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By R. M. Raymond

The Mining Section of The National Safety Council recently sent out a questionnaire to operators, regarding the class of rope used, specifications required or obtained, factors of safety observed, methods of fastening ropes, lubrication, inspection, and points observed when rope is to be discarded. The answers received from this questionnaire, largely from metal mines, give interesting information, from which recommendations for safety practice on hoisting ropes are drawn. Depth of Mine The depth in the majority of cases noted is from 1000 ft. to 1500 ft. (304 to 457 m.) and records come from a number hoisting from depths of 2000 to 3000 ft. Hoisting is generally done in balance, with a few companies using counterweights. Seldom, more than two shifts are occupied in hoisting. A number of large operators limit the shift for engineers to 6 hr. A few of the larger operators have separate hoists for men and supplies, with a higher class rope for men. The range of loads varies from 7 to 17 tons and greater in a few cases, with a balanced weight of 4 to 7 tons. Size or Drums and Sheaves The size of drums and size of sheaves are generally in accordance with recommendations of rope manufacturers. Only one-half of the operators use grooved drums; one, The Sulphide Corpn., New South Wales, uses wood-lagged drums. Very few operators have drums capable of holding all the rope in a single wrap. Cone drums or cone and cylinder drums, in the mines heard from, are very rare. A few mines of shallow depth use a small drum and large-sized sheave. While this may be allowed, and in some cases is all right, the size of drum and sheave should be fully equal to that recommended by the rope manufacturers and should be at least 60 to 100 times the diameter of the

Jan 1, 1923

By R. M. Raymond

The Mining Section of The National Safety Council recently sent out a questionnaire to operators, regarding the class of rope used, specifications required or obtained, factors of safety observed, methods of fastening ropes, lubrication, inspection, and points observed when rope is to be discarded. The answers received from this questionnaire, largely from metal mines, give interesting information, from which recommendations for safety practice on hoisting ropes are drawn. Depth of Mine The depth in the majority of cases noted is from 1000 ft. to 1500 ft. (304 to 457 m.) and records come from a number hoisting from depths of 2000 to 3000 ft. Hoisting is generally done in balance, with a few companies using counterweights. Seldom, more than two shifts are occupied in hoisting. A number of large operators limit the shift for engineers to 6 hr. A few of the larger operators have separate hoists for men and supplies, with a higher class rope for men. The range of loads varies from 7 to 17 tons and greater in a few cases, with a balanced weight of 4 to 7 tons. Size or Drums and Sheaves The size of drums and size of sheaves are generally in accordance with recommendations of rope manufacturers. Only one-half of the operators use grooved drums; one, The Sulphide Corpn., New South Wales, uses wood-lagged drums. Very few operators have drums capable of holding all the rope in a single wrap. Cone drums or cone and cylinder drums, in the mines heard from, are very rare. A few mines of shallow depth use a small drum and large-sized sheave. While this may be allowed, and in some cases is all right, the size of drum and sheave should be fully equal to that recommended by the rope manufacturers and should be at least 60 to 100 times the diameter of the

Jan 1, 1923

Discussion of the paper of E. J. Hall and C. W. Drury, presented at the Butte meeting, August, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 78, June, 1913, pp. 1059 to 1066. A. M. SMOOT,* New York, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary +) :-The nails method is given in many text books on assaying as a standard method for gold or for gold and silver in ores. It appears to be taught in the laboratories of technical and scientific schools as a standard method, and to some extent it is used by assayers in actual practice, although the class of ores to which it may be applied is limited to those free from reducible metallic compounds, the metals of which would enter the lead button. The experiments of Messrs. Hall and Drury show the inaccuracy of this rnethod for silver, in heavy sulphides, but not so clearly the short-comings with regard to gold. It seems certain that low silver is caused by the solubility of silver in iron-alkali sulphide as compared with its solubility in molten lead; that is, silver is distributed between iron-alkali sulphide and metal in the charge in proportion to solubility at the particular temperature of the fusion. Lead is a fixed quantity in these assay charges, but iron-alkali sulphide increases with increased sulphur, so the more sulphur in the charge, the lower the silver results.

Jan 11, 1913

By A. Azis

The problem of expressing a nation's mineral resources in terms that convey a sense of economic reality poses a great challenge to those charged with keeping government policymakers informed. A model is presented that can be used to simulate and examine the effects of, for instance, differences in levels of output, transportation costs, mining costs or selling prices on the exploitability and expected order of development of new mineral deposits. The model in its present form can be used to screen, as a first cut, the economic from uneconomic deposits in cases where little or nothing is known about them in detail. To date, this has generally been done - reluctantly - by subjective judgments. This model provides an improvement on the "informed opinion" approach, as it forces those who use the model to be both systematic and explicit in their assumptions. Moreover, the procedure is repeat- able and each step can be defended and justified. Implications can be examined of the uncertainty associated with many of the variables. The model is entirely too general to be of use for actual feasibility studies. It is not useful, in the case of speculative or little-known deposits, to provide a model that has an input format more detailed than the information that is likely to be available. Should the user see a need for it, the model can easily be expanded to allow for the input of more detail or more variables.

