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By C. B. Foster, S. I. Freedman, E. M. Jamgochian

Coal-oil mixture (COM) combustion technology is regarded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) as near term and Potentially applicable to existing utility and industrial steam generators and for injection into blast furnaces. From work done previously, it has been established that COM can be burned in existing boilers and blast furnaces. Therefore, the issues being addressed by the current DOE program are: (1) determination of best available technology to achieve environmentally acceptable long-term reliable operation and (2) determination of applications for which COM can be utilized economically. Some of the technological options have begun to be determined by projects already under way. However, many projects are still in the early stages of development.

Jan 1, 1980

E. K. Landis, Philadelphia, Pa. (communication to the Secretary) : Mr. Firmstone's paper is of great interest; but he has unfortunately otnitted to state the most important point, viz., the percentage of sulphur in the two materials he compares; and this omission vitiates the conclusions which he draws. Comparing by grade, instead of silicon-contents (as in his Table III.), the iron made using limestone with that made using dolomite, we find for gray-forge the average of four analyses under limestone to be, Si, 0.644; S, 0.089 ; while one analysis under dolomite gives Si, 0.508 ; S, 0.070. For No. 2 iron, the limestone flux gives, as an average of 19 analyses, Si, 1.107; S, 0.051; while the average of 4 analyses made with dolomite flux gives Si, 0.630; S, 0.056. It will be observed, that no No. 1 pig is given under limestone, while 14 analyses appear under dolomite, averaging Si, 0.950 ; S, 0.028. As nothing is said about changed conditions, it is Fair to presume that the ore and fuel, as well as the blast-temperature (which is stated to have been uniform at about 750' F.) remained practically the same; and since the sulphur in the two fluxes is not given, it is impossible to know whether the lower sulphur for equal silicon-contents is due to the use of dolomite or to other conditions. The use of dolomite would produce a more fusible cinder, and the furnace would be hotter than when using limestone; therefore, we might expect to see a grayer iron. The amount of So. 1 iron made with dolomite seems to confirm this supposition; and, under these conditions, we might expect more of the sulphur to be volatilized, and to pass off in the gases. The easier fusibility of the cinder would also permit more rapid driving; and this should reduce the amount of silicon and sulphur in the iron, as the amount of reduced metalloids in the pig is directly proportional to the length of time it remains in the reducing-zone.

Jan 1, 1895

By C. J. Osborn

The temperature dependence of the free energies of formation of metallurgically important oxides, sulphides, chlorides, carbonates and sulphates is presented graphically, whereby the task of deriving practical metallurgical information is greatly simplified. The diagrams have been revised according to the latest available thermodynamic data. WHILE it is true that much careful investiga-tional work remains to be done, there are already available in the literature sufficient thermo-dynamic data to enable the metallurgist to predict with reasonable confidence the equilibrium conditions to be expected in most important, and potentially important, metallurgical reactions. In this connection, the careful, critical compilations of K. K. Kelley and his collaborators in numerous U. S. Bureau of Mines Bulletins are particularly valuable. However, the translation of reliable thermo-dynamic data into metallurgical language unfortunately involves lengthy manipulations of the cumbersome formulas which can be set up from heat of formation, entropy, and heat capacity data. Many years ago, Kelley20 predicted that thermo-dynamic calculations would be made in the future "with the aid of free energy, heat content, and entropy tables, rather than by means of the algebraic methods employed at present", and where such tables are available they greatly simplify the task of deriving practical metallurgical information. However, in addition to these tables, there are also available one or two reliable graphical presentations, particularly of free energy data, which may be used in the same way as the tables, but which have the added advantages that interpolation is never necessary, and that the behavior of different metals or compounds may be compared at a glance. Some years ago Professor Robert Lepsoe, Head of the Department of Metallurgy at Norways Institute of Technology (N.T.H.), began a compilation of curves showing the temperature dependence of the heat contents of the elements, and the heat contents and heats and free energies of formation of the common metallurgical compounds. With such a compilation, the thermal and free energy requirements of a reaction may be read from curves in a matter of seconds; and this statement applies not only to the formation of compounds from their elements, and to the reverse dissociation, but to any reaction involving substances whose thermodynamic properties are available. This follows from the fact that heats and free energies of formation are completely additive. For example, the free energy change associated with the chlorination of a metallic oxide at any temperature, T, is given by the free energy of formation of the chloride at temperature T minus that of the oxide also at T; both of these quantities may be read directly from curves of the type suggested above. Since this early, unpublished work of Lepsoe, both Ellingham7 and Richardson and Jeffes46 have

