations in properties between individual wells cannot be delineated. To eliminate these drawbacks of conventional tests, a special reservoir description technique called pulse testing' has been developed. Pulse-testing has several advantages that make it more convenient and practical for field use than interference tests. Valid tests are more certain because use of a series of flow disturbances gives rise to a diagnostic pressure response that can more readily be distinguished from unknown trends in reservoir pressure and other "noise." The time required is only a fraction of that for an interference test because a special, high-sensitivity differential pressure gauge can detect a much smaller pressure change. Variations in properties between individual wells can be delineated because of the relatively small volume of the reservoir disturbed during these short times. Finally, wells other than the pulsing and responding wells do not have to be shut in or carefully regulated.

Jan 1, 1967