Jan 1, 1977

By R. E. Ogilvie, J. I. Goldstein

The a and y solubility limits in the Fe-Ni phase diagram have been redetermined at temperatures above 500°C. Both a diffusion-couple and a quench and anneal technique were used. The solubility limits were measured with an electron-probe micro-analyzer. The nickel concentration at the phase boundary is increased below 700°C and the a solid-solubility range is much larger than had been previously measured. The solubility limits are also extrapolated to 300°C. It is suggested that the solubility of nickel in a FeNi reaches a maximum in the temperature interval 400o to 500°C. THE equilibrium diagram has been of great use in the field of meteoritics, where the phase relations between kamacite (a) and taenite (?) in metallic meteorites can be described by means of the Fe-Ni diagram. The study of metallic meteorites by electron-probe microanalysis has cast some doubt on the accuracy of the presently available Fe-Ni diagrams.1, 2 Recent thermodynamic studies of the Fe-Ni system also suggest that the diagram may be in error.3 For these reasons the high-temperature (800o to 500°C) part of the diagram was redetermined. INTRODUCTION The currently accepted Fe-Ni diagram is that of Owen and Liu.4 Above 910°C, there is a region of complete solid solubility, ? (fee). Below 910°C, the a (bee) phase is stable in pure iron. The effect of increasing amounts of nickel is to stabilize the y phase. The phases that form when Fe-Ni alloys are heated or cooled bear little relation to the equilibrium diagram. If an alloy is cooled from the y state and held at a temperature within the a + y field, no evidence has been found for the occurrence of the y - a transformation.5 If the alloy is cooled to low enough temperatures the y phase breaks down into a supersaturated bee phase called a2. In fact, in alloys over 27 pet Ni the y phase is retained at room temperature.6 The a, phase has the same composition as the original y. The temperature at which a2 forms, the M, temperature, has been determined experimentally.' A state of equilibrium can be approached by cooling below M, to form a2 and then reheating the alloy into the two-phase region of the diagram. The y phase will then begin to precipitate out of the a2 phase and grow. The growth of the phase, however, is quite slow. Using the interdiffusion coefficients -Da of Goldstein et al.,8 it is estimated that it takes about 1 year to grow a 10-µ-wide region of ? at 700°C in a 5 pet Ni alloy. Owen and Liu4 used the technique just described to form the equilibrium phases. The phases present were determined by means of X-ray analysis. The accuracy of their diagram depends on the number of alloys available near the phase boundary at a given temperature. In this study two different techniques were used to determine the a/a + ? and ?/a + ? solubility limits. The inherent accuracy of both techniques was greatly improved over that used by previous investigators because the phase-boundary compositions were measured with an electron-probe microanalyzer. PROCEDURE The two methods used to determine the Fe-Ni diagram are the diffusion couple (D.C.) and the quench-and-anneal (Q.+A.) techniques. In the first method, diffusion couples whose diffusion path goes through a two-phase region of the phase diagram were used. A description of the technique used for making the diffusion couples has been described in a previous paper.' After the diffusion treatment a discontinuity in the resultant concentration vs distance profile was measured. The nickel concentrations in the a and ? phases at the interface of the discontinuity are the solubility limits of the a and ? phases in the phase diagram at the diffusion temperature. If the interface com-

Jan 1, 1965

By Charles F. Herbert

In February of this year at the Washington, D.C., hearings of the Interior Department on the Alaska pipeline, the author was amazed to hear speaker after speaker oppose not only pipline construction but any development whatsoever in the State of Alaska. In one case, a man objected to development in Alaska because his neighbor in Maryland had cut down some shade trees. Another man recited at length from the poems of Robert W. Service. While it seemed inconceivable that such thoughtless opposition should have any effect, a check with the offices of some congressmen showed that mail was largely against any development of Alaska. In the barrage of words and redundant phrases directed against Alaska, it is difficult to find a thought worthy of study. Fortunately, there is a statutory guide towards resolution of the problem of development versus non- development. This law, the Environ- mental Protection Act of 1969, has indeed given much of industry the jitters; copper smelters see no way to comply with the new sulfur- emission standards, the Alaska Department of Highways estimates that the Act has nearly doubled the cost of planning and engineering for highway construction. In spite of these and many other troubles and costs, the Act provides a sound legal basis for defeating nihilistic emotions and, since Alaska is relatively undeveloped, adoption of environmental safeguards will be simpler than correcting longstanding abuses.

Jan 1, 1971

By Charles M. Bayer

Reading in the AIME annual reports that certain activities have been financed by the Rocky Mountain Club Fund, less senior members of the Institute may wonder. "What's the Rocky Mountain Club?" Less youthful members will not have to wonder. They will recall the Club as an intriguing, almost fantastic organization, largely of western mining men, that flared across the New York horizon, flamed brilliantly for a little more than two decades, then sputtered out of existence- glorious even in its last flash. It was the only product of its mold, a fabulous group of magnanimous men who unhesitatingly sacrificed a cherished dream for which they had raised millions of dollars so that the money, instead of creating a magnificent club house, could be used instead to save the lives of starving Belgian children in World War I.