Jan 1, 1951

By AIME AIME

The following financial report of the Treasurer of the United Engineering Society is published for the information of members NEW YORK, February 15, 190S. To the Board of' Trustees, United Engineering Society I beg to submit herewith the report of the Treasurer as of December 31, 1907. Your attention is called to the fact that the resources and liabilities, receipts and disbursements statements cover all the financial transactions of the United Engineering Society from its organization up to December 31, 1907. The income and expenses of operating the building during the whole operating period from December 1 to December 31, 1907, somewhat in excess of twelve months, are given. Included in the expenses, amounting in all to $52,647.11, will be found an item entitled "Building Equipment (construction account)." The expenditures under this item were not made for the operating expenses of the building, they represent a construction account, properly speaking, covering expenditures for furnishings and equipment of the building. The Founders' Agreement specifically provides for this class of expenditure under the provision that the Founder Societies shall each be liable for a charge not to exceed $200,000 of principal, which shall include the land and building completed and ready for occupancy, together with the " furnishings, equipment and personal property therein." Certain details of equipment are yet to be supplied, and it. is proposed in the near future to call upon the Founder Societies for an assessment on their respective land and building funds to cover this item of building equipment. Such action would enable the item of $10,039.85 to be transferred to the income account and reduce correspondingly the assessment

Mar 1, 1908

By D. L. Rainey, E. R. Goter, W. R. Hudspeth

THE area in which spodumene-bearing pegmatites occur extends from Gaffney, S. C., in a northerly direction to Lincolnton, N. C., a distance of about 16 miles. The zone averages 2 miles in width. Interest in this area was first aroused by the discovery of small amounts of cassiterite in the peg-matites and in greissen which occurs on the walls of some of the pegmatites. Attempts were made from 1880 into the 1920's to mine and concentrate cas-siterite, but there were no successful operations. In 1935 L. M. Williams became interested in the area and began prospecting by trenching and sinking several small shafts. He gradually gained control of a considerable acreage south of the city of Kings Mountain, N. C. Mr. Williams states that he produced some ore from a shaft which he shipped to the Maywood Chemical Co. in the late 1930's. In 1937 G. H. Chambers of the Foote Mineral Co. visited the area and examined several properties, but the lithium market was too small to support the necessary concentrating plant. Early in World War II the Solvay Process Co., encouraged by various federal agencies, acquired the Williams properties and leases and started a drilling program to develop reserves for spodumene mining. A study of this area was also made under T. L. Kesler by the U. S. Department of the Interior Geological Survey. Starting in 1942 a concentrating plant, water supply dams, and shops and other buildings were constructed. The Superior Stone Co., a neighboring crushed stone operator, was awarded a contract to mine and crush the pegmatite ore. Late in 1943 the plant started operations, which were continued until February 1946. A drop in demand for lithium chemicals forced it to close and remain closed for several years. In 1948 the Foote Mineral Co. became interested in assuring itself a source of lithium ore on the North American continent, to be used in the production of lithium ore chemicals, and inspected properties in Canada, South Dakota, and North Carolina. The North Carolina deposits were the most promising. In the fall of 1950 the company leased the Solvay interests with option to buy and acquired additional properties. Renovation of the mill and preparation of the quarry for mining was begun in earnest in January 1951. A new crushing plant was built and construction started in July 1951. The flotation process used was developed in the North Carolina State Minerals Research Laboratory located at Asheville, N. C. Foote is now in the process of expanding its production. The crushing plant is being revamped and much of the old milling equipment purchased from Solvay will be replaced by new. Mining equipment of suitable capacity has been received and is in use. The frontispiece is a general view of the mill. The orebodies consist of pegmatite dikes composed of fine-grained albite and quartz, with varying amounts of mica and spodumene. The latter may amount to as much as 50 pct of the rock, but the overall average is about 15 to 20 pct. Tin, columbite-tantalite, beryl, and other valuable minerals are present in varying small amounts. These dikes, which intruded into the Roan Gneiss underlying most of the Piedmont area, strike approximately N 30 E and dip about 85" to the west. The gneiss has the same strike but dips about 70" west. The dikes lie in a belt extending from Lin-colnton, N. C., to Gaffney, S. C., and passing through

Jan 1, 1954

By C. R. Fettke

In 1914, the officials of the Brundred Oil Corpn., faced with the problem of introducing new methods to increase production in the old and nearly depleted pools of Venango County, became interested in the Smith-Dunn (Marietta) process which was at that time being tried out in southeastern Ohio and which was already yielding very encouraging results. A license to use the process in Pennsylvania was secured from the owners of the patents. These patents were later declared invalid. The method was first used in Pennsylvania on a property consisting of about 434 acres, of which 300 are productive, at Hamilton Corners, 15 miles northwest of Oil City, in Cherry Tree and Oakland Townships, Venango County. The producing horizon is the First Sand of the Venango Group. A small oil pool was opened up in this vicinity in 1904. By July, 1916, when the compressed air was first introduced to restore pressure, the production had dropped to a point where it was no longer possible to continue profitable operation. From that time until March, 1927, over 100,000 bbl. of oil have been recovered from the tract. The property is being operated at present by the Brundred Oil Corpn. and LUX. The 1926 production, amounting to 10,650 bbl., was only 400 bbl. short of the maximum reached during any year of the 10-year period that the process has been in operation. Inasmuch as the Hamilton Corners pool is the first one in Pennsylvania in which the Marietta process was tried out, and the one in which it has been longest in continuous operation, considerable interest attaches to the results obtained. Through the courtesy of H. D. Brown and W. J. Brundred, officials of the Brundred Oil Corpn., all their data on this operation were made available to the writer in connection with an investigation of rejuvenation methods in the State for the Pennsylvania Geological Survey. Stratigraphic Position of the Producing Sand The producing sand at Hamilton Corners is encountered at depths of from 364 to 560 ft., depending on the location of the well and the topog-

Jan 1, 1928

By Marius R. Campbell

Does mine-sampling show the commercial value of a coal, and if so, how should it be done ? This question is often asked, but seldom answered. During the past summer, while engaged in securing coal for the Government coal-testing plant at St. Louis, I had an excellent opportunity to obtain information on t,his subject, and the results seem to furniih an answer to the question propounded above. Sampling for the U. 8. Geological Survey Coal- Testing Plant. In organizing the work of the testing-plant, it was decided that coal, in car-load lots only, would be accepted for testing; also that this coal should be loaded under the immediate supervision of a representative of the plant, so as to be certain that the car-load sample would be representative. As an additional check on the work, two mine-samples were to be collected from each mine visited, and these samples, as well as the sample from the car when it was received at the testing-plant, were to be carefully analyzed at the chemical laboratory established in connection with the plant and operated under the direction of Prof. N W. Lord of the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Mine-Samp1ing.—Mine-samples were collected with great care by me and my assistants, Messrs. J. Shober Burrows, John W. Groves and Frank W. De Wolf. The dominant idea in the regulations adopted for mine-sampling mas, that it should be done in such a manner that the sample would have the same composition as the commercial output of the mine.

Jan 1, 1906

By NORMAN D. FitzGkrald

IN 1942 the outstanding characteristic of the petroleum industry was the multiplicity of war-induced distortions in virtually every segment of the business. So devastating was the success of the Nazi submarine campaign along the shores of the western Atlantic and on transoceanic routes that within six months after our entry into the war petroleum rationing was necessary in the East Coast area. The conquest of the Netherlands Indies by the Japanese three months after the opening of the war in the Pacific cut off our normal sources of rubber, and in our first year of war nationwide rationing of gasoline had to be invoked to conserve rubber-borne transportation facilities. Meanwhile the oil industry faced the imperative necessity for rapid expansion in the output of aviation gasoline and later accepted the vast responsibility for developing a new industry. synthetic rubber manufacture. Probably no other essentially peacetime industry has been forced to make so many complicated adjustments, yet its response to its wartime obligations has been nothing short of dramatic.

Jan 1, 1943

By Joseph Newton

MUCH the same story can be told about the copper industry for the year 1944 as for the three preceding years. Operators report few or no technical changes at their plants and the main endeavor has been to maintain high production with existing equipment. No large new installations have been made to increase plant capacities and apparently over-all copper production has passed its maximum. The present decline in copper production results partly from the severe labor shortage. As is true of most industries; the outstanding fact about the copper industry during the past few years has been its tremendous and sustained production which has been maintained in spite of serious shortages in material. labor, and technical personnel. The figures in Table I give a concrete example of how production has been increased at one large smelter in the United States-the Garfield plant of the American Smelting and Refining Co. at Garfield. Utah. These figures, reported by W. G. Rouillard. superintendent. give the production of the Garfield plant for the five years 1940-44 inclusive. The total blister production