Jan 12, 1964

By Frank E. Hall

The needs of the World War showed the necessity of a metal stronger than cast iron which would supplement the supply of steel. SO patriotic metallurgists were spurred to new efforts to improve the status of that half-breed of the metal world that had been, more or less erroneously, christened semisteel. As a result, it was developed that for certain purposes semisteel was superior to steel in the manufacture of shells. Steel, because of its greater strength and toughness, is able to carry a greater charge of explosive, weight for weight; consequently, a steel shell can be expected to cause greater destruction when used against fortifications or other inanimate objects, while semisteel, because of its comparative brittleness and its resulting greater fragmentation, is capable of inflicting more serious loss of life when used against opposing forces of men. Therefore, each has its proper place in the economy of war. For the present purpose, steel may be defined as a comparatively pure iron whose physical nature is modified by small amounts of carbon, silicon, sulfur, phosphorus, manganese, and possibly other rarer elements; while cast iron generally is limited to approximately 93 per cent. of iron, the remainder consisting of larger percentages of carbon, silicon, sulfur, phosphorus, and manganese. Semisteel may be defined as cast iron in which the carbon and silicon have been reduced to as low a point as is consistent with maintaining the nature of gray iron, and in which the remaining elements are adjusted so as to give the greatest strength. The fact that the addition of steel scrap, in varying percentages, is the means used to reduce the carbon, together with the fact that a considerable increase in strength results, is probably the explanation of the origin of the name semisteel. That ordinary grades of steel show from three to four times the tensile strength of cast iron is due to the fact that the crystals, or grains, of cast iron are interspersed with flakes of

Jan 1, 1922

By Frank E. Hall

The needs of the World War showed the necessity of a metal stronger than cast iron which would supplement the supply of steel. SO patriotic metallurgists were spurred to new efforts to improve the status of that half-breed of the metal world that had been, more or less erroneously, christened semisteel. As a result, it was developed that for certain purposes semisteel was superior to steel in the manufacture of shells. Steel, because of its greater strength and toughness, is able to carry a greater charge of explosive, weight for weight; consequently, a steel shell can be expected to cause greater destruction when used against fortifications or other inanimate objects, while semisteel, because of its comparative brittleness and its resulting greater fragmentation, is capable of inflicting more serious loss of life when used against opposing forces of men. Therefore, each has its proper place in the economy of war. For the present purpose, steel may be defined as a comparatively pure iron whose physical nature is modified by small amounts of carbon, silicon, sulfur, phosphorus, manganese, and possibly other rarer elements; while cast iron generally is limited to approximately 93 per cent. of iron, the remainder consisting of larger percentages of carbon, silicon, sulfur, phosphorus, and manganese. Semisteel may be defined as cast iron in which the carbon and silicon have been reduced to as low a point as is consistent with maintaining the nature of gray iron, and in which the remaining elements are adjusted so as to give the greatest strength. The fact that the addition of steel scrap, in varying percentages, is the means used to reduce the carbon, together with the fact that a considerable increase in strength results, is probably the explanation of the origin of the name semisteel. That ordinary grades of steel show from three to four times the tensile strength of cast iron is due to the fact that the crystals, or grains, of cast iron are interspersed with flakes of