Jan 1, 1945

By Morris Cohen

STAFF: Editor, Gerhard Derge Acting Editor, Paul G. Shewmon Carnegie Institute of Technology Schenley Park Pittsburgh 13, Pa. Editorial Assistant, M. A. Redmerski Production Editor, Otto T. Johnson THE METALLURGICAL SOCIETY: Karl L. Fetters, President; J.S. Smart, Jr., Past-President; R. C. Cole, Vice President; R. L. Hennebach, Treasurer; R. W. Shearman, Secretary. PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE OF THE METALLURGICAL SOCIETY: W. O. Phil-brook, Chairman; H. L. Bishop, R. C. Cole, J. N. Hobstetter, W. A. Krivsky, E. R. Morgan, F. C. Langenberg, R. E. Lund, Paul Queneau, L. L. Seigle, R. L. Smith, and T. V. Wainwright. Review and selection of manuscripts is under the supervision of the following Publicotions Committes: Extractive Metallurgy Division: R. E. Lund, Chairman; M. E. Wadsworth, Vice Chairman; D. H. Baker, Jr., G. M. Bell, R. E. Grace, W. A. Krivsky, R. A. Lewis, Charles O'Neill, A. W. Schlechten, R. E. Shinkoskey, and W. W. Stephens. Iran and Steel Division: T. V. Wainright, Choirman; H. L. Bishop, R. E. Boni, T. E. Dancy, D. W. Murphy, Johannes M. Uys, J. B. Wogstoff, and R. G. Ward. Institute of Metals Division: J. N. Hobstetter, Chairman; P. A. Beck, J. J. Becker, G. F. Bolling, J. 0. Brittain, J. B. Clark, R. S. Davis, A. E. Dwight, R. W. Fountain, L. R. Girifolco, J. C. Gurland, H. S. Kalish, E. L. Harmon, J. J. Heger, A. A. Hendrickson, L. Himmel, J. P. Hirth, H. H. Johnson, Jr., R. R. Nosh, T. N. Rhodin, R. H. Richman, H. C. Rogers, W. Rostoker, C. Sherby, C. W. Spencer, L. Slifkin, J. K. Stanley, R. Steinitz, H. C. Stumpf, and R. Swalin. Published bimonthly by the Americon Institute of Mining, Metallurgicol, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc., 345 East 47th Street, New York 17, N. Y. Telephone PLaza 2-6800. Subscription $30 peryear for non-AIME members in United States and North, South, and Centrol America; $32, foreign; $30per$7.50 for AlME members. Single copies, $6.00, single copies foreign, $6.50. The AlME is not responsible for any stotement made or opinion expressed in its publications ... Copyright 1962 by the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc. . . . Registered cable address, AlME New York . . . Indexed in Engineering Index, Industrial Arts Index, and Chemical Abstracts . . . Second class postage paid at New York, N. Y., and Ann Arbor, Mich. Volume 224, Number 4.

Jan 1, 1962

By Richard E. McElvain

The mining and other industries have grown and changed with- respect to their requirements for slurry pumps capable of handling high percentages of abrasive materials. Greater solids concentration, higher heads and pressures, and increased flow arc not possible. Today's equipment delivers up to three times the flow-tonnage and 1.3 times the head per stage as compared with pumps of ten years ago. This results in four times the requirement in size and energy. The new centrifugal pumps are capable of handling these requirements at pressures up to 4826 kPa (700 psi), with 6895 kPa (1000 psi) or more being considered for future systems. The latest pumps, functioning at four times the operating requirement on flow-head, weight eight times more than the previous equipment. Efficiency is increased slightly, to about 75 % to 85%. A testing program on equivalent units has confirmed that the added strength and specific design of heavy-duty pumps can meet demanding engineering objectives. Operating life on difficult-to-pump materials is increased from 500 to over 5000 hours of continuous operation; the ten-fold increase in pump operating time is a major design objective.