Jan 1, 1922

By E. V. Kleber, V. F. Novy, R. C. Vickery

The constitutional diagram has been determined in part for the sgstem Gd-Fe. Seven intermetallic compounds have been found at compositions corresponding to the following Gd-Fe ratios; 2:3, 1.2, 1:3, 2:7, 1:4, 1:5, and 2:17. The GdFe, com-pound has a congruent melting point above 18000C, whereas all of the remaining compounds melt incongruently, A eutectic exists at 13 wt pct Fe at a temperature of 860°C. ALTHOUGH an increasing amount of information is becoming available on the metallurgy of pure rare earth metals, relatively few studies have been made on alloy systems of the rare earths with the transition metals; iron, nickel, and cobalt. Even less data are extant on gadolinium alloys although it could be expected that such alloys might possess interesting structural and magnetic properties. In this paper, we report investigation of the gadolinium-iron alloy system. Studies on systems containing nickel and cobalt will be presented in subsequent papers. Previous data on gadolinium-iron compounds have been reported by Endter and Klemm1 and Jep-son and Duwez.2 Both reports agree on the existence of the GdFe2 phase, which crystallizes with the C-15type structure (face-centered cubic). This is in accord with results of the present work. EXPERIMENTAL The gadolinium metal used was prepared by met-allothermic reduction of high purity gadolinium fluoride. A typical analysis of the metal thus produced indicated the principal impurities to be oxygen, 0.24 pct, and tantalum, 0.2 pct. The iron metal used for alloying was a reagent grade material. Alloys were prepared by arc melting mixtures of the respective metals. Appropriate quantities of the two component metals were carefully weighed, blended and compacted. The compacts were then melted in an arc furnace consisting of a water-cooled copper hearth plate and a water-cooled tungsten-tipped counter electrode contained in a brass vacuum chamber. The furnace was evacuated to an absolute pressure of less than 1 with the leak rate established as being less than 20 per min. The furnace was then back-filled to a pressure of 25 mm of Hg, with a 75 pct He-25 pct Ar mixture. Arc melting at 25 v and 300 amp was maintained for about 30 to 60 sec until the entire visible area of the sample became molten, by which time surface tension had drawn the molten metal pool into a large bead. After allowing the furnace to cool, the alloy button was inverted and the melting process repeated. A series of melts was made covering entire composition ranges from 100 pct Gd to 100 pct Fe. All samples were examined metallographically in the as-melted condition. As the phase diagram became rationalized, and differential thermal analysis had given indications of temperature arrests, annealing was carried out in vacuo or in argon. Generally, compositions containing more than about 60 pct Gd were heat treated at 750°C and alloys containing less than this quantity of gadolinium were annealed at 1000°C. Prolonged annealing times were of the order of 100 to 200 hr. Metallographic examination was repeated on the annealed materials. Although little material loss was noted during alloy preparation, chemical analyses were made on all specimens prepared. The following standard, analytical techniques were used. Samples were dissolved in hydrochloric acid; insoluble material was filtered off, ignited and fused with potassium pyro-sulfate. The cold melt was leached with dilute acid and the solution thus obtained added to the main sample solution. Gadolinium was always determined gravimetri-callv as oxide from oxalate ignition. Iron was removed from an aliquot sample by electrolysis on a mercury cathode at approximately six volts. Gadolinium in the iron-free electrolyte was then precipitated as oxalate which was subsequently ignited to oxide. Iron was determined volumetrically in an aliquot solution by reduction with stannous chloride fol-

Jan 1, 1962

By H. M. Beatty, T. L. Joseph, Gust Bitsianes

SUCCESSFUL blast-furnace operation depends upon securing an optimum balance between a number of important variables. This balance will vary somewhat from furnace to furnace in the same plant and with raw materials available in different plants. It is difficult to isolate the effect of any one variable unless it has a rather pronounced effect upon the efficiency of operation. The physical properties of iron ore and coke are known to affect the process, yet it is difficult to set up any definite yardstick by which these differences can be appraised. In recent years, whenever practicable, operators have taken steps to obtain better control over the absolute size and uniformity of size of the ore and coke. The size and physical character of the stone, however, have received comparatively little attention, emphasis being placed upon chemical composition, fluxing efficiency, and action as a desulphurizing agent. Since the stone occupies only about 10 per cent of the volume of the stock column, its influence upon permeability is less than that of the ore and the coke. The large pieces now used have a tendency to roll to the center and thus increase the permeability of this part of the stock column. Smaller pieces would be more effective in promoting the permeability of denser portions of the stock. The size and physical properties of blast- furnace stone are important also for reasons best understood by considering the results obtained by the crushing and the sizing of iron ore. Crushing ore to about 2 in. at Provo, Utah, and to about I in. in Alabama produced material somewhat less permeable to gases, even though sized. In spite of some sacrifice in permeability, the efficiency of the process was improved by crushing and sizing the ore, as indicated by a substantial saving in fuel and increased output. This saving in fuel is due in large measure to more thorough reduction of ore in the upper part of the furnace and to a corresponding decrease in the amount of carbon consumed prematurely above the tuyeres by the reaction CO2 + C = 2CO ? 70,080 B.t.u. [I] The physical properties of stone, its size and rate of calcination are important because they influence the rate at which C02 is released and the completeness of calcination before reaching a level in the furnace where the temperature does not exceed 1050°C. (1920°F.). Briefly, carbon dioxide from the limestone or from the reduction of ore may cause premature com- bustion of carbon above the tuyeres. Assuming that 1000 lb. of limestone is used per ton of pig iron, about 435 lb. of C02 will be liberated during calcination of a good grade of stone. If all this CO2 from the stone were to oxidize carbon prematurely, about 120 lb. would be consumed above the tuyeres in a heat-absorbing reaction. The amount of carbon thus consumed when a