Jan 12, 1976

By L. G. Sprague

The fact that this latest and most modern of the Universal Atlas Cement Company's plants at Northampton, Pa., is the fifth to be built on these same properties, and their development has been coincidental with the development of the portland cement industry in the United States, makes it appropriate to sketch briefly the history of the successive steps. In 1889 the original Atlas Portland Cement Co. started its first plant at Coplay, Pa., which is just across the Lehigh River from the present operation. Here the first successful rotary kiln was operated. These kilns were 6 ft. in diameter and 60 ft. long; they used oil for fuel until 1895, when the company developed the first burner for pulverized coal. Shortly thereafter the Atlas company acquired property on the Northampton side of the river and built its plants Nos. 2, 3 and 4 within the following 10 years. During the same period the production of portland cement in the country was increasing rapidly; owing largely to the development of the rotary kiln and improved grinding machinery, which lowered the cost and improved the quality of cement. The general tendency has been to increase the length of the kiln and grind both raw material and finished product Liner. In 1930 the Atlas Portland Cement Co. and the Universal Portland Cement Co. united to form the Universal Atlas Cement Co., and the same policy of improving the product has been continued. Because of the large amount of research carried on by manufacturers and consumers, including government agencies, there is a demand for cement of different chemical and physical characteristics for different kinds of structures. Hence many engineers in recent years have been asking for cements of certain definite chemical analyses, which they think are best for their particular jobs. This has compelled the manufacturer to make several different types of cement by variations of chemical composition. These are generally made by adding silica, iron and lime to the standard mixture, which necessarily increases the cost of the product. Therefore the Universal Atlas Cement Co., in planning the modernization of its Northampton plant, gave this particular phase of the problem considerable study. Research and experimentation have developed the practicability of making a wide variety of differently proportioned raw materials for cement by a process of subtraction rather than by addition. With such process, it is possible to discard the undesirable aluminates and silicates from the ample supply of impure limestone available from the company's property rather than by adding high-grade limestone obtained from distant sources. This procedure requires mineral separation by centrifugal sedimentation and froth flotation. Since the chemical and mineral constituents of Lehigh Valley "cement rock," together with the methods of separating them, have been thoroughly described in published

Jan 1, 1948

By L. G. Sprague

The fact that this latest and most modern of the Universal Atlas Cement Company's plants at Northampton, Pa., is the fifth to be built on these same properties, and their development has been coincidental with the development of the portland cement industry in the United States, makes it appropriate to sketch briefly the history of the successive steps. In 1889 the original Atlas Portland Cement Co. started its first plant at Coplay, Pa., which is just across the Lehigh River from the present operation. Here the first successful rotary kiln was operated. These kilns were 6 ft. in diameter and 60 ft. long; they used oil for fuel until 1895, when the company developed the first burner for pulverized coal. Shortly thereafter the Atlas company acquired property on the Northampton side of the river and built its plants Nos. 2, 3 and 4 within the following 10 years. During the same period the production of portland cement in the country was increasing rapidly; owing largely to the development of the rotary kiln and improved grinding machinery, which lowered the cost and improved the quality of cement. The general tendency has been to increase the length of the kiln and grind both raw material and finished product Liner. In 1930 the Atlas Portland Cement Co. and the Universal Portland Cement Co. united to form the Universal Atlas Cement Co., and the same policy of improving the product has been continued. Because of the large amount of research carried on by manufacturers and consumers, including government agencies, there is a demand for cement of different chemical and physical characteristics for different kinds of structures. Hence many engineers in recent years have been asking for cements of certain definite chemical analyses, which they think are best for their particular jobs. This has compelled the manufacturer to make several different types of cement by variations of chemical composition. These are generally made by adding silica, iron and lime to the standard mixture, which necessarily increases the cost of the product. Therefore the Universal Atlas Cement Co., in planning the modernization of its Northampton plant, gave this particular phase of the problem considerable study. Research and experimentation have developed the practicability of making a wide variety of differently proportioned raw materials for cement by a process of subtraction rather than by addition. With such process, it is possible to discard the undesirable aluminates and silicates from the ample supply of impure limestone available from the company's property rather than by adding high-grade limestone obtained from distant sources. This procedure requires mineral separation by centrifugal sedimentation and froth flotation. Since the chemical and mineral constituents of Lehigh Valley "cement rock," together with the methods of separating them, have been thoroughly described in published

Jan 1, 1948

By Archiblad MacMartin

The Kunigin-Marien-Hiitte is the only works in Germany where the Bessemer process is carried on by the direct method. The Besserner plant there, is arranged after the true English type, and the only resemblance to the Swedish mode of 'procedure is the dispensing with the use of spiegeleisen at the end of the "blow." In a new department of the establishment, started within three years, each of the converters is turned by means of a very neat and compact reversible engine, the steel shaft of which is an endless screw, which turns against the oblique cogs of a large wheel attached to the shaft of the vessel. An advantage which this arrangement possesses over the ordinary English hydraulic arrangement, is the fact that the endless screw suffices to turn the vessel, in either direction, any number of complete revolutions; while even the latest American improvements, so clearly explained to us by Mr. Holley at the opening session of this meeting, do not secure even one complete revolution without changing the angle of inclination of the hydraulic piston. In the endless screw arrangement, there being no limit to the working of the motor in either direction (no return-stroke necessary), the vessel can always, unless outside reasons demand the contrary, be turned around to any desired position by the shortest cut, whether backwards or forwards. Also, the diameter of the cogwheel attached to the vessel can be made sufficiently great to avoid all unevenness of motion. In the old department the motive-power still continues to be hydraulic. If reports be true, the new department produces spiegelized steel, for the manufacture of all-steel rails. But the old department is still, as from the beginning, devoted to the production by the direct method of steel for steel-headed rails. The most remarkable fact connected with this direct steel is the ease with which it welds to the iron 'of the rail-packets, although no borax or other fluxing agent is used to facilitate the welding. It is very rarely that an exception occurs, and an ingot or a charge is discarded by the rail-mill. The mixture of pig-iron used for the production of this steel is melted in cupolas of very interesting construction (not to be de-

By George Harrington

THIS paper is a brief description of the design and equipment of a new coal mine in southern Illinois, which has many features not common practice in shaft coal mining and which is laid out and equipped for such unusually large capacity that it promises soon to become one of the largest mining operations of its kind. Shaft sinking for the mine, New Orient, was commenced in May, 1921, by the Chicago, Wilmington & Franklin Coal Co. In October, 1924, the plant was practically completed and was producing over 6000 tons of coal per day. There is good prospect that within a few years, when the mine is fully developed and manned, the output will attain a daily rate of 12,000 tons. The coal seam at New Orient lies approximately horizontal, about 500 ft. below the surface, and may be said to run from 9 to 12 ft. in thickness. The tendency in Franklin County has been toward large mining units (5000 to 6000 tons per day) with great care being given to protection against fire and explosion hazards, and usually with quite elaborate surface plants permitting careful preparation of the coal into graded sizes comparable with those made in the anthracite region. The field is unionized, with uniform conditions of wages for various classes of work, hours, etc., and the Illinois mining laws are quite specific with regard to fireproofing and safety measures. These conditions make it difficult for any but well-equipped and well-operated mines to meet the competition of the numerous fine properties of which this county can justly be proud. The coal company's property was already developed on the western side by the Orient. mine-a much visited and written about operation (with which many of you are possibly familiar through the Department of Mines' film "The Story of Coal ") which until recently held the 8-hr. production record with 8218 tons and usually ran quite consistently with production of slightly over 6000 tons per day. Experience at Orient was naturally one of the greatest influences in determining the location and character of the New Orient.

Jan 2, 1925

By R. F. Yap, N. Arbiter, C. C. Harris

A fully-instrumented driving mechanism has been constructed to study the power, aerating and solid suspension characteristics of several laboratory flotation machines. Machines operating over normal flotation speed ranges give substantially constant power numbers in liquid systems indicating that they operate close to fully baffled turbulent flow conditions. Owing to lack of geometrical scaling, power numbers for different sizes of cells of the same make are different. Even larger differences occur between cells of different manufacturers. For a given impeller, varying the tank size did not significantly affect the power consumption. Tank geometry and baffling has a slight effect on power consumption with shrouded impellers. For a given impeller speed, suspension height decreases while power increases with increasing mass of solids in suspension. While power consumption is hardly affected by particle size and clearance between the impeller and tank bottom, the suspension height significantly increases as clearance increases and as particle size decreases. Aeration was found to affect not only power but also the suspension characteristics of the machine. For closely sized particles, drastic sedimentation occurred when a critical value of the air flow number was exceeded. The critical air flow number decreased with increasing particle size. This effect was less marked with a wide particle size range. The self-aerating capacity of flotation machines increases with cell size at a given speed for the same impeller-shroud system, but decreases in the presence of frother and solids. Equations have been established for correlating all of the studied variables. Data taken from the literature were also correlated with these equations. The modern mechanical flotation machine has, over a period of 60 years, displaced other designs to become the dominant type. Once the correct chemical environmental conditions have been established, the major requirement, selective mineral-air adherence, is essentially a function of two operating variables — impeller speed and air rate. The special nature of this dependence is such that in the same apparatus, but under different operating conditions, adherence can be either prevented or destroyed. Another aspect of this observation is that flotation machines though differing in detail to a considerable extent can produce similar metallurgical results. It must be concluded that having determined the correct reagent levels, establishing the correct operating conditions are at least as important as machine design. Since about 1960, after 30 years of fairly stable circumstances, manufacturers have been developing new types of machines whose major feature is emphasis on pulp flow characteristics by virtue of new im-peller-stator designs. As far as can be ascertained, these new designs necessitate radical departures from accepted impeller speed-air rate values. Performance data are still awaited. Flotation machine development has been empirical, as is selection of operating conditions. The purpose of the work at Columbia University has been to elucidate the fundamentals of the subject so that the purely mechanical aspects of the flotation process can be understood in hydrodynamic terms.1-6 Hopefully, this might lead to intelligent selection of a particular machine and its operating conditions for a specific ore based on a minimum of testing, or even to new types of flotation machines. The present investigation is the most comprehensive to date.7,8 Earlier work, which was largely exploratory, has been repeated and extended and employes the most accurate measuring techniques available. Additionally, sufficient hydrodynamic data were obtained under flotation conditions to delineate the relevant operating ranges. Attention has been given to scaling in that several geometrically scaled tanks and impellers have been constructed and tested; it has been pointed out elsewhere that undistorted geometrical scaling rarely pertains in flotation machine design.5 This paper is divided into sections dealing with relevant combinations of the three phases: liquid, air and solid. Summaries of the literature have been given in previous publications2-4 and will not be repeated here. Recently, several reviews of mixing have appeared, which can be usefully referenced.9-11 It is of interest to note that flotation is not included