Jan 1, 1942

By C. L. Mantell

When considered from the viewpoint of world annual output, tin is one of the rarest metals. Its annual production is exceeded by that of iron, copper, lead, zinc. aluminum, magnesium; probably by that of the ferroalloys of manganese, chromium, and silicon, and possibly by the world production of sodium; while it exceeds only the output of such common metals as nickel, antimony, mercury, tungsten, molybdenum, silver, gold and the precious metals. Cassiterite, or tinstone, until the second World War was the only mineral that was an important source of tin. This mineral is frequently called "tin ore." The use of the term should be restricted to the ore containing the mineral, and not, in addition, to the concentrates of the mineral obtained from the ore or from stanniferous alluvial deposits. There is a general misuse of the term "tin ore" in the Malay Peninsula and adjacent localities, particularly where most of the mineral is obtained from secondary stanniferous deposits. The term "cassit-erite" is exclusively used in mineralogical, geological, and other scientific writings; it is unfortunate that it is not mole frequently used when referring to the occurrence of the mineral on an economic scale. Ores "Tinstone" js a very convenient old English term deserving a more frequent use. Tinstone is a dioxide of tin, or stannic oxide. When chemically Pure, as in the very rare transparent variety, it has a metallic content of 78.6 per cent tin. Frequently, however, the crystals and grains contain appreciable amounts of impurities, chiefly iron and tantalum. The impurities here referred to are those actually in the mineral itself. Tinstone usually has a deep brown or black color with an adamantine luster. Several other colored varieties are known, among them red ruby tin, yellow rosin tin, and yellow wax tin. the names jn each case being descriptive of the mineral's appearance. Ainalite is a variety of cassiterite con-taining almost g per cent of tantalum pentoxide. Sparable tin, tooth tin, and needle tin, as a result of their acute dite-tragonal pyramidal crystalline form, re-ceive their names from their crystallo-graphic appearance. Wood tin is a compact variety of cassiterite composed of radiating fibers resembling dry wood. Toad's-eye tin is a similar variety on a smaller scale in which the fibers appear to resemble the eye of a toad. Stream tin is water-worn tin-stone. Float tin is sometimes employed to describe the cassiterite occurring in soil derived from the weathered surface of a mineralized area. Stannite is an ore of tin of lesser impor-tance than cassiterite. It is a sulphide of tin, copper, and iron, sometimes known as tin pyrites or bell-metal ore. Its chemical com-position is sometimes expressed by the for-mula Cu,S.FeS.SnSz with zinc usually present in varying quantities. The tin con-tent varies from 22 to 27 per cent and there is about 29 per cent of copper, 13 per cent of iron, and 30 Per cent of sulphur.

Jan 1, 1944

By K. C. Ko, M. K. McCarter

Experimentation with seismic velocity measurements at Kennecott Copper Corp.'s Bingham mine disclosed that some recognized slide areas are characterized by low velocity profiles. A new traverse technique employed during the investigation allows rapid and precise measurements of a quantity referred to as "apparent velocity." This value is a weighted average of the actual velocity in the overbreak zone near the surface and in the intact rock at depth. The low points on the velocity profile are apparently the result of lower actual velocities and deeper overbreak in less competent material within the slide zones. Experience verifies the usefulness and practicality of the technique in delineating adverse areas prior to detectable failure. The technique may be employed as a rapid and economic means of slope stability surveillance in large open pit mines.

Jan 1, 1973

By R. W. Raymond

This paper is simply a summary, prepared at the request of the Council of the Institute, of the report of Mr. Albert Ladd Colby, of South Bethlehem, Pa., presented at the New York meeting (October, 1896) of the Association of American SteelManufacturers, on " The Advisability of the Endorsement by the Association of the United States Standard Gauge, approved by Act of Congress, March 3, 1893, to the Exclusion of the Birmingham Gauge, the .Brown and Sharpe, and all Others:" a subject on which, at the Pittsburgh meeting (April, 1896) of the said Association, Mr. Colby had been appointed as a committee. The report favors the adoption, not of the United States standard gauge to the exclusion of others, but of a decimal system of gauging all materials in thousandths of an inch, thus doing away entirely with arbitrary gauge-numbers running in inverse order to the actual thickness. The American Institute of Mining Engineers originated this movement. The report of its committee on a standard wiregauge, presented in October, 1877,* recommended the abandonment of the system of fixed gauges for commercial use, and of the system of representing the diameters and sizes by numbers, and the adoption, in lieu thereof, of the system of expressing sizes in thousandths of an inch or fractions of a millimeter, and the use of the micrometer-gauge as a means of measuring sizes. In 1892 the American Society of Mechanical Engineers appointed a similar committee, and corresponding action was

Jan 1, 1898

By O. Bergmann, R. E. Lueders, R. R. Ellefson, H. M. Brennecke, D. S. Davies

A new hydrometallurgical process has been developed to recover copper from sulfide ores. Copper is leached in a staged reactor system utilizing nitric and sulfuric acids at 105OC. Iron is removed from the pregnant liquor as a jarosite, and cathode copper is electrowon directly from the purified pregnant liquor. The spent electrolyte is recycled. Nitrogen oxides evolved from the leach are reconverted to nitric acid and are also recycled. Sulfur is rejected as So, jarosite, and gypsum. The process is highly versatile and can recover precious metals, molybdenum, and zinc when these elements are present. Continuous, integrated, semi-pilot plant operations using chalcopyrite ores demonstrated 99% copper leaching and production of cathode grade copper. Economic evaluation shows that the process is competitive with pyrometallurgical and other hydrometallurgical processes.