Jan 1, 1970

By M. A. Schimmelpfennig, A. D. S. Gillies

Loss of visibility due to the occurrence of atmospheric fogging in underground mine airways can lead to longer travel times and loss of production efficiency, an increase in the frequency of vehicular and foot traffic accidents and difficulty in checking rock surfaces for instability and loose material. Where hot and humid surface air meets colder underground air, conditions for fog formation may be present. Further, suspended particulate matter from diesel exhausts or stoping operations together with slow movement of air along passageways may contribute to formation. This study describes an investigation being undertaken with the cooperation of Kennecott's Ozark Lead Co. to identify causes of the problem.

Jan 1, 1984

By W. S. Row

This mine is operated at 4000 to 4500 tons daily through a single shaft, with one rock hoist and one senice hoist. Latest shaft construction is concrete with wooden dividers. Economics of drifters and air-leg drills are compared, as well as costs of shrinkage and sub-level stoping. Economy of large haulage equipment and underground crushing is shown. THE property of Kerr-Addison Gold Mines is located in the Larder Lake district of Ontario about 3 miles from the Quebec boundary on the highway between Kirkland Lake and Noranda. It is roughly 320 miles due north of Toronto and 365 miles north of Buffalo, N. Y. The property was staked in 1906 and after several development efforts finally came into continuous production at 500 tons per day in 1937. In 1939 the daily tonnage -was increased to 1200 and in 1941 to 2100 tons. At the end of the war, because of the shortage of labor, tonnage was down to 1100 tons per day, rising to 2200 in February 1947. A further plant expansion inaugurated in 1946 was completed by December 1948, bringing the capacity of the mine and mill to a production rate of 4000 tons per day. Current production, with 880 men employed, is 4400 tons per day. Changes in mining methods and equipment, required by the recently completed expansion program, have yielded interesting comparative results, some of which are described in this paper. Hoisting of ore and waste from the mine, as well as all service facilities for handling men and supplies underground, are provided for in a single vertical five-compartment shaft. Ore and waste are hoisted in 12½-ton skips in balance by a 14-ft diam hoist with drums 115 in. wide, grooved for 2?-in. wire ropes. This hoist, with a total rope pull of 85,000 lb, was designed to operate at a speed of 2600 ft per min to a depth of 4000 ft, hoisting 15 tons of ore in each skip. It is amplidyne-controlled and powered with dual drive dc motors of 2250-hp each, through flexible couplings to two pinion shafts, one on each side of the main gear. Each motor has a peak load rating of 4500-hp at point of greatest duty. Direct current power to the hoist motors is supplied from a motor generator set consisting of a 5000-hp synchronous motor driving two 1750-kw dc generators. The loading pockets used so far are at depths of 1500 and 2725 ft respectively. Consequently the present hoisting speed is 2000 ft per min and the skips capacity only 12½ tons. Now that the shaft has been deepened the new pockets at 3934 ft will be increasingly used so that the speed and the skip size will be increased up to original specifications as required. Some difficulty in meeting the required hoisting cycle is expected because of the shape of the skips. As now in use the cross-sectional dimensions of the inside of the skip are 4 ft 6 in. x 3 ft 8 in. To hold 121/2 tons, therefore, they are 14 ft 10 in. deep. Since the skips are the conventional overturning or Kim-berley type, considerable hoisting time is lost in retardation in entering the headframe dump and in acceleration when leaving. It is expected that to obtain the specified tonnage from this hoist when the skip size is increased to 15 tons it may be necessary to resort to bottom dump skips. This type of skip could reduce considerably the present excessive acceleration and retardation times. Analyses of the skip-hoisting operation are made monthly, and every effort is made to reduce controllable delays. For a nine-month period in 1951 such an analysis shows that the hoist was in operation 92.5 pct of the available time, which was allotted as shown in Table I. Overall hoisting costs, cage and skip, for the year 1951, averaged $0.168 per ton of ore milled. The mine is serviced entirely by means of a single cage, capacity 35 men or 15,700 lb, operating in con-