Jan 1, 1982

By Thomas R. Smith

This paper covers oil shale resources in those countries that border the Pacific Rim. The major known resources around the Pacific Rim occur in the Western United States, Australia, the People's Republic of China, (PRC) and the Thailand/Burma region. The location of these deposits is shown in Figure 1. In 1965, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated world oil shale deposits of over 4 quadrillion tons having a potential oil yield of over 2 quadrillion barrels. If all this were extracted, it could meet the world's entire energy needs far into the future. However, the Survey also estimated the spent shale waste could cover all of the surface of the world to a depth of about 10 feet. Thus, for this and many other technical and economic reasons, it does not appear to be feasible to develop a large portion of the world's oil shale resources in this century; nor will shale in itself solve our energy problems. Nevertheless, shale oil and other ' synthetic fuels are expected to play an important role in new energy supplies in the longer term. WHAT IS OIL SHALE OR SHALE OIL? The term "oil shale" is sometimes a misnomer, in that the rock is often more of a limestone or siltstone than a shale. The common link between resources termed “oil shale" is that they all contain an insoluble substance cal led kerogen (which is from the Greek words for waxmaking). Kerogen is a form of organic carbon derived from a variety of plants ranging from algae to higher plants. When heated sufficiently, the kerogen generates hydrocarbons called shale oil, a form of synthetic crude oil that in most cases is lower in hydrogen content than conventional crude oil. The amount of oil in oil shale is relatively small --roughly 10 percent (by weight) in the richer shales. To upgrade this synthetic oil to usable products, additional processing is necessary. This brief sketch gives an idea of what this different, but significant, form of hydrocarbon is like. ENVIRONMENTS OF DEPOSITION Most oil shale deposits fall into three environments of sediment deposition: 1ake (called lacustrine), sea (marine) and river (fluvial-deltaic). In each case, the deposition of oil shales took place in quiet water environments where plant life, particularly algal plants, could flourish and, after dying, be deposited in unoxygenated water where the kerogen precursors would be safe from destruction by oxidation. The oil shales that were deposited in large lake basins (lacustrine) have attracted the most attention for development over the years. They often have multiple seams, deposited in a cyclic nature with extensive areal distribution and rapid vertical changes in kerogen content. Grades are moderate to high, ranging from 80 to 200 liters per tonne. Rundle in Australia and the Piceance Creek Basin in Colorado are examples of this type. Both deposits represent large volumes of oil shale in small areas which could provide the large volume of feedstock needed for future commercial operations. The stratigraphic sections of these two deposits feature thick oil shale seams with average grades of 80 - 125 liters/tonne conducive to both open pit, and underground operations. However, the rock strength of the Rundle shale is not sufficient to - support underground mining. On the other hand, the Colorado deposits, being more carbonate in nature, are sufficiently strong to support either type of mining depending on the overburden to ore ratio. These latter types of deposits will likely provide the first target for development of a commercial industry. The marine type is characterized by extensive areal distribution with relatively thin seams. The grades are generally low to moderate, ranging from 50 to 120 liters per tonne. The marine oil shales are common worldwide, and their attractiveness for mining is dependent on the overburden to ore ratio. Because of their widespread areal distribution, their in situ resources can be quite large. The Toolebuc Formation in Central , Queensland, Australia is a good example of this type of deposit being 7-10 meters thick over an extensive area. The Julia Creek deposit with its favorable overburden-to-ore ratio is being studied for possible development. In a fluvial-deltaic environment, there are many small lakes or bogs associated with rivers in which a very pure type of oil shale called torbanite could form. Torbanites are very high grade containing up to 75 percent hydrocarbons. The known occurrences are generally small lenticular deposits associated with coal seams. Even with the high grades, it is not likely that any of the known deposits would warrant commercial development because of their small size. The torbanite deposits in New South Wales, Australia were processed prior to World War I1 near the town of Glen Davis. However, today's known resources of this type are not large enough to warrant a commercial plant.