Jan 1, 1954

By J. H. East, E. R. Maize

Probably no other type of equipment is now being introduced into American underground mines about which less is known and about which there is more misinformation than the Diesel mine locomotive. Any equipment installed underground brings with it hazards that were not present before, and it is the purpose of this paper to show that Diesel-powered equipment can be used with safety in underground mining if certain feasible but very important precautions are taken. Diesel locomotives are not new in underground mining, since they have been used successfully in European mines for at least 19 years, but their use in American mines is exceedingly limited; so far as is known, only five Diesel mine locomotives are operating at present in United States mines. Diesel locomotives were permitted underground in Great Britain for the first time in 1939, and the rapid increase in the number in use in those mines testifies to their safety and efficiency. More than 1300 Diesel mine locomotives are in use in European mines, according to the latest statistics; these locomotives are employed in coal, iron, lead-zinc and mercury mines. SO far as is known, the Diesel mine locomotive has not yet caused an explosion or mine fire, and has not been the cause of any fatalities from toxic gases in the mines in which it has been used. Adjustments of Diesel Engines foR Underground Use A Diesel engine adjusted to work in an underground mine should not be confused with the same engine adjusted for use outside the mine. Adjustment of the air:fuel ratio for engines that are used on the surface is intended to give the maximum fuel economy, and little or no attention is given to the chemical composition of the exhaust gas produced. Many such engines are poorly adjusted and perhaps poorly maintained, with the result that the engine emits smoke in quantity as well as the disagreeable odor familiarly associated with Diesel engines. The air:fuel ratio in the case of Diesel engines operated on the surface is generally around 15:1; that is, 15 lb of air to burn I lb of fuel. Diesel engines adjusted to work underground usually have an air:fuel ratio of about 20:1, as at this ratio the minimum quantity of toxic gases is given off in the engine exhaust. Diesel engines operated underground must be maintained in better condition than similar engines used on the surface; otherwise, the smoke emitted in the exhaust becomes objectionable if not unendurable. Practically normal air is required for safe operation of Diesel engines underground or in confined places; failure to provide virtually normal air for Diesel engine operation is almost certain to result in trouble. Bureau of Mines engineers have determined that the air in which a Dicsel Operates hi confined places should contain less than % pct of carbon dioxide and at least 20 pct of

Jan 1, 1949

By EDWARHD HALSE

Discussion of the Paper of Dr. H. M. Chance, presented at the Lake Superior Meeting, September, 1904. EDWARD HALSE, Puerto Berrio, Colombia, So. Amer. (communication to the Secretary*) : The Taviche mining-district is generally known as a Taviches," being named from the two villages called respectively San Pedro Taviche and San Jeronimo Taviche. It is so called by José G. Aguilera, in his paper on the Geographical and Geological Distribution of the Mineral Deposits of Mexico;' and in published reports by the late N. W. Rudston Read ;2 and by Juan de Dios Villarello.3 The region is a large one, measuring about 24 miles long and 7 miles wide. Dr. Chance, in his interesting paper, tells us very little about the nature of the ores, and, with regard to the geology of the district, contents himself with observing that ? the country, as a rule, consists of eruptive rocks; and no evidences of sedimentary strata appear near the mines.? The latter part of the above statement is hardly correct. The formation is mainly eruptive, being hornblende-audesite of Tertiary age, which is limited on the east by the calcareous (Cretaceous) formation, and on the west by the Huronian rocks of Ocotlan. Limestone is seen close to the Santa Càtarina mine, at the northern end of the region. In the surface-working known as La Cueva, a little northeast of San Pedro, limestone forms the eastern wall of the deposit which consists of spots (moscas) of pyrargyrite in white opaque or transparent quartz. Ill one place the ore is associated with stibnite, and the quartz frequently exhibts a

Sep 1, 1905