Jan 1, 1982

By G. D. Oxx, L. F. Coffin

The concept of using a phase that is liquid at service temperatures as a component of coatings for refractory metals has been described. The liquid, an alloy of gold and silicon, is retained on a molybdemum surface by a capillary system made of molybdenum disilicide. The coating has the advantage of good thermal shock and has a self-henling chracteristic. In order for highly stressed structures to exceed a service temperature of 2000°F, it has become apparent that a development that does not depend on the traditional iron, cobalt, or nickel-base alloy is needed. Alloys of the refractory metals, i.e., molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum. niobium (colum-bium), and rhenium are potentially useful at extremely high temperatures that more conventional alloys would never be expected to achieve. A new alloy of molybdenum has become available that has a 100-hr rupture strength of 35,000 psi at 2200°F.1 As a result of this work, it may be assumed that a material with adequate mechanical properties at 2200?F is now available. Unfortunately, this alloy and all other known alloys of the refractory metals suffer from not being; serviceable in an oxidizing atmosphere for a very long time. In order to permit general use of refractory metals at high temperatures, it is necessary to prevent destructive oxidation by appropriate alloying or by protective coatings. The liquid phase coating reported here is representative of a concept for the protection of metals that permits higher service temperatures and introduces a new group of materials for selection as coatings. Coating Requirements—Service conditions that represent potential applications for refractory metals vary considerably: however, it is possible to consider two conditions that are usually present. The refractory metal1 component must be heated to the service temperature at least once and usually frequently. When a solid coating is used, usually the coating and basis metal do not have the same coefficient of expansion. This difference causes thermal stress in the coating that is aggravated by rapid heating and cooling and eventually causes coating failure. The second consideration is the probability that there will be damage to the coating by some environmental condition. In jet engines, for example, it is expected that large particles, stones, metal parts, and so forth, will strike a bucket at high speed and cut a hole in the coating. In addition to the above considerations, the coating must also have other fundamental properties. Obviously, it must be oxidation resistant. In addi- tion, it must prevent permeation of oxygen and subsequent oxidation of the basis metal at the interface. Also, diffusion of the basis metal to the outside surface and subsequent oxidation there must be prevented. Finally, the coating must not react with the basis metal to form a weak bond at the interface. It should be noted that the coating need not support a load: it must only remain intact. Liquid Phase Coating Design Factors—In the use of a liquid as a principal coating constituent, it would be expected that the two service conditions mentioned above would be satisfied. A liquid would flow under the influence of the thermal strain developed by coating-basis metal expansion mismatch such that failure from this source would not be expected to occur. It is also probable that the ability of a liquid to flow would provide a self-healing effect. Thus, damage caused by particles in the atmosphere would be repaired. A third advantage is evident in that vapor pressure rather than melting point limits the service temperature. This latter advantage permits use of low melting but oxidation resistant metals such as gold or copper that would be quite useless if the solid state was required. A low viscosity liquid alone. however, is a totally unsuitable coating because it will simply flow off a component, particularly under the influence of a high acceleration field. A method of preventing liquid loss must be devised. In this case, it is desired that the liquid have a low viscosity so that it may easily flow into flaws; thus, raising the viscosity is not a satisfactory solution. One other inherent difficulty is caused by the high mobility of atoms in the liquid state as compared to the solid state. Because of this mobility, it would be expected that gases would diffuse more rapidly through a liquid. It is also probable that the solubility of oxygen in the liquid would be comparatively high. These factors would tend toward rapid permeation of oxygen and oxidation of the substrate. It is most reasonable that this problem could be solved by incorporating a solid phase, which is impermeable to gases, as a component of the coating. To overcome the tendency of a liquid to flow easily, it is possible to use surface tension to advantage. If the surface were made up of a large number of capillary tubes of sufficiently small diameter, then surface tension would hold the liquid even against the acceleration of a centrifugal field.

Jan 1, 1961

By D. L. Harris, A. M. Gaudin

Observations were made of the distribution of mercaptan containing S35 between aqueous solution and mineral and between aqueous solution and the gaseous phase. Although equilibrium may not have been attained, adsorption of the reagent was shown to occur reasily from air or aqueous solution on sphalerite, zincite, and willem-ite and to correspond to flotation. Adsorption on quartz did not similarly occur. THE following results, presented here in condensed form,' were obtained in a preliminary study of the adsorption of n-hexane thiol, hexyl mercaptan, on sphalerite, zincite, willemite, and quartz, from aqueous solution and from a gas. Interest in this subject was aroused by a Belgian report' of effective use of hexyl mercaptan for flotation collection of oxidized zinc minerals. The relatively low boiling point, 149°C, of the mercaptan3 suggested the desirability of extending the usual measurements of partition of collector between aqueous solution and gas and between gas and mineral. It is believed that this paper presents the first measurements of this type on a flotation system. Attempts were made to carry out the measurements at equilibrium, but as the work progressed it became increasingly doubtful that this desirable condition had been achieved. To control composition and extent of the gas phase, the apparatus was a wholly-enclosed thermally-controlled glass system. Because of these constraints and the desirability of dealing with pure minerals, a scale of operations was chosen in which a few grams of deslimed mineral were used in each test. It was also necessary to choose a particularly sensitive method for mercaptan analysis, and in fact a method that would permit the experimenters to follow the approach to equilibrium. For these reasons mercaptan marked by radiosulphur 35 was used. An analysis was made for the radiosulphur by a modification of the method of Gaudin and Carr. Coarsely-crystallized sphalerite was handpicked, stage-crushed in the dry state, wet-screened on a 200-mesh sieve, and deslimed in water at about 5 microns. Further treatment consisted of a wash in dilute aqueous hydrogen peroxide, drying, removal of the dark-colored fraction in a Frantz magnetic separator, washing in very dilute hydrochloric acid, repeated washing in distilled and conductivity water, and drying. The last washings showed a conductivity equivalent to a few ppm NaC1, that is, much more than would be provided, theoretically, by a saturated ZnS solution. The material was stored dry in sealed bottles. Analyses were as follows: Zn, 62.3 pct; Fe, 0.43 pct; Cd, 0.44 pct; S, 31.2 pct; Mn, 0.001 pct. The specific surface (BET method) was 2000 cm2/g. Zincite from Franklin furnace of the New Jersey Zinc Co. was hand-picked, dry-crushed, wet-screened at 100 mesh, and deslimed at about 10 microns. After drying, the associated zinc, manganese, calcium, and silicate minerals were removed in a Frantz magnetic separator. The purified zincite was washed in distilled water and conductivity water to a conductance of less than 2 ppm equivalent NaC1, dried, and stored. Analyses were as follows: Zn, 75.1 pct; Fe, 0.9 pct; Mn, 2.78 pct. The specific surface (BET method) was 1740 cm 2/g. Willemite, also from Franklin furnace, was purified similarly. Analyses were as follows: Zn, 52.5 pct; Fe, 0.12 pct; SiO², 27.3 pct; loss on ignition, 0.13 pct. The specific surface was 1760 cm 2/g. Conductivity water (double-distilled) and demin-eralized-distilled water were used in most of the tests. The specific resistance was not less than 600, 000 ohms, and usually above 1,000,000. Radiosulphur-marked hexyl mercaptan (1-hexane thiol) was synthesized by Tracerlab, Inc., Boston. Two lots were secured several months apart. The last lot, consisting of about 0.5 g of the mercaptan, had a total activity of about 10 millicuries. Tracerlab Co. guaranteed only the activity; hence a quasi -vapor pressure determination (based upon an S analysis) of the mercaptan was made. The calculated value, 4.2 mm of mercury at 25.5' C, has been compared with that of a sample of Highest Purity 1-hexane thiol from Fisher Scientific Co. The latter had a vapor pressure of 4.5 mm of mercury at 2.5 C. Analytical Procedures The sample containing radiosulphur-marked mercaptan was oxidized to convert the mercaptan sulphur to sulphate, carrier barium sulphate being added to provide a suitable quantity of total barium sulphate in a filter cake. The precipitate was filtered and dried, and counting was carried out either in a streaming-gas (Q-gas) counter for high sensitivity or with an end-window G-M counter for convenience. The oxidized and precipitated mercaptan gave a radioactive count of 65 counts per minute per microgram in the end-window Geiger-Mueller counter and 1100 counts per minute per microgram in a Q-gas counter. For standardization of the mercaptan solution, 15 replicate analyses were made. The average deviation per measurement was about 1600 cpm in 65,000 cpm, the probable error in the mean being 275 cpm. It

Jan 1, 1955

By H. S. Coe

ENGINEERS have long recognized the desirability of correlating the data obtained from small-scale slime-settling tests with commercial work as carried on in large tanks. This need, though most apparent in designing new installations, frequently arises also in existent plants, since a large range of experimental work can be performed without interfering with regular operation. GENERAL SETTLING PHENOMENA In order to develop rational methods of laboratory testing, it becomes necessary to study the general phenomena of settling. Since it was desired to give the public the benefit of these methods at as early a date as possible, together with the knowledge of the general principles of slime settling necessary for a clear understanding of the laboratory tests, we have ventured to discuss the subject in so far as brought out by the work which we now have under way. We realize that certain of our preliminary conclusions may be subject to modification, but it seems probable that, with but few exceptions, the general laws enunciated will cover the settling behavior of all pulps encountered in metallurgical plants. However, it must be recognized that there is still a vast amount of work to be done upon certain phases of the subject; therefore, at this time we will attempt only a discussion of the behavior of ore pulps during the process of settling or dewatering, under certain given conditions. The laws and principles controlling these conditions are not fully established, so that a complete discussion of them will not be attempted in this paper. In metallurgical practice, slime pulp consists of water, finely divided sand

Jan 3, 1916

By R. S. Bradley

WHAT are known as insulating firebrick are lightweight firebrick with low thermal conductivity designed primarily for use in direct contact with furnace gases. These are a recent development in the refractories industry, and are really an outgrowth of the type of insulating brick suitable for use behind refractory walls developed by the insulation manufacturers. To differentiate between these two types of brick, the manufacturers have recently agreed upon the use of the term "Insulating Firebrick" to apply to the type of brick suited for use in direct contact with furnace gases, and the term "Insulating Brick" for the type suitable for use behind refractory walls. Insulation was applied to steam pipes as far back as 1900. This was a low-temperature insulation, the most common type being magnesia blocks. The next development was applying insulation to the outside of furnace walls, a service which necessitated an insulating material of higher temperature resistance. Natural diatomaceous earth, both in the powdered and brick form, was used; this was efficient and is still used extensively for backing up refractory walls where the inner surface temperature of the insulation does not exceed 1600° F.

Jan 1, 